did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

We're the #1 textbook rental company. Let us show you why.

9780131113169

People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory w/CD

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780131113169

  • ISBN10:

    013111316X

  • Edition: 11th
  • Format: Paperback w/CD
  • Copyright: 2004-01-01
  • Publisher: Prentice Hall
  • View Upgraded Edition
  • Purchase Benefits
  • Free Shipping Icon Free Shipping On Orders Over $35!
    Your order must be $35 or more to qualify for free economy shipping. Bulk sales, PO's, Marketplace items, eBooks and apparel do not qualify for this offer.
  • eCampus.com Logo Get Rewarded for Ordering Your Textbooks! Enroll Now
List Price: $91.00

Summary

Taking readers on a fascinating journey through the 7-million-year-old landscape of the human past, this internationally renowned book provides a narrative account of human prehistory from the earliest times up to the earliest civilizations.Written in a jargon-free, easily accessible style, the Eleventh Edition is designed to show how today's diverse humanity developed biologically and culturally over millions of years against a background of constant climatic change. Exploring all areas of the world evenly and covering all periods of prehistory from human origins to the appearance of literate civilizations, this book highlights recent discoveries, new archaeological methodologies, and the latest theories of human biological and cultural evolution.For professionals with a career or interest in anthropology, archaeology, history, sociology, or education.

Table of Contents

Preface xx
Author's Note xxiv
About the Author xxv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING WORLD PREHISTORY 2(27)
Archaeology and Prehistory
5(2)
The Beginnings of World Prehistory
7(3)
Site: A Roman Garrison at Vindolanda, England
8(2)
Who Needs the Past?
10(4)
Cyclical and Linear Time
10(2)
Science: Dating the Past
12(18)
Written Records, Oral Traditions, and Archaeology
12(2)
Studying Culture and Culture Change
14(2)
Primary Cultural Processes
16(1)
Theoretical Approaches: Culture as Adaptation
16(3)
Climatic Change
16(1)
Culture as Adaptation
17(1)
Cultural Evolution and Cultural Ecology
17(1)
Multilinear Evolution: Prestate and State-Organized Societies
18(1)
Theoretical Approaches: Evolutionary Ecology and Hunter-Gatherers
19(2)
Evolutionary Ecology and Optimal Foraging Strategy
20(1)
Theoretical Approaches: People as Agents of Change
21(5)
External and Internal Constraints
21(1)
Interactions
22(1)
Gender: Men and Women
22(1)
Trade and Exchange
23(1)
Ideologies and Beliefs
24(2)
Summary
26(1)
Key Terms
26(2)
Guide to Further Reading
28(1)
PART I BEGINNINGS 29(82)
7 MILLION TO 40,000 YEARS AGO
CHAPTER 2 HUMAN ORIGINS
30(40)
7 MILLION TO 1.9 MILLION YEARS AGO
The Great Ice Age
31(3)
The Origins of the Human Line
34(1)
Aegyptopithecus
34(1)
Miocene Primates
35(2)
Molecular Biology and Human Evolution
37(2)
The Ecological Problems Faced by Early Hominids
39(1)
Adaptive Problems
39(2)
Dating the Past: Potassium-Argon Dating
41(1)
Fossil Evidence: 7 to 3 MYA
42(1)
Toumaï: Sahelanthropus tchadensis
42(1)
Ardipithecus ramidus
44(1)
Australopithecus anamensis
45(1)
Australopithecus afarensis
45(1)
Laetoli: Footprints of A. afarensis
46(1)
Fossil Evidence: 3 to 2.5 MYA
46(1)
Gracile Australopithecines: Australopithecus africanus
47(1)
Robust Australopithecines: A. aethiopicus, A. boisei, and A. robustus
47(1)
Australopithecus garhi
47(2)
Early Homo: 2.5 to 2.0 MYA
49(1)
Homo habilis
49(1)
A Burst of Rapid Change?
50(1)
Who Was the First Human?
50(1)
Site: Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, East Africa
52(1)
Archaeological Evidence for Early Human Behavior
53(1)
Evidence for "Central Places"?
54(1)
Hunting and Scavenging
56(1)
Plant Foraging and the Early Hominids
59(1)
Toolmaking
59(1)
The Oldowan Industry
60(3)
The Mind of the Earliest Humans
63(2)
The Development of Language
65(2)
Social Organization
67(1)
Summary
68(1)
Key Terms
68(1)
Guide to Further Reading
69(1)
CHAPTER 3 HOMO ERECTUS AND HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS
70(42)
1.9 MILLION TO 40,000 YEARS AGO
Pleistocene Background
71(1)
Lower Pleistocene (1.6 Million to c. 780,000 Years Ago)
72(1)
Middle Pleistocene (c. 780,000 to 128,000 Years Ago)
74(1)
Homo erectus
75(1)
Homo erectus in Africa
75(1)
The Radiation of Homo erectus
76(1)
Fire
79(1)
Homo erectus in Asia
79(1)
Southeast Asia
79(1)
China
80(1)
Early Asian Technology
81(1)
The Settlement of Temperate Latitudes
82(1)
Earliest Human Settlement in Southwest Asia and Europe
83(1)
Southwest Asia
83(1)
Europe
83(1)
The Technology Used by Homo erectus
84(1)
Hand Axes and Other Tools
85(1)
Hand Axes and the Evolution of the Human Mind
87(2)
Evidence for Behavior: Boxgrove and Torralba
89(1)
Site: Boxgrove, England
90(2)
Language
92(1)
Archaic Homo sapiens in Europe: The Neanderthals
92(1)
Dating the Past: Radiocarbon Dating
93(3)
A More Complex Technology
96(1)
Levallois and Disk-Core-Reduction Strategies
97(1)
Tool Forms and Variability
97(1)
The Mousterian Debate
100(1)
The Origins of Burial and Religious Belief
100(1)
The Origins of Modern Humans
101(1)
Continuity or Replacement?
101(1)
Homo sapiens in Africa
103(1)
Molecular Biology and Homo sapiens
104(1)
Ecology and Homo sapiens
106(1)
The Spread of Homo sapiens
107(1)
The Issue of Cognitive Ability
107(1)
Homo sapiens in East Asia
107(1)
Summary
108(1)
Key Terms
109(1)
Guide to Further Reading
109(2)
PART II THE GREAT DIASPORA: THE SPREAD OF MODERN HUMANS 111(102)
45,000 YEARS AGO TO MODERN TIMES
CHAPTER 4 EUROPE AND EURASIA
112(30)
c. 40,000 TO 8000 B.C.
The Upper Pleistocene (c. 126,000 Years Ago to 8000 B.C.)
113(4)
Modern Humans in Southwest Asia
117(1)
The Upper Paleolithic Transition
118(1)
A Cultural Explosion?
119(1)
Modern Humans in Europe
120(2)
European Hunter-Gatherers (45,000 Years Ago to 8000 B.C.)
122(1)
Settlement Strategies and Lifeways
123(1)
Social Life and Group Size
125(1)
Upper Paleolithic Art
126(1)
Site: Grotte de Chauvet, prance
127(1)
Paintings and Engravings
128(1)
Explaining Upper Paleolithic Art
131(2)
Human Settlement in Eurasia (35,000 to 15,000 Years Ago)
133(3)
Siberia (?33,000 to 13,000 Years Ago)
136(1)
D'uktai and the Settlement of Far Northeast Asia
138(1)
Bifaces, Microblades, and the First Americans
138(2)
Summary
140(1)
Key Terms
140(1)
Guide to Further Reading
141(1)
CHAPTER 5 THE FIRST AMERICANS
142(30)
?14,000 B.C. TO MODERN TIMES
The First Settlement of the Americas
143(3)
Ice Sheets and the Bering Land Bridge
146(1)
The First Settlement of Alaska
147(2)
Biological and Linguistic Evidence for the First Americans
149(2)
The Earliest Sites South of the Ice Sheets
151(1)
Settlement Routes: Ice-Free Corridors and Seacoasts
151(1)
Late Wisconsin Settlement in North America?
152(1)
Central and South America?
152(1)
A Scenario for First Settlement
153(1)
The Paleo-Indians: Clovis
154(3)
Big-Game Extinctions
157(1)
Later Hunters and Gatherers
158(1)
Plains Hunters
159(1)
The Desert West
160(3)
Eastern North America
163(1)
Site: Koster, Illinois
166(2)
Specialized Foraging Societies in Central and South America
168(1)
Aleuts and Inuit (Eskimo)
168(2)
Summary
170(1)
Guide to Further Reading
170(2)
CHAPTER 6 AFRICANS AND AUSTRALIANS
172(18)
45,000 YEARS AGO TO MODERN TIMES
African Hunter-Gatherers, Past and Present
173(1)
Site: Gwisho Hot Springs, Zambia, Central Africa
177(2)
Sunda and Sahul: The First Settlement of Island Southeast Asia
179(2)
New Guinea and Adjacent Islands
181(2)
Australia
183(2)
Ice Age Wallaby Hunters in Tasmania
185(1)
Later Australian Cultures
186(2)
Summary,
188(1)
Guide to Further Reading
189(1)
CHAPTER 7 INTENSIFICATION AND COMPLEXITY
190(24)
BEFORE 10,000 B.C. TO MODERN TIMES
The Holocene (After 10,000 B.C.)
191(4)
Coping with Environmental Variation
195(5)
Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers in Europe
200(1)
Site: Star Carr, England
202(2)
Mesolithic Complexity in Scandinavia
204(1)
The Maglemose Period (7500 to 5700 B.C.)
204(1)
The Kongemose Period (5700 to 4600 B.C.)
204(1)
The Ertebølle Period (4600 to 3200 B.C.)
205(2)
Hunter-Gatherer Complexity
207(1)
Conditions for Greater Complexity
207(1)
Attributes of Greater Complexity
207(1)
Debates About Social Complexity
208(1)
Hunter-Gatherer Societies in Southwest Asia
208(3)
Summary
211(1)
Key Terms
212(1)
Guide to Further Reading
212(1)
PART III FIRST FARMERS 213(120)
c.10,000 B.C. TO MODERN TIMES
CHAPTER 8 A PLENTEOUS HARVEST: THE ORIGINS
214(20)
Theories About the Origins of Food Production
215(1)
Early Hypotheses
215(1)
Multivariate Theories
216(2)
Site: Guilá Naquitz, Mexico
218(2)
Differing Dates for Food Production
220(1)
Studying Early Food Production
221(1)
Why Did Food Production Take Hold So late?
221(1)
Dating the Past: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Radiocarbon Dating
222(1)
Consequences of Food Production
223(2)
Nutrition and Early Food Production
225(1)
Herding: Domestication of Animals
225(2)
Plant Cultivation
227(1)
Technology and Domestication
228(5)
Summary
233(1)
Key Terms
233(1)
Guide to Further Reading
233(1)
CHAPTER 9 THE ORIGINS OF FOOD PRODUCTION IN SOUTHWEST ASIA
234(16)
A Scenario for Early Agriculture
235(3)
The First Farmers: Netiv Hagdud, Abu Hureyra, and Jericho
238(1)
Netiv Hagdud
238(1)
Abu Hureyra
238(1)
Jericho
240(2)
Site: Men's and Women's Work at Abu Hureyra, Syria
242(1)
Diverse Farming Economies and Trade
242(1)
The Zagros and Mesopotamia
243(1)
Zawi Chemi Shanidar
243(1)
Ganj Dareh
244(1)
Jarmo
244(1)
Ali Kosh and the Lowlands
244(1)
Anatolia
244(1)
Çayönü
245(1)
Haçilar
245(1)
Çatalhöyiik
245(2)
Two Stages of Farming Development
247(1)
Summary
248(1)
Key Terms
248(1)
Guide to Further Reading
248(2)
CHAPTER 10 THE FIRST EUROPEAN FARMERS
250(18)
Mesolithic Prelude
251(2)
The Transition to Farming in Europe
253(1)
Farming in Greece and Southern Europe
254(1)
The Spread of Agriculture into Temperate Europe
255(1)
The Balkans
257(1)
Bandkeramik Cultures
257(1)
Frontiers and Transitions
258(1)
Social Changes, Lineages, and the Individual
259(2)
The Introduction of the Plow
261(1)
Plains Farmers: Tripolye
261(1)
Mediterranean and Western Europe
262(2)
The Megaliths
264(1)
Site: Easton Down and the Avebury Landscape
266(1)
Summary
267(1)
Key Terms
267(1)
Guide to Further Reading
267(1)
CHAPTER 11 FIRST FARMERS IN EGYPT AND TROPICAL AFRICA
268(10)
Hunter-Gatherers on the Nile
269(2)
Agricultural Origins Along the Nile
271(2)
Saharan Pastoralists
273(2)
Early Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa
275(1)
Summary
276(1)
Key Terms
276(1)
Guide to Further Reading
277(1)
CHAPTER 12 ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: RICE, ROOTS, AND OCEAN VOYAGES
278(22)
The Origins of Rice Cultivation
279(1)
Early Farming in China
280(1)
Southern and Eastern China
280(1)
Northern China
282(3)
Jomon and Early Agriculture in Japan
285(2)
Early Agriculture in Southeast Asia
287(1)
Site: The Princess of Khok Phanom Di, Thailand
288(1)
Rice and Root Cultivation in Island Southeast Asia
289(2)
Agriculture in the Pacific Islands
291(1)
The Lapita Cultural Complex and the Settlement of Melanesia and Western Polynesia
291(2)
Long-Distance Voyaging in the Pacific
293(1)
Science: Indigenous Pacific Navigation
294(1)
The Settlement of Micronesia and Eastern Polynesia
294(1)
The Settlement of New Zealand
296(2)
Summary
298(1)
Guide to Further Reading
298(2)
CHAPTER 13 THE STORY OF MAIZE: EARLY FARMERS IN THE AMERICAS
300(34)
The First Plant Domestication
303(1)
The Origins of Maize Agriculture
303(1)
Beans and Squash
307(1)
Early Food Production in the Andes
307(1)
The Highlands
307(1)
The Peruvian Coast
308(3)
Early Farmers in Southwestern North America
311(1)
Hohokam
313(1)
Mogollon
314(1)
Ancestral Pueblo
315(1)
Site: The Chaco Phenomenon
316(3)
Preagricultural and Agricultural Societies in Eastern North America
319(1)
Moundbuilder Cultures
320(1)
Adena
321(1)
Hopewell
322(1)
Mississippiaa
324(7)
Summary
331(1)
Key Term
331(1)
Guide to Further Reading
331(2)
PART IV OLD WORLD CIVILIZATIONS 333(146)
c. 3000 B.C. TO MODERN TIMES
CHAPTER 14 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION
334(20)
Civilization
335(1)
Cities
336(2)
Six Classic Theories of the Emergence of States
338(1)
1. V Gordon Childe and the "Urban Revolution"
338(1)
2. Ecology and Irrigation
339(1)
3. Technology and Trade
341(1)
4. Warfare
343(1)
5. Cultural Systems and Civilization
344(1)
6. Environmental Change
345(1)
Social Theories
346(1)
Power in Three Domains
346(2)
Site: The Lord of Sicán at Huaca Loro, Peru
348(1)
Chiefly Cycling: Processes and Agents
349(2)
The Collapse of Civilizations
351(1)
Summary
352(1)
Key Terms
353(1)
Guide to Further Reading
353(1)
CHAPTER 15 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS IN SOUTHWEST ASIA
354(20)
Upland Villages
357(3)
Settlement of the Lowlands
360(1)
Environmental Change
360(1)
Archaeological Evidence
360(1)
Uruk: The Mesopotamian City
361(1)
Site: The Temple at Eridu, Iraq
362(3)
Sumerian Civilization
365(2)
Exchange on the Iranian Plateau
367(2)
The Widening of Political Authority
369(2)
The Akkadians
371(1)
Babylon
371(1)
The Assyrians
371(2)
Summary
373(1)
Guide to Further Reading
373(1)
CHAPTER 16 EGYPT, NUBIA, AND AFRICA
374(34)
The Origins of the Egyptian State
375(1)
Ancient Monopoly?
375(1)
Nagada, Nekhen, and Maadi
377(1)
Writing
381(1)
A Scenario for Unification
381(1)
Intensification of Agriculture and Irrigation
382(1)
Archaic Egypt and the Creation of the Great Culture (2920 to 2575 B.C.)
383(2)
The Old Kingdom and the Pyramids (c. 2575 to 2180 B.C.)
385(1)
Site: The Step Pyramid at Saggana, Egypt
386(2)
The Egyptian State
388(1)
The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom (2180 to 1640 B.C.)
389(2)
The Second Intermediate Period (1640 to 1530 B.C.)
391(1)
The New Kingdom (1530 to 1070 B.C.)
391(1)
Thebes: The "Estate of Amun"
392(1)
Mummies and Mummification
393(1)
Amarna and Akhenaten
394(1)
The Restoration of Amun
395(1)
The Late Period (1070 to 332 B.C.)
395(1)
Egypt and Africa
396(1)
Nubia: The Land of Kush
397(1)
Meroe and Aksuro
398(2)
North Africa
400(1)
Jenne-jeno and the Rise of African States
401(1)
Ghana
402(1)
Mali
403(1)
Songhav
403(1)
Farmers and Traders in Eastern and Southern Africa
403(1)
Towns and Trade on the East African Coast
404(1)
Great Zimbabwe
405(1)
Europe and Africa
406(1)
Summary
407(1)
Guide to further Reading
407(1)
CHAPTER 17 THE EARLY STATES IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
408(22)
Roots of South Asian Civilization
410(1)
Highlands and Lowlands: The Kulli Complex
411(2)
A Rapid Transition
413(1)
Mature Harappan Civilization
413(1)
Who Were the Harappans?
416(1)
Harappan Beliefs
418(1)
South Asia After the Harappans
418(3)
Southeast Asian States
421(1)
Dong Son
422(1)
Trade and Kingdoms
422(1)
The Rise of the God-Kings
425(1)
The Angkor State (A.D. 802 to 1430)
425(1)
Site: Angkor Wat, Cambodia
426(3)
Summary
429(1)
Guide to Further Reading
429(1)
CHAPTER 18 EARLY CHINESE CIVILIZATION
430(12)
The Origins of Chinese Civilization
431(1)
Longshan and Liangzhu
433(1)
Shoulder Blades and Oracles
434(1)
Xia and Shang
435(1)
Capitals and Sepulchers
435(1)
The Shang Royal Burials
436(1)
The Bronze Smiths
437(1)
The Warlords
438(1)
Site: The Burial Mound of Emperor Shihuangdi, China
439(1)
Summary
440(1)
Guide to Further Reading
440(2)
CHAPTER 19 HITTITES, MINOANS, AND MYCENAEANS
442(20)
Early Towns in Anatolia
443(2)
Balance of Power: The Hittites
445(3)
The Sea Peoples and the Rise of Israel
448(1)
The Phoenicians
448(1)
The Aegean and Greece
449(1)
The Minoans
450(3)
The Mycenaeans
453(3)
Greek City-States After Mycenae
456(1)
Site: The Mycenaean Shrine at Phylakopi, Melos Island, Greece
457(1)
The Etruscans and the Romans
458(1)
The Etruscans
458(1)
The Romans
459(1)
Summary
460(1)
Guide to Further Reading
460(2)
CHAPTER 20 EUROPE BEFORE THE ROMANS
462(18)
Early Copper Working
463(2)
Battle Axes and Beakers
465(1)
Site. Ötzi the Iceman, Similaun Glacier, Italian Alps
467(1)
The European Bronze Age
468(3)
Bronze Age Warriors
471(1)
The Scythians and Other Steppe Peoples
472(2)
The First Ironworking
474(1)
The Hallstatt Culture
475(1)
La Tène Culture
475(1)
Summary
476(1)
Guide to Further Reading
477(2)
PART V NATIVE AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS 479(67)
2000 B.C. TO A.D.
.1534
CHAPTER 21 MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
480(36)
Village Farming
481(3)
Preclassic Peoples in Mesoamerica
484(1)
Early Preclassic
484(1)
Middle Preclassic: The Olmec
484(1)
Late Preclassic
487(1)
The Rise of Complex Society in Oaxaca
487(2)
Monte Albán
489(1)
Teotihuacán
490(3)
Maya Civilization
493(1)
Maya Origins
493(1)
Kingship: Sacred Space and Time
495(1)
Political Organization
498(1)
Classic and Late Classic Maya Political History
500(5)
Site: Architecture as a Political Statement: The Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copán, Honduras
505(1)
The Ninth-Century Collapse
506(2)
The Toltecs
508(3)
Aztec Civilization and the Spanish Conquest
511(4)
Summary
515(1)
Guide to Further Reading
515(1)
CHAPTER 22 ANDEAN STATES
516(30)
The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization
519(2)
Coastal Foundations: The Initial Period
521(1)
Carat
521(1)
Initial Period Centers
522(3)
The Early Horizon and Chavin de Huántar
525(2)
Paracas: Textiles and Coastal Prehistory
527(2)
Complex Society in the Southern Highlands: Chiripa and Pukana
529(1)
The Early Intermediate Period
529(1)
The Moche State
530(1)
Site: The Lords of Sipán, Peru
531(4)
The Middle Horizon: Tiwanaku and Wani
535(1)
Tiwanaku
535(1)
Wani
537(1)
The Late Intermediate Period: Sicán and Chimor
537(2)
The Late Horizon: The Inca State
539(4)
The Spanish Conquest (1532 to 1534)
543(1)
Summary
544(1)
Guide to Further Reading
545(1)
Glossary of Cultures and Sites 546(8)
Bibliography of World Prehistory 554(23)
Credits 577(3)
Index 580

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Excerpts

GOLDEN PHARAOHS, LOST CITIES, GRINNING HUMAN skeletons--archaeology is the stuff of romance and legend. Many people still think of archaeologists as adventurers and treasure hunters, like Indiana Jones of Hollywood movie fame seeking the elusive Holy Grail. This enduring image goes back to the late nineteenth century, when archaeologists like Heinrich Schliemann of Troy fame could still find lost civilizations and excavate three royal palaces in a week. Today, few, if any, archaeologists behave like Indiana Jones. They are scientists, not adventurers, as comfortable in an air-conditioned laboratory as they are on a remote excavation. The development of scientific archaeology from its Victorian beginnings ranks among the greatest triumphs of twentieth-century science. Archaeology has changed our perceptions of ourselves in profound ways, giving us a better understanding of our biological and cultural diversity. Welcome to the fascinating world of archaeology! The eleventh edition ofPeople of the Earthcomes at a time when new discoveries and archaeological methodologies are deeply affecting our understanding of the human past. This edition continues a more-than-30-year tradition of clear, jargon-free writing for the beginning student, the incorporation of the latest scholarship, and an accessible (five-part) organization of the story of world prehistory. This time, I have added both valuable new content and effective new pedagogy to what has always been a straightforward narrative. But the basic objective remains the same: to provide an interesting journey through the 7-million-year-old landscape of the human past. At the same time, the book attempts to achieve geographic balance, giving equal time to both well-trodden and less-well-known parts of the world. Any world prehistory that does otherwise is presenting a skewed picture of the human past.People of the Earthis an adventure in archaeology. I hope you enjoy your sojourn in its pages. Writing a straightforward narrative of human prehistory is a mammoth task, especially at a time when a torrent of new literature about archaeological discoveries around the world is revolutionizing our knowledge of the remote past. We are well beyond the point where a single author can possibly hope to keep up with every new find and intellectual development in world archaeology, but I have done my best, while trying to keep the narrative as simple and uncluttered as possible. The past five years alone have witnessed remarkable discoveries, among them new early fossil hominids from East Africa, major changes in our understanding of the evolution of modern humans, new perceptions of the beginnings of farming, and a revolution in our knowledge of short-term climatic change in the past. I Changes in the Eleventh Edition Our knowledge of world prehistory increases constantly, mostly in fits and starts, but occasionally in a dramatic way, when new fossil discoveries in Chad, in the Sahara Desert, rewrite an entire chapter of early human evolution, or the decipherment of Maya script adds a new dimension to our understanding of an early civilization. For the most part, however, the changes are relatively small and undramatic. The eleventh edition reflects a combination of a few major discoveries, like the 7-million-year-old mysterious primateSahelanthropus tchadensisin Chad, with numerous less spectacular, but nevertheless important, advances like new data on the origins of wheat in Turkey, new insights into the date of the famous Ice Man in the Italian Alps, and so on. Following reviewer suggestions, I have retained the same basic organization of the book for this edition. Chapter 1 introduces world prehistory and discusses new perceptions of the subject derived from new perspectives on the past. We survey alternative perspectives on the past and outline some of the important theoretical frameworks that influence our thin

Rewards Program