Becoming Human

by Colin Renfrew (Editor)

The Upper Palaeolithic era of Europe has left an abundance of evidence for symbolic activities, such as direct representations of animals and other features of the natural world, personal adornments, and elaborate burials, as well as other vestiges that are more abstract and cryptic. These behaviours are also exhibited by populations throughout the world, from the prehistoric period through to the present day. How can we interpret these activities? What do they tell us about the beliefs and priorities of the people who carried them out? How do these behaviours relate to ideologies, cosmology, and understanding of the world? What can they tell us about the emergence of ritual and religious thought? And how do the activities of humans in prehistoric Europe compare with those of their predecessors there and elsewhere? In this volume, fifteen internationally renowned scholars contribute essays that explore the relationship between symbolism, spirituality, and humanity in the prehistoric societies of Europe and traditional societies elsewhere. The volume is richly illustrated with 50 halftones and 24 color plates.

Genres: Prehistory, Anthropology, History

326 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2009

About the author

Andrew Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn was a British archaeologist, paleolinguist and Conservative peer noted for his work on radiocarbon dating, the prehistory of languages, archaeogenetics, neuroarchaeology, and the prevention of looting at archaeological sites.
Renfrew was also the Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and was a Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Reviews

[atom_box Evan G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cambridge University Press, fifteen authors. I can't speak for the scholarly articles, but the illustrations were priceless:
* hand tools from 3mya in Ethiopia
* graves of Neanderthals in France and Israel
* paintings from 10,000 ya in Australia
* paintings from France
Sixty illustrations to aid you in time traveling in your mind back to those places.

Recommended: this paired well for me with the Shaman novel, by Kim Stanley Robinson.

[Valentín Serrano García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential for those interested in palelolithic art, spirituality and ritual.

Anyway, I strongly recommend to read the books of some of the authors listed in the articles' index (Jean Clottes and Lewis-Williams, amongst others).

[Riversue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent montage of papers on the subject of human evolution, art and religion, including one by a theologian.