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Ian Tattersall

The Last Neanderthal : The Rise, Success, and Mysterious Extinction of Our Closest Human Relatives Paperback – December 2, 1999

by Ian Tattersall (Author)

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Scientists have long known that the popular image of the Neanderthal as a primitive, hairy, heavily browed, club-wielding brute is not supported by the fossil evidence. But to date, no such consensus has existed on the riddle of Neanderthals' disappearance. The Last Neanderthal , written by one of the most respected authorities on the subject and supported by a dazzling wealth of material, paints the first full portrait of the most familiar and haunting of human relatives. Drawing on the latest findings and sophisticated new techniques of analysis, Ian Tattersall marshals the best available evidence to unravel the mysteries of the Neanderthals - who they were, how they lived, how they succeeded for so long. Drawing on his own research and the work of others, Tattersall takes on the most fascinating question of all - what happened to them? This revised edition is fully updated to include information on Tattersall's recent survey of all known Neanderthal fossils, cutting-edge work with Neanderthal DNA, and new discoveries in Spain.

Print length

208 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

December 2, 1999
Dimensions

8.75 x 0.5 x 11.75 inches
ISBN-10

0813336759
ISBN-13

978-0813336756
Lexile measure

1470L
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Ian Tattersall
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ian Tattersall is Chairman and Curator of the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor of anthropology at Columbia University. His books include The Fossil Train, The Human Odyssey, Becoming Human , and The Myths of Human Evolution (with Niles Eldredge).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; Revised edition (December 2, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0813336759
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0813336756
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1470L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.75 x 0.5 x 11.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,647,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #698 in Physical Anthropology (Books)
- #1,119 in Natural History (Books)
- #3,250 in Archaeology (Books)

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20 ratings

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Ian Tattersall

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Ian Tattersall, a Curator Emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is a paleoanthropologist and primate biologist of long experience. He has conducted fieldwork in places as diverse as Yemen, Vietnam, and Madagascar; and, besides being a prolific contributor to the technical literature, he has curated exhibits and written widely for the public on topics ranging from the natural history of wine, beer and spirits to the evolution of humankind and the origin of our unique human consciousness. His critically acclaimed popular books have been translated into a dozen languages, and include most recently "Understanding Race" and "Distilled: A Natural History of Spirits" (both with his colleague Rob De Salle), and "Understanding Human Evolution."

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Richard D. Ewing

Very well written and an interesting read.

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2022

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I thought the section that argued that the neanderthals were a distinct species was excellent. Readers should keep in mind that this was written before DNA analysis could be performed on fossilized species. This provides a good review of the skull collection of hominids and the consideration of human evolution. Further reading should be done on the conclusions from DNA analysis, though.

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2008

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No, this is not an unauthorized biography of my mother-in-law, or a memoir of my own tattersalled career. It's a coffee table book, really - large format with full page polychromatic photos of fractured crania, gap-toothed jaw bones, and Chatelperronian stone scrapers. It would be a perfect solstice present for your Uncle Gottlieb, who believes that the world was created 6,000 years ago, or your Cousin Euphemisia, who maintains that evolution took place, but under guidance.

Enough smart-alecking! The photographs of most of the known Neanderthal fossil skulls and of other skeletal fossils of Homo neanderthalis are fascinating, and well worth the price of the book. Included also are pictures of tools and other evidence of Neaderthal technology, plus graphs of climate change and maps of fossil sites in Europe and the Near East. The text by Ian Tattersall, one of the foremost expounders of human evolution to the general public, is intended to be comprehensible and entertaining for anyone who can read at all. A list of chapter titles will give you a pretty good idea of the book's contents:

1 - Who were the Neanderthals?
2 - How Evolution works
3 - Fossils, Dates, and Tools
4 - Before the Neanderthals
5 - Discovery and Interpretation of the Neanderthals
6 - The Neanderthals' World
7 - Evolution of the Neanderthals
8 - Neanderthal Lifestyles
9 - The Origin of Modern Humans
10- The Last Neanderthal

Chapter 2 - How Evolution Works - presents some ideas about evolutionary divergence and speciation which may be new to readers who learned their science decades ago, especially the important concept of allopatric evolution. Tattersall does a fine job of keeping such challenging vocabulary to a minimum and of making concepts both clear and convincing. Readers who want more sophisticated marshalling of evidence and more elaborate ramification of current neo-Darwinian evolutionary theories should look to one of Tattersall's other books. I would urge you also to examine Sean Carroll's excellent books outlining the concept of evo-devo (evolutionary development), which unites the evidence of fossils with genetic discoveries.

Caveat lector: In this field of knowledge of ancient processes, the more recent the book the better!

6 people found this helpful

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Frank

An excellent read.

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021

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I'm a big fan of the author and this is another excellent book by him. Far, far more detailed and in-depth than you'll find in popular media. But not as dry as a textbook. He does a great job of pointing out that there are often differing opinions and interpretations of the same discoveries.

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Guy P. Harrison

This is a beautifully illustrated book filled with spectacular images and fine prose

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2015

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This is a beautifully illustrated book filled with spectacular images and fine prose. Ian Tattersall is one of the world's leading experts on human evolution. He also happens to be an excellent science writer. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. Neanderthals are the fascinating cousins who endured and thrived for many thousands of years. Far from dim morons stumbling around in the snow, these were remarkable intelligent people. There is no excuse for us not to know them. With plenty for the well read and novice alike, this book is ideal for any modern human looking to bone up on our prehistoric kin.

-Guy P. Harrison, author of 'Think: Why you should question everything', 'Race and Reality: What everyone should know about our biological diversity' and other books.

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2015

husband was pleased

The best book on NEANDERTHALS

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2015

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This book is excellent, and it came on time wrapped up beautifully. Thanks

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Brandon S. Frazer

Great photos, wrong on one major point that I know of

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2012

This book is wonderfully illustrated as many have noted here. When I first read it several years ago I was taken aback by the authors nearly obstinate position of the possibility of inter-breeding between humans and neanderthals. He states emphatically that this is an impossibility. I thought then he was wrong and have since been proven right with the revelation of DNA tests that prove not only did they reproduce but that most people of European descent have neanderthal DNA.

I don't remember (I sold the book) "Revised Edition" being on the cover and I didn't see anything here that says when that revision was. If Tattersall did revise it he should also confess his arrogance in insisting inter-breeding didn't happen.

2 people found this helpful

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Jeffery Steele

Superb Illustrations, Clear Concepts, Outstanding Text

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2003

I'm not a reader who usually pays too much attention to photos and illustrations, but I could recommend "The Last Neanderthal" on that basis alone. There are nearly 150 of them in this 200-page book, some covering an entire page in my oversized edition. Almost all of them are superb. The illustrations are mostly of various fossilized bones and reconstructions. They are not haphazardly thrown throughout the book or tightly grouped in the middle, but introduced when appropriate for the text.
Ian Tattersall's set-up of what is known about Neanderthals is masterful. Most of the first third of the book is about evolution, how fossilization works, and a brief description about what is known of the precursors to both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. Tattersall is clearly at home with this material and confident in his presentation of it. He takes his time in this area - even though it has little to directly do with the topic of his book - because one cannot understand Neanderthals unless one has some understanding of other pre-modern humans and the scientific techniques used to understand them.
The set-up is not wasted on a flat ending. When Tattersall finally gets to the Neanderthals, he maintains a high level of interest for the reader by first showing how the scholarly views on Neanderthals have changed so much over the last hundred-fifty years (much more fascinating than it sounds) and then by moving into areas about its evolution and what is known about its lifestyle. He appears to be a fair partisan, pointing out evidence both for and against different sides of the numerous controversial topics on Neanderthals.

17 people found this helpful

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