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

Stringer, Christopher and Clive Gamble

ISBN 10: 0500050708 / ISBN 13: 9780500050705

Published by Thames and Hudson, New York, 1993

About this Item

Description: Includes 183 black and white illustrations (maps, drawings and photo plates). The publisher's blurb reads: ''Today Neanderthal specialists are locked in one of the fiercest debates in modern science. One side, the 'multiregional' school, agues that the Neanderthals and their contemporaries elsewhere evolved semi-independently into modern humans. The other side, the 'out of Africa' school, believes that the Neanderthals were an evolutionary dead end, replaced by fully modern people coming ultimately from Africa. The latter camp is led by Christopher Stringer. Here, he sets out his views for the first time in conjunction with the archaeologist Clive Gamble.'' BINDING/CONDITION: dark brown boards with gilt text and decoration; a Very Good+ book, with a Very Good+ dust jacket. appendix, notes, bibliography, index. Small 4to (10.25 inches tall). 247 pages.

Seller Inventory # 055659

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins
• Publisher: Thames and Hudson, New York
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500050708
• ISBN 13: 9780500050705
• Binding: Hardbound
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Anthropology and Archaeology

About this title

Synopsis

A survey of the current anthropological and archeological knowledge about Neanderthals examines their relationship to modern humans

Reviews

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.