The Domestication of the Human Species [Hardcover]

Peter J. Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1988

In this exciting new book the author of Man, the Promising Primate takes domestication as the starting point for his continued inquiry into human evolution. Peter J. Wilson believes that the most radical and far-reaching innovation in human development was this settling down into a built environment, and he argues that it had a crucial effect on human psychology and social relations. His insights not only offer an enriched understanding of human behavior and human history but also point the way toward amendments to long-standing social theories.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yale Univ Pr (November 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300042434
• ISBN-13: 978-0300042436
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting perspective on spatial organization, February 6, 2002

By 

Michael E. Smith "Archaeologist" (Arizona State University) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Domestication of the Human Species (Paperback)

The author presents a fascinating and original view on the spatial organization of culture, with many wide-ranging implications. The "domestication" of humans occurred when fomerly nomadic peoples settled down to a sedentary, agricultural (Neolithic) life. Whereas nomaic hunter/gatherers have a "focus-oriented" spatial framework, domesticated people have a "boundary-oriented" framework. Architecture and walls have a fundamental influence over behavior, ideas, and culture.

Although the book has many fascinating insights, it suffers from the overly-broad category of "domesticated cultures." These include everything from the Neolithic revolution up to the industiral revolution. For Wilson, there is very little difference between tribal Neolithic cultures and the preindustrial states of antiquity. Yet the social organizations, use of space, and many other aspects of culture differ widely within "domesticated cultures," and this variation weakens considerably the applicability of Wilson's insights.

The book is nevertheless worth reading for its numerous insights and fresh ideas. For example, he suggests that Roy Rappaport's characterization of rituals (repetition, formal structure, unity, etc.) can be applied to architecture. This has numerous implications (not fully explored by Wilson) and constitutes an independent approach to the built-environment theme of Amos Rapaport and others.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, August 27, 2000

By 

rmendel (Rotorua, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Domestication of the Human Species (Paperback)

This book offers the best understanding so far of the basics of human evolution. The writing of a very sophisticated yet obvious process in such a clear and understandable way makes this book a masterpiece.

By incorporating the concepts of Wilson's evolution theories into the study of psychology and humanities we, potentially, have the key for an 'evolutionary jump'of understanding how we got here and why.