Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain

by Chris Stringer

Chris Stringer's Homo Britannicus is the epic history of life in Britain, from man's very first footsteps through to the present day.

When did the first people arrive here? What did they look like? How did they survive? Who were the Neanderthals?

Chris Stringer takes us back to when it was so tropical we lived here alongside hippos, elephants and sabre-toothed tigers or to times so cold we hunted reindeer and mammoth, and to others even colder when we were forced to flee a wall of ice. Here is the incredible truth about our ancestors' journey over millennia - and a glimpse of the future to see how it might continue.

'A beautiful book on a fascinating subject, written by a world authority'
  Richard Dawkins

'Superlative ... Pure stimulation from beginning to end'
  Bill Bryson

'Every chapter contains something new, and throws up a fresh location that deserves to become famous'
  Sunday Times

'This important and eminently readable book pulls together all the best scientific work on the first humans to inhabit Britain'
  Tony Robinson

Chris Stringer is Britain's foremost expert on human origins and works in the Department of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum. He also currently directs the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, aimed at reconstructing the first detailed history of how and when Britain was occupied by early humans. His previous books include African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity, The Complete World of Human Evolution and most recently, Homo Britannicus, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book of the Year in 2007.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Archaeology, Anthropology, Prehistory, Evolution

242 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2007

About the author

Professor Christopher Brian Stringer, Fellow of the Royal Society currently works at the National History Museum, London, as research leader in human origins.

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only had the chance to skim through this, because the library was tired of renewing it for me (not really, they’re excellent to me), but it’s an amazing resource. Limited, of course, in that it examines the development of humans in Britain, which doesn’t allow for taking into account other parts of the story. And indeed, it was written in 2008, so I’m not sure if some of the vital parts of the human story were available then — when were the Denisovan caves discovered and published about? It’s also pretty obviously for the layman (which would normally include me! but I’ve done so much reading on the subject, going over the basics again doesn’t work for me).

It’s a well-presented book, with plenty of photography, illustrations, etc. It links in the story of humans in Britain with the issue of climate change, which is on the one hand understandable — occupation of Britain fluctuated over and over again as Ice Ages came and went, and once hippos lived in the wild in Britain! — and a little disingenuous. Obviously, I’m not looking for a lecture on climate change when I want to read about humans.

(Not to mention: the choir? You’re preaching to it. I’m well aware of the cycles of climate change on Earth, and their potential effects on all species and countries. And to me, it doesn’t matter whether we’re driving climate change or not. We’re using an unsustainable fuel supply to do so, and in many other ways it measurably damages our world. Let’s fix that and then wrangle about whether or not it’s fixed the climate too.)

Originally posted here.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a reason that this book was shortlisted in 2007 for the Royal Society Prizes for Science Non Fiction. It is brilliantly done. Chris Stringer brings you pre-historic humans in an accessible way. That does not mean that it is playful and whimsical, quite the opposite. Neither is it dry and exhaustive which may be what you expect from a book such as this.

I relished this book all the way through. Loved it. Didn't want it to end. And then I hit a wall. A far too long chapter preaching about climate change.

Climate Change. Yes it's real. Yes we're all screwed if we don't lift our game. But it is not what I expected from this book. It went from fascinating archaeological finds in caves with suspect clay roofs to, here's the ways we can stop climate change and if we don't do this by this time, here's what is going to happen, and here's what some countries are doing to stop it and will it be too late.
If I wanted such details and preaching on climate change, I would have picked up a climate change book. I wanted prehistoric finds and archaeology. It gave me the latter for most of the book, so I enjoyed much of the ride.
I feel it would have served this book better to have had this climate change chapter as an 'Afterword'. A read it if you want type Afterword, a closing comment.

I was disappointed with the back end of Homo britannicus and up until then it was a 5 star book and I was thinking about adding it to my favourites.
I still recommend it though. Ignoring that hiccup, this book is fabulously transportive.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't really deliver what it promised: instead of a good overview of the human predecessors and ancestors that have lived in Britain, how they lived, etc., 'Homo Britannicus' is more of a pat on the back for archaeology as a discipline - a bit contrived, as it is written by an archaeologist.

There are lots of references to dig sites around Britain (gets confusing after a while - did Boxgrove man come before Swanscombe man or vice versa? Etc.), most of which contain inconclusive materials, and lots of lists of the fauna that lived in Britain at certain times. There are interesting tidbits here and there but the book didn't give me any more info on homo heidelbergensis, neanderthalensis, archaic sapiens etc., and that's what I was looking for.

In all, this is a strange book. Parts of it read like a pamphlet for AHOB, the author's ongoing archaeology project, and the last chapter is pretty much an essay on global warming that has nothing at all to do with the humans who lived in Britain from 700,000 years ago other than the implication that "the climate changed back then and they had a hard time so we'll probably have a hard time too if we carry on". It seems like Stringer is far more passionate about climate than unearthing the human past, and as a result he doesn't really try to understand ancient humans.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read this! The author, Chris Stringer is research leader in Human Origins at the Natural History Museum in London and his depth and wide range of expertise on the subjects of archaeology, human evolution, genetics, anthropology and even climate science fill every page.
'Homo Britannicus' is such a well written and entertaining journey across hundreds of thousands of years of human history. Stringer takes the reader along a fascinating road of discovery that has provided our current understanding. From the fog of biblical timescales and geological ignorance through the rapid acceleration of archaeological finds with modern scientific analysis.
As a long time member of Greenpeace I also found the final chapter 'Our Challenging Climates' to be fully in tune with my own opinions of what may well lie ahead in the human story in the very near future.

[Siri Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homo britannicus tells the story of human occupation in the area that would become modern-day Britain over the past million years, from the earliest traces of a human presence to the end of the Mesolithic and the beginnings of agriculture. The book was written at the conclusion of the First Steps-project, which was an interdisciplinary research project into human occupation in Britain, incorporating insights from archaeology, palaeoanthropology, palaeoenvironmental analyses, and bioarchaeology. This gives the book a very interdisciplinary scope, providing a very facetted picture of the subject. The story is told through deeper examinations of individual key sites, including such famous sites as Padfield and Bosgrove. Chris Stringer is a masterful storyteller and one of the world's leading authorities on European palaeoanthropology, and I found the book to be very well-written and informative. For some reason, I didn't find the book to be incredibly engaging, which is why I opted for four rather than five stars, but that might simply be because I personally prefer to read either more overarching or very in-depth examinations, so the in-between of this book (focusing only on Britain rather than opting for a pan-European perspective, but then providing only a brief description of sites rather than something more comprehensive) was just a slight mismatch in terms of my personal preferences.

[Anna Kaling · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn't a history of human life in Britain, but an account of the archaeological discoveries the author and his friends have been part of. There's hardly any information about how ancient people in Britain lived. It's all about how their bones and tools were found in the last few decades.

There's a lecture about climate change shoehorned in at the end, as if the book wasn't contrived enough already.

[Ajith Ashokkumar (LordOfBooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book that helps uncover the mysterious existence of human life in British land. Homo species inhabited this land around 700,000 years ago, life is not that smooth during those period, the British island experienced significant climatic changes, including intense ice ages, which posed immense challenges for the existence of the Homo species and eventually led to their disappearance from British land for a considerable period of time.

The book contains wonderful pictures depicting the ancient period in a captivating way. The author begins by giving readers insights into ancient lives in Britain, and in the final chapter, it concludes with a note about the ferocious climatic changes we are going to witness, such as global warming, etc.

"The difference between humans and Neanderthals is .004 percent of gene code. That's how big the difference is, one species to another" - Juan Enriquez

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Homo Britannicus, Stringer explores the very early human occupation of Britain, from the first evidence of hominid activity some 700,000 years ago to the arrival of modern humans about 12,000 years ago. This vast stretch of time reveals a startlingly different Britain - one whose climate lurched from ice age to subtropical, and whose inhabitants would go from hunting reindeer and mammoth to living alongside hippos and elephants. For those of us more accustomed to red squirrels and "spits and spots of rain", the mental picture of such a volatile and unrecognizable Britain is one of this book's pleasures.

Stringer begins by examining the topic of fossils generally, chronicling the shift from Biblical explanations to scientific ones. For those who still buy into the religious-based myth that mankind (indeed the earth itself) is a mere 6,000 years old, Stringer details the numerous dating methods and spells out just how we know what we know. He devotes much of the book to revealing the key fossil sites, and pieces together the evidence from these different locations to create a picture of the first hominids to inhabit Britain.

Elegantly written, the text is not overly-technical, and it's noticeable that Chris displays an open mind throughout, taking an honest and measured approach to conflicting evidence and uncertainty - the sign of a true scientist. Good quality colour photographs of the artefacts also help this book come alive, as do the various black and white maps that pinpoint key fossil sites. If you have the slightest interest in Britain's distant origins, I would recommend this.

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

My initial thoughts upon completing this book were that it was too short and over all too quickly. So I guess on the positive side it was an easy read and not a slog. But I expected more. There’s a prologue in which Stringer summarises the book’s aims, an introduction in which he details the work of early antiquarians, a final chapter in which Stringer talks about climate change over the entirety of human history and going into the future, and a final section in which all of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain members talk about what they do. So only pages 35 to 159 actually discuss early human occupation in Britain. Of a 242 page book. That’s only 124 pages on the book’s actual subject, strictly speaking, and the other 118 pages are kind of superfluous. Plus a prologue which doesn’t have page numbers. Needless to say I feel a little disappointed about that. I was hoping for a really thorough read about Neanderthals, homo erectus, and homo sapiens in Britain in the Stone Age. It’d be okay if all of these add-ons were small additions to a much larger, meatier main text, but the main text is so short. Stringer discusses climate, flora, fauna, and archaeological work, but I was hoping for more on the actual people. What Stringer does write is clear, accessible, and lucid, and does provide a focus on specifically British material, and one can hardly sniff at Stringer’s extensive professional credentials… But this is just not what I was looking for.

7 out of 10

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think if I'd read this in 2007 when it was first published it would have been a more enjoyable and insightful read but unfortunately Homo Britannicus hasn't aged well.

Chris Stringer focuses much of the novel on climate change and how human life struggled to survive throughout the ages with such variable weather. The end chapter is purely an essay on the future dangers current humans faced with global warming and climate change. These are causes I completely believe in and am passion about but because of that I didn't need to read more about it. Also being written over 13 years ago you can tell he is coming from a time when climate change wasn't widely accepted. It meant valuable page time is given to climate change throughout the millenniums rather than focusing on the evolution of different humans in Britain, which is what I thought this book would be.

Overall I've read better more recent books on this subject and therefore can't give it a higher rating than 2 stars.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably interesting read about the glacial fluctuations that affected humans in the British Isles. Essentially the book describes various sites and what was found there which have enabled construction of a prehistoric timeframe for human occupation in Europe.
I found it interesting to read about the tools found and what this might tell researchers about human cultures at the time, also the time-scales involved are mind-blowing!
However like other books on this topic that I've read, it got a little dry, and a speculative last chapter on climate change also felt a bit out of place, i.e., documented past changes versus what might change in hundreds of years.

[Shea.Cout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to British archaeological history through case studies of sites until the last chapter pushing cliché 2000s climate change babble onto an audience which doesn't need it.

[Andrew Earnshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the summary of a few years worth of work. That's the first thing to note. This book is not an objective, exhaustive story of human habitation in Britain. It is an accessible reporting of significant developments in the field due to the work of a highly-talented, multi-disciplinary (but otherwise not very diverse) set of academics.

So, when taken on its own terms, this book is excellent. The pictures are notably stunning and the story it tells is always well written, generally interesting and occasionally revolutionary even now, quite a few years after its release.

And there is where the book's issues lie. It's age. Which seems a strange thing to say about a book released in 2006. However, because this is a discovery-led book rather than a theory-led book it is by its nature more prone to rapidly falling out of kilter with developments in the field. That is because, since this book is reporting on what were then revolutionary discoveries and ideas, once those ideas become mainstream or new discoveries are found, they appear in this book as a little old-hat. This book could do with a new edition. That's because the way that this issue affects the book is that it kind of takes the sting out of its conclusions, making this book occasionally unsatisfying to read.

The main offender here is the final chapter which reports on climate change on a way that was revolutionary in 2006 but is now extremely dated. That was the only chapter I found difficult and boring. However, there are other areas which suffer this issue. AHOB has continued its work and more discoveries have been made, such as artwork at Gough's Cave. Techniques like DNA sequencing has continued to improve revealing the nuance and insight the author was dreaming of in this book.

So, overall, an easy and worthy read and a book which, if it was to be re-released with a new edition might find itself becoming something of a classic.

[Dale Noble · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sorely disappointed in this book, particularly with the author. For the most part, this is an informative guide to the history of human habitation of the British mainland which I would have highly recommended. However, the final chapter of this book offsets the rest of the content (at least for myself) as it tenuously links the focus of the book into the phenomenon of 'global warming'. The forced shift that is taken here highlights a blatant attempt on the authors behalf to jump onto the climate science bandwagon that marked the mid-2000's, something that I am very disappointed to find in this book. I read this book to learn more about human evolution and the rise of Homo Sapiens habitation upon the British mainland. I did not want to be lectured about the climatic stress that we as humans are putting upon the world, if I had wanted that I would have read something more closely associated with said subject. As I said, this turn sorely disappointed me and ruined an otherwise good read hence why I gave it such a low rating. Without the problematic chapter, this book would have easily received a four star rating, as it is shame on the author for cashing in on a subject that had no place in this book.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Human ancestors in Africa turned to be carnivory about two m.y.a
Three ancient routs into Europe have been proposed : the most abvious one is via western Asia- either from Caucasus ( modern country such as Georgia and Armenia) or from Levant, including countries such as Syria and palastine. 
Two other posibble routs have been proposed as will via north Africa into southern Europe. Across the Mediterranean. From Morocco into Spain or Gibraltar. While a central one may have been led from Tunisia to Italy via Sicily. The ice age helped by lowering the Mediterranean and exposing more lands bridges between Africa and Europe. 

Homo ergaster in Africa gave a rise to Homo Georgicus in Europe and Homo Antecessor. And to homo Erctus in S.E. Asia. Which gave a birth to Homo floressiensis in S.E Asia. Homo ergaster, it gave a rise to Homo Heidelbergensis in Africa and then later Neanderthal in Europe and also Homo Sapiens in Africa. 

 the Earth changed its orbit from the sun. This was the pacemaker of the ice age

Homo Floressiensis : known as Hobbit. They went extenct because of a volcanic eruption of Keli Mutu volcano.

CFCs is the name of the gas that have been widely used in sprays, refrigerators which was affecting the atmosphere  

[Shaun Hately · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the parts about the prehistory of Britain fascinating - and that is after all why I was reading the book, but I found the discussion of the current climatic situation in the final chapter overpowering and out of place. It wasn't that it was bad, and I think it was important and if I had read it as a standalone piece I'd have been impressed by it - but it seemed to go from a book that was talking specifically about Britain to one that was suddenly about problems on a global scale without clearly laying out their implications for Britain. When the whole book has laid out the case about how warm periods have been good for human habitation in Britain, to some extent I came away with the impression that while climate change may be disastrous for the world in general, it might actually be good for Britain - and I am sure that is not what the author was intending to suggest.

[Rupert Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about the prehistory of humanity in the British Isles.
It tells the epic history of life in Britain, from man's very first footsteps to the present day. Chris Stringer describes times when Britain was so tropical that man lived alongside hippos and sabre tooth tiger, times so cold we shared this land with reindeer and mammoth, and times colder still when we were forced to flee altogether. TThe Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, led by Chris, has made discoveries that have stunned the world, pushing back the earliest date of arrival to 700,000 years ago. Our ancestors have been fighting a dramatic battle for survival here ever since.
I have a few quibbles about the tone of the book. IN places it reads a bit like a pitch for more funding for his research rather than a dispassionate account. But I guess that is one side of academia these days.

[Moataz · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was quiet a journey, despite how short it was. The book is great, not beautifully written, neither capturing. The author is more a researcher than a writer. It's a short book and not detailed, so I had to read outside the book every now and then. At first, I didn't understand why there was a special book dedicated to human evolution history in Britain, but reading the book I understood how the discoveries in Britain shaped our understanding to the evolving of the human race. I loved the most, the begining of the book (about the old discoveries and how old christian scientists interpreted the fossils they saw.), and the last part about Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the human occupation of Britain from ~800,000 years ago through the bronze age, with a lot of information about the history of British archaeology, which is repeatedly a story of the destructive hubris of the 19th century. It did make me reflect a little on how current methods will be viewed 200 years from now. The last chapter covers the effects of the changing climate of our future, which in the context of a prehistory shaped mostly by climate cycles is not inherently out of place, but since 15 years later the political circumstances and cultural references seem very dated, it doesn't seem to quite fit here.

[Dallas Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover is beautiful, the blurb intriguing (“the incredible story of human life in Britain”), and the endorsement positive (“Superlative…pure stimulation from beginning to end”). However, my expectation versus reality did not align. In the end this book is a rather deep archaeological analysis of bones, flints, and caves…and not much else. I was expecting a far more vivid description of the lives of early Britons - instead I got a dry lecture. Of course, this is partly my fault, but I also feel misled by the cover and blurb on the back. Still, I was tottering between four and three stars, deciding on four because part of the mistake was my own.

[Lubna Ferdousy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the way the writer made a book on paleontology accessible and fun for all sorts of readers. Specially enjoyed learning about their work process and having a glimpse of the passionate labour that goes behind what is for most of us a flashing newspaper headline for one morning.

[Andy Gore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written book that is very accessible for the amateur and fascinating indeed. The Margaret Thatcher quote at the end matched by her lack of response to what she said is soul searching stuff indeed.

[Matthew Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borderline 2½ * due to the Thunberg-esque climate change rant that is the last chapter. 4* without that drivel.

[Jai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to go deeper into the past links with Africa, but a good read for fairly new convert to factual books.

[Amy benny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such good explanations and a really interesting read! Some of what I learnt in this has stayed stuck in my head since.

[Duntay · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with a book that introduces you to the vole clck.

[Stephen Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes the history of mankind in Britain, from the earliest inhabitants more than half a million years ago, to modern humans. The book explains the archaeological evidence found so far and how that fits with our knowledge of the major climatic shifts over the past million years, and in turn how those impacted on the natural world in which man tried to survive. It is accompanied by a wealth of attractive illustrations, some directly relevant, some less so.

The book is very readable and not hard going at all in any one section, but the style does seem disjointed at times and the many strands of evidence, while presented well, aren't always tied together to create a fully coherent picture - or at least that is where the effort on the part of the reader is needed.

Nevertheless, it is a fascinating read, offering the lay reader a glimpse of a story which cannot fail to capture the imagination.

[Paul Comac · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of early life in Britain which we now know goes back 900,000 years. After a superb analysis of the role of climate change in human evolution, Chris Stringer ends his book with an emotional appeal to preserve our future, threatened by global warming today, not tomorrow. Terrific.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good description of the course of human life in Britain which doubtless will be superseded by time, archaeology and greater knowledge. Presumably the acceptance that there was some interbreeding of the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens will necessitate a revised edition. Notwithstanding this, it is a scholarly book essential to an understanding of the emergence of man in the Islands.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and entertaining enough. There are several named sites in here for my AS Archaeology class, I just wish Chris Stringer had developed these a little more, but overall I really enjoyed this, fascinating stuff and it confirmed that this is an area in which I am interested. Good stuff.