Books about Humankind from Amazon.com

The only book that integrates the foundations and the most current innovations in the field from the ground up. Over the past twenty years, this field has rapidly evolved from the study of physical anthropology into biological anthropology, incorporating the evolutionary biology of humankind based on information from the fossil record and the human skeleton, genetics of individuals and of populations, our primate relatives, human adaptation, and human behavior .  Stanford combines the most up-to-date, comprehensive coverage of the foundations of the field with the modern innovations and discoveries.

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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.
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Nearly three decades ago, Italian spiritual leader Oberto Airaudi had a vision of sacred temples built inside a mountain near Turin. As artists, artisans, and builders excavated the equivalent of a five-story subterranean building, it remained a secret from even its closest neighbors. Twenty years after the project began, the Italian government received word of the burgeoning community and became suspicious. Threatened by a full-scale military invasion, Damanhur revealed itself to local officials and the world.

This handsome coffee-table book offers a guided tour of the village, whose stunning murals, sculpture, mosaics, and stained glass draw from all sacred traditions to celebrate universal spirituality. Merging ancient mystic customs and contemporary consciousness, intensive labor and visionary artistry, the story of this remarkable underground community appeals not only to spiritual seekers, but to artists and idealists from all disciplines..
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While some prehistoric sites--notably the painted caves at Lascaux in France and at Altamira in northern Spain--are familiar, many more such places are almost unknown In fact, remains left by prehistoric men and women are far more numerous, and have been found over a much greater territory--including Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas--than most people are aware. These remains include paintings and engravings in caves and rock shelters, but also decorated tools, weapons, statuettes, personal ornaments, and even musical instruments made of stone, ivory, antler, shell, bone, and fired clay.

In Prehistoric Art, anthropologist Randall White presents a global survey, starting with the first explosion of imagery that occurred approximately 40,000 years ago but also including the creations of essentially "prehistoric" peoples living as recently as the early 20th century. Drawing on the most up-to-the-minute research, White places these discoveries in context and discusses possible uses and meanings for the objects and images, opening a fascinating new window onto the history of creative expression..
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They work hard, are devoted to family, love sex, and know the importance of a good piece of real estate. Honey bees, and the daily workings of their close-knit colonies, are one of nature's great miracles And they produce one of nature's greatest edible bounties: honey. More than just a palate pleaser, honey was once an offering to the gods, a preservative, and a medicine whose sought-after curative powers were detailed in ancient texts . . . and are being rediscovered by modern medical science.

In Letters from the Hive, Prof. Stephen Buchmann takes us into the hive--nursery, honey factory, queen's inner sanctum--and out to the world of backyard gardens, open fields, and deserts in full bloom, where the age-old sexual dance between flowers and bees makes life on earth as we know it possible. Hailed for their hard work, harmonious society, and, mistakenly, for their celibacy, bees have a link to our species that goes beyond biology. In Letters from the Hive, Buchmann explores the fascinating role of bees in human culture and mythology, following the "honey hunters" of native cultures in Malaysia, the Himalayas, and the Australian Outback as they risk life and limb to locate a treasure as valuable as any gold.

To contemplate a world without bees is to imagine a desolate place, culturally and biologically, and Buchmann shows how with each acre of land sacrificed to plow, parking lot, or shopping mall, we inch closer to what could become a chilling reality. He also offers honey-based recipes, cooking tips, and home remedies--further evidence of the gifts these creatures have bestowed on us.

Told with wit, wisdom, and affection, and rich with anecdote and science, Letters from the Hive is nature writing at its best. This is natural history to be treasured, a sweet tribute that buzzes with life.


From the Hardcover edition..
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Richard Leakey, One Of The World's  Foremost Experts On Man's Evolutionary Past, Now Turns  His Eye To The Future And Doesn't Like What He  Sees.

To the philosophical the  earth is eternal, while the human race -- presumptive  keeper of the world's history -- is a mere speck  in the rich stream of life. It is known that  nothing upon Earth is forever; geography, climate, and  plant and animal life are all subject to radical  change. On five occasions in the past, catastrophic  natural events have caused mass extinctions on  Earth. But today humans stand alone, in dubious  distinction, among Earth's species: Homo  Sapiens possesses the ability to destroy  entire species at will, to trigger the sixth  extinction in the history of life. In The Sixth  Extinction, Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin  consider how the grand sprawl of human life is  inexorably wreaking havoc around the world. The  authors of Origins and  Origins Reconsidered, unimpeachable  authorities on the human fossil record, turn their  attention to the most uncharted anthropological territory  of all: the future, and man's role in defining it.  According to Leakey and Lewin, man and his  surrounding species are end products of history and  chance. Now, however, humans have the unique  opportunity to recognize their influence on the global  ecosystem, and consciously steer the outcome in order  to avoid triggering an unimaginable upheaval.


From the Hardcover edition..
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