Yves Coppens is a palaeontologist who is internationally recognised as the discoverer of many important human fossils, including those of the hominid Lucy. He is an honorary professor at the French National Museum of Natural History and at the Collège de France and a member of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medicine. He is notably the author of the highly successful Pré-ambules, Le Genou de Lucy, L’Histoire de l’Homme and Yves Coppens raconte l’homme.

Using an accessible question-and-answer format, Yves Coppens explains what the latest geographical findings have taught us.
What do we now know about the celebrated Lascaux cave paintings, seventy years after their discovery? What can we learn about our own primate lineage from the 10 million-year-old remains that were recently found in South Africa? Why can we now affirm that certain forms of cannibalism occurred between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons?
This sweeping work covers research carried out in China and Africa as well as in Europe.

• A work that examines and puts into perspective the latest archaeological findings from around the world.
• Yves Coppens is the leading figure in prehistoric studies in France today.
• The approach that made Le Présent du passé and Le Présent du passé au carré so successful.