Reviews for Making Silent Stones Speak Human Evolution and the Dawn of Technology

The average rating for Making Silent Stones Speak Human Evolution and the Dawn of Technology based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-03-01 00:00:00 Susan (Bella) Hyde This book is a superb outline of human development, focusing particularly on the role of technology on that development. It discusses the emergence of stone tool technology as well as how we came to understand that emergence. Besides providing information on development, the book provides superb information on anthropological experiments done; two that particularly stand out are observations of Kanzi the Bonobo Chimpanzee working with stone to form tools and the results of fake sites set up to see artifact dispersion due to natural and animal disturbance. This well-written, easy-reading book would be a good guide for anyone interested in paleoanthropology, especially as it deals far more with technological changes than physiological changes. It also serves as a nice counter to those who are tempted to go overboard with stating this or that is “brain-based” as the book details how there is a real give and take between technology, and the culture it creates, and the development, including brain development, of those who emerge in that created culture (i.e. the book describes how it is equally “nature and nurture” instead of only embracing the biological predestination position of only “nature”).

Review # 2 was written on 2021-05-01 00:00:00 Robert Pugach It began well enough for a couple of chapters that set both the prehistoric background and some methodology. I began to be worried by chapters starts that were pure fiction in a 'Clan of the Cave Bear' style - like wtf is this doing in an academic text? The book then degenerated rapidly into a series of lists of tools, sites, archaeologists but with little attempt to explore or construct a scholarly discussion. The final chapters run rapidly in a desperate attempt pt to 'finish' and include an irrelevant speculation on future technologies, extra terrestrial life in the universe etc. Such a bad book.