The World from Beginnings to 4000 BCE

This book narrates the story of human biological and cultural evolution,from the earliest beginnings of our zoological family Hominidae, through theemergence of Homo sapiens, to the Agricultural Revolution. It concludes with abrief overview of the subsequent diversification of cultural and technologicaltraditions in all the areas our species inhabits. A particular focus is on the pattern of events/innovations in human biologicaland cultural evolution, which have tended not to proceed in lockstep. Prior tothe emergence of Homo sapiens innovations of this kind were generally sporadic,and rare; since that event their frequency has been steadily increasing.Tattersall draws on his own research to demonstrate that the history ofhumankind has not been one of a singleminded struggle from primitiveness toperfection, but has rather been one of trial and error, of evolutionaryexperimentation that as often ended in failure as in success. In the process he thoroughly examines both the fossil and the archaeological records thatdocument our human prehistory. All human beings have a thirst to know where they came from, whether asindividuals or as a species. This book responds to this desire for knowledge,whether in the classroom where the subject has a place in history as well as inscience curricula or in more informal contexts. There currently exist no highschool texts or supplemental readings that treat this subject in anauthoritative manner, written by a practicing scientist in the field. Thisvolume will have the advantage of being written by one whose opinions are firsthand, and conditioned by direct familiarity with the original evidence.

Ian Tattersall is curator at the Anthropology Department of the American Museum of Natural History and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University & CUNY Graduate School