A global history of the earlier Palaeolithic : assembling the Acheulean world, 1673-2020s / Mark J. White.

9781003287827 electronic book
1003287824 electronic book
9781000603125 electronic book
1000603121 electronic book
9781000603194 electronic book
1000603199 electronic book
9781032263403 hardcover
9781032263298 paperback

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2023].

©2023

English

1 online resource (xviii, 580 pages) : illustrations, maps

10.4324/9781003287827 doi

GN771 .W54 2023

930.1/2

"This book tells the story of both the ancient humans who made handaxes and the thoughts and ideas of scholars who have spent their lives trying to understand them. Beginning with the earliest known finds, this volume provides a linear and thematic account of the history of the Old Stone Age, or Palaeolithic Period, covering major discoveries, interpretations and debates worldwide, a story that takes us from the embers of the Great Fire of London to the beginning of the Covid pandemic. It offers a comprehensive and unique history of archaeological theory and interpretation, seeking to explain how we know what we know about the deep past, and how ideas about it have changed over time, reflecting both scientific and societal change. At its heart lies the quest for an answer to a most curious and sometimes beautiful tool ever made - the handaxe. While focused on the earlier Palaeolithic period, the book provides a readable account of how ideas about the prehistoric past generally were formed and altered, showing how the wider discipline came to be dominated by a succession of different theoretical 'paradigms', each seeking different answers from the same dataset. Serving a dual purpose as a historical narrative and as a reference source, this book will be of interest to all students and researchers interested in deep"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Mark J. White is Professor of Palaeolithic Archaeology at Durham University, where he has taught since 1999. He specialises in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic periods, and is the author of more than120 academic papers and seven books, including The British Palaeolithic (Routledge 2012) and William Boyd Dawkins and the Victorian Science of Cave Hunting (2017).

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on November 09, 2022).

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