What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

This book was juvenile nonfiction, read in the latter half of the 1970s. My hunch is that it was a Scholastic title, so I'm looking for lists of its titles from the 1970s. I recall a paperback with sepia pen-and-ink illustrations, probably of the Leakeys but possibly of generic archeologists, digging in Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley. Illustrations also of species of hominids, with cross-sections of skulls showing brain capacity. One way it is outdated is the names assigned to the species: I recall "Handy Man." The book was wider than it was tall, the usual dimensions but horizontal rather than vertical.

Could it be:
The Shattered Skull
I can't find a picture of the inside. It was published in 1965. It looks like a hardback, but it is a children's book so I thought I would throw it out there.

I came across that title in my searches, and I don't think so. I am sure my book wasn't about how life was currently lived but only about digging for fossils in Olduvai and types of hominids by brain case (extremely outdated I'm sure) and didn't feature wildlife, and probably had a less-scary title than a shattered skull: my associations with it are my fourth-grade classroom, making me about nine years old. But thank you!

Exploring the Past?

The Timeless Trail: Adventures in Archeology?

Secrets of the Past: The Fascinating World of Archaeology?

Rainbowheart wrote: "Exploring the Past?

This one might be it, but it doesn't have the (outdated) comparison of hominids that I remember.

Thanks for looking!

Do you think you would recognize the cover of your book?

Rainbowheart wrote: "Do you think you would recognize the cover of your book?"

If my recollection is accurate and not an amalgam, yes: probably a sepia kind of brown with a pen-and-ink illustration and longer than tall.

Lisa, still looking or did you find this?

I have not found this. I am still looking, especially since I'm currently reading more in paleoanthropology.

If Scholastic this may help. Covers front and back. http://bookscans.com/Publishers/schol...

The first men in the world by Anne Terry White. Not sepia but could rule out. https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/12213...

Early Man by F. Clark Howell.

bookel wrote: "If Scholastic this may help. Covers front and back. http://bookscans.com/Publishers/schol..."

Thanks, bookel. I looked at every cover of every series, and now I don't think it was Scholastic (unless, which seems unlikely, it was published after 1979). But wow, glimpses of The Littles and biographies of the western canon turned my head with nostalgia.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Lisa, still looking or did you find this?"

I don't know what the terms of this group are, but if the search has passed its expiry, I'll bow out with thanks for the suggestions.

Sometimes it can take years to solve, it only takes the right person to come along. Never give up.

"Julian May's THE FIRST MEN is a very good introduction to the excavations in the Olduvai Gorge"
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...

THAT’S IT! You are a Google master! Now I want to know what terms or engines you used, because I thought I had tried every possible permutation. Picture Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story Two whooping as she welcomes Woody to the posse. That is how I would thank you if we ever met. I cannot BELIEVE, except I can, how the images from various sales sites resonate with my memories. I recall asking my mother why people IN THE DESERT would wear long pants. I remember that my older sister, looking at a cross-section of skull, remarked on how big an eye one species had, and how I felt like a genius when I realized she was looking the braincase, not the eye socket. Again, thank you, bookel, and thank you, Lobstergirl, for rebooting the thread that led bookel to the identification.

Heh. An item at eBay lists the book as belonging to the series Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Glad you found your book, Lisa. Goodreads link - The First Men by Julian May - for bookel's find.

Awesome! I’m glad it was solved.

Usually write out how I find it, now trying to reproduce but not getting it. I used Google Books advanced search (or just select Google Books), keywords like Archeology in Olduvai Gorge juvenile (might have added literature, which covers juvenile literature ie. nonfiction) and  year range under tools, custom range 1970-1979, or can enter year range on the advanced search page. I knew from looking at the Scholastic site recently that Julian May had published some Scholastic books. Checked abebooks.com for the quoted title and author and the cover looked like a match. Publishers seem very similar in style to Scholastic.