In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins

Chris Stringer; Clive Gamble

ISBN 10: 0500278075 / ISBN 13: 9780500278079

Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1994

About this Item

Type: Book N.B. Small plain label to inside front cover. Crease to rear cover.

Seller Inventory # 054551

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500278075
• ISBN 13: 9780500278079
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published
• Weight: 24 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • ANTHROPOLOGY

About this title

Synopsis

Portrayed as club-wielding cavemen, the Neanderthals have become the archetype of all that is primitive and uncultured. But were the Neanderthals the ancestors of modern humans, or an evolutionary dead end, replaced by fully modern people from Africa? The authors take the latter view in this highly readable book that provides the most up-to-date summary of knowledge about Neanderthals and their world.

From Library Journal

Compared with Erik Trinkhaus and Pat Shipman's The Neandertals ( LJ 12/92), which traces the history of Neanderthal discoveries, this book is more concerned with current interpretations of the fossil record. English anthropologists Stringer and Gamble hope to settle the controversy over the Neanderthals' proper branch on humanity's family tree by taking their case to a general audience. They marshall the evidence in favor of the "Out of Africa 2" scenario, contending that Neanderthal populations in Europe and the Middle East were replaced by a second African migration between 130,000 and 50,000 years ago. Neanderthals, therefore, are not directly ancestral to modern humans. The authors make a strong case for their interpretations, but they offer little more than a caricature of competing theories. Still, this is an important and readable book, with many good illustrations. Recommended for academic and public libraries.
- Eric Hinsdale, Trinity Univ. Lib., San Antonio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.