Early Humans: Ice, Stone, and Survival

by Suzanne Pilaar Birch

You and the other 8 billion humans alive today are members of the only species that has survived in the genus Homo since its 2.5-million-year evolutionary journey began. Homo habilis, H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis—plus many other species we know of and perhaps dozens yet to be discovered—have all come and gone. H. sapiens alone has endured.

Who were these long-ago ancestors of ours? Where and how did they live and die? And how are we even able to learn about these humans, some of whom became extinct millions of years ago? These are only a few of the myriad fascinating questions explored in Early Ice, Stone, and Survival. In 20 captivating lectures, Professor Suzanne Pilaar Birch shares her expertise and passion for discovery as she peels back the years to expose the emergence and lives of early humans. You will learn about their environmental challenges, the methods they used to meet their basic needs, cultural development, and the fascinating advances in our own technologies that have allowed us to take their few physical remains and develop a much fuller picture.

Although we might imagine a timeline of the past 2.5 million years as a straight path from the emergence of the genus Homo to modern H. sapiens in the 21st century, the truth of our family tree is much more convoluted and fascinating than that. Who were our direct ancestors? How far back can we trace our lineage? As Dr. Birch explains, we shouldn’t lose sight of what it means to be able to ask those questions in the first place. After all, isn’t it our awareness of the existence of those who came before us what truly makes us human? The answers to these questions and many more will surprise and possibly even shock you as you as you explore Early Ice, Stone, and Survival.

PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Genres: Audiobook, Anthropology, Science, Nonfiction, History, World History, Archaeology

Audiobook

Published April 21, 2023

Reviews

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Humans: Ice, Stone, and Survival by Suzanne Pilaar Birch
Rating: 3.5 stars
Date read: 21 June 2024

This installment of The Great Courses lectures is an introductory overview of the current state of what is known (or speculated) about the early pre-history of humanity, from the rise of the species to the beginning of agriculture. The paleolithic through to neolithic eras receives the most airtime, when compared to human evolution and other hominid species, though they are covered to a degree. The narration is a bit stilted, and sounds like Birch is reading from notes rather than giving a lecture. A large portion of the information was not new to me - a hazard of reading everything about human evolution/archaeology I can get my hands on. However, the whole course is fairly informative, with lectures mostly organised by themes or topics, such as art, language and music, clothing, burial practices, diet, technology, diaspora to Australia and the Americas, brewing beer and baking bread, etc. A nice, if somewhat stiffly presented, overview of pre-agricultural human archaeology.

[Christine Lucia Asha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing. I was already interested in human evolution but was still surprised to find a lot of new information on where we lived, how we migrated, what we ate, and the animals that surrounded us.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Humans: Ice, Stone, and Survival by Suzanne Birch is a capable survey of the early pre-history of humanity, from the rise of the species to the beginning of agriculture. I found it pretty informative, though a decent chunk of the information was review. Its a cross between high school level and a freshman/sophomore course. There are some things that seemed a bit too speculative, but that's unavoidable given what there is to work with. Its clear that Birch adopts a decolonial lens to her work, and makes somewhat frequent allusions either directly or indirectly to that pedagogy. Given recent events, that'll make some more likely to want to tune in, while others will be inclined to give it a wide berth. For what it is, Birch does a good job.

[Rik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lecture series. She doesn't add much personality to them like some lecturers but she packs them to the brim with as much information as she can, not a wasted minute in the whole thing. Seems like half a dozen books i've read in the last year have been summarized here, or recapped in significant detail would be fairer. She focuses more so on the paleolithic through to neolithic eras before the rise of civilisation and slightly less on the evolution of man, though it is is definately covered in some detail. Also she hits you hard with the archeology and the scientific processes that give us the information and almost no conjecture is put forward based on more modern hunter gatherers...which was a welcome change from other books or even great courses on the subject.

[Magdalena Baptista · Rating 5 out of 5]

All though her method of presentation comes across as her reading from her notes ( slightly monotonous) the actual information is superb. So much information summarized perfectly well. I did feel disappointed when I arrived towards the end of the lecture. I will indeed listen to the lecture again.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's okay, nothing new here for me. I love the subject matter but did not really enjoy this presentation of it.

[Henzin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very brief, but interesting exposition into the evolution of the human species, starting with the australopithecine, and culminating with the advent of agriculture.

I would prefer the matter to be explored in more depth, especially the earlier chapters, that are in my view more interesting, and of higher informative quality. The more the topic relies on hard core archeology, the stronger, better thought through, and authoritative the material is. The more it relies on associated methods, or speculative theories, the weaker it gets. The work seemed rushed towards the end, and those later chapters are shorter and more superficial. It almost feels, as if the author didn’t enjoy that material as much. One star down for that.

Another star down is for wokeness, that rears its ugly head here and there throughout the course. Luckily it’s not ubiquitous to the point of rendering the material unbearable, but it is annoying at times, and comically absurd. The dear reader will for instance learn, that disturbing and displaying of human skeletal remains is okay, unless they are of native Americans, or aboriginal Australians. So, displaying a skull of an ancient European is fine, doing the same with the skeletal remains of people to whom the author assigned retrospective victimhood is insensitive and racist. Expressed in plain English: because certain people suffered under colonial oppression, their supposed ancestors from tens of thousands of years ago can’t be displayed in museums, and must be re-buried using rituals, that in all likelihood would be utterly unfamiliar to them. I wish I was joking. Go figure.

Likewise, ample lip service is paid to feminism, but all that’s par for the course for the peak woke period in which this book was written (published in April 2023). It’s difficult to gauge how much of all that nonsense is the author’s genuine belief, and how much is her just wishing for her book to make it to the print without obstruction, but I would hazard a guess, that those feminist shout-outs are at least partially earnest, judging by the fact, that the author co-founded and moderates a blog “which highlights women in the fields of archaeology, paleontology, and geology.”

To give credit where it’s due, I appreciate the author’s effort in staying impartial in presenting competing theories, even if she has a favorite one among them.

The author is an expert in archaeology and biochemistry, focusing on modern scientific analysis methods in her study of historic climate changes and adaptation of species. I wish, her book focused more on scientific analysis of the human (and animal) skeletal remains, and less on human-made artifacts, and theories associated with those.

One thing I will carry with me, that I’ve realized thanks to this book: things found in the archaeological record are by necessity statistically much more likely to be typical, abundant, prevalent, and representative of their time period, than extreme, or rare. What a simple, yet powerfully, almost instinctively logical observation. I’ve read several popular archaeology books, but this is the first time I encountered this incisive thought, that should be stressed in the foreword of every such book.

Overall, I’m glad I’ve finished the book, warts and all.

[Guy Barnhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been listening to the Great Courses for over 5 years and was excited to hear some of the new content they've been producing as this series was released in 2023. This specific lecture series was very informative and Professor Birch was a wonderful guide.

This series of lectures is probably the most up-to-date as far as the science of early hominids go - most of the other Great Courses lecture series on ancient human history were produced a decade or two ago and there have been significant discoveries and advancements since those were first published. So this was a much needed addition to the Great Courses catalog.

The production is fine. Professor Birch must have been reading from notes or a prompter - as it felt a little dry. That kinda stuff doesn't really bother me because I am a giant nerd and as long as the information is flowing, I am a willing receptacle - but I know some other listeners may tune out a lecture series that drags out.

I hope Professor Birch is able to continue working with The Teaching Company to create more Great Courses on human history. She seems extremely busy doing research and writing papers but I hope she can make some time for us armchair scientists.

[Julie Bouchonville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was, at times, a bit dry and that's really my main critic. The rest of the time it felt very moving, informative and well written. I especially appreciated learning about both sides of debates when there were debates, and having the author select specific themes for lectures as well as aranging them sortof chronologically. I felt i was being lectured by a very competent, very reasonnable author and that was truly great.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like hearing both sides. I even like hearing ideas that I strongly disagree with. I get turned off when the ideas presented become overly peachy. I just want the facts. I don't need the moralizing. Also this suffers, like many archeological books and classes, in that archeology is the star and the actual subject matter takes a back seat

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated learning about requirements for 'human' vocalization and more in this series of lectures. Lecture 4 amongst others was particularly rich as was the pdf around page 35; the whole series is rich in contemporary discoveries.

[Jeff Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great idea insight into various lines of ancient humans.

Covered evolution and development of various ancient close lines to humans. Got a good understanding and even awareness of a new species I wasn't earlier aware.

Covered various ice ages and migration of humans and Neanderthal.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting information. Hard to grasp the years and scope of the timeline; at least via Audible. But still learned a lot. How they conclude many of the answers and learning more as technology improves is also fascinating.

[Mark A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Interesting

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, would have loved it to be longer but interesting material

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time.

[ROBERT RAPIER · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy works of early humanity, and this one was well done. It kept me engaged.