Overview

Written in a non-technical style by two archaeologists and experienced writers about the past, the story begins with human origins in Africa some six million years ago and the spread of our remote ancestors across the Old World. Then we return to Africa and describe the emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) over 300,000 years ago, then, much later, their permanent settlement of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas. From hunters and foragers, we turn to the origins of farming and animal domestication in different parts of the world after about 11,000 years ago and show how these new economies changed human existence dramatically. The narratives chronicle the rise and fall of civilizations, and the devastating effects of long droughts on many of them. The closing chapter poses a question: Why is world prehistory important in the modern world? What does it tell us about ourselves? Providing a simple, but entertaining and stimulating, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective, World Prehistory: The Basics is the ideal guide to the story of our early human past and its relevance to the modern world.

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Brian M. Fagan is one of the world's leading archaeological writers and an internationally recognized authority on world prehistory. He is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was born in England, did fieldwork in Africa, and taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Fish on Friday, The Little Ice Age, The Long Summer, and the New York Times bestseller The Great Warming. Nadia Durrani is a Cambridge University-trained archaeologist and writer, with a PhD from University College, London in Arabian archaeology. She is former editor of Britain's bestselling archaeology magazine, Current World Archaeology and has authored and edited many articles and books on archaeology from every corner of the world. Lee Goettl resides in the Midwest with his wife, daughter, and three dogs, enjoying all things book-related. He has recorded over eighty audiobooks, including playing two characters in Seth Rogen's Yearbook. He also works as a voice artist for commercials, e-learning, and medical narration.

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