Ancestral Images - The Iconography of Human Origins (Hardcover, New)

Pictorial reconstructions of ancient human ancestors have twin purposes: to make sense of shared ancestry and to bring prehistory to life. Stephanie Moser analyzes the close relationship between representations of the past and theories about human evolution, showing how this relationship existed even before a scientific understanding of human origins developed. How did mythological, religious, and historically inspired visions of the past, in existence for centuries, shape this understanding? Moser treats images as primary documents, and her book is lavishly illustrated with engravings, paintings, photographs, and reconstructions. In surveying the iconography of prehistory, Moser explores visions of human creation from their origins in classical, early Christian, and medieval periods through traditions of representation initiated in the Renaissance. She looks closely at the first scientific reconstructions of the nineteenth century, which dramatized and made comprehensible the Darwinian theory of human descent from apes. She considers, as well, the impact of reconstructions on popular literature in Europe and North America, showing that early visualizations of prehistory retained a firm hold on the imagination—a hold that archaeologists and anthropologists have found difficult to shake.

General

Imprint:	Cornell University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	May 1998
First published:	1998
Authors:	Stephanie Moser
Foreword by:	Clive Gamble
Dimensions:	248 x 171 x 21mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	224
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-8014-3549-2
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > General Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > General Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeology by period / region > Prehistoric archaeology Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Life sciences: general issues > Evolution
LSN:	0-8014-3549-8
Barcode:	9780801435492

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