Prologue
Maps
Introduction
1. Skin and Bones
2. The Molecular Frontier
3. When the going gets tough: climate, change, and environment
4. Dispersal: from Africa to Asia
5. Contact
6. Diversity
7. Catastrophe: the coming of Homo sapiens in Europe
8. Stress, disease, illness and inbreeding
9. In Mammoth country
10. Cold
11. Refuge
12. Hearth and home
13. Let us descend into the sightless world. Palaeolithic cave
art
14. Portable landscapes
15. The mind
16. The world of the dead
17. Into the Americas
18. Domestication
Epilogue
Further reading
An expert palaeoarchaeologist reveals how our understanding of the evolution of our species has been transformed by momentous discoveries and technological advancements
Paul Pettitt is Professor of Palaeolithic Archaeology at Durham University, specializing in the European Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. His research interests focus particularly on the origins of art and the development of treatment of the dead, and he has conducted fieldwork across Europe and further afield.
'An astonishing tale of art and science that goes right to the root
of what it means to be human' - Alice Roberts
'The scope and detail here is sweeping, carrying the reader through
tens of thousands of years. By grace of Pettitt’s long experience
in the field and thorough immersion in the world of the
Palaeolithic, there are a few stunning moments where even the most
astonishing archaeology seems tangible' - Current Archaeology
'An excellent book, written with Paul's signature knowledge and
enthusiasm. It should be required reading for everyone interested
in our origins' - Clive Gamble
'Drawing on his many years of experience with Palaeolithic
archaeology, Paul Pettitt’s expert account of our origins
introduces the reader to the methods used to find out about the
remote past and the complexities involved in interpretating this
data. What comes across is a powerful message: when looking around
you in awe of humanity’s cultural and technological achievements,
bear in mind that, as the old saying goes, we stand on the
shoulders of Ice Age giants' - João Zilhão, ICREA Research
Professor, University of Barcelona
'Powerful … a vivid view of where we have come from and what makes
us who we are' - New Scientist
'Pettitt successfully maintain[s] a convivial ‘over a cup of
coffee’ tone that weights into genetics then swiftly yanks thing
back to a depth a wider audience will find absorbing. … Much has
changed, but as Pettitt shows, many things remain constant – we owe
our distant ancestors a debt of gratitude or the hard yards they
put in' - Geographical
'Grand narratives about the human past are tricky to pull off.
Pettitt presents the complex and fascinating story of how our
species came to be, in a readable series of personal stories
combined with detailed explanations and illustrations of the
archaeological and human fossil record' - British Archaeology
'Pettitt's easy-going narrative style of writing makes his book
highly engaging and eminently readable. A notably accessible work
that does not sacrifice accuracy or succumb to oversimplicity' -
American Journal of Biological Anthropology
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