World Prehistory: In New Perspective

by Grahame Clark

'To qualify as human, a hominid has, so to say, to justify himself by works: the criteria are no longer biological so much as cultural'. In this 1977 book, Professor Grahame Clark goes on to trace the origins and development of human culture, in all its diversity, throughout the world. He follows the intellectual, material and social progress of mankind in each major region, from the earliest stone industries of two million years ago to the gradual and still incomplete attainment of literacy over the last five thousand years. He takes full account of peoples still preliterate when encountered in recent times by anthropologists as well as of those which nourished the great historic civilizations of mankind. Throughout he emphasizes the close relationship between environment and the character and speed of cultural development. The narrative is generously illustrated with photographs, drawings and maps, and there is a carefully selected list of references to the main sources used.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Teagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I thought some things were interesting and worth reading. However, the writing style made the book unnecessarily boring, and the author interjected his opinion where it did not belong.

[Jeff Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid prehistory book. I wasn't expecting it to go so...recent, but in pretty much every culture around the world it marched right up until modern times. This isn't an outline of prehistory - it's an outline of history, but one that goes into prehistory.

Is probably a good read alongside, and made reference to a lot of the same context as 1491, derek de solla price's lectures, and this report on alaska's school systems.

[José Van Rosmalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Populair overzichtswerk over de prehistorie, vooral over hoe de mensheid de aarde ging bevolken en zich ging verspreiden over de diverse werelddelen.