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Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by
4.04 avg rating — 454,933 ratings
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| 2 |
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1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
by
4.05 avg rating — 94,851 ratings
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| 3 |
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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
by
3.94 avg rating — 74,545 ratings
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| 4 |
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A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons
by
4.39 avg rating — 8,843 ratings
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| 5 |
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Kon-Tiki
by
4.16 avg rating — 25,005 ratings
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| 6 |
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
by
4.20 avg rating — 88,878 ratings
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| 7 |
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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by
4.34 avg rating — 1,248,354 ratings
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| 8 |
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Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle
by
3.97 avg rating — 6,060 ratings
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| 9 |
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The Naked Ape
by
3.93 avg rating — 12,066 ratings
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| 10 |
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The Songlines
by
3.96 avg rating — 12,368 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
by
4.08 avg rating — 28,598 ratings
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| 12 |
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The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?
by
3.78 avg rating — 11,045 ratings
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| 13 |
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Cannibals and Kings: Origins of Cultures
by
4.09 avg rating — 1,755 ratings
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| 14 |
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The Origin of Species
by
4.01 avg rating — 121,674 ratings
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| 15 |
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One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest
by
4.46 avg rating — 2,706 ratings
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Gods, Graves & Scholars: The Story of Archaeology
by
4.25 avg rating — 2,846 ratings
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| 17 |
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A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
by
3.97 avg rating — 9,406 ratings
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The Forest People
by
3.96 avg rating — 2,508 ratings
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| 19 |
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Motel of the Mysteries
by
4.11 avg rating — 2,621 ratings
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| 20 |
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The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
by
4.15 avg rating — 28,670 ratings
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| 21 |
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The Yanomamö
by
3.62 avg rating — 1,335 ratings
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| 22 |
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Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees
by
4.48 avg rating — 2,087 ratings
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| 23 |
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Europe and the People Without History
by
4.14 avg rating — 1,286 ratings
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| 24 |
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Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman
by
3.90 avg rating — 2,690 ratings
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| 25 |
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Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation
by
3.55 avg rating — 3,198 ratings
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| 26 |
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The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
by
3.99 avg rating — 3,932 ratings
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| 27 |
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The Golden Bough
by
4.02 avg rating — 8,692 ratings
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| 28 |
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The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen
by
4.13 avg rating — 825 ratings
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| 29 |
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In Search of the Dark Ages
by
4.01 avg rating — 2,070 ratings
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| 30 |
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The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
by
3.94 avg rating — 45,218 ratings
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| 31 |
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The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist's Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombis, and Magic
by
3.92 avg rating — 5,416 ratings
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| 32 |
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Why Is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality
by
3.71 avg rating — 7,280 ratings
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| 32 |
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Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit (Ishmael, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 104,059 ratings
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| 34 |
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The Selfish Gene
by
4.16 avg rating — 192,056 ratings
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| 35 |
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Euphoria
by
3.87 avg rating — 100,652 ratings
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| 36 |
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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
by
4.06 avg rating — 83,320 ratings
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| 37 |
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Shamanism: The Timeless Religion
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 172 ratings
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| 38 |
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Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi
by
3.64 avg rating — 1,444 ratings
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| 39 |
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Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization
by
3.96 avg rating — 446 ratings
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| 40 |
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In Search of the Trojan War
by
4.09 avg rating — 858 ratings
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| 41 |
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Neanderthals in Plato’s Cave: A Relativistic Approach to Cultural Evolution
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 6 ratings
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| 42 |
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Traurige Tropen.
by
4.14 avg rating — 4,112 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Shark God: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in the South Pacific
by
3.45 avg rating — 309 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Mound Builders
by
3.80 avg rating — 131 ratings
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| 45 |
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The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
by
4.30 avg rating — 28,883 ratings
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| 46 |
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The Complete Pompeii (The Complete Series)
by
4.22 avg rating — 369 ratings
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| 47 |
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Debt: The First 5,000 Years
by
4.21 avg rating — 26,671 ratings
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| 47 |
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Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates
by
3.67 avg rating — 10,291 ratings
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| 49 |
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Ancient Mexico: The History and Culture of the Maya, Aztecs and Other Pre-Columbian Peoples
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 38 ratings
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| 49 |
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Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God
by
3.68 avg rating — 56 ratings
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| 51 |
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Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind
by
4.02 avg rating — 529 ratings
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| 52 |
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Quest for the Past: Great Discoveries in Archaeology
by
3.70 avg rating — 43 ratings
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| 53 |
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Archaeology: A Brief Introduction
by
3.74 avg rating — 204 ratings
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| 54 |
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In the Shadow of Man
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4.37 avg rating — 9,191 ratings
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| 55 |
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Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind
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4.15 avg rating — 2,863 ratings
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| 56 |
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The Maya
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3.87 avg rating — 1,561 ratings
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| 57 |
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National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
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4.19 avg rating — 16 ratings
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| 58 |
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Floods, Famines, And Emperors: El Nino And The Fate Of Civilizations
by
3.69 avg rating — 226 ratings
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| 59 |
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Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet
by
3.80 avg rating — 2,682 ratings
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| 59 |
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Tackling the Everyday: Race and Nation in Big-Time College Football (Volume 19) (Atelier: Ethnographic Inquiry in the Twenty-First Century)
by
4.10 avg rating — 10 ratings
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| 61 |
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Return to Laughter: An Anthropological Novel
by
3.70 avg rating — 687 ratings
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| 62 |
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Why Nothing Works: The Anthropology of Daily Life
by
3.76 avg rating — 258 ratings
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| 63 |
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The Desert Smells Like Rain: A Naturalist in Papago Indian Country
by
4.25 avg rating — 397 ratings
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| 64 |
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Ancient Egyptian Magic: Spells, Incantations, Potions, Stories, and Rituals
by
3.91 avg rating — 135 ratings
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| 64 |
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The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by
4.15 avg rating — 78,991 ratings
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| 66 |
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Merchant Adventurer Kings of Rhoda: The Lost World of the Tucson Artifacts
by
4.50 avg rating — 8 ratings
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| 67 |
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Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
by
3.73 avg rating — 830 ratings
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| 68 |
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Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women
by
3.89 avg rating — 494 ratings
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| 69 |
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Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History
by
4.02 avg rating — 291 ratings
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| 70 |
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Voyage of the Beagle
by
4.02 avg rating — 8,408 ratings
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| 71 |
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Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
by
4.21 avg rating — 506 ratings
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| 72 |
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In Search of the First Civilizations
by
3.80 avg rating — 203 ratings
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| 73 |
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How the Barbarian Invasions Shaped the Modern World: The Vikings, Vandals, Huns, Mongols, Goths, and Tartars who Razed the Old World and Formed the New
by
3.56 avg rating — 163 ratings
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| 74 |
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Decolonizing Ukraine: How the Indigenous People of Crimea Remade Themselves after Russian Occupation
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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| 75 |
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The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code
by
4.01 avg rating — 3,701 ratings
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| 76 |
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The Mountain People
by
3.80 avg rating — 679 ratings
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| 76 |
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Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes
by
4.08 avg rating — 3,432 ratings
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| 78 |
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Engaging Anthropological Theory: A Social and Political History
by
4.06 avg rating — 68 ratings
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| 79 |
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Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
by
4.36 avg rating — 20,161 ratings
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| 80 |
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Saga America: A Startling New Theory on the Old World Settlement of America Before Columbus
by
3.54 avg rating — 46 ratings
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| 80 |
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The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by
4.29 avg rating — 80,017 ratings
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| 82 |
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The History of Ancient Egypt
by
4.51 avg rating — 2,371 ratings
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| 82 |
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The Human Zoo: A Zoologist's Study of the Urban Animal
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,040 ratings
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| 82 |
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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
by
4.06 avg rating — 27,974 ratings
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| 85 |
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Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology
by
4.04 avg rating — 745 ratings
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| 85 |
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Bandits
by
3.75 avg rating — 792 ratings
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| 87 |
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Pegando fogo: Por que cozinhar nos tornou humanos
by
3.88 avg rating — 4,099 ratings
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| 87 |
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Bronze-Age America
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4.03 avg rating — 31 ratings
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| 89 |
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Gathering the Desert
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4.31 avg rating — 151 ratings
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| 89 |
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The Lost World of the Anasazi
by
3.61 avg rating — 44 ratings
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| 89 |
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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by
4.26 avg rating — 101,839 ratings
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| 92 |
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Cherokee DNA Studies: Real People Who Proved the Geneticists Wrong (DNA Consultants Series on Consumer Genetics)
by
4.25 avg rating — 8 ratings
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| 92 |
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Kabloona: Among the Inuit (Graywolf Rediscovery Series)
by
4.18 avg rating — 852 ratings
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| 94 |
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Ancient Ruins of the Southwest: An Archaeological Guide
by
4.07 avg rating — 117 ratings
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| 95 |
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America BC: Ancient Settlers in the New World
by
3.74 avg rating — 267 ratings
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| 96 |
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Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest
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3.91 avg rating — 186 ratings
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| 96 |
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Fatu-Hiva: Back to Nature
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4.16 avg rating — 1,067 ratings
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| 98 |
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The Bog Man and the Archaeology of People
by
4.09 avg rating — 56 ratings
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| 98 |
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The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
by
4.09 avg rating — 41,663 ratings
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| 98 |
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The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America
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3.65 avg rating — 1,678 ratings
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I remember having to read Cannibals and Kings for ANTHRO 105, which was the intro course I had to take as an undergrad. Pretty interesting class, and as I recall, the book was pretty good too. I may have to look up a couple of these others too.
Fagan's books are highly readable, and Chaco Canyon is no exception.
I'm going to have to check out more of these lists! Every time I go to one I see more books I'd forgotten I'd read.
Why is anything by Jared Diamond on this list?
Wow is this list terrible. Outside of a few prominent anthros from the mid 19th century (Harris, Levi-Straus, Mead), and one decent scholar from a few decades ago (Wolf), this list is a mishmash of obscure ethnographers and popular non-anthro proponents of sociobiology. Not to mention Chagnon, who's work has been widely criticized within the field. Go ahead and read these, just don't think you're getting any kind of insight into contemporary anthropology.
Perhaps you should add your own selections; this list, like most Listopias, is crowd sourced, and not handed down from on high.
John wrote: "Wow is this list terrible. Outside of a few prominent anthros from the mid 19th century (Harris, Levi-Straus, Mead), and one decent scholar from a few decades ago (Wolf), this list is a mishmash of..."
I see Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl is on this list. Heyerdahl's theories were debunked in a 2014 Smithsonian Magazine article. I will keep my fingers off the delete button because some readers may argue that the Smithsonian is mistaken. Plus this list-maker didn't specify that these books need to be accurate. :-)
