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Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story
The amazing story of human life in Britain during the last million years, told by two scientists at the forefront of research into ancient ancestors When did the first humans arrive in Britain? Where did they come from? And what did they look like? This amazing story of human life in Britain begins nearly one million years ago, during the earliest known human occupation, and reveals how early humans lived, survived, and died. The book travels through time to reveal which human species lived in Britain during multiple waves of occupation. Drawing on a wealth of dramatic new evidence from excavation sites, it describes who they were, what their habitats were like, which animals shared their landscape, and what they were capable of doing, from the controlled use of fire to specialized hunting. It shows how humans have changed, evolved, and migrated, adapting to dramatically changing climate and landscapes. The authors describe the discoveries, the key fossil specimens, and the science behind recent remarkable findings. Written in a lively and engaging style, and fully illustrated with maps, diagrams, and photographs, this is an incredible journey through ancient Britain and a groundbreaking guide to our earlier humans. The book is based on the groundbreaking work of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project.
155 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
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138 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 9, 2024
A small but excellent book about human occupation of Britain for the past one million years. The book begins with a brief overview of human ancestry and the various species of humans that have been found in archeological digs. It, also, talks about the migration of early humans into Europe. Then it tells about a beach near Happisburgh that has eroded and exposed an ancient forest and fossils along with stone tools dating back almost one million years ago, revealing the earliest humans in Britain. It explains that the occupation of Britain was dependent on glacial periods, in which, during ice ages the sea level dropped enough to expose the land connecting Britain to the rest of Europe. This landmass is known as Doggerland. The books talks of the various skeletal remains of different species that have been found in Britain. It's definitely a fascinating read.
April 30, 2015
I read this for research. I found it interesting and useful for my research purposes. I now know about early migrants to Britain and their movements when the climate changed but it was a bit dry and fact packed. For its lack of entertainment value I am only giving three stars
May 30, 2018
Excellent introduction to the archaeology of the last million years in Britain. As an avid enthusiast of hominin evolution I can point to a plethora of statements which could misinform the reader, but given the target audience, there will be no requirement to list them here. But I will make mention of one. When discussing why we have found so few sites prior to 500,000 years ago, the author relies far too heavily on the assumption that "there are far fewer actual archaeological sites". This may only be partially true. There is no doubt that discovery bias may explain why there not many discovered sites. This criticism represents the length I gave to go to to find issues with this work. You will not find nuance here. Read another more detailed book for that.
August 19, 2014
This is the book that goes along with the Natural History Museum's exhibition on early man in Britain. The exhibition focuses on interesting research that has been done in the past decade which places human inhabitation of Britain at much earlier dates than previously thought. I really enjoyed the exhibition and decided to get the book that went along with it.
The book is laid out in the same pattern as the exhibition giving a more in depth analysis of the information presented. The book is perfect for people who don't have a background in the area as it goes over the history in simple and easy to understand terms. It explains the importance of new finds and looks at how the ideas have changed over time. Reading the book gives you a good overview of the history of hominids in Britain.
It has lots of lovely illustrations. Definitely one I'd recommend.
The book is laid out in the same pattern as the exhibition giving a more in depth analysis of the information presented. The book is perfect for people who don't have a background in the area as it goes over the history in simple and easy to understand terms. It explains the importance of new finds and looks at how the ideas have changed over time. Reading the book gives you a good overview of the history of hominids in Britain.
It has lots of lovely illustrations. Definitely one I'd recommend.
January 1, 2021
Brought this on my trip to the UK last May. Was fun to read and imagine hippos wandering about. Crazy! Love anything physical anthro and Chris Stringer is one of my heroes. Finished the book on the Eurostar to Paris and left it at my friend's apartment. Wonder if they will read it. Ha ha.
August 31, 2019
Stuffed with info, lovely photos and helpful charts. Fantastic overview of humans in Britain
December 4, 2022
Originally written in 2013, it has been reprinted with updates four times, most recently in 2019. This is a great complement to the story of human evolution depicted in the museum, which features the full-size Neanderthal man depicted on the cover.
As the title conveys, we now have evidence of human populations in Britain going back “well before 800,000 years ago”. Coastal erosion revealed fossilized human footprints and stone tools at Happisburgh. These footprints lie below the sediments of the East Anglian glaciation that happened 450kya. Moreover, the sediments have reversed magnetic polarity, requiring them to be at least 780kya. Animal and plant fossils further constrain the age of this oldest site to between 780kya to 990kya. Frustratingly, no actual human fossils have been found at the site.
In the often-apocalyptic discussions of climate change (foisted on the public by an often scientifically-illiterate media community), one is rarely reminded that climate change has been a constant feature of the world for millions of years. We have been living in an “interglacial” period; over the past million years there have been at least 12 “ice ages”, with the most recent glacial maximum (LGM) occurring just 20kya. Thus, the above-mentioned dates need to be overlain on the glacial-interglacial cycles: there are two candidates, one at 935kya to 970kya, and another at 816kya to 865kya. The paleontologists lean towards the most recent of these two date ranges, and impute the human species homo antecessor – a species contemporaneous with homo erectus whose remains from around the same period have been found in Spain.
Due to the recurring glacial cycles, the history of humans in Britain is one of repeated inhabitation and abandonment. Fascinatingly, some human populations would have experienced dramatic climate change playing out within the span of a human lifetime – mere decades – owing to the rapid shifting of the location of the Polar-Atlantic transition. Famously, the Gulf Stream is the Atlantic convection system to which Britain owes its current balmy climate; balmy, that is, considering its latitude. When the Gulf Stream shuts down or shifts southward, this can and has led to situations where British winters go from today’s 40-something Fahrenheit temperatures to minus-20. The most recent abandonment stretched from around 180kya to 60kya, and this despite that the period included an interglacial warm period.
One variable that has been in play is sea level, which has made Britain either part of Europe or an island. A dramatic event occurred during the Anglian glaciation 450kya. Where we see today the “white cliffs of Dover”, there used to be a ridge connecting to the European landmass. During the Anglian glaciation, which was very severe, the North Sea became blocked by ice. This led to a buildup of water from the Rhine and other rivers emptying into it, and the excess water eventually burst through, cutting the Strait of Dover. This made Britain into an island under a wider range of climate conditions and established the Dogger Bank (to the east) as the last bastion of mainland connection during trends of sea level rise.
I read this in just an hour or two and highly recommend it to anyone. Its language is accessible but the content doesn’t seem dumbed-down. There are pictures and figures throughout. It focuses to a significant degree on the discovery process, showing how new evidence supports the complex and emerging story of humans in Britain.
As the title conveys, we now have evidence of human populations in Britain going back “well before 800,000 years ago”. Coastal erosion revealed fossilized human footprints and stone tools at Happisburgh. These footprints lie below the sediments of the East Anglian glaciation that happened 450kya. Moreover, the sediments have reversed magnetic polarity, requiring them to be at least 780kya. Animal and plant fossils further constrain the age of this oldest site to between 780kya to 990kya. Frustratingly, no actual human fossils have been found at the site.
In the often-apocalyptic discussions of climate change (foisted on the public by an often scientifically-illiterate media community), one is rarely reminded that climate change has been a constant feature of the world for millions of years. We have been living in an “interglacial” period; over the past million years there have been at least 12 “ice ages”, with the most recent glacial maximum (LGM) occurring just 20kya. Thus, the above-mentioned dates need to be overlain on the glacial-interglacial cycles: there are two candidates, one at 935kya to 970kya, and another at 816kya to 865kya. The paleontologists lean towards the most recent of these two date ranges, and impute the human species homo antecessor – a species contemporaneous with homo erectus whose remains from around the same period have been found in Spain.
Due to the recurring glacial cycles, the history of humans in Britain is one of repeated inhabitation and abandonment. Fascinatingly, some human populations would have experienced dramatic climate change playing out within the span of a human lifetime – mere decades – owing to the rapid shifting of the location of the Polar-Atlantic transition. Famously, the Gulf Stream is the Atlantic convection system to which Britain owes its current balmy climate; balmy, that is, considering its latitude. When the Gulf Stream shuts down or shifts southward, this can and has led to situations where British winters go from today’s 40-something Fahrenheit temperatures to minus-20. The most recent abandonment stretched from around 180kya to 60kya, and this despite that the period included an interglacial warm period.
One variable that has been in play is sea level, which has made Britain either part of Europe or an island. A dramatic event occurred during the Anglian glaciation 450kya. Where we see today the “white cliffs of Dover”, there used to be a ridge connecting to the European landmass. During the Anglian glaciation, which was very severe, the North Sea became blocked by ice. This led to a buildup of water from the Rhine and other rivers emptying into it, and the excess water eventually burst through, cutting the Strait of Dover. This made Britain into an island under a wider range of climate conditions and established the Dogger Bank (to the east) as the last bastion of mainland connection during trends of sea level rise.
I read this in just an hour or two and highly recommend it to anyone. Its language is accessible but the content doesn’t seem dumbed-down. There are pictures and figures throughout. It focuses to a significant degree on the discovery process, showing how new evidence supports the complex and emerging story of humans in Britain.
June 6, 2023
I did intially expect a bigger book, however, the story of human Britain was still an interesting read.
July 8, 2015
Can't fault all the facts in this book. More of a science book than history book. Bit dry and heavy going in places but I am pleased I stuck with it to the end.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews