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    Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind
    Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind
    Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind
    Audiobook9 hours

    Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind

    Written by Colin Renfrew

    Narrated by Robert Ian Mackenzie

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A giant of archaeology, Colin Renfrew has immeasurably improved our understanding of human history. In this passionately argued work, he offers a concise summary of prehistory-human existence that predates the development of written records-while challenging the very definition of prehistory itself.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 20, 2009
    ISBN9781440708633
    Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind
    Author

    Colin Renfrew

    Colin Renfrew (Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn) was formerly Disney Professor of Archaeology and Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in the University of Cambridge, and Master of Jesus College Cambridge from 1986 to 1997. He has excavated at a number of sites in prehistoric Greece and in the Orkney Islands, and is the author of many publications, including Prehistory: the making of the human mind (2008). He is Fellow of the British Academy, Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and was the recipient of the Balzan Prize in 2004.

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    Reviews for Prehistory

    3.5/5

    50 ratings6 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Disappointing. More of a history of archaeology then the story of the making of human mind.
    • 4/5
      A survey of pre-historic archeology, advancing the argument for a period of human speciation followed by a period of culture change, termed the tectonic phase of human development. The speciation mainly took place in Africa. About 60,000 years ago, a relatively small number of homo sapiens, already possessing the same basic anatomy and genome of modern humans, spread across Asia and Europe, and beyond. The Neanderthals were mainly in Europe, and might have been an indigenous speciation from an earlier group. There are regional differences in development, with cave art being more prominent in Europe, only one site known in Africa. Finds of artifacts interpreted as evidence for use of symbolism, like decoration, occur very early, and are evidence for mind. The ability to learn tool making and transmit culture probably existed prior to language, enabled by human abilities to imitate others. The transition from wandering as hunter-gatherers to sedentary life and agriculture, marked in the archeological record by the finds of houses and pottery about 9000 years ago, allowed development of writing, social structures and civilization.The history of recent academic controversies dominated the first part of the book, and I found myself reading the same sentence several times as the author addressed different aspects of prior topics, but a recent (copyright 2007) overview with interesting pictures was welcome
    • 3/5
      There is no doubt Colin Renfrew has written an easily read account of prehistory. He is a distinguished professor of archaeology and this is his field of specialization. Hence he is very knowledgeable about research into prehistoric times. Yet the narrative generates a general unease. Perhaps he just tries too hard to bolster a sense of mystery. Certainly his emphasis of concrete aspects is unsettling. Indeed at times he sounds too much like a logical positivist of the early 20th century. Consequently one commonly gets the impression that the author is probably missing important considerations.Thus he is often quite unconvincing eg when he criticizes memes, or when he assigns pre-eminence to just one of many factors. Furthermore he does not clearly distinguish speculation and reasoned opinion. Nevertheless in spite of these concerns, the book eventually ends well.
    • 4/5
      This book was more a book on the history of prehistory (that is, a look at how modern scholars' research into prehistory has developed since the discipline began in the 19th century) than a book focused specially on prehistory itself. Although that was not what I expected when I picked the book up and initially began reading, it was exactly what I needed and I'm very grateful for that now. I'm very widely read in history, especially in intellectual history (that is, the history of the human mind and its ideas), but this is the first book that I've read focused specifically on prehistory. I was not, however, in any way overwhelming or confused. Dr. Renfrew is quite clearly writing for the non-expert and does a great job in introducing new subjects and defining specialist terminology. His look at the origins of the human mind and what it is that makes us uniquely human was a very interesting and enjoyable look. My only complaint is that I wish there would have been more!
    • 4/5
      This is a nice introduction to how humans evolved their life and culture before the time of written records. Part 1, the Discovery of Prehistory is very well written and an engrossing read. Following mankind as they evolve from the paleolithic through neolithic stage and into the bronze age is fascinating. Looking at how human groups evolved in the Indus Valley, Mespotamia, the Yucutan Peninsula, and various sites in China and Europe shows how a lot happened and we have only some sparse data to track it properly.The second part of the book, the Prehisotry of the Mind, was not quite as fulfilling, as the author has to speculate a bit more as to how the mind really functioned thousands of years ago, how economies worked, how tools were used, what the function of rituals were. I sometimes wish we could time travel back and observe our ancestors.All in all, this was a good summing up.
    • 3/5
      Some interesting ideas about the timing and nature of the growth of human consciousness in the light of DNA researches and analysis of historical cultural development. But I think this suffered from not having any diagrams and pictures to break up the sometimes overly abstract and theoretical text.