The Palaeolithic origins of human burial / Paul Pettitt.
| Author/creator | Pettitt, Paul |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2011 [i.e. 2010], ©2011. |
| Description | xi, 307 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Death and the Palaeolithic -- Primate roots for early hominid morbidity and mortuary activity -- From morbidity to mortuary activity : developments from the australopithecines to Homo heidelbergensis -- From funerary caching to the earliest burials of early Homo sapiens -- The Neanderthals -- The first Homo sapiens populations in Europe : early and mid Upper Palaeolithic funerary activities approximately 35,000-21,000 bp -- From fragmentation to collectivity : human relics, burials, and the origins of cemeteries in the late Upper Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic -- The dead as symbols : the evolution of human mortuary activity. |
| Abstract | Humans are unique in that they expend considerable effort and ingenuity in disposing of the dead. Some of the recognisable ways we do this are visible in the Palaeolithic archaeology of the Ice Age. The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial takes a novel approach to the long-term development of human mortuary activity-- the various ways we deal with the dead and with dead bodies. It is the first comprehensive survey of Palaeolithic mortuary activity in the English language. Observations in the modern world as to how chimpanzees behave towards their dead allow us to identify 'core' areas of behaviour towards the dead that probably have very deep evolutionary antiquity. From that point, the palaeontological and archaeological records of the Pliocene and Pleistocene are surveyed. The core chapters of the book survey the mortuary activities of early hominins, archaic members of the genus Homo, early Homo sapiens, the Neanderthals, the Early and Mid Upper Palaeolithic, and the Late Upper Palaeolithic world. Burial is a striking component of Palaeolithic mortuary activity, although existing examples are odd and this probably does not reflect what modern societies believe burial to be, and modern ways of thinking of the dead probably arose only at the very end of the Pleistocene. When did symbolic aspects of mortuary ritual evolveWhen did the dead themselves become symbolsIn discussing such questions, The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial offers an engaging contribution to the debate on modern human origins. It is illustrated throughout, includes up-to-date examples from the Lower to Late Upper Palaeolithic, including information hitherto unpublished. |
| Summary | 'The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial' offers an engaging contribution to the debate on modern human origins. It is illustrated throughout, includes up-to-date examples from the lower to late upper palaeolithic, including information hitherto unpublished. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 274-302) and index. |
| Genre/form | History. |
| LCCN | 2010017943 |
| ISBN | 9780415354899 (hardback) |
| ISBN | 0415354897 (hardback) |
| ISBN | 9780415354905 (pbk.) |
| ISBN | 0415354900 (pbk.) |
| ISBN | 9780203001554 (e-book) |
| ISBN | 0203001559 (e-book) |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | GN772 .P48 2011 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |