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17th out of 50 books
—
3 voters
The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind, and Body
The propensity to make music is the most mysterious, wonderful, and neglected feature of humankind: this is where Steven Mithen began, drawing together strands from archaeology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience--and, of course, musicology--to explain why we are so compelled to make and hear music. But music could not be explained without addressing language, and coul...more
Hardcover, 374 pages
Published
March 1st 2006
by Harvard University Press
(first published 2005)
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Oct 28, 2008
Terence
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
All interested in human evolution/linguistics
Despite the title, Mithen is not arguing that bands of Neanderthal were roaming the tundras of Northern Europe 100,000 years ago breaking out in Gilbert & Sullivan tunes. Rather, he's taking up the incredibly complex relationship between our physical evolution and our capacities for language and music. And, here, "music" is not just the structured compositions of a Bach or (even) a Brittney Spears but is, instead, the propensity among primates for rhythmic movement and pitch- and tone-based...more
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Feb 19, 2010
Frank Jude
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those interested in how we became who/what we are
This is one of those books that are so outside the bounds of any particular genre it's hard to place. It's a totally engrossing book of (pre)history, anthropology, consciousness study (by way of psychology and neuroscience), musicology, and biology! Steven Mithen is Professor of Early Prehistory and Head of the School of Human and Environmental Sciences at the University of Reading. He is also a music lover, and with this book has dived deep into the relationship between biology, language and mu...more
Mithen rallies the very latest research in archaeology (much of his evidence having arisen just a year or two before publication), plus insights from a broad survey of relevant disciplines, taking in developmental psychology, neuropathology, ethological studies of primate behaviour, and naturally a liberal dash of musicology and linguistics. His ability to sift through vast amounts of scientific data, to weigh findings in different arenas against each other, and synthesize conclusions using both...more
For anyone interested in evolutionary psychology (or biology for that matter) and/or music, this is the best book I've read on the source of human musicality. The book has hundreds of footnotes, an enormous bibliography, and his theory is nicely laid out. It is not too technical, and an easy read, but full of interesting ideas. Basically, the author contends that our musical nature came from a million years of a proto language he calls HMMMMM, which is a type of musical, wordless, and manipulati...more
"Now this was a very interesting read. It certainly was mostly a well researched book, but I did notice a few gaps in terms of Scholarship (which could be accounted for in a revised edition) and at the price of making this an accessible/marketable read, there might not have been enough scientific debate (says the geek...) However it definitely helped convince me of the evolutionary importance of music to later hominids. Aside from parroting the words of others Mithen also enriches scholarly unde...more
When I was getting my master of arts degree in anthropology, I was very taken with Steven Mithen's comparison of paleolithic cave art with neolithic cave art. Using a compare and contrast method more familiar to art historians than scientists, he teased out working hypothesis related to the way that these early humans conceived of society and the world around them. Mithen again finds ways to delve into the archaeology of thought and reveals a plausible theory of mind concerning "the origins of m...more
We take the long route in discovering Mithen's reasons for proposing that the all homo genii have employed their love of melody, rhythm and tone in laying the foundations for a componential grammar. Along the way we discover how hundreds of years of archaeological discoveries have helped uncover the behaviours and habits of early hominids including early homo sapiens and neanderthals. To date, using the best that current archaeological and paleoanthropological evidence and theories can offer, an...more
Good book...a little dry and technical at times but it is a good indicator how music and it's relationship to the brain and our evolution as a species is finally being examined by neuroscience. It's an important and largely un-investigated area of the discipline and one well worth the effort.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those whom don't mind plowing through dry, technical writing. But it is not beyond the reach of the average educated mind.
Time to go out and pinch some more music...more
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those whom don't mind plowing through dry, technical writing. But it is not beyond the reach of the average educated mind.
Time to go out and pinch some more music...more
Anyone interested in music or language should read The Singing Neanderthals, which I recommend unreservedly. I found the argument for some proto-human holistic language persuasive, and I thought Professor Mithen's connection to music and the affective element of music really creative. While I was reading, I began to see patterns of supportive evidence outside of the text, in addition to the archaeological and neurological evidence mounted in the text, so I found myself participating in the argum...more
Jan 03, 2010
Bryce Peake
added it
Interesting book, although his metaphor of autistic children's mind is a little off-setting. Autism is purely a condition of higher primates, with little to no equivalent in the minds of any other primates.
Very interesting if read after his book "Prehistory of the Mind", which makes the message more clear.
Very interesting if read after his book "Prehistory of the Mind", which makes the message more clear.
This book is entertaining speculation. The author makes a good case why the neanderthals had not developed full speech, but like much speculation he runs riot claiming they had perfect pitch and perhaps sung most of the time.
The title is misleading. It should have been the Hmmming Neanderthals. (Hmmming is the author's mnemonic for humming).
I learned a great deal about early humans that I really hadn't thought about. The author's theory is that music & language occupy different parts of the brain. (Which is why some stroke patients can remember the music but have no concept of the words or know words but absolutely no concept of music -- not just forget but no concept). Music came first and was present in Neande...more
I learned a great deal about early humans that I really hadn't thought about. The author's theory is that music & language occupy different parts of the brain. (Which is why some stroke patients can remember the music but have no concept of the words or know words but absolutely no concept of music -- not just forget but no concept). Music came first and was present in Neande...more
I have avoided this book in the past because my personal interest extends to an earlier time than Neanderthals, but I shouldn't have. The title is misleading in that he extends to man's earliest Homo habilis days, not those relatively-modern Homo neanderthalensis times. He explains the importance of music to man's ability to use symbols, to express ideas without the vast lexicon we currently possess. He shares his definition of music as 'human sound communication outside the scope of language' (...more
For anyone interested in serious evolutionary biology, linguistics, or "history of music--" skip this, or take it with a spoonful of salt.
It's a long time since I read this, so any attempt to review in depth would be doomed to failure.
I seem to remember some of the arguments not being entirely convincing, but that didn't detract too much. The author's main point is approached from a variety of angles, so that some of them were weaker than others is maybe to be expected. In general, it's an interesting look at the role (perhaps) played by music in the development of verbal communication.
I seem to remember some of the arguments not being entirely convincing, but that didn't detract too much. The author's main point is approached from a variety of angles, so that some of them were weaker than others is maybe to be expected. In general, it's an interesting look at the role (perhaps) played by music in the development of verbal communication.
Some good ideas, but Mithen's admittedly limited knowledge of music precludes more interesting arguments. At the same time, the topic of the evolution of music has so little evidence that it's hard for anyone to do much more than speculate. Worth reading for some useful information and as an impetus to reflection upon how things might have gone in the ancient past and on how music works for us today.
Stephen Mithen looks at how music may have evolve from Australopithecines to Homo sapiens and seperates it from the development of language. His concept of 'Hmmmmm': Holistic, manipulative, muti-modal, musical and mimetic allows him to take different types of science and research and bring it to bear on the problem in a way that is very thought provoking.
It took me long time to finish this book for some reason, but it's pretty rad. Although he is persuasive, it seems to me like a lot of his theories are not all that solid, especially in the discussions of the evolution of hmmmm(mm?). He brings together a lot of different fields that are not often associated with one another. Interesting perspective.
Dec 30, 2007
Ed
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
evelyn, anna, kate
wonderful book on the evolutionary origins of music. the author who is renowned archeologist thinks music is a precursor to spoken language and also a parallel emotional language. Cogent, convincing and fascinating. Not to mention a great introduction to evolutionary archeology. The book title would make a great name for a band: Evelyn!
Ambitious, highly speculative, and sometimes rambling/vague/repetitive pondering on whether or not music evolved before language. Interesting theories, but unsure what value there is, alone, in establishing primacy (because that does not necessarily establish causality).
I read this over the course of a very long time. The subject matter was very interesting to me, but it was a little dry so I only read a pages chapters at a time spread over several months.
Intriguing speculation about how pre and early hominids might have communicated. A little repetitive and frequently very academic, but still fun, strange to say.
Consistente ensayo que vincula la evolución cognitiva del ser humano con el desarrollo de sus capacidades comunicativas y la aparición del lenguaje.
Interesting book. A little heady. Had a difficult time with the whole neanderthal thing.
I need this one too.
May 20, 2013
Trampas Jones
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Richard Larraga
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Claudio Jaffe
is currently reading it
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