Archaeology, Paleontology, Prehistory All books

Juan Luis Arsuaga
The Neanderthal Necklace Our Ancestors of the Ice Age
The conflict between Neanderthal man and Homo Sapiens during the European Ice Age is told here by Juan Luis Arsuaga, one of Europes most eminent pre-historians. Why did the stronger, better adapted Neanderthal become extinct, while our ancestors flourished? How can this critical phase in human development be explained? The tragic story of the extinction of this species so like and yet unlike our own can help us to understand our human strengths and assets. It would seem that we are here because Neanderthal man is dead... Juan Luis Arsuaga is a professor of palaeontology at the University of Madrid and a lecturer at University College London.

Yves Coppens
Memory of a Mammoth Science, past and present
The latest memoir by Yves Coppens. With 40 tastes of science and history. With 40 illustrations, maps and photos.

Jean Guilaine
Humanity’s Second Birth The Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution, a major turning point in the history of humanity

Jean Chavaillon
The Golden Age of Humanity Annals of the Palaeolithic Age
If myths tell the story of civilizations without writing, the myth of the golden age corresponds to a very precise period in the story of mankind: the superior paleololithic (between 35,000 and 9,000 B.C.). Even though different species of hominides coexisted in the same territories of Africa, there were no wars. Human groups were rare, they lived in an environment of abundance. They had time. Without art or religion, their life was carefree. All their knowledge was concentrated on the making of tools and in the mastering of fire. This is the everyday life of men from the Paleolithic which Jean Chavaillon describes in this fascinating book, illustrated by black and white reproductions. Jean Chavaillon, is a research director at the CNRS, a specialist in prehistory and a field worker.

Yves Coppens
The Scholar, the Fossil, and the Prince From the Lab to Palaces
A storyteller with amazing talent, a scientist who is happy to reveal to the greatest of figures other facets of his personality: adventurous, refined, and full of humor.

Jean Guilaine, Chantal Alibert
Paul Tournal, The Inventor Of Prehistory
A clear and accessible account of the obstacles endured by the inventor of prehistory, in particular in overcoming disbelief in the existence of fossilised human remains.

Éric Crubézy, Dariya Nikolaeva
Archeology of the Vanquished or History of the Victor?
An analysis of natural selection, the evolution of societies, and adaptation to climate and the environment. A different way of looking at history, by questioning what ensures the survival of certain societies facing extreme natural conditions as well as invasions and colonization.

Raymonde Bonnefille
Following Lucy Expeditions in Ethiopia
A unique account by one of the few women to have actively participated in the great archeological expeditions in the Omo Valley in the 1970s.