The First Africans: African Archaeology from the Earliest Toolmakers to Most Recent Foragers (Cambridge World Archaeology) - Softcover

Barham, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521612659 ISBN 13: 9780521612654

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Africa has the longest record - some 2.5 million years - of human occupation of any continent. For nearly all of this time, its inhabitants have made tools from stone and have acquired their food from its rich wild plant and animal resources. Archaeological research in Africa is crucial for understanding the origins of humans and the diversity of hunter-gatherer ways of life. This book is a synthesis of the record left by Africa's earliest hominin inhabitants and hunter-gatherers, combining the insights of archaeology with those of other disciplines, such as genetics and palaeo-environmental science. African evidence is critical to important debates, such as the origins of stone tool making, the emergence of recognisably modern forms of cognition and behaviour, and the expansion of successive hominins from Africa to other parts of the world.

About this title

Review:

"...probably the best available survey of prehistoric Africa. Recommended." --Choice

"It is apparent that this book represents an impressive scholarly achievement...Without a doubt this is an important book." --Graham Connah, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Book Description:

Archaeological research in Africa is crucial for understanding the origins of humans and the diversity of hunter-gatherer ways of life. This book is a synthesis of the record left by Africa's earliest hominin inhabitants and hunter-gatherers, combining the insights of archaeology with genetics and palaeo-environmental science.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521612659
• ISBN 13: 9780521612654
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 622