Tells the story of early human life using an incredible variety of primary sources. -- from back cover.

Summarizing modern research on early hominid evolution from the apes six million years ago to the emergence of modern humans, this book is the first to present a synthetic discussion of many aspects of early human life.

Text and photographs present a description of early humans: their origins; their tools and weapons; how they hunted and foraged for food; and the role of family life, money, religion, and magic.

The Student Study Guide is an important and unique component that is available for each of the eight books in The World in Ancient Times series. Each of the Student Study Guides is designed to be used with the student book at school or sent home for homework assignments. The activities in the Student Study Guide will help students get the most out of their history books. Each Student Study Guide includes chapter-by-chapter two-page lessons that use a variety of interesting activities to help a student master history and develop important reading and study skills.

Early Human Behaviour in a Global Context will be of use to students and professionals who are interested in prehistory, Paleolithic archaeology, and paleoanthropology. Those interested in our ancestors and their place in the natural world will also benefit from the information presented in this book. Chapters focus on: * the nature of archaeological evidence * stone tool technology * subsistence practices * settlement distributions.

On the continent of Africa, millions of years ago, humanlike creatures walked the earth for the very first time. Rediscover their prehistoric world and find out what it was like to live through the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, and how the first settled communities grew up.Did you know that the earliest pottery was invented in Japan around 12,500 years ago, or that the Neanderthalpeople buried their dead with ritualistic ceremonies?Learn about this and much more in this fascinatingreference book for 8- to 12-year-olds.

To be human is to be curious. And one of the things we are most curious about is how we came to be who we are--how we evolved over millions of years to become creatures capable of inquiring into our own evolution. In this lively and readable introduction, renowned anthropologist Ian Tattersall thoroughly examines both fossil and archaeological records to trace human evolution from the earliest beginnings of our zoological family, Hominidae, through the appearance of Homo sapiens to the Agricultural Revolution. He begins with an accessible overview of evolutionary theory and then explores the major turning points in human evolution: the emergence of the genus Homo, the advantages of bipedalism, the birth of the big brain and symbolic thinking, Paleolithic and Neolithic tool making, and finally the enormously consequential shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies 10,000 years ago. Focusing particularly on the pattern of events and innovations in human biological and cultural evolution, Tattersall offers illuminating commentary on a wide range of topics, including the earliest known artistic expressions, ancient burial rites, the beginnings of language, the likely causes of Neanderthal extinction, the relationship between agriculture and Christianity, and the still unsolved mysteries of human consciousness. Complemented by a wealth of illustrations and written with the grace and accessibility for which Tattersall is widely admire, The World from Beginnings to 4000 BCE invites us to take a closer look at the strange and distant beings who, over the course of millions of years, would become us.