The Wisdom of Bones: In Search of Human Origins

by Alan Walker (Author), Alan Walker (Author), Pat Shipman (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1996

  $3.25

  This work tells the story of the excavation of the Nariokotome Boy , found in Kenya in 1984 by Richard Leakey and Walker, and the most complete skeleton of Homo erectus ever found. The book also details the detective work that followed the find and the insights into our species that were revealed. The Nariokotome Boy has been able to tell scientists more about the human past than any other fossil so far. Instead of a human trapped in an ape body, Walker and his team found an animal in a human body - a small brain, but with legs, pelvis and torso that were astonishingly human, along with a thoroughly human adaptation to his tropical climate in terms of body build and heat disposition. The animal had mastered the human trick of growing a human brain at foetal rates, something no true animal can do. They also discovered that the Boy was speechless, a fact contradicting the accepted wisdom that language acquisition marks the origin of humankind.

• Used

  Paperback
  1997

  $3.39

  A groundbreaking book which leading on from the discovery of Homo Erectus, that this being was an animal trapped in a human body and had mastered the trick of growing a large brain. But to Walker's surprise the being was speechless, challenging the existing theory that the language acquisition marks the origins of man.