Saturday, January 8, 2011

Steoff, Rebecca. Ice Age Neanderthals

Steoff, Rebecca Ice Age Neanderthals
Marshall Cavendish/Benchmark 2010 112p 37.07
978-0-7614-4186-1 ms/hs E-BN
Humans:An Evolutionary History

A history of the Neanderthals who lived in Eurasia before the development of modern man. It includes the Heidelberg man and gives the links between many different early hominids.
This title is number 3 in a set of four that details the variety of species of Early Man and how we know so much about them. This particular title deals just with the Neanderthal Man and related Heidelberg Man. After an introduction about the history of the search for the origins of Man, there is an explanation of ice ages. Then the migrations of Early Man into Europe are explained
The discoveries in many different places show that the Neanderthals were quite widespread across Europe and parts of Asia as well as Africa. Finds have been made near Gibraltar, in Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey and Africa. Some locations produced skull and bone fragments and others only tools.
The main similarities and differences between the skulls and what is known about the body when comparing Neanderthal Man to modern man are pointed out in detail.
One main conclusion of this text is that the Neanderthal is not an ancestor of modern man but that both share some other common further back ancestor.
Throughout the text, references are made to the content of the other titles in the series rather than reiterating the same information. This set uses the most recent anthropological discoveries and theories.
There is a glossary, extensive chapter notes and index.
Very highly recommended for middle and high school. Theal, Joan

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