The Early Human World

Peter Robertshaw and Jill Rubalcaba tell the story of early human life using an incredible variety of primary sources: 3.5-million-year-old footprints preserved by a volcano provide evidence of our ancestors' walking on two legs. Stone flakes fashioned 2 million years ago prove early hominids used tools. Bears, lions, and rhinoceroses painted in a cave 30,000 years ago reveal our ancestors' artistic side. An 8,500-year-old dog grave shows the extraordinarily long history of man's best friend. This evidence helps archaeologists decipher not just how we came to be the Homo sapiens we are today, but also what life may have been like for our earliest ancestors. The first Australians encountered freakishly gigantic beasts: kangaroos as big as houses and tortoises the size of cars. The Sahara Desert was once a fertile land, supporting herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. The Early Human World takes readers to sites around the world as archaeologists piece together the clues to our past.

For grades 6-8.

A six-million-year-old jaw bone in Ethiopia proves to be a piece of the earliest hominid discovered-so far. Big Mama, who used a tree branch to escape from a zoo in Holland, is found sipping chocolate milk at a local restaurant. Nandy, a 50,000-year-old skeleton surrounded by flower pollen in Iraq, casts doubt on the beastly reputation of an early hominid. Found frozen in the Alps, Ötzi reveals what people in Europe ate 5,000 years ago. Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba, a chimpanzee, a Neandertal, and the Iceman are just some of the characters who make up The Early Human World.

Peter Robertshaw and Jill Rubalcaba tell the story of early human life using an incredible variety of primary sources: 3.5-million-year-old footprints preserved by a volcano provide evidence of our ancestors' walking on two legs. Stone flakes fashioned 2 million years ago prove early hominids used tools. Bears, lions, and rhinoceroses painted in a cave 30,000 years ago reveal our ancestors' artistic side. An 8,500-year-old dog grave shows the extraordinarily long history of man's best friend. This evidence helps archaeologists decipher not just how we came to be the Homo sapiens we are today, but also what life may have been like for our earliest ancestors. The first Australians encountered freakishly gigantic beasts: kangaroos as big as houses and tortoises the size of cars. The Sahara Desert was once a fertile land, supporting herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. The Early Human World takes readers to sites around the world as archaeologists piece together the clues to our past.

For grades 6-8.

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-These two series entries offer in-depth coverage of their subjects, based on primary sources of artifacts and documents. Both volumes also cover, to a lesser degree, the archaeologists and paleontologists responsible for our current understanding of the material and touch on differing aspects of society within each period. Near Eastern World traces the history of the Fertile Crescent until Alexander the Great's conquest in 330 B.C.E. In a conversational manner, Robertshaw presents up-to-date information on human evolution as well as on early humanity in the New World. The text is matched with a great deal of supporting matter including time lines, maps, dramatis personae, high-quality photos, and artists' renderings. These fine volumes are worthy additions to most libraries. Erica Hunter's First Civilizations (Facts on File, 2003, rev. ed.) is an atlas of Mesopotamian civilizations and could be paired with Near Eastern World. Christopher Sloan's The Human Story (National Geographic, 2004) offers briefer but more visual material on human evolution.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Peter Robertshaw is an archaeologist and professor of anthropology at California State University, San Bernardino. His research focuses on the later prehistory and precolonial history of sub-Saharan Africa and has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Jill Rubalcaba began her working life as a college- and high-school mathematics teacher, all the while continuing to go to school to study more math, writing, and business. Later she worked as an engineer on the Patriot Missile. Ms. Rubalcaba is grateful to her children, Kelly and Dan, for showing her the joys of writing for children. Jill Rubalcaba is the author of several books for young adults, including The Wadjet Eye, Place in the Sun, and The Early Human World.