Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story

Knowledge

This is a very readable and readily accessible work for the general reader with an interest in human origins. There are lots of helpful illustrations and three explanatory maps. In depth students may find it on the superficial side. In addition to a preface, timeline diagram and index there are five chapters: 1: The Earliest Pioneers. 2: The Handaxe Makers (and Friends) 3: Neanderthal Britain to Deserted Britain. 4: Neanderthals and Modern Humans on the Edge of the World. 5: At the End of the Ice Age. The book also includes a 'further information' section.The existence of humanoid species in Britain can now be traced back almost a million years thanks largely to comparatively recent discoveries at Happisburgh (pronounced Haysborough) in Norfolk and Pakefield in Suffolk. This work provides illustrations of these finds and places them within the most likely evolutionary development sequence leading up to modern humans. It traces the evolution of their tool making skills, hunting skills, eating habits, shelter building and other skills including the development of first speech and use of fire and all is made very clear about what is known about them all and also what we don't yet know. The reader will find that, thanks to recent discoveries, we know much more about these humanoids today than we did as little as twenty years ago.The period in question was interspersed by several ice ages during which the human ancestors came and went with the retreat and advance of the ice. We are also given information about the flora and fauna prevalent during the different periods. There were advances and retreats of forests and grasslands and the fauna included a species of now extinct elephant. With the passing of time the evolving humanoids got better and better at making tools and hunting weapons and grew very fond of eating bone marrow and innards. In Gough's Cave in the Cheddar Gorge in Somerset some almost modern style humans practised cannibalism and remains of cave paintings have been discovered in caves at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire.An inter-glacial period over 400,000 years ago is named after Hoxne (pronounced 'Hoxen') in Suffolk where interesting information has been discovered. In those far off days Britain was joined to the rest of Europe with the southern North Sea, the Straits of Dover and some of the English Channel then being dry land. Sea levels fluctuated with the coming and going of the ice. One thing we may never know is whether or not the Norfolk and Suffolk folk of those days avoided going to Somerset through fear of ending up as Sunday lunch. However, we would be wrong to think that the Cheddar Gorge is so called because it was there that our early ancestors gorged themselves on each other.I think lots of people will like this book and be fascinated by all that it reveals about the life and times of our evolutionary ancestors. It's well put together for the general reader and I like it.

I needed a reference book on early human occupation of Britain and I chose this book chiefly because of its NHM accreditation. I was not disappointed. It is a model of clarity and takes the reader concisely through all the key British archaeological finds and sets them in the context of ancient climate cycles affecting northern Europe and, where applicable, parallel evolutionary development in Europe and beyond. I learned a lot from this book after the first read and I am still reviewing the content.It is interesting that the authors gave pretty equal weight to all the time periods covered - I was expecting the last 10,000 years to receive undue emphasis on account of our more detailed knowledge of the Meso- and Neolithic, but I think it was right to avoid the temptation to write a text book about 'recent prehistory'.

This is a great little book on the ebb and flow of human existence in Britain detailing the climatic changes which have had a major affect on how and when homo sapiens, Neanderthals and previous incarnations of "our" species have sporadically settled on (what is now) our Island. Using a great range of photos, illustrations, maps and diagrams for evidence of the unfolding story of occupation.

The NHM never puts its name to a poor publication and this concise, colourful book is no exception. It uses the latest data on new and reviewed finds to add to the story of humans in Britain. The date of first habitation, even if by nomadic small groups has been pushed back to beyond 800,000 years and shows that Homo erectus and H. heidelbergensis can be added to Neanderthals and modern humans as once having trodden our land. It clearly explains the effects of the ice ages and the regular differences in sea levels isolating and reconnecting Britain from the continent.There are still answers to be sought, but generally this brings the interested reader up to speed on the latest finds. It is not meant to be a scientific tome of great complexity, rather it sets out where we have reached in our understanding today and keeps ones attention by means of fine photographs and illustrations. It deserves a place on ones bookshelf.

I attended a day's lectures on the same topic (courtesy of Wuffing Education). This book is a great adjunct to that. I never realised that we had Neanderthal people in the British Isles before.It is clearly written and nicely illustrated on an engaging topic.Highly recommneded.

Very focused on tools/bone fragments and not enough on the people or the genetics. Disappointing.

Firstly, the original copy sent to me had a printing error with duplicate or missing pages. When I contacted the supplier, they were brilliant and found me a perfect copy quickly. The book itself is fascinating, easy to read and full of super images.