From Lucy to Language : Revised, Updated, and Expanded

by Johanson, Donald; Edgar, Blake; Brill, David

• ISBN13: 9780743280648
• ISBN10: 0743280644
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-17
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

In 1974 in a remote region of Ethiopia, Donald Johanson, then one of America's most promising young paleoanthropologists, discovered "Lucy", the oldest, best preserved skeleton of any erect-walking human ever found. This discovery prompted a complete reevaluation of previous evidence for human origins.In the years since this dramatic discovery Johanson has continued to scour East Africa's Great rift Valley for the earliest evidence of human origins. In 1975 this team unearthed the "First Family", an unparalleled fossil assemblage of 13 individuals dating back to 3.2 million years ago; and in 1986 at the Rift's most famous location, Olduvai Gorge, this same team discovered a 1.8 million-year-old partial adult skeleton that necessitated a reassessment of the earliest members of our own genusHomo.Johanson's fieldwork continues unabated and recently more fossil members of Lucy's family have been found, including the 1992 discovery of the oldest, most complete skull of her species, with future research now planned for 1996 in the virtually unexplored regions of the most northern extension of the Rift Valley in Eritrea.From Lucy to Languageis a summing up of this remarkable career and a stunning documentary of human life through time on Earth. It is a combination of the vital experience of field work and the intellectual rigor of primary research. It is the fusion of two great writing talents: Johanson and Blake Edgar, an accomplished science writer, editor of the California Academy of Sciences'Pacific Discovery,and co-author of Johanson's last book,Ancestors.From Lucy to Languageis one of the greatest stories ever told, bracketing the timeline between bipedalism and human language. Part I addresses the central issues facing anyone seeking to decipher the mystery of human origins. In this section the authors provide answers to the basics -- "What are our closest living relatives?" -- tackle the controversial -- "What is race?" -- and contemplate the imponderables -- "Why did consciousness evolve?"From Lucy to Languageis an encounter with the evidence. Early human fossils are hunted, discovered, identified, excavated, collected, preserved, labeled, cleaned, reconstructed, drawn, fondled, photographed, cast, compared, measured, revered, pondered, published, and argued over endlessly. Fossils like Lucy have become a talisman of sorts, promising to reveal the deepest secrets of our existence. In Part II the authors profile over fifty of the most significant early human fossils ever found. Each specimen is displayed in color and at actual size, most of them in multiple views. With them the authors present the cultural accoutrements associated with the fossils: stone tools which evidence increasing sophistication over time, the earliest stone, clay, and ivory art objects, and the culminating achievement of the dawn of human consciousness -- the magnificent rock and cave paintings of Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.In the endFrom Lucy to Languageis a reminder and a challenge. Like no species before us, we now seem poised to control vast parts of the planet and its life. We possess the power to influence, if not govern, evolution. For that reason, we must not forget our link to the natural world and our debt to natural selection. We need to "think deep", to add a dose of geologic time and evolutionary history to our perspective of who we are, where we came from, and where we are headed. This is the most poignant lesson this book has to offer.

Author Biography

David Brill is the world's foremost photographer of hominid fossils.

Table of Contents

Contents

Central Issues of Paleoanthropology

What is a Human?

The Human Creature

The Quest for Origins

Is Human Evolution Different?

Evidence

The Science of Paleoanthropology

The Early Human Fossil Record

Discovering Early Human Fossil Sites

Recovering the Remains of Early Humans

Dating Fossils and Artifacts

Climate and Human Evolution

Teeth

Proteins, DNA, and Human Evolution

Why is Paleoanthropology So Contentious?

Ancestors

Our Closest Living Relatives

The Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans

Drawing the Human Family Tree

Lineages

African Genesis

Early vs

Modern Humans

Eve, and Adam

The Earliest Fossil Evidence of Anatomically Modern Humans

Migration

Out of Africa

The First Americans

Peopling the Globe

Diversity

Defining Human Species

Co-Existing Human Species

Human Diversity Today

What Is Race?

Anatomy

The Size of Early Humans

Sexual Dimorphism

Gestation

Maturation

Evolution of the Human Brain

Reconstructing the Appearance of Early Humans

Society

Primate Societies and Early Human Social Behavior

Bipedalism

Evidence for Bipedalism

The Origins of Bipedalism

Tools

The Oldest Stone Tools

Customs

Hunters, Gatherers, or Scavengers?

Diet

Cannibalism

Fire

Shelter

Clothing

Culture

Burial

Art

The Origins of Language

Imponderables

The Problem of Consciousness

Will Humans Become Extinct?

Place of Humans in Nature

Encountering the Evidence

Ardipithecus ramidus ARA-VP-6/129, Juvenile Partial mandible

Australopithecines

Australopithecus anamensis,KNM-KP 29281

Adult mandible

Australopithecus afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 288-1

Lucy, Partial adult skeleton

Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 333

Fragments of thirteen individuals

Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 444-2 Adult cranium

Australopithecus afarensis,A.L. 129-1a+1b Adult female knee joint

Australopithecus afarensis,L.H. 4

Adult mandible Fossil hominid footprints

Australopithecus africanus

Australopithecus africanus,Sts 5, Mrs Ples, Adult cranium

Australopithecus africanus,Sts 14, Partial adult skeleton

Australopithecus africanus,Sts 71 and Sts 36, Adult cranium and mandible

Australopithecus africanus,Taung Child, Juvenile skull

Australopithecus africanus,TM 1517, Adult partial cranium and mandible

Australopithecussp., Stw 252, Adult cranium

Australopithecus robustus

Australopithecus robustus,SK 6, Adolescent mandible

SK 48, Adult cranium

SK 48, Adult cranium

SK 79, Adult cranium

Australopithecus aethiopicus

Australopithecus aethiopicus,KNM-WT 17000, Black Skull, Adult cranium

Australopithecus boisei

Australopithecus boisei,OH 5, Zinj, Adult cranium

Australopithecus boisei,KNM-ER 406, Adult male cranium

KNM-ER 732, Adult female cranium

Homo

Homosp., A.L. 666-1, Adult maxilla

Homo habilis

Homo habilis,OH 7, Juvenile male partial skeleton

Homo habilis,OH 24, Adult female cranium

Homo habilis,KNM-ER 1813, Adult cranium

Homo habilis,OH 62, Partial adult skeleton

Homo rudolfensis

Homo rudolfensis,KNM-ER 1470, Adult cranium

Homo ergaster

Homo ergaster,KNM-ER 3733, Adult cranium

Homo ergaster,KNM-WT 1500, Juvenile male skeleton

Homo ergaster,SK 847, Partial adult cranium

Homo erectus

Homo erectus,Trinil 2, Java Man, Adult partial cranium

Homo erectus,Peking Man, Adult skull reconstruction

Homo erectus,Sangiran 17, Adult male cranium

Homo heidelbergensis

Homo heidelbergensis,Bodo cranium, Adult cranium

Homo

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