|
Showing 1 - 21 of
21 matches in All Departments
When and how did the brains of our hominin ancestors become human
minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and
dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and
provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in
ever-larger social groups, and to maintain social relations over
ever-greater distances - the ability to `think big' - that drove
the enlargement of the human brain and the development of the human
mind. This `social brain hypothesis', put forward by evolutionary
psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this
book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as
archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second
part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on
subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip
grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire
for the lengthening of the social day. As this remarkable book
shows, it seems we still inhabit social worlds that originated deep
in our evolutionary past - by the fireside, in the hunt and on the
grasslands of Africa.
This volume explores new approaches to the remarkably detailed
information that archaeologists have for the study of our earliest
ancestors. Previous investigations of human evolution in the
Paleolithic period have conventionally been from an ecological and
behavioral point of view. The emphasis has been on how our early
ancestors made a living, decided what to eat, adapted through their
technology to the conditions of existence and reacted to changing
ice age climates. The "Individual Hominid in Context" takes a
different approach.
Rather than explaining the archaeology of stones and bones as the
product of group decisions, the contributors investigate how
individual action created social life. This challenge to the
accepted standpoint of the Paleolithic brings new models and
theories into the period; innovations that are matched by the
resolution of the data that preserve individual action among the
artifacts. The book brings together examples from recent
excavations at Boxgrove, Schoningen and Blombos Cave, and the
analyses of findings from Middle and Early Upper Pleistocene
excavations in Europe, Africa and Asia. The results will
revolutionize the Paleolithic as archaeologists search for the
lived lives among the empty spaces that remain.
|
Prehistoric Europe (Hardcover)
Timothy Champion, Clive Gamble, Stephen Shennan, Alasdair Whittle
|
R5,510
Discovery Miles 55 100
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
The study of European prehistory has been revolutionized in recent
years by the rapid growth rate of archeological discovery, advances
in dating methods and the application of scientific techniques to
archaeological material and new archaeological aims and frameworks
of interpretation. Whereas previous work concentrated on the
recovery and description of material remains, the main focus is now
on the reconstruction of prehistoric societies and the explanation
of their development. This volume provides that elementary and
comprehensive synthesis of the new discoveries and the new
interpretations of European prehistory. After and introductory
chapter on the geographical setting and the development of
prehistoric studies in Europe, the text is divided chronologically
into nine chapters. Each one describes, with numerous maps, plans
and drawings, the relevant archaeological data, and proceeds to a
discussion of the societies they represent. Particular attention is
paid to the major themes of recent prehistoric research, especially
subsistence economy, trade, settlement, technology and social
organization.
|
Managing Archaeology (Hardcover)
John Carman; Introduction by Clive Gamble; Edited by Malcolm Cooper, Anthony Firth, David Wheatley
|
R4,151
Discovery Miles 41 510
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
'This book is a character study for the future of British Archaeology as it seeks to define its role for the coming millennium.' - New Scientist
'Managing archaeology will undoubtedly emerge as a milestone in archaeological literature and will prove particularly valuable for those already on the professional career ladder.' - Antiquity
'It presents a broad view of the inner mechanisms of contemporary British Archaeology and its preoccupations and will be of interest to those working within the profession as well as providing useful insights for those less formally involved.' - Archaeological Journal
'This book is essential reading for all those involved in the practice of archaeology.' - International Journal of Heritage Studies
'Anyone interested in the process of archaeology will find something to interest them in this multi-authored volume ... This is an important volume because it raises many of the issues which archaeologists think about but do not necessarily talk about.' - Tim Schadla-Hall, The Archaeologist
'What emerges from this volume is a clear understanding that archaeology is now both a discipline, a scholarly academic undertaking, and a profession, a service provided to others for a consideration, not always monetary in nature.' - Historical Archaeology
|
Managing Archaeology (Paperback, New)
John Carman; Introduction by Clive Gamble; Edited by Malcolm Cooper, Anthony Firth, David Wheatley
|
R1,597
Discovery Miles 15 970
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
Effective management is becoming increasingly important in all
aspects of archaeology. Archaeologists must manage the artefacts
thay deal with, their funding, ancient sites, as well as the
practice of archaeology itself. Managing Archaeology is a collecton
of outstanding papers from experts involved in these many areas.
The contributors focus on the principles and practice of management
in the 1990s, covering such crucial aeas as the management of
contract and field archaeology, heritage management, marketing, law
and information technology. The resulting volume is important and
informative reading for archaeologists and heritage managers, as
well as planners, policy makers and environmental consultants.
When was the human threshold crossed? What is the evidence for
evolving humans and their emerging humanity? This volume explores
in a global overview the archaeology of the Middle Pleistocene,
800,000 to 130,000 years ago when evidence for innovative cultural
behaviour appeared. The evidence shows that the threshold was
crossed slowly, by a variety of human ancestors, and was not
confined to one part of the Old World. Crossing the Human Threshold
examines the changing evidence during this period for the use of
place, landscape and technology. It focuses on the emergence of
persistent places, and associated developments in tool use, hunting
strategies and the control of fire, represented across the Old
World by deeply stratified cave sites. These include the most
important sites for the archaeology of human origins in the Levant,
South Africa, Asia and Europe, presented here as evidence for
innovation in landscape-thinking during the Middle Pleistocene. The
volume also examines persistence at open locales through a
cutting-edge review of the archaeology of Northern France and
England. Crossing the Human Threshold is for the worldwide
community of students and researchers studying early hominins and
human evolution. It presents new archaeological data. It frames the
evidence within current debates to understand the differences and
similarities between ourselves and our ancient ancestors.
This volume explores new approaches to the remarkably detailed
information that archaeologists have for the study of our earliest
ancestors. Previous investigations of human evolution in the
Paleolithic period have conventionally been from an ecological and
behavioral point of view. The emphasis has been on how our early
ancestors made a living, decided what to eat, adapted through their
technology to the conditions of existence and reacted to changing
ice age climates. The "Individual Hominid in Context" takes a
different approach.
Rather than explaining the archaeology of stones and bones as the
product of group decisions, the contributors investigate how
individual action created social life. This challenge to the
accepted standpoint of the Paleolithic brings new models and
theories into the period; innovations that are matched by the
resolution of the data that preserve individual action among the
artifacts. The book brings together examples from recent
excavations at Boxgrove, Schoningen and Blombos Cave, and the
analyses of findings from Middle and Early Upper Pleistocene
excavations in Europe, Africa and Asia. The results will
revolutionize the Paleolithic as archaeologists search for the
lived lives among the empty spaces that remain.
One afternoon in late April 1859 two geologically minded
businessmen, John Evans and Joseph Prestwich, found and
photographed the proof for great human antiquity. Their evidence -
small, hand-held stone tools found in the gravel quarries of the
Somme among the bones of ancient animals - shattered the timescale
of Genesis and kicked open the door for a time revolution in human
history. In the space of a calendar year, and at a furious pace,
the relationship between humans and time was forever changed. This
interpretation of deep human history was shaped by the optimistic
decade of the 1850s, the Victorian Heyday in the age of equipoise.
Proving great human antiquity depended on matching the principles
of geology with the personal values of scientific zeal and
perseverance; qualities which time-revolutionaries such as Evans
and Prestwich had in abundance. Their revolution was driven by a
small group of weekend scientists rather than some great purpose,
and it proved effective because of its bonds of friendship
stiffened by scientific curiosity and business acumen. Clive Gamble
explores the personalities of these time revolutionaries and their
scientific co-collaborators and adjudicators - Darwin, Falconer,
Lyell, Huxley, and the French antiquary Boucher de Perthes - as
well as their sisters, wives, and nieces Grace McCall, Civil
Prestwich, and Fanny Evans. As with all scientific discoveries
getting there was often circuitous and messy; the revolutionaries
changed their minds and disagreed with those who should have been
allies. Gamble's chronological narrative reveals each step from
discovery to presentation, reception, consolidation, and widespread
acceptance, and considers the impact of their work on the
scientific advances of the next 160 years and on our fascination
with the shaping power of time.
When was the human threshold crossed? What is the evidence for
evolving humans and their emerging humanity? This volume explores
in a global overview the archaeology of the Middle Pleistocene,
800,000 to 130,000 years ago when evidence for innovative cultural
behaviour appeared. The evidence shows that the threshold was
crossed slowly, by a variety of human ancestors, and was not
confined to one part of the Old World. Crossing the Human Threshold
examines the changing evidence during this period for the use of
place, landscape and technology. It focuses on the emergence of
persistent places, and associated developments in tool use, hunting
strategies and the control of fire, represented across the Old
World by deeply stratified cave sites. These include the most
important sites for the archaeology of human origins in the Levant,
South Africa, Asia and Europe, presented here as evidence for
innovation in landscape-thinking during the Middle Pleistocene. The
volume also examines persistence at open locales through a
cutting-edge review of the archaeology of Northern France and
England. Crossing the Human Threshold is for the worldwide
community of students and researchers studying early hominins and
human evolution. It presents new archaeological data. It frames the
evidence within current debates to understand the differences and
similarities between ourselves and our ancient ancestors.
The Palaeolithic is the only period in archaeology that can be
studied globally. In the last half century one prehistorian, Sir
Paul Mellars, has changed the shape and direction of such studies,
adding immeasurably to what we know about humanity's earliest
origins and the timing of crucial transitions in the journey. The
Upper Palaeolithic Revolution in global perspective is a collection
of essays in his honour. Contributions cover both his own area of
primary interest (Franco-Cantabria) as well as many other regions
of the world, all of which he has considered while writing about
the Human Revolution in its wider geographical context. Papers in
this volume examine the archaeological record of the Upper
Pleistocene from Australia, through eastern and western Asia and
Africa to northern Spain and the classical Perigord region of
France, a cornerstone region which Mellars has been researching and
publishing on since 1965. To papers on chronology, typology,
subsistence and social complexity are added historical and
theoretical contributions, along with a biography. These illustrate
not only Paul Mellars's impact on the current shape and direction
of Palaeolithic studies but also how the subject has changed and
continues to change.
Humans have always been interested in their origins, but historians
have been reluctant to write about the long stretches of time
before the invention of writing. In fact, the deep past was left
out of most historical writing almost as soon as it was discovered.
This breakthrough book, as important for readers interested in the
present as in the past, brings science into history to offer a
dazzling new vision of humanity across time. Team-written by
leading experts in a variety of fields, it maps events, cultures,
and eras across millions of years to present a new scale for
understanding the human body, energy and ecosystems, language,
food, kinship, migration, and more. Combining cutting-edge social
and evolutionary theory with the latest discoveries about human
genes, brains, and material culture, "Deep History" invites
scholars and general readers alike to explore the dynamic of
connectedness that spans all of human history. With Timothy Earle,
Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Clive Gamble,
April McMahon, John C. Mitani, Hendrik Poinar, Mary C. Stiner, and
Thomas R. Trautmann.
|
Dunbar’s Number (Hardcover)
David Shankland; Contributions by Robin Dunbar, Simon Dein, Clive Gamble, Esther Goody, …
|
R1,967
Discovery Miles 19 670
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
Dunbar’s Number, as the limit on the size of both social groups
and personal social networks, has achieved something close to
iconic status and is one of the most influential concepts to have
emerged out of anthropology in the last quarter century. It is
widely cited throughout the social sciences,archaeology, psychology
and network science,and its reverberations have been felt as far
afield as the worlds of business organization and social-networking
sites, whose design it has come to underpin.Named after its
originator, Robin Dunbar, whose career has spanned biological
anthropology, zoology and evolutionary psychology, it stands
testament to the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to
human behaviour. In this collection Dunbar joins authors from a
wide range of disciplines to explore Dunbar’s Number’s
conceptual origins, as well as the evidence supporting it, and to
reflect on its wider implications in archaeology, social
anthropology and medicine.
In spring 2002 mammoth bones and associated Mousterian stone tools
were found in situ at Lynford Quarry, near Munford village,
Norfolk, UK. The finds were within the organic sediments of a
palaeochannel. Excavation was undertaken with support from Ayton
Asphalte, the quarry owners, and English Heritage, funded through
the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ASLF). These finds are a
rare example of British Middle Palaeolithic tools, associated with
the Neanderthal occupation of what was then a peninsula of
north-west Europe. The excavation recovered exceptionally
well-preserved archaeological and palaeoenvironmental information.
The association of woolly mammoth bones with bout- coupe handaxes
(bifaces) and this wealth of palaeoenvironmental data provided a
unique opportunity to investigate questions of diet, land use and
habitat from deposits within a small geological feature. The
palaeoenvironmental evidence and optically stimulated luminescence
(OSL) dating show that the site was occupied c 65-57ka, at the
transition between Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 4 and 3. The plant
and invertebrate remains indicate open conditions dominated by
grasses, sedges and low-growing herbaceous communities, with small
stands of birch or scrub, and areas of acid heath or bog, and a
mild climate. Finds included 1,365 identified bones, of which 91
per cent are woolly mammoth; and 2,720 lithic pieces, including 41
complete and 6 broken handaxes, and 20 flake tools. In addition, an
associated sandstone block bears use traces made by a softer
material, possibly wood, and was possibly used as a fire striker.
The Lynford finds give a rare opportunity to study the socioecology
of Neanderthals and the relationship between their social structure
and the distribution of resources in the landscape during the last
cold stage of Ice Age Europe.
Humans have always been interested in their origins, but historians
have been reluctant to write about the long stretches of time
before the invention of writing. In fact, the deep past was left
out of most historical writing almost as soon as it was discovered.
This breakthrough book, as important for readers interested in the
present as in the past, brings science into history to offer a
dazzling new vision of humanity across time. Team-written by
leading experts in a variety of fields, it maps events, cultures,
and eras across millions of years to present a new scale for
understanding the human body, energy and ecosystems, language,
food, kinship, migration, and more. Combining cutting-edge social
and evolutionary theory with the latest discoveries about human
genes, brains, and material culture, "Deep History" invites
scholars and general readers alike to explore the dynamic of
connectedness that spans all of human history.
With Timothy Earle, Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Felipe
Fernandez-Armesto, Clive Gamble, April McMahon, John C. Mitani,
Hendrik Poinar, Mary C. Stiner, and Thomas R. Trautmann
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.
In this worldwide survey, Clive Gamble explores the evolution of
the human imagination, without which we would not have become a
global species. He sets out to determine the cognitive and social
basis for our imaginative capacity and traces the evidence back
into deep human history. He argues that it was the imaginative
ability to 'go beyond' and to create societies where people lived
apart yet stayed in touch that made us such effective world
settlers. To make his case Gamble brings together information from
a wide range of disciplines: psychology, cognitive science,
archaeology, palaeoanthropology, archaeogenetics, geography,
quaternary science and anthropology. He presents a novel deep
history that combines the archaeological evidence for fossil
hominins with the selective forces of Pleistocene climate change,
engages with the archaeogeneticists' models for population
dispersal and displacement, and ends with the Europeans'
rediscovery of the deep history settlement of the Earth.
Palaeolithic societies have been a neglected topic in the discussion of human origins. But in the past forty years archaeologists have recovered a wealth of information from Palaeolithic sites throughout the European continent that reveal many illuminating facets of social life over this 500,000-year period. Clive Gamble, introducing a new approach to this material, interrogates the data for information on the scale of social interaction, and the forms of social existence. The result is a reconstruction of ancient human societies, and a fresh perspective on the unique experience of human beings.
Die Entdeckung der Gemeinsamkeit Dieses bemerkenswerte Buch, das
die Evolution und die Archaologie des menschlichen Sozialverhaltens
zusammenfuhrt, spannt den Bogen von den sozialen Gruppen der
Steinzeit bis zu den modernen digitalen Netzwerken - und zeigt,
dass wir heute in sozialen Welten leben, die sich tief in unserer
evolutionaren Vergangenheit entwickelt haben. Sie werden in diesem
Jahr kein wichtigeres Buch lesen. Es koennte uns ein bisschen
weiser in unserer Selbsteinschatzung machen. Minerva Ein
wunderbares Kompendium von Geschichte, Theorien und faszinierenden
Experimenten, das Sie durchweg fesseln wird. BBC Focus In einem
Stil geschrieben, der in so bewundernswerter Weise
wissenschaftliches Fachvokabular und Soziologenjargon vermeidet,
dass man nicht mehr als ein normales menschliches Gehirn braucht,
um es zu lesen und zu verstehen ... eine sehr wertvolle
Zusammenfassung unseres gegenwartigen Wissens uber die Evolution
des Menschen und den moeglichen Ursprung und die Entwicklung
[solcher] menschlicher Eigenschaften und Fahigkeiten ... Evolution,
Denken, Kultur ist wie der Urknall: wahrscheinlich noch nicht die
ganze Antwort, aber zweifellos schon die Erklarung einer grossen
Zahl beobachtbarer Phanomene, und fur die Debatte und
Weiterentwicklung unserer Vorstellungen uber die Ursprunge und die
Evolution der menschlichen Kognition wird es auf Jahrzehnte hinaus
als fuhrendes Modell dienen. Society of Antiquaries Newsletter Ein
dramatischer Schlag gegen den "Steine und Knochen"-Ansatz der
Archaologie. New Scientist Zugleich ein Triumph der Zusammenarbeit
und eine packende Detektivgeschichte. New Statesman _____ Wann und
wie entwickelte sich das Gehirn unserer fruhen Vorfahren zu einem
menschlichen Gehirn? Wann und wie entstand in der Evolution unsere
Fahigkeit, zu sprechen und Kunstwerke zu schaffen, zu musizieren
und zu tanzen? Die Groesse der sozialen Gruppen, in denen Menschen
heute leben - Angehoerige, Freunde, Bekannte -, betragt ungefahr
150 Personen. Diese "Dunbar-Zahl" liegt etwa dreifach hoeher als
bei Menschenaffen und unseren altesten Vorfahren. Wie die Autoren
dieses bahnbrechenden Buches darlegen, waren die fruhen Menschen im
Kampf ums UEberleben gezwungen, sich zu immer groesseren Gruppen
zusammenzuschliessen und zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen uber weite
Distanzen aufrechtzuerhalten. Sie mussten "im Grossen denken", und
dies wiederum trieb sowohl das Wachstum des menschlichen Gehirns
als auch die Entstehung des menschlichen Geistes voran. Aus dem
gegenseitigen Kraulen der Menschenaffen erwuchs die fur Menschen
kennzeichnende sprachliche Zuwendung. Musik und Tanz verstarkten
die Bindungen zwischen ihnen. Und die Beherrschung des Feuers
verlangerte den Tag fur zwischenmenschliche Aktivitaten. Heute
beherrschen soziale Netzwerke die Welt. Doch erstaunlicherweise
entspricht die Zahl unserer Facebook- oder Twitter-Kontakte im
Mittel der Dunbar-Zahl. Offenbar leben wir immer noch in einer
sozialen Welt, die ihre Wurzeln tief in unserer
Evolutionsvergangenheit hat - am Lagerfeuer, auf der Jagd und in
den Graslandschaften Afrikas.
In this innovative study Clive Gamble presents and questions two of
the most famous descriptions of change in prehistory. The first is
the 'human revolution', when evidence for art, music, religion and
language first appears. The second is the economic and social
revolution of the Neolithic period. Gamble identifies the
historical agendas behind 'origins research' and presents a bold
new alternative to these established frameworks, relating the study
of change to the material basis of human identity. He examines,
through artefact proxies, how changing identities can be understood
using embodied material metaphors and in two major case-studies
charts the prehistory of innovations, asking, did agriculture
really change the social world? This is an important and
challenging book that will be essential reading for every student
and scholar of prehistory.
In this innovative study Clive Gamble presents and questions two of
the most famous descriptions of change in prehistory. The first is
the 'human revolution', when evidence for art, music, religion and
language first appears. The second is the economic and social
revolution of the Neolithic period. Gamble identifies the
historical agendas behind 'origins research' and presents a bold
new alternative to these established frameworks, relating the study
of change to the material basis of human identity. He examines,
through artefact proxies, how changing identities can be understood
using embodied material metaphors and in two major case-studies
charts the prehistory of innovations, asking, did agriculture
really change the social world? This is an important and
challenging book that will be essential reading for every student
and scholar of prehistory.
Examines the spatial dimension of the archaeological framework and
presents a collection of hunter-gatherer and pastoralist case
studies directed towards the problem of understanding how behaviour
is reflected in the distribution of materials in the archaeological
record.
|
You may like...
Tenet
John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, …
DVD
R53
Discovery Miles 530
|