Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
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Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
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Narrated by:
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Brian M. Fagan
About this listen
Where do we come from? How did our ancestors settle this planet? How did the great historic civilizations of the world develop? How does a past so shadowy that it has to be painstakingly reconstructed from fragmentary, largely unwritten records nonetheless make us who and what we are?
These 36 lectures bring you the answers that the latest scientific and archaeological research and theorizing suggest about human origins, how populations developed, and the ways in which civilizations spread throughout the globe. It's a narrative of the story of human origins and the many ties that still bind us deeply to the world before writing. And it's a world tour of prehistory with profound links to who we are and how we live today.
Woven through this narrative is a set of pervasive themes: emerging human biological and cultural diversity (as well as our remarkable similarities across surprising expanses of time and space); the impact of human adaptations to climatic and environmental change; and the importance of seeing prehistory not merely as a chronicle of archaeological sites and artifacts, but of people behaving with the extraordinary intellectual, spiritual, and emotional dynamism that distinguish the human. Among the corners of our mysterious past you'll explore: human prehistory from Australopithecus africanus through Homo habilis and Homo erectus; the beginnings of agriculture and animal domestication; theories behind the appearance of urban civilization and overall attributes of preindustrial civilizations; the maritime trading revolutions in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia; and much more.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great CoursesWhat listeners say about Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Neety Thorsteinsson
- 18-08-2023
Bloody brilliant.
This is the best history book on audible.
If you don’t agree, please tell me what you think is better.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Adam
- 25-08-2017
awesome
one of the best lecture series on the topic do you ever hear absolutely brilliant highly recommended
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robert
- 21-06-2022
Excellent
Really good and very detailed. For anybody who wants to know how it all started
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- joan leaming
- 24-03-2023
Brilliant but needs updating
Fantastic series from a great communicator - makes complex issues clear and pulls together many disparate events and ideas.
10 years are a long time in modern Archaeology and newer discoveries need covering not least DNA information.
One little gripe - BP as a time measurement drives me crazy
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tim Dubber
- 19-05-2016
excellent lecturer
An excellent introduction to the great courses series. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a good survey course to start their ancient history learning.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 21-07-2022
The short version of the long history
Knowing prehistory is a massive task, successfully abbreviating it also not small
To do it and make it interesting is an achievement
This book is worthwhile and interesting
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul N
- 19-05-2023
Outstanding content and story telling
I love these lectures. Probably one of the best out there with outstanding content and story telling. Brian was excellent in the way he conducted research and organised the structure of history. He put opinions where they are and unlike ’Sapiens’, these lectures had real historical and archeological evidences, while not bashing any particular religions such as Christianity. Thank you.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-11-2017
A bit dated
Too much has happened since 2003 regarding genetics. The guy knows his stuff but its just too old.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- douglas
- 03-07-2022
cannot recommend
the science, while detailed, is outdated.
The narrator brings down the entire thing, he is overly dramatic, has some kind of speech impediment (no judgement but it makes it hard to understand) and won't stop bringing up his classical education. he really need to get overhimself
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Steven
- 14-05-2024
Out of date content.
unfortunately this lecture series is quite outdated. This is a fast moving research area so it is hard to stay current however the material and readings cited here are over 20 years old. in particular some of the views regarding Neanderthals and early homosapien sapiens are just incorrect with regards to the current literature. I did not finish his series due to these issues. Find something more recent is my advice.
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