The Prehistory of Sex: Four Million Years of Human Sexual Culture - Hardcover

Taylor, Timothy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1857023528 ISBN 13: 9781857023527

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 1996

Synopsis

The Prehistory of Sex surveys for the first time, the development of human sexual culture in its entirety, from our remote evolutionary origins through to recent times, on the basis of archaeological evidence.

From cave art to penis sheaths, from the personal tragedies of death in childbirth to the grand symbols of Stonehenge, TimTaylor has assembled and analysed an enormous range of artefacts and written records to produce a remarkable sexual history of mankind, at once rigorous and highly readable. Transvestite priests and Amazon warrier-women are as central to this history as what we have come to regard as sex; familial and societal power relations as important as genes or hormones. Examining the data of four million years, the author has found sexual diversity to be a constant and vital force in human development and argues that sexuality cannot be understood in purely biological terms: culture plays just as important a role. Only by accepting this can we understand how we increased our mental capacities beyond those of the other primates, lost our body hair, and expanded out of Africa to colonize every habitat on earth. A work of profound scholarship and dazzling interpretation, The Prehistory of Sex provides an exhilarating sense of the myriad possibilities sexuality has offered men and women down the millennia and could offer again.

About this title

Synopsis

In prehistory, what idea did early humans have of fatherhood? What did they consider to be attractive physical features? Was a distinction made between heterosexuality and homosexuality? What was their idea of propriety - if they had one? These questions are addressed in this book, using new techniques to examine archaeological remains and evolutionary evidence of the prehistoric way of life. The impact of distinctive physical features of the human species is assessed, and sociological developments are also considered. Looking at prehistory in this way raises questions about our own lives in the late 20th century, and the author discusses fiercly-debated modern questions as to whether sexuality is genetically determined, or whether it is nature or nurture which governs our behaviour. He also considers in detail the biological differences between the sexes, in particular reproduction, and the different selection pressures on the sexes. This study is a survey of the sexuality and sexual politics of human existence.

About the Author

Timothy Taylor is a lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Bradford. His television work includes acting as a researcher on Blood of the British (BBC 1983), and presenting his work on Down to Earth (BBC 1991).

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1857023528
• ISBN 13: 9781857023527
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368