The Early Human World

World in Ancient Times

by Peter Robertshaw, Jill Rubalcaba

A six-million-year-old jaw bone in Ethiopia proves to be a piece of the earliest hominid discovered-so far. Big Mama, who used a tree branch to escape from a zoo in Holland, is found sipping chocolate milk at a local restaurant. Nandy, a 50,000-year-old skeleton surrounded by flower pollen in Iraq, casts doubt on the beastly reputation of an early hominid. Found frozen in the Alps, Ötzi reveals what people in Europe ate 5,000 years ago. Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba, a chimpanzee, a Neandertal, and the Iceman are just some of the characters who make up The Early Human World .

Peter Robertshaw and Jill Rubalcaba tell the story of early human life using an incredible variety of primary 3.5-million-year-old footprints preserved by a volcano provide evidence of our ancestors' walking on two legs. Stone flakes fashioned 2 million years ago prove early hominids used tools. Bears, lions, and rhinoceroses painted in a cave 30,000 years ago reveal our ancestors' artistic side. An 8,500-year-old dog grave shows the extraordinarily long history of man's best friend. This evidence helps archaeologists decipher not just how we came to be the Homo sapiens we are today, but also what life may have been like for our earliest ancestors. The first Australians encountered freakishly gigantic kangaroos as big as houses and tortoises the size of cars. The Sahara Desert was once a fertile land, supporting herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. The Early Human World takes readers to sites around the world as archaeologists piece together the clues to our past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, School

176 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2004

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

First volume of our ancient history year, kicking off our middle-school cycle through human history. Very solid volume, engagingly written. K also completed the corresponding student study workbook. He even seemed to enjoy it. Excellent. As always, not L's favorite subject, but she appreciated all the archeology and forensic study included in this one. We'll keep on with this series for sure.

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing series. I'm reading the books to prepare for our history lessons in homeschooling for the sixth grade. The books are very interesting, engaging, and well formatted. There are also student guides and teacher guides you can get for each book in the series. Out of all the middle school history curriculum I've previewed so far, this is by far my favourite. Oxford University Press is a dependable publisher of quality material.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd not encountered this series before but decided to try it out as any information about evolution and early human history is hard to come by in the small Bible Belt towns whose libraries I can access. The book is obviously intended for older grade school and for middle school children but I found it shelved in the adult stacks.

Perhaps if history were taught more in this manner, which is fun and interesting as well as factual, then more children would pay attention to their lessons. The material is personalized and made relevant to readers without jumping or distorting facts. The author even touches on the multiple theories of evolution including those which are not necessarily incompatible with creationist believes. They are not addressed or presented directly but the scientific theories used in them are mentioned (in particular the "missing link" factor and time it would have taken to develop certain human characteristics).

I could not, however, give it full ratings. Some very important finds, concepts, and sites are given less than one page and the photos and illustrations do not correspond to the blurbs describing them. At times things are oversimplified (such as tool development and the working of metals and clay) and some events are left out entirely. Supplemented with other books and resources, this book should be find for either a public school science room or a home school session.

I look forward to finding and reading the supplemental material listed and the other books in the series.

[CairoErica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another favorite from the series. It's well-organized, interesting, and detailed. This was the first book I saw from this series and I think it's a good representative, even though the focus in this is more on archaeology than written history.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meant for grades 6-8. But an excellent over view of the most recent archeological finds and excellent time line.