The World Before Us: The Lives of Our Archaic Human Ancestors – and How They Live On
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- Create Date：2021-06-23 02:16:11
- Update Date：2025-09-23
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- Author：Tom Higham
- ISBN：024144067X
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Summary
50，000 years ago， we were not the only species of human in the world。 There were at least four others， including the Neanderthals， who occupied Europe， the Near East and parts of Eurasia; the enigmatic Homo floresiensis， or 'Hobbits'， from the island of Flores in Indonesia; and Homo luzonesis， found in the Philippines， and less than four feet high。 And then there are the elusive Denisovans， discovered thanks to cutting-edge science in 2010 in a cave in Siberia。
At the forefront of this ground-breaking discovery was Oxford Professor Tom Higham。 In The World Before Us he follows the scientific and technological advancements - in radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA， for example - that allowed these discoveries to be made and enabled us to better predict not just how long ago these other humans lived， but how they lived。 Could they make art， recall their dreams or joke？ Did they play music， or use medicine？ What might Homo sapiens have learned from them？
It is likely that we will find even more species of these other humans， and thanks to recent scientific advances， we might not even need to find a skeleton。 We interbred and their DNA lives on in us， so we know which human groups today share which ancestors' genes and the impact this has; from Denisovan genes helping people cope better with living at high altitude， to Neanderthal genes increasing the risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms。 The implications of these - and future - discoveries for us today are profound。
We have always thought of ourselves as unique， but in evolutionary time， our uniqueness did not exist until yesterday - and yet now it is only us。 What happened？ Was it a given that we'd conquer the world， or might， under different circumstances， a Denisovan or Neanderthal population be the only ones left？ This is the story of us， told for the first time with its full cast of characters。
At the forefront of this ground-breaking discovery was Oxford Professor Tom Higham。 In The World Before Us he follows the scientific and technological advancements - in radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA， for example - that allowed these discoveries to be made and enabled us to better predict not just how long ago these other humans lived， but how they lived。 Could they make art， recall their dreams or joke？ Did they play music， or use medicine？ What might Homo sapiens have learned from them？
It is likely that we will find even more species of these other humans， and thanks to recent scientific advances， we might not even need to find a skeleton。 We interbred and their DNA lives on in us， so we know which human groups today share which ancestors' genes and the impact this has; from Denisovan genes helping people cope better with living at high altitude， to Neanderthal genes increasing the risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms。 The implications of these - and future - discoveries for us today are profound。
We have always thought of ourselves as unique， but in evolutionary time， our uniqueness did not exist until yesterday - and yet now it is only us。 What happened？ Was it a given that we'd conquer the world， or might， under different circumstances， a Denisovan or Neanderthal population be the only ones left？ This is the story of us， told for the first time with its full cast of characters。
Reviews
Andy
，
Homo sapiens might have won the race but what happened to other hominids such as the Denisovans， the Neanderthals， the Flores "Hobbits" and others who lived alongside our ancestors？ Did they just disappear， swept aside by the superior Homo sapiens？ Did they interbreed with us and so in a way live on within our DNA？ This book explores these questions and more。 It's a fascinating field of study and while new evidence is always appearing and new discoveries could change things， this is in 2021， pre Homo sapiens might have won the race but what happened to other hominids such as the Denisovans， the Neanderthals， the Flores "Hobbits" and others who lived alongside our ancestors？ Did they just disappear， swept aside by the superior Homo sapiens？ Did they interbreed with us and so in a way live on within our DNA？ This book explores these questions and more。 It's a fascinating field of study and while new evidence is always appearing and new discoveries could change things， this is in 2021， pretty much up to date and gives us a glimpse into current thinking。 It does at times get at times a little technical but nothing too difficult to follow。 Highly recommended for anyone interested in our distant ancestors。 。。。more
Isnochys
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Awesome read！
Mark Field
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Fascinating insightful read。 Well balanced between the complex science behind modern day archeology and anthropology and the excitement of the discovery and story telling。 Given the advances in the past ten years， who knows how things will change tomorrow。
Shriya
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I think that， with the exception of Harry Potter， never have I found myself rereading any book， no matter how good it was。 And yet， the rules have now been broken！ I am re-reading The World Before us。Now， before you ask me: The answer is yes。 Do I know Tom Higham？ Have I seen him in Oxford？ Spoken to him in person？ Yes。 I have known him for a span of 10 whole minutes that we spent chatting in 2013， after a seminar at the Pitt Rivers' Museum， over a glass of wine， and even back then， I found mys I think that， with the exception of Harry Potter， never have I found myself rereading any book， no matter how good it was。 And yet， the rules have now been broken！ I am re-reading The World Before us。Now， before you ask me: The answer is yes。 Do I know Tom Higham？ Have I seen him in Oxford？ Spoken to him in person？ Yes。 I have known him for a span of 10 whole minutes that we spent chatting in 2013， after a seminar at the Pitt Rivers' Museum， over a glass of wine， and even back then， I found myself asking him about Neanderthals and whether he thought they were capable of art？ I was writing a term paper on Palaeolithic and had always been drawn to Neanderthals because who isn't！ They were big， brainy other- humans， who， if you were studying Palaeolithic Archaeology in 2012-2013 were supposed to have gone extinct as soon as modern Humans appeared。However， to my freshly exposed mind， who found herself studying Palaeolithic Archaeology without a prior background， the theory felt a little too "human centric，" and each time I had an outburst in the class saying， "What if-？" I had been shushed with condescending snikers and "What if， indeed！" So， there I was， standing next to the one person who would soon have all the answers， and who， as I understood it then， had made our lives increasingly complex while trying to study Hominin Evolution and rather timidly， I asked him what it was indeed。 When he promised me I would know soon enough and he hoped he would be able to give me the answer in person， I had no idea it would indeed be the case！ That I would be hosting him 9 years later on my platform， Speaking Archaeologically， and the conversation would literally start from where we had left it: Professor Higham was about to release his first book simplifying it all for the likes of the 20 year old me in a book that was coming out in less than a week。 Needless to say， several preorders were opted for on Amazon India that night。 I myself bought two copies and then spent days with baited breath waiting for the book to arrive， quarreling with a dear friend， who incidentally received a signed copy and hoping against hope that mine would be signed， too！It wasn't signed but was I glad that this meant meeting Tom Higham again just for getting it signed and also to discuss the finer points in it！Anyway， that's all the background。 Let's now talk about the book。 At the risk of repeating myself， I think if there's one book on prehistory you must read， let it be this book because not only does this incorporate all the latest research there is， including genetics， it's also the most readable book in prehistory there is。 Despite being an expert par excellence in DNA analysis， Tom Higham doesn't write like one。 He writes it the way he talks to you: casually， affably， with an ease that makes you imagine you're sitting across a coffee table or in a pub at Oxford with him and chatting like you would after the Thrusday Evening Pal-Quat Seminars at the Institute of Archaeology。 He writes warmly， as if he's talking to a friend and that friend is you。 He explains even the most basic concepts so that the book remains forever useful even if the research in it is replaced by new facts。 There are moments that are described with such clarity that you almost feel you were with him when that happened and there are moments that you will feel goosebumps popping up all over you because something unexpected was discovered （Read the Denny Episode）。 I studied Palaeolithic Archaeology at a time when the results for the discovery of the Denisovans were still due， there was no luzonensis and if you proposed that there could be hybrids between Neanderthals and Humans， you'd be laughed at in class。 For people like me， therefore， this book was an absolute treat， something that made me have the last laugh after all！ Of course I am not claiming that my half baked， fantastic hypotheses are any match to the facts backed up by proof but this is the one book that tells you anything is possible in our study of the evolution of humans and we are only beginning to scrape off the tip of the iceberg！For the best half of the month， this book consumed me completely。 I would wake up at 5:30 every morning to read it， spend most my mornings discussing chapters with my own Archaeology Interns at Speaking Archaeologically， then spend the day mulling over all that I had read。 If you disturbed me while I read， you'd have been in for a cranky， harsh telling off and in case you moved my book from my bedside， you'd be in for some serious trouble。 The day I finished it， I was overwhelmed with the feeling of having lost a companion now that I had finished it。 What would I do with my mornings？ What would I read next ？ I absolutely refuse this to be the last of this。 And I can't wait for what happens next！ 。。。more
Rob Sedgwick
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I thought this was a good book and I now feel bang up to date with where science currently stands。 Things are likely to change fast so I'd recommend reading this book in 2021 or 2022。I felt the technical level was about right。 It was easy enough to follow but not too hard to understand that I was in danger of losing the thread。I did feel though that it could have done with a few more diagrams of the relationship between human species and migration patterns。 A picture says a thousand words and qu I thought this was a good book and I now feel bang up to date with where science currently stands。 Things are likely to change fast so I'd recommend reading this book in 2021 or 2022。I felt the technical level was about right。 It was easy enough to follow but not too hard to understand that I was in danger of losing the thread。I did feel though that it could have done with a few more diagrams of the relationship between human species and migration patterns。 A picture says a thousand words and quite often there was a lot of text to describe something which would be better explained with a diagram。 It's not as though these don't exist as you can find them with a simple Google search。 The maps at the start of each chapter were of limited use。 。。。more
John Rennie
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I think this book treads a nice line between rigorous enough for people who have some knowledge of the area while still staying accessible to the general public。 I am a scientist， but a physicist who knows little of archaeology or biochemistry， and I found it a little challenging in places but understandable after a second read。Obviously this isn't going to be of interest to everyone， but if you are interested in human information the book is a treasure trove （apologies for the cliche， but it's I think this book treads a nice line between rigorous enough for people who have some knowledge of the area while still staying accessible to the general public。 I am a scientist， but a physicist who knows little of archaeology or biochemistry， and I found it a little challenging in places but understandable after a second read。Obviously this isn't going to be of interest to everyone， but if you are interested in human information the book is a treasure trove （apologies for the cliche， but it's justified here！） of information about the current state of the art。 I found it a fascinating read。 。。。more
Ross
，
Tom Higham has written a book that deftly straddles the tricky line between giving a technical account and a human account of any scientific endeavour。 In The World Before Us he gives us his view on what it has been like to be at the forefront of top tier science looking into our extinct human relatives and Palaeolithic ancestors。 Having been involved in much of the high profile research looking at the Denisovans， Flores Hobbits， and Neanderthal extinction this view comes with a lot of weight。 F Tom Higham has written a book that deftly straddles the tricky line between giving a technical account and a human account of any scientific endeavour。 In The World Before Us he gives us his view on what it has been like to be at the forefront of top tier science looking into our extinct human relatives and Palaeolithic ancestors。 Having been involved in much of the high profile research looking at the Denisovans， Flores Hobbits， and Neanderthal extinction this view comes with a lot of weight。 Fascinating insights into how the science is done， along with guest appearances from some of the key players in modern palaeoanthropology ensures that the book whips along at a frenetic pace and once it gets going it doesn't let up。 Infused with the author's infectious enthusiasm for everything Pleistocene， it's a real page turner。 It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a palaeoanthropology book as much as this one。 。。。more
Evie
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I want to be this man。 I'm obsessed。 This book and Kennis and Kennis reconstructions of all its 'characters' keep me smiling。 It has resulted in no less than 5 hysterical outbursts about how much I love my degree to the unfortunate people in my house who literally didn't ask， I thank them for their patience。Spent the past week reading this pretending it counts as proper revision。。。 I want to be this man。 I'm obsessed。 This book and Kennis and Kennis reconstructions of all its 'characters' keep me smiling。 It has resulted in no less than 5 hysterical outbursts about how much I love my degree to the unfortunate people in my house who literally didn't ask， I thank them for their patience。Spent the past week reading this pretending it counts as proper revision。。。 。。。more
John
，
Compared to the many other books on human evolution that I've read over the past twenty years， this is one of the most accessible and readable ones。 It's also right up to date， especially on the Denisovans and Neanderthals and the introgression of their genes into Sapiens genomes。 Great read！ Compared to the many other books on human evolution that I've read over the past twenty years， this is one of the most accessible and readable ones。 It's also right up to date， especially on the Denisovans and Neanderthals and the introgression of their genes into Sapiens genomes。 Great read！ 。。。more
Gregory Cornelius
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