The Evolution of the Human Head [Hardcover]

Daniel E. Lieberman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2011 | ISBN-10: 9780674046368 | ISBN-13: 978-0674046368 | Edition: 1

In one sense, human heads function much like those of other mammals. We use them to chew, smell, swallow, think, hear, and so on. But, in other respects, the human head is quite unusual. Unlike other animals, even our great ape cousins, our heads are short and wide, very big brained, snoutless, largely furless, and perched on a short, nearly vertical neck. Daniel E. Lieberman sets out to explain how the human head works, and why our heads evolved in this peculiarly human way.

Exhaustively researched and years in the making, this innovative book documents how the many components of the head function, how they evolved since we diverged from the apes, and how they interact in diverse ways both functionally and developmentally, causing them to be highly integrated. This integration not only permits the head’s many units to accommodate each other as they grow and work, but also facilitates evolutionary change. Lieberman shows how, when, and why the major transformations evident in the evolution of the human head occurred. The special way the head is integrated, Lieberman argues, made it possible for a few developmental shifts to have had widespread effects on craniofacial growth, yet still permit the head to function exquisitely.

This is the first book to explore in depth what happened in human evolution by integrating principles of development and functional morphology with the hominin fossil record. The Evolution of the Human Head will permanently change the study of human evolution and has widespread ramifications for thinking about other branches of evolutionary biology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lieberman's integrated approach will make his book a forum for a way of thinking in human evolution that has not yet found its equal in print.
--Christopher Dean, University College London

This is an outstanding book. Lieberman draws from a wide variety of disciplines, including bone biology, embryology, morphometrics, functional anatomy, and paleontology to forge a masterful synthesis of the evolution of the human head. It will be the definitive reference for decades. (John G. Fleagle, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University )

Lieberman offers acute descriptions of anatomy, embryology, physiology, and hominid fossils, while providing an exciting way to observe the relationships among structures, functions, and evolutionary variance.
--Scott Vieira (Library Journal 20110101)

Lieberman dives deep into the cranium, showing just how much of what we consider to be human is connected to what happens above the neck.
--Carolyn Y. Johnson (Boston Globe 20110130)

Daniel Lieberman has written a wonderful and inspiring book about the human head's evolution...One stands in awe at the work that has gone into it...This encyclopedic book is transformative...The morphological details in Lieberman's book make it a direct descendant of Gray's Anatomy...If a single word describes this book, it is integrative. The author integrates material from anatomy, physiology, physics, biomechanics, molecular and developmental biology, but brings all under the umbrella of evolutionary theory.
--Chris McManus (Times Higher Education 20110217)

This [is an] impressive book...This hefty and well-written book offers a scholarly breadth and attention to detail that are certainly laudable. The book is quite unusual in that it includes a comprehensive review of the soft tissues associated with cranial features and discusses them within the context of evolutionary morphology and the fossil record of the human skull. I can think of no other volume that packages the anatomy of the human head in this fashion...Lieberman's big book definitely moves us ahead in effectively synthesizing so much of what is currently understood about the structure, function and evolution of the human head.
--Brian T. Shea (American Scientist 20110301)

By rooting his study in the basics of tissue mechanics and functional morphology, Lieberman does the spadework to which all such studies aspire but few achieve--and makes that task seem elegant and effortless.
--Henry Gee (Nature 20110317)

Daniel Lieberman marshals diverse evidence to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding patterns of variation and covariation in the form, function, and phylogeny of the human head...The breadth and diversity of subject matter the volume will impart to the reader is particularly laudable. Lieberman's holistic approach is a welcome, if not requisite, strategy for addressing a multifarious biological system such as the human head. The book's focus on both hard- and soft-tissue components, consideration of how such elements correspond to one another, and comprehensive overview of external and internal influences on patterns of morphological variation and covariation clearly set the tone for how one might profitably investigate cranial evolution across all vertebrates. The introductions to myriad biological concepts, surveys of some modern approaches to outstanding paleoanthropological questions, and review of fossil evidence regarding evolutionary transformations in human skull form will enlighten readers of all backgrounds. The Evolution of the Human Head is an entertaining read...It contains a wealth of information relevant to human evolution. In doing so, it offers a wonderful entrée into many of the outstanding issues that will undoubtedly remain at the center of debates regarding human origins for years to come.
--Matthew J. Ravosa (Science 20110916)

About the Author

Daniel E. Lieberman is Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1 edition (January 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780674046368
• ISBN-13: 978-0674046368
• ASIN: 0674046366
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Anthropology > Physical

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Professor Lieberman does it again February 4, 2012

By matt wallden

Format:Hardcover

For many years now, Professor Lieberman has been bringing out some of the most insightful papers I have read in anthropology.

In the field of human biomechanics, a field in which I am very well versed, it acts as a constant source of inspiration and bemusement that we should have to wait for a professor of evolutionary biology to explain how and why the human body functions as it does; while biomechanists the world over get caught (in the main) in reductionist, often impractical, non-applicable studies.

Despite the bemusement, it comes as no surprise to me that such insight should arise from the world of anthropology; as to understand how the human body should function, it is imperative to understand how, and for what, it was built. Lieberman offers such insights with spectacular clarity and humility.

The depth and breadth of the materials covered, yet all in a highly readable and understandable way - even for the casual reader, is testament to Lieberman's wealth of knowledge and unique ability to convey that knowledge. I learned quickly, about a decade ago, that if there is a paper (or book) with Lieberman's name on it, it is worth paying attention to.

The book itself delves not just into the human head but, necessarily, discusses diet, hunting, gait, TMJ (jaw joint) function, vestibular function and a lot more besides; all in an insightful and highly readable style.

I strongly recommend this book to any student of anthropology, evolutionary biology, or serious student of human movement and function.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evolution Of The Human Head February 1, 2013

By Reid M. Wilson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Evolution of the Human Head begins with Daniel E. Lieberman highlighting the movie nonlogic of Planet of the Apes that shows apes functioning in a human manner with ape heads, which I appreciated. Lieberman demonstrates the complexity and evolvability of the head as a structure and emphasizes that the various components interact with and affect each other in development throughout the book. The book covers bone structuring, organs, senses, diet, teeth, and the characteristics of living and fossil primates. Page 40 notes the importance of the gene Runx-2 (also known as Cbfa 1) that regulates osteoblast differentiation in intramembranous bones so that elevated levels of expression cause increased rates of bone production, and the gene's absence leads to a lack of bone formation; page 40 also notes the importance of the Sox9 transcription factor for the differentiation and proliferation of chondrocytes for endochondral bones. The differences in skull development from neonate to adult for the chimpanzee and the modern human are shown in Figure 4.3 on page 105, in Figure 4.7 on page 116, and in Figure 4.9 on page 125, showing the projecting effect of depository growth fields in the chimp's jaws and the nonprojecting effect of resorptive growth fields in the human's upper jaws and face and in the upper lower jaw. On page 215, Lieberman notes his interesting experiment of juvenile mini-pigs running on a treadmill everyday an hour a day for three months had thicker leg bones (which he expected) and thicker cranial vaults (which he did not expect) as a way of explaining the thinning of modern human skulls over the last few thousand years since the origins of agriculture by theorizing that exercise triggers a systemic growth response; my personal experience in running supports the experiment's results as I've concluded that the entire skeletal structure is strengthened from the strong impacts, noticing that even the neck bone feels significantly stronger from regular running. Page 248 notes the limiting effect of the derived, inactivated version of the MYH16 gene that causes smaller weaker muscles in modern humans. On page 350, Figure 9.5 shows the different positions of the foramen magnum for (a) Homo sapiens, (b) Australopithecus africanus, (c) Sahelanthropus tchadensis, and (d) Pan troglodytes. On page 555, Figure 13.7 contrasts a recent gracile modern-human skull (left, a male from Italy) with an older robust Pleistocene skull (right, Zhoukoudian, Upper Cave 101), showing the thicker, larger construction of the Pleistocene skull. On page 565, Figure 13.11 features a thin-plate spline transformation of a Homo erectus cranium (KNM-ER 3733) into a Homo heidelbergensis skull (average of Kabwe and Petralona) with arrows showing the required upward and downward directions of growth. On page 572, Figure 13.14 features a thin-plate spline transformation of a Homo heidelbergensis cranium (average of Kabwe and Petralona) into a Homo neanderthalensis skull (Monte Circeo) with arrows showing the required horizontal directions of growth. On page 575, Figure 13.16 features a thin-plate spline transformation of a Homo heidelbergensis cranium (Kabwe) into a Pleistocene Homo sapiens skull (average of Skhul V and Cro-Magnon I) with arrows showing the required upward and outward directions of growth for the cranium and the required inward contraction of the upper face. Lieberman's research also appears in "Ontogeny, Homology, And Phylogeny In The Hominid Craniofacial Skeleton: The Problem Of The Browridge" on pages 85-122 of Development, Growth and Evolution, Volume 20: Implications for the Study of the Hominid Skeleton (Linnean Society Symposium) and with Brandeis McBratney-Owen in "Postnatal Ontogeny Of Facial Position In Homo sapiens And Pan troglodytes" on pages 45-72 of Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology).

24 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution of the Human Head January 16, 2011

By Harry Phillips III

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A tour de force! Beautifully written, it covers everything science knows about the subject, contains detailed comparisons with other primates, especially our nearest cousins, and speculation about what Dr. Lieberman believes we will learn in time.
Harry Phillips
Regent, University of the State of New York.