Becoming Human
Innovation in Prehistoric Material and Spiritual Culture
Published on 23. March 2009
Book
Hardback
324 pages
978-0-521-87654-4 (ISBN)
Description
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 colour plates.
Reviews / Votes
'This ... book contains very useful and often stimulating reviews of the essential new(ish) archaeology and ideas, written and edited with authority and clarity.' British ArchaeologyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
24 Plates, color; 42 Halftones, unspecified; 7 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 183 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
810 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-87654-4 (9780521876544)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2009
Cambridge University Press
€80.40
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Colin Renfrew (Professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn) is Emeritus Disney Professor and Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University. He is the author and editor of a large number of publications, including Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, with Paul Bahn, which is one of the standard textbooks on the subject. Iain Morley is Research Fellow of Darwin College and Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University. The author of numerous articles in academic journals and books, he is also co-editor, with Colin Renfrew, of Image and Imagination: A Global Prehistory of Figurative Representation.
Content
1. Introduction Colin Renfrew; 2. Prologue: the emergence of symbolic thought: the principal steps of hominisation leading towards greater complexity Henry de Lumley; Part I. African Origins, European Beginnings and World Prehistory: 3. The origins of symbolism, spirituality & shamans? Exploring Middle Stone Age material culture in South Africa Christopher Henshilwood; 4. Neanderthal symbolic behaviour? Jane Renfrew; 5. Identifying ancient religious thought and iconography: problems of definition, preservation and interpretation Paul Tacon; 6. Situating the creative explosion: universal or local? Colin Renfrew; Part II. Approaches to 'Art and Religion': 7. The roots of art and religion in ancient material culture Merlin Donald; 8. The archaeology of early religious practices: a plea for a hypothesis-testing approach Francesco d'Errico; 9. Out of the mind: material culture and the supernatural Steven Mithen; 10. Of people and pictures: the nexus of Upper Palaeolithic religion, social discrimination and art David Lewis-Williams; 11. Music and ritual - parallels and practice, and the Upper Palaeolithic Iain Morley; Part III. The European Experience: 12. Materiality and meaning-making in the understanding of the Palaeolithic 'arts' Margaret Conkey; 13. Sticking bones into cracks in the Upper Palaeolithic Jean Clottes; 14. Cognition and climate: why is Upper Palaeolithic cave art almost confined to the Franco-Cantabrian region? Paul Mellars; Part IV. Reflections on the Origins of Spirituality: 15. Interdisciplinary perspectives on human origins and religious awareness Wentzel Van Huyssteen; 16. Innovation in material and spiritual culture: exploring conjectured relationships Keith Ward.