Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library

Ancient bones, unearthing the astonishing new story of how we became human, by Madelaine Böhme, Rüdiger Braun, and Florian Breier ; foreword by David. R. Begun ; translated by Jane Billinghurst

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-321) and index

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index present

non fiction

Ancient bones

bibliography

1191757142

by Madelaine Böhme, Rüdiger Braun, and Florian Breier ; foreword by David. R. Begun ; translated by Jane Billinghurst

unearthing the astonishing new story of how we became human

El Graeco and the split between chimpanzees and humans. Questioning the origins of humans: the detective work begins -- The Greek adventure: the first fossil apes from Pikermi -- In the Queen's garden: Bruno von Freyberg's discovery -- In search of forgotten treasure: a journey into the catacombs beneath the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg -- Magnetometers and microtomography: ancient bones in a high-tech lab -- The real planet of the pages. Disasters and successes: a short history of the search for our origins -- African beginnings: the golden age of ape evolution -- Progress in Europe: great apes in oak forests -- Apes in Allgäu: was Udo a missing link -- The cradle of humanity: Africa or Europe?. The primal ancestor: still an ape or an early hominin -- Fossil footprints from Crete: puzzling prints of an ancient biped -- A skull in the sand and a secret thighbone: the shady case of Sahelanthropus -- From early hominin to prehistoric human: the out-of-Africa theory begins to wobble -- Climate change as a driver of evolution. Not just counting bones: reconstructing the environment is key -- Buried in the sands of time: landscape and vegetation in El Graeco's time -- The great barrier: a gigantic desert becomes an insurmountable obstacle -- A gray-white desert and a salty sea: The Mediterranean dries out -- What makes humans human. Free hands: lots of room for creativity -- Wanderlust: curiosity about the unknown -- Hairless marathoner: the running human -- Fire, intellect, and small teeth: how diet influenced the development of brain -- Vocal connections: from Alarm cries to culture -- The lone survivor. A confusing complexity: the problem with the family tree -- A puzzling phenomenon: humans from Denisova cave -- And then there was one: the rational human