Prehistory by Chris Gosden

Prehistory by Chris Gosden

Prehistory covers the period of some 4 million years before the start of written history, when our earliest ancestors, the Australopithecines, existed in Africa. But this is relatively recent compared to whole history of the earth of some 4.5 billion years. A key aspect of prehistory is that it provides a sense of scale, throwing recent ways of life into perspective. Humans and their ancestors lived in many different ways and the cultural variety we see now is just a tiny fraction of that which has existed over millions of years. Humans are part of the broader evolution of landscapes and communities of plants and animals, but Homo sapiens is also the only species to have made a real impact on planetary systems. To understand such an impact, we need a grasp of our longest term development and ways of life.In this new edition of his Very Short Introduction, Chris Gosden invites us to think seriously about who we are by considering who we have been. As he explains, many new discoveries have been made in archaeology over the last ten years, and a new framework for prehistory is emerging. A greater understanding of Chinese and central Asian prehistory has thrown Eurasian prehistory in quite a different light, with flows of the influence of culture over large areas now evident. This has eaten away at the traditional view of human progress around the invention of agriculture, the development of cities and (much later) the industrial revolution, and given us new geographies to think about. Chris Gosden explores the new landscape of our prehistory, and considers the way the different geographical locations weave together.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

A brilliant exposition of prehistory in all its variety - thoughtful and wide-ranging* Barry Cunliffe *
Challenging, authoritative and with a world vision, Chris Gosdens Prehistory provides the foundations for a twenty first century archaeology. There is no better place to start the journey into deep human history than this concise celebration of the importance of long term history by one of the worlds leading archaeologists. * Professor Clive Gamble, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton *

Chris Gosden is Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford. He has written and edited a number of books on the history of the Pitt Rivers, on Celtic art and reporting on major excavations. He is currently directing the English Landscape and Identities project looking at the history of the English Landscape from 1500 BC to AD 1088 (funded by the ERC), and the European Celtic Art in Context project, exploring Celtic art and its eastern connections (funded by the Leverhulme Trust). He is also finishing a project on the English Collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum (funded by the ESRC).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780198803515
ISBN 10	0198803516
Title	Prehistory
Author	Chris Gosden
Series	Very Short Introductions
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2018-06-28
Number of pages	160
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.