Homo Britannicus
I have now finished reading Home Britannicus by Chris Stringer. It seems a very important book as it brings together all the work from the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project. AHOB seems a model of a multi-disciplinary team working together in a scientific manner.
The reason the book is important is that it first shows that Humans have been in Britain since 700,000BC but that the climate has often turned inhospitable so that Humans have abandoned this area of Europe on no less than seven abandonments of these islands. So we can only trace our descent from people who came back to Britain 12,000 years ago.
Britain which seems such a benign place to live - no great disasters, no very poisonous or dangerous animals is actually not a secure place for humans.
This is fascinating - it has contradictory messages for the climate change. On the one hand if we mess with the climate we can see what the implications for Britain can be, on the other this sort of changing climate is all part of nature's rich tapestry.
I did find the book a little dull - but that is probably the nature of the Palaeolithic rather than the writing - so very important - a must read but not so enjoyable a read.
Chris Stringer - Homo Britannicus > home
The reason the book is important is that it first shows that Humans have been in Britain since 700,000BC but that the climate has often turned inhospitable so that Humans have abandoned this area of Europe on no less than seven abandonments of these islands. So we can only trace our descent from people who came back to Britain 12,000 years ago.
Britain which seems such a benign place to live - no great disasters, no very poisonous or dangerous animals is actually not a secure place for humans.
This is fascinating - it has contradictory messages for the climate change. On the one hand if we mess with the climate we can see what the implications for Britain can be, on the other this sort of changing climate is all part of nature's rich tapestry.
I did find the book a little dull - but that is probably the nature of the Palaeolithic rather than the writing - so very important - a must read but not so enjoyable a read.
Chris Stringer - Homo Britannicus > home
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