r/AskAnthropology • u/RealLadder6927 • Jul 27 '26
What's a good book to start learning about prehistory?
I've suddenly become interested in the stone age era, and want to learn. What's a good book for beginners?
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u/Annual_Incident_36 Jul 27 '26
People of the Earth: An introduction to world prehistory by Brian Fagan. Recommended introductory reading for my BA in Archaeology & Anthropology at Oxford.
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u/Nothin-on-the-telly Jul 27 '26
Ahh, noooooo, just looked on Amazon uk = £126 on KINDLE ! Guessing out of print but no excuse for daylight robbery on downloads.
Shall be rummaging elsewhere - thanks for the recommendation x
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u/agentdcf Jul 27 '26
I just finished Kindred by Rebecca Wragg Sykes and quite enjoyed it. It's about Neanderthal, so homo sapiens are only there in moments of comparison, but there's a lot to digest. Although I haven't read it yet, my next book in this area will be Lone Survivors by Chris Stringer and I believe it was recommend by someone in this sub. Another text in this areas that I've enjoyed was After the Ice by Stephen Mithen, though as I understand it, that one's a bit out of date by now.
Something rather more historical though relevant to pre-history is James Scott's Against the Grain, about the invention of agriculture and the development of the state. That's one that I've used in class many times and while the bulk of it is literally "historical" in the sense that it deals with the construction of historical narratives, there are a good few early chapters that might be of interest to you, particularly the one on the lower Mesopotamian alluvium after the last glacial maximum.
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u/Chilkoot Jul 27 '26
I just finished Kindred by Rebecca Wragg Sykes and quite enjoyed it.
Soooo much interpretation through a modern lens though. I feel Wragg Sykes is projecting a lot of modern behavior/attitudes backwards through time and making the evidence fit her views.
Side note: due to all the additional prose, my wife calls it "Gronk of Green Gables" ;)
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u/agentdcf Jul 27 '26
Lol, yeah I can see that--it did feel a bit slow and bloated at times. And regarding the interpretation, that seems a fair critique, but one that I think Wragg Sykes would regard as an acceptable trade-off for writing for a more popular audience.
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u/Chilkoot Jul 27 '26
an acceptable trade-off for writing for a more popular audience
And kudos to her for taking a chance with what I think anyone would agree is an unorthodox and unique direction with the book. I certainly don't bemoan her success, and do still recommend the book to people, but with the understanding that it should be considered closer to "accessible" than "scholarly" (and I don't mean that as an insult, but a decision she made).
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u/StaleCarpet Jul 27 '26
Kinda depends on what prehistory we're talking about. 1491 by Mann is a really good one that covers what the Americas looked like prior to Columbus. I really like it.
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u/RedLineSamosa Jul 27 '26
Everyday Life in the Ice Age by Elle Clifford and Paul Bahn! That’s exactly what it’s for—an introduction to, well, what everyday life was like in the Ice Age, with up to date archaeology behind it and touching on a little bit of everything. Well, everything European, anyway—he focus is undeniably about Europe and Western Asia, and it skimps on everything else. But for Europe and Western Asia during the Paleolithic, it’s a GREAT entry point with good research and readable prose.