Book Description
Generations after generations have been living and dying on this planet for millions and millions of years. These ancestors have built societies, created cultures, and produced technologies. Yet many questions still remain about our ancestry and what relevance, if any, these past cultures hold for us. Patterns in Prehistory takes an in-depth look at humankind's first three million years. From the origins of early hominids several million years ago to the evolution of the first great states and civilizations, this comprehensive survey of world prehistory also confronts important philosophical issues about the study of the past. The author reflects on the archaeological methods and theories of the 1960s and 70s while reviewing the methodological revisions of the 80s and 90s, relating the archaeological data from hundreds of sites to the great questions of prehistorical change. He focuses on the four great transformations in the history of our genus: the evolution of culture itself; the first appearance of us, Homo Sapiens; the evolution of agriculture; and the first appearances of cultural and social complexity in the form of the great civilizations of antiquity. Thoroughly revised and updated, this fourth edition incorporates the most recent archaeological discoveries and addresses the insights and limitations of the new wave of "post-processual" or "cognitive" archaeology. It incorporates the latest research, particularly the new discoveries in Mesoamerican sites, Peru, southwest Asia, and Egypt, as well as new scholarship and theories on the origins of complex societies. Wenke also places more emphasis on gender, race, ideology, and religion. Ideal for courses in world prehistory and archeology, this new edition has been shortened to be more accessible to students.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive and Well-Written.......2002-06-09
I found myself listening to people whine and complain about the detail that Wenke goes into when discussing a topic. As compared to a textbook such as Fagan's 'People of The Earth', 'Patterns in Prehistory' certainly is rather long-winded in some regards. When cramming for a test, it might not be the best, yet I thouroughly enjoyed reading through it. It feels as though you are having a discussion with Mr. Wenke himself, not trudging through the required reading before a lecture. It's the kind of textbook you take with you to a comfortable chair and read leisurely, not one with which you come armed with highliter, expecting helpful 'test terms' and colorful pictures. I'm glad I was able to use this textbook as opposed to Fagan (which I've glanced over). I feel that I have come away with a much better understanding than those who failed to get past the small print and long chapters. And compared to other textbooks, it's a steal pricewise. Mr. Wenke is an excellent writer with an obvious passion for his field, I thank him for a solid read.
Good, but not great........2000-08-18
This is a suitable textbook for an introductory class on world prehistory. Comrehensive in scope, it goesd from australopithecus to the pre-contact in the New World. Wenke's writing is simple and straightforward, so even generalists with no archaeological background will be able to follow easily. The writing is even occasionally enlivened with Wenke's oft-present sardonic wit, although this falls flat a lot of the time. However, the sheer timespan covered by this text prevents it from going into any interesting detail, leaving the surface barely scratched. While easy to read, it's of less use, the further up one goes in the field of archaeology. It's also rather difficult to take notes from, and contains pages of daunting, unbroken texts. Some neat charts to break up the flow would help students. Perhaps because I have gone beyond this level now, I'm an arky snob, but I was less than impressed with this book.
Book Description
A groundbreaking introductory world prehistory textbook that presents the vast panorama of human social, cultural, and economic development over three million years.
Unlike other books on prehistory, The Human Past recognizes that the wealth of archaeological research is now too great to be competently within the grasp of a single expert. Here a team of leading archaeologists from North America, Europe, and Australasia, well-known specialists in their fields, provide a seamless, authoritative account of human prehistory.
The Human Past highlights the enormous diversity of human experience and the ways in which archaeologists are able to learn about it. It provides an introductory account that takes the student through the human past on a regional and chronological framework, focusing as much on the archaeology of the everyday as on the spectacular and unusual. The text is accompanied by hundreds of specially commissioned diagrams and photographs, many in full color, that illustrate key sites, artifacts, and regions, as well as clear timelines and maps for each chapter.
The most thorough yet accessible introduction ever published, the book can be used either as a single core text or in combination with other readings. 700 illustrations, 500 in color.
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The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC
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The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC
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The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 2, Part 2: The Middle East and the Aegean Region, c.1380-1000 BC
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The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC
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The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 1, Part 2: Early History of the Middle East
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The Cambridge Ancient History: Plates to Volume 3 (The Cambridge Ancient History Plates)
ASIN: 0521224969 |
Book Description
Volume III of The Cambridge Ancient History was first published in 1925 in one volume. The new edition has expanded to such an extent, owing to the immense amount of new information now available, that it has had to be divided into three parts. Volume III Part 1 opens with a survey of the Balkans north of Greece in the Prehistoric period. This is the first time such a survey has been published of this area which besides its intrinsic interest is important for its influence on the cultures of the Aegean and Anatolia. The rest of the book is devoted to the tenth to the eigth centuries B. C. In Greece and the Aegean the main theme is the gradual regeneration from the Dark Age and the emergence of a society in which can be seen the beginnings of the city-state. During the same period in Western Asia and the Middle East the Kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia rise to power, the Urartians appear, and in Palestine the kingdoms of Israel and Judah flourish. In Egypt the country’s fortunes revive briefly under Shoshenq I. The final chapter in this part deals with the languages of Greece and the Balkans and with the invention and spread of alphabetic writing.
Book Description
Shaped by cartoons and museum dioramas, our vision of Paleolithic times tends to feature fur-clad male hunters fearlessly attacking mammoths while timid women hover fearfully behind a boulder. In fact, recent research has shown that this vision bears little relation to reality.
The field of archaeology has changed dramatically in the past two decades, as women have challenged their male colleagues' exclusive focus on hard artifacts such as spear points rather than tougher to find evidence of women's work. J. M. Adovasio and Olga Soffer are two of the world's leading experts on perishable artifacts such as basketry, cordage, and weaving. In The Invisible Sex, the authors present an exciting new look at prehistory, arguing that women invented all kinds of critical materials, including the clothing necessary for life in colder climates, the ropes used to make rafts that enabled long-distance travel by water, and nets used for communal hunting. Even more important, women played a central role in the development of language and social life—in short, in our becoming human. In this eye-opening book, a new story about women in prehistory emerges with provocative implications for our assumptions about gender today.
Customer Reviews:
Absurd error on Indo-European languages.......2007-09-21
Why can't these pop science writers at least try to avoid inserting egregious errors? Towards the end of this book the authors actually say that "linguists and geneticists are coming to the conclusion that the Anatolian hypothesis is correct," and that a 6500 B.C. date for Proto-Indo-European "accords better with the linguistic dating"! That is precisely the opposite of the case. The Anatolian hypothesis is, as Mallory put it, the wrong place at the wrong time. On linguistic grounds it doesn't even begin to stand up, and never has.
Of course the book isn't about Indo-European, and the authors would have done well to stay out of a topic with which they are clearly unfamiliar. Foolish errors like this undermine the book's credibility.
A Feminist Paleoanthropology.......2007-08-20
This book provides a good overview of women's role in human prehistory, while appropriately acknowledging that there is much that scientists still do not know about the social culture of our species and its predecessors. For example, the book proposes that men (and some women and adolescents) hunted small game rather than large game, and that the famous "Venus" figures of prehistory represent something other (it's still not clear what) than fertility or "Goddess" worship.
On the negative side, some readers may be put off by the authors' more personal remarks, coming from a feminist perspective, that too-frequently interrupt the book's presentation of scientific theory and evidence. Also, the absence of footnotes is regrettable in a book of this kind.
Overall, though, there is a lot of good information here, that will be of interest to the many readers who want to learn more about the biological and cultural origins of humanity. That makes it a positive recommendation, as far as this reviewer is concerned, in spite of its one-sided perspective and sometimes distracting rhetoric.
An Important Challenge to Many Assumptions About Our Origins.......2007-06-06
This is a stimulating and intriguing book and before I get into the review proper, I would like to include you in a discussion that is, I believe, very important for appreciating it.
We have had a great many conferences about the origins of society with experts in many fields. Most believe that civilization develops as a kind of protection against chaos and fear. Therefore it is hard to believe that societies could have developed and prospered without leaving much in the way of artifacts.
So in that view, history and pre-history are mapped by the weapons, forts, castles, cities and statues that have survived the centuries. My counter to that is to ask whether societies could have developed not as a response to fear, but out of cooperation: people working with the world around them, rather than being scared of it. After all, people right now are suggesting that we should leave less of a footprint in the world. So surely it is conceivable that highly advanced civilizations could have arisen in the past, but history fails to remember them because they did not leave monuments to their own glory.
It reminds me of the comment in Chapter 23 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy:
"On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons."
This issue is at the center of this intriguing new book. James Adovasio is the founder and director of the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute in Erie, Pennsylvania, Olga Soffer is professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois and Jake Page is a distinguished science writer.
They begin by challenging the whole field of archaeology for its focus on hard artifacts such as stone tools and, they claim, systematically ignoring more perishable artifacts such as fishing lines, nets and string. They argue that around 26,000 years ago, somewhere in central Eurasia, a quiet but far-reaching innovation was born, that is often called the String Revolution, but which they rename the "fiber revolution." They point to arts of the world where dry caves have preserved these perishable artifacts, and then fiber and wood products can account for 95% of all the artifacts recovered.
The book is broken into three parts and thirteen chapters, and it is worth mention some of the chapter titles because they give a clear flavor of the engaging way in which the book is written:
Part One: The Beginnings
1. The stories we have been told
2. Origins
3. The importance of being upright
4. Who brought home the bacon?
5. Gray matter and language
Part Two: The Road to Thoroughly Modern Millie
6. Leaving the African cradle
7. Almost altogether truly modern humans
8. The fashioning of women
Part Three: Peopling the World
9. Cakes, fish and, matrilineality
10. Seamstresses of the far North
11. Settling down in America
12. The agricultural evolution
Conclusion: Not invisible after all
The main conclusion of the book is that the introduction of nets, baskets and clothing had profound effects on the destiny of humanity. Along the way there are many fascinating excursions into such questions as the oldest profession. No, it's not that one: they suggest that it might have been midwifery, because of the growth of the brain and the inherent problems of fitting a large head through a small pelvis. There are speculations about why we decided to get up on our hind legs, how language and writing developed and why our ancestors decided that it was time to settle down and start farming.
The writers take many of their colleagues to task for under-estimating the contribution of women to the development of civilization, because it is they who were primarily responsible for the care and production of string, nets and baskets, and also had broader responsibilities, particularly in hunting, than is supposed in most standard textbooks.
The weakest part of the book is a series of arguments about sex bias of anthropologists: that there are not many women in the field and that this has lead to an under-estimate of the role of women in evolution. They could be correct, but it felt as if there was a bit of overkill in their discussion,
So have the authors proved their central point? There we would have to say "no." The reason is that they are making a number of grand inferences based on fossil fragments and artifacts to draw conclusions about gender and social structure. As an example, they infer that women are more likely to be the weavers and braiders, while men would be busily making weapons and heavy tools. On the other hand they also dispute the notion that weapons are merely toys for boys, and suggest that women were involved in hunting. On the basis of one amazing archaeological find in Kentucky, where women were buried with bannerstones - weights used on spear launchers - they propose that women were not only involved, but were respected, perhaps lead hunters. Perhaps they were, and it is high time to move on form the silly "weaker sex" stereotype. But in terms of evidence, it is certainly no slam dunk. It is not difficult to think of some other explanations.
This kind of speculation makes for enthralling reading, but is not, of course, proof.
This is a fascinating book for anyone curious about our origins that might make some good summer reading.
J. M. Adavasio and Jake Page Ride Again.......2007-05-26
J. M. Adavasio is an archeologist with the firm belief -- and research to prove it -- that people were on the American Continent far earlier than the 10,000 years that is "Gospel."
Jake Page writes of Indian lore, flora and fauna, and mystery novels centered in the American West with equal verve.
Here they discuss women's roles in developing tribes marvelously. Read this, and note the bibliography, and then seek out each's other works. You'll be richer for it.
A valuable survey.......2007-05-15
The authors have assembled a lot of data for their quick survey of both primate evolution and the prehistory of our own primate species. In such a short book, they can do no more than pass lightly over their sources, but the book does contain a good bibliography for further research. Reading it left this reviewer with the unavoidable conclusion that our current social system of interlocking patriarchies is a historical aberration. For most of our species' evolution, we have lived not with patriarchy, nor with matriarchy, nor with gender "equality" -- though the authors use this rather abstract term -- but in a state that I'd term "gender parity." In the dangerous conditions of the Paleolithic and early Neolithic, when human populations were so small and existence was so fragile, the contribution of every member of a group, whether male or female, was too valuable to ignore or denigrate. The book's only real flaw is the prose style -- breezy, bubbly, and filled with bits of slang like "more bang for the buck."
Book Description
Thousands of years before the pyramids were built in Egypt and the Trojan War was fought, a great civilization arose on the Anatolian plains. The Goddess and the Bull details the dramatic quest by archaeologists to unearth the buried secrets of human cultural evolution at this huge, spectacularly well-preserved 9,500-year-old village in Turkey.
Here lie the origins of modern society -- the dawn of art, architecture, religion, family -- even the first tangible evidence of human self-awareness, the world's oldest mirrors. Some archaeologists have claimed that the Mother Goddess was first worshipped at Çatalhöyük, which is now a site of pilgrimage for Goddess worshippers from all over the world. The excavations here have yielded the seeds of the Neolithic Revolution, when prehistoric humans first abandoned the hunter-gatherer life they had known for millions of years, invented farming, and began living in houses and communities.
Michael Balter, the excavation's official biographer, brings readers behind the scenes, providing the first inside look at the remarkable site and its history of scandal and thrilling scientific discovery. He tells the very human story of two colorful men: British archaeologist James Mellaart, who discovered Çatalhöyük in 1958 only to be banned from working at the site forever after a fabulous ancient treasure disappeared without a trace; and Ian Hodder, a pathbreaking archaeological rebel who reinvented the way archaeology is practiced and reopened the excavation after it had lain dormant for three decades. Today Hodder leads an international team of more than one hundred archaeologists who continue to probe the site's secrets.
Balter reveals the true story behind modern archaeology -- the thrill of history-making scientific discovery as well as the crushing disappointments, the community and friendship, the love affairs, and the often bitter rivalries between warring camps of archaeologists.
Along the way, Balter describes the cutting-edge advances in archaeological science that have allowed the team at Çatalhöyük to illuminate the central questions of human existence.
Customer Reviews:
The Goddess and the Bull.......2007-07-16
Çatalhöyük, located in modern Turkey, is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites ever discovered. Complete with the remnants of countless buildings built overtop generations of other structures, amazingly well preserved wall paintings, graves, and other remnants, this Neolithic settlement excites the imagination of archaeologists and non-archaeologists alike while providing valuable insight into life in early permanent settlements.
Surprisingly enough, the history of the excavations at Çatalhöyük is almost as complex and exciting as the actual findings at the site. The list of those individuals working at the site are a virtual who's who of the archaeological world with many of these individuals pioneering new theories and methodologies while working at Çatalhöyük.
The Goddess and the Bull seeks to tell the story of Çatalhöyük in a new way, blending the history of excavations at the site with the evidence found during these investigations. Included in these accounts is a little background on the key players investigating the site giving the reader deeper insight into the archaeological significance of the site and the ground breaking research being undertaken at Çatalhöyük.
be warned.......2006-11-08
This book is very disappointing, if you are actually interested in history and archeology. If you love gossip go for it though. You will learn everything about the secret lifes of archeologists (how they play and mate). Too bad that all this nonsense leaves no place for what would have been trully interesting - a detailed discussion of the ancient site of Catalhoyuk.
Mostly just Bull........2006-09-09
VERY LITTLE about the site. Almost all of the book is a chatty review of the various diggers lives. That's not why I came.
A history of a dig.......2006-08-14
Too much info about the diggers and too little about the site.
A brief history of finding the site and the dig would have
been fine as part of a larger work, but this book is misdirected
and mislabeled.
Bull and the Goddess?.......2006-03-10
This new book on archaeology makes the claim that "our understanding of our own origins was changed forever" by a very sigficant renewed dig in Turkey (at Catalhoyuk). Balter is a correspondent for the journal "Science" and his book is a semiofficial "biography" of this dig. But it is more than just that. It is three books in one-- a history of the dig and the personalities of the archaeologists and other scientists who have conducted it, a history of archaeological theory over the last forty or so years, and finally, not least, a discussion of what the dig tells us about our past.
As for our past, there were extravagant claims made for some of the finds first reported from the site such as evidence for "goddess" as well as "bull" worship, a society dominated by women (at least in the cult), the early domestication of certain food species, etc., upon which these later investigations have cast doubts.
All in all, this book is an exciting read. Balter knows his stuff and anyone interested in the origins of civilization and the ultimate foundations of the modern world we live in will enjoy and learn from it. Besides that, there is basically an undergraduate education in archaeological theory included.
(Read my full review: google "Political Affairs Magazine" and search the archives.}
Book Description
Who are we? How did the world become what it is today? What paths did humanity traverse along the way? Patterns in Prehistory, Fifth Edition, is a comprehensive and engaging survey of humanity's past three million years. It brings together theories and archaeological examples to pose questions about who we are and the means by which humanity evolved into what it is today. Ideal for introductory courses in world prehistory and origins of complex societies, Patterns in Prehistory, Fifth Edition, offers a unified and thematic approach to the four great transformations--or patterns--that characterize humanity's past: the origins and evolution of culture; the origins of modern humans and human behaviors; the origins of agriculture; and the origins of complex societies, civilizations, and pre-industrial states. Integrating theoretical approaches with archaeological data from the Middle East, Mesoamerica, North and South America, Egypt, China, the Indus Valley, and temperate Europe, Patterns in Prehistory, Fifth Edition, reveals how archaeologists decipher the past. It demonstrates how theory and method are combined to derive interpretations and also considers how interpretations evolve as a result of accumulating data, technological advances in recording and analyzing data sets, and newer theoretical perspectives. This new edition of Patterns in Prehistory provides: * Fresh insights with the addition of coauthor Deborah Olszewski, who has carefully reviewed and revamped the material with an eye toward making the text clearly understandable to today's students * Updated discussions throughout, including expanded information on post-processual archaeology, current methodologies, and technological advances * Approximately 250 illustrations and maps, more than half of which are new to this edition * Groundbreaking research on new discoveries of hominin fossils, genetic research, prehistoric migrations, the peopling of the Americas, and theories of the origins of agriculture and the origins of complex societies * Timelines for all relevant chapters as well as an overarching timeline for the entire book to help students place events in context * Extensively updated chapter bibliographies and chapter endnotes
Customer Reviews:
Expired edition.......2006-11-11
If you are a college studnet, chances are that your professor will use the 5th edition that just came out. I eneded up taking a loos on this book because I purchased this old 4th edition. The differences are big enough that it will matter, especially in that it's by 2 authors instead of one.
-Hector X. Medina
Undergraduate Student at the University of Texas at San Antonio
Book Description
Mounds and earthworks are the most conspicuous elements of prehistoric Native American culture to be found on the landscape of eastern North America. Indian Mounds of the Middle Ohio Valley identifies and describes 70 extant, publicly accessible sites in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, where mounds were constructed by Woodland people beginning some 3000 years ago. This book also reviews the culture, history, and geography of the Woodland and Late Prehistoric mound building groups and the fate of their structures during the Historic period. Sources of additional information about the Ohio Valley mound building groups are provided, as is access information for the mound and earthwork sites.
The revised edition of the popular guide book incorporates new information and ideas about the mound building groups that have appeared since the first edition was published in 1986, and describes almost twice as many sites as were in the earlier edition.
Customer Reviews:
Guide Book.......2007-01-03
We spent a few days hunting down the mounds in Southern Ohio. We used this book as a guide and carefully mapped out the sites we thought we could fit into our time frame. The book is filled with great information and served as a valuable reference. The State and Federal Park sites are the best maintained and offer on-site information. At several of the sites, the mounds were downplayed by other monuments or historical reference. And of course, a golf course adorns one of the mound formations. The good news is they left the mounds and didn't plow them away. Great Book, we will probably use it again to research other sites.
Ohio's Prehistoric Earthworks.......2005-09-10
At one time Ohio had the largest concentration of prehistoric earthworks on the planet. While sadly most of these structures have been lost over time to human intrusion, a number do still remain in this state. This book shows excellent photographs and diagrams of most of the more well-known and interesting sites. Here you will find the Newark mound groups, Fort Ancient, Serpent Mound, and details on the Adena, Hopewell, and other peoples who erected these impressive monuments to collective effort. Not only are the mounds studied here, directions are provided to make day-trips to these locations possible. An approachable starting point for learning about Ohio's amazing pre-Columbian past.
Book Description
The history of Neanderthal influence from Atlantis to the contemporary era
• Provides evidence of Neanderthal man’s superior intelligence
• Explores the unexplained scientific and architectural feats of ancient civilizations
• Presents an alternative history of humankind since 7500 B.C. with an emphasis on esoteric traditions and the history of Christianity from the Essenes onward
In Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals Colin Wilson presents evidence of a widespread Neanderthal civilization as the origin of sophisticated ancient knowledge. Examining remarkable archaeological discoveries that date back millennia, he suggests that civilization on Earth is far older than we have previously realized. Using this information as a springboard, Wilson then fills in the gaps in the past 100,000 years of human history, providing answers to previously unexplained scientific and architectural feats of ancient civilizations.
Wilson shows that not only did Atlantis exist but that the civilizing force behind it was the Neanderthals. Far from being the violent brutes they are traditionally depicted as, Wilson shows that the Neanderthals had sophisticated mathematical and astrological knowledge, including an understanding of the precession of the equinoxes, and that they possessed advanced telepathic abilities akin to the “group consciousness†evident in flocks of birds and schools of fish. These abilities, he demonstrates, have been transmitted through the ages by the various keepers of the hermetic tradition--including the Templars, Freemasons, and other secret societies. In the course of his investigation, Wilson also finds new information about historical links between the Masonic tradition and the Essenes that indicate that America was “discovered†long before Columbus set sail and that Jesus actually survived crucifixion and fled to France with his wife Mary Magdalene.
Customer Reviews:
Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals.......2007-09-07
This is a hard review to write. Did I enjoy reading Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals? Absolutely, without a doubt. Did I feel that the author made a good case for a connection between Atlantis and Neanderthals? No, not really. He never really got to that part in any real depth.
I started reading Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals with great interest and enthusiasm. The author discussed the concepts that in the past our continental plates have shifted and that the earth's tilt has also changed. These are scientific facts that most people learn in high school. I was eager to see an examination of this movement as relates to Antarctica, how the author would place Neanderthals on Antarctica, how he would connect the two.
Unfortunately, the book quickly evolved in an attempt to present as much information as possible about every ancient mystery know to man: the pyramids of the Piri Reis map, Egypt, Mu, the Biblical floods, the man in the iron mask, the death of Jesus, and the Priory of Sion. Information about these topics ranged from scientific reports and solid data collection methodology to popular ancient mystery books and PBS specials to hearsay and theories by author friends.
My best advice is that you don't pick up this book because you wish to find out the connection between Atlantis and Neanderthals. Instead, pick up this book because it is full of interesting theories, summaries of information collected about a number of ancient mysteries, and contains a really great bibliography of like minded material.
Stick to the thesis and have some courage..........2007-08-29
Some great ideas here, but very little real meat to sink your teeth into. I live and view the World by 2 basic principles: 1) It has been shown historically that at least 90% of the belief systems or opinion based knowledge of the majority of the people who live in "modern" societies is false. And not just a little off base, but completely 180 degrees away from what later became discovered as "the truth". It doesn't matter if we're talking about Neanderthals, Atlantis, JFK's assassination, why the stock market crashed in 1929, if Vitamin C can cure cancer, or what happened on Sept 11th, 2001. If you look at what the "average" person believes (which is derived from various mass media sources) at the time of the event, and indeed often many years afterward, it will (at least 90% of the time) be completely at odds with the later exposed facts, evidence, and ultimately the truth. But for those who recognise this statistical FACT, looking in the exact opposite direction of what the "man in the street" thinks is very often an excellent predictor of the truth; and 2) Where there is smoke, there is always fire.
Therefore, because of the above 2 principles, Neanderthals, Atlantis, and what occured over the past 100,000 years is no doubt crucial to our development and where we find ourselves in modern times. And because there has been such a well organised "conspiracy" (and I don't use that word lightly here) by the mainstream media over the last 150 years or more to discredit the importance or even existence of Neanderthals, Atlantis, and human history beyond 7 thousand years ago, then I now assume that there is much more than smoke; there must be a raging fire of truth within these related topics. Unfortunately, Colin Wilson doesn't take us there to roast our marshmellows.
WARNING! DISINFORMATION!.......2007-08-12
I like Colin Wilson's work but I must warn you! He has made a BIG mistake here in saying that the people of Atlantis were Neanderthal. WRONG! Atlanteans were peace-loving pagan CRO-MAGNON. The Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal were both intelligent but the Neanderthal were the ones responisble for the 'evil' gene...responsible for war and hate and control of people. Cro-Magnon later blended in with the Neanderthals and Bushman and Mongoloids, etc creating us....
The Neanderthal ones were and are the white monotheistic Jews that still control the world today. They stole the Atlantian knowledge and pagan beliefs of the Goddess and her Shepard Consort and twisted them into the christian ones of Jesus and Mary today.
For more info on this check out books by Michael Bradly like:
The Iceman Inheritance
Swords at Sunset: Last Stand of North America's Grail Knights
...and his website with a specific article on this very subject and more:
http://www.michaelbradley.info/
Disappointing.......2007-01-25
Let me begin this review by saying that I have enjoyed many of Colin Wilson's other books. I was first introducted to his writings through the land-mark work, "Mysteries." That, as well as similar books, impressed me with Wilson's sober scholarship and his willingness to have an open-mind that was nevertheless tempered with a good deal of academic research.
That being said, I'm not quite sure what happened between Wilson's other work and this. I myself have some pretty radical theories about lost history, but there is a point where certain notions must be presented with at least a grain of salt. Wilson displays an incredible level of credulity for tenuous fringe theories, wholeheartedly swallowing and then regurgitating highly debated beliefs such as the antiquity of Freemasonry (as put forth by Lomas and Knight) and the now widely popularized Baigent and Leigh theory of the holy bloodline of Christ. These aren't presented as ideas or possibilities, as I would have expected in any of Wilson's earlier, more respectable works, but simply put forth as fact. In addition to the overly-credulous tone, throughout the book, there is this general feeling that most of Wilson's material is simply a restatement of other works. In fact, there is little Wilson to be seen in this book. He spends much more time extensively quoting or rewording material from other sources. The theories about Neanderthal man which posit a different sort of intelligence are certainly intriguing, but for as much new material as Wilson presents, I think these ideas would have bee more at home in a magazine article, not a full-length book. If you have read Wilson's other books, I can't say you'll be missing much if you skip this one.
Apples and Oranges.......2007-01-10
This book is an entertaining read, but potential purchasers should not be misled by the title. Wilson does discuss Atlantis, and he does discuss Neanderthals, but he does not offer proof that connects the two, and such does not appear to be the book's premise. "100,000 Years of Lost History" would have been a more appropriate title. Nor should readers anticipate that this book builds on "The Atlantis Blueprint," which Wilson co-authored with Rand Flem-Ath. Instead, Wilson discloses that he disagreed with Flem-Ath on a major premise of that book. This book is a mishmash of chapters on various subjects, loosely connected if connected at all. The information may not be the most up-to-date in all instances. As entertainment, however, it's a worthy purchase.
Book Description
This brief text has been completely revolutionized to present students with the latest contemporary thinking on human evolution, adaptation, and prehistory. It offers students a straightforward and integrated presentation of material, focusing on selected aspects of physical anthropology and prehistoric archaeology as they relate to the origin of humanity, the origin of culture, and the development of human biological and cultural diversity. A New feature entitled "Biocultural Connections" illustrates how cultural and biological processes work together to shape human evolution and behavior, and reflects where the field is today. New coverage on cutting edge topics such as medical anthropology, genetics, environmental toxins, and globalization, demonstrate the usefulness of anthropology today. A new, unique ?Epilogue? looks at cultural disease and globalization.
Book Description
"The Humanistic Tradition is quite simply the finest book of its type. Fiero manages to integrate the political, cultural, and social history of the world into one coherent and fascinating whole. It is a masterpiece of scholarship . . . balanced, interesting, easy to read, and consummately beautiful. Our professors praise its accuracy and scope and our students unanimously say it is their favorite textbook." — Sonia Sorrell, Pepperdine University
The Humanistic Tradition features a flexible, topical approach that helps students understand humankind's creative legacy as a continuum rather than as a series of isolated events. This widely acclaimed interdisciplinary survey offers a global perspective, countless illustrations, and more than 150 literary sources. Available in multiple formats, The Humanistic Tradition explores the political, economic, and social contexts of human culture, providing a global and multicultural perspective which helps students better understand the relationship between the West and other world cultures.
Books:
- Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece
- Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century
- Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography
- Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
- Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign
- Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors
- Sixty Days and Counting
- Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
- The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier
- The Color Purple
Books Index
Books Home
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