Human Antiquity: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 624 pages
• Published by: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
• Edition: 5th Edition July 24, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0073041963
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0073041964
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 1.9 pounds

Product Description
Where did we come from? To answer this question, anthropologists reconstruct the human past and study the human present from both biological and cultural perspectives. Human Antiquity offers an absorbing, straightforward explanation of human origins and evolution by thoroughly integrating physical anthropology and archaeology. Co-authors Kenneth Feder and Michael Park combine the ideas, methods, and knowledge from both biological anthropology and archaeology into a unified effort: Feder is an archeologist who conducts surveys, excavations, and analyses to understand the native inhabitants of New England; Park is a biological anthropologist interested in the application of evolutionary theory to the biological history of our species. .

About The Author
Ken Feder received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Connecticut in 1982. He is a full professor in the Department of Anthropology at Central Connecticut State University where he has taught since 1977. He is the founder and director of the Farmington River Archaeological Project, an on-going survey of an inland, upland valley in north central Connecticut. He is the author of several books including Human Antiquity: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (with Michael Park); Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology; A Village of Outcasts: Historical Archaeology and Documentary Research at the Lighthouse Site; The Past in Perspective: An Introduction to Human Prehistory; Field Methods in Archaeology (co-editor with Tom Hester and Harry Shafer); Lessons from the Past: An Introductory Reader in Archaeology (editor); and Dangerous Places: Health, Safety, and Archaeology (co-edited with David Poirier). He is a Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. He has been the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award at Central Connecticut State University. He has appeared on a number of television documentaries about archaeology for BBC Horizon, the History Channel, and the Learning Channel. He lives in West Simsbury, Connecticut with his wife, two sons, and three terrible cats. Michael Alan Park (Ph.D. Indiana, 1979) is a professor of anthropology at Central Connecticut State University, where he has been on the faculty since 1973, teaching courses in general anthropology, human evolution, biocultural diversity, human ecology, forensic anthropology, and the evolution of human behavior. His interests focus on the application of evolutionary theory to the story of human evolution and on the quality of science education and the public perception and understanding of scientific matters. He is the author or co-author of four current texts in anthropology as well as technical and popular articles.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Human Antiquity (Paperback) Now in a revised and updated fourth edition, Human Antiquity: An Introduction To Physical Anthropology And Archaeology continues to be an ideal text for classroom curriculums. Absorbing, straightforward explanations of human origins and evolution are presented beginning with an innovative opening chapter surveying creation myths and comparing the methods and purposes of science with those of belief systems. Also included in this outstanding text are an overview of evolution, and offers up-to-date information on such controversial issues as the Human Genome project, scientific creationism, the "collapse" of civilization, and more. With this new edition is a section on the contribution of genetics to questions of the geographic source of Native Americans, a major revision and update on the archaeology of Catalhoyuk, the Indus Valley, and the Olmec, early hominid diets, new finds from Dmanisis, Georgia, and Bose in southern China, stone tools from West Turkana, and much, much more. Human Antiquity is reader friendly and an ideal text for the non-specialist general reader seeking to become introductorily acquainted with the latest developments in both physical anthropology and archaeology.