The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins [Hardcover]

Richard G. Klein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0226439631 | ISBN-13: 978-0226439631 | Edition: 1

Described as "by far the best book of its kind" (Henry McHenry, Evolution) and "the best introduction to the problems and data of modern palaeoanthropology yet published" (R. A. Foley, Antiquity), The Human Career has proved to be an indispensable tool in teaching human origins since its publication in 1989. This substantially revised edition retains Richard Klein's innovative approach and incorporates new findings from the past decade.

The Human Career chronicles the evolution of people from the earliest primates through the emergence of fully modern humans within the past 200,000 years. Its comprehensive treatment stresses recent advances in knowledge, including, for example, ever more abundant evidence that fully modern humans originated in Africa and spread from there, replacing the Neanderthals in Europe and equally archaic people in Asia. With its coverage of both the fossil record and the archeological record over the 2.5 million years for which both are available, Klein emphasizes that human morphology and behavior evolved together. Throughout the text, Klein presents evidence for alternative points of view, but also does not hesitate to take a position.

In addition to outlining the broad pattern of human evolution, The Human Career details the kinds of data that support this pattern, including information on archeological sites, artifacts, fossils, and methods for establishing dates in geological time. With abundant references and hundreds of illustrations, charts, and diagrams, this new edition is unparalleled in its usefulness for teaching human evolution.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This imposing tome represente the third iteration of the preeminent textbook in the field of paleoanthropology. . . . It is the definitive work for a comprehensive upper-level summary of the human fossil record. . . . With accessible, accurate prose and copious illustations, this book is simply an indispensable resource."

(Choice ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Richard G. Klein is Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. His books include Ice-Age Hunters of the Ukraine and, with Kathryn Cruz-Uribe, The Analysis of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 840 pages
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 1 edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226439631
• ISBN-13: 978-0226439631
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #564,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and thorough, October 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins (Hardcover)

By far the most complete and up-to-date treatment of hominid evolution I have encountered. Covers every aspect of paleoanthropology, including climatic changes and dating techniques, in great detail and precision, but with language that even a non-scientist such as myself can understand. An outstanding reference book.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great overview, June 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins (Hardcover)

One of the definitive texts on the evolution of the hominidae. This text presents some very complex material in a very straightforward way with plenty of diagrams, charts, and maps. Many of the controversies found in the field of paleoanthropology are glossed over or skipped altogether, but this volume is still one of the best for an introduction to human evolution both biologically and culturally. A must for anthropology students especially with all the new discoveries in the past few years.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leading Paleoanthropologist, December 19, 2009

By 

Alfred Sundel "Al Sundel" (Hartsdale, N Y USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins (Hardcover)

This is Klein's major work. Very comprehensive. He is a leading figure in paleoanthropology. But as new discoveries come in and new papers are published, revised editions of this book are necessary. For readers who have some idea of the subject only.

Klein and his school of thought are weakest on the period after c 40,000. They believe Neanderthals were exterminated. Accumulating evidence suggests that what he (and others) call "early moderns" in Europe all had manifest reduced Neanderthal traits. The Cro-Magnons have become an embarrassment to his otherwise erudite run through the evolutionary evidence. They were re-analysed as Neanderthaloid and redated as latecomers to Europe.

His writing on Neanderthals fails to fully credit them and the pre-Neanderthals, along with their diversity, for their many accomplishments, some of which continue down to modern times. This is essential reading for the serious student of paleoanthropology but not for the origin of modern Europeans.

Al Sundel