Darwin’s Legacy: Scenarios in Human Evolution compares ideas about human evolution Darwin published in The Descent of Man in 1891 to 30 scenarios about the evolution of such unique human characteristics as bipedalism, hairless skin, secondary sex characters, language and culture that anthropologists and psychologists published between 1950 and 2006. It evaluates ideas about hunting and scavenging, aimed throwing, primitive warfare, aquatic life, courtship, and sign language in light of modern data on genetics, stone tools, fossils, and primate behavior. Parallels between Darwin’s ideas and those of modern researchers are striking.
Sue Taylor Parker is emeritus professor of anthropology at Sonoma State University.Karin Enstam Jaffe is associate professor of anthropology at Sonoma State University.
Table of Contents
Part 1 Part I. BackgroundChapter 2 Chapter 1. Scenarios in Human Evolution: Science or Fiction?Chapter 3 Chapter 2. Guidelines for Modeling Human EvolutionChapter 4 Chapter 3. Who Were Our Ancestors?Part 5 Part II. Origins ModelsChapter 6 Chapter 4. Origins of Human SubsistenceChapter 7 Chapter 5. Origins of BipedalismChapter 8 Chapter 6. Origins of Human Life HistoryChapter 9 Chapter 7. Origins of Human Bodily DisplaysChapter 10 Chapter 8. Origins of LanguageChapter 11 Chapter 9. Origins of Human MentalityChapter 12 Chapter 10. Origins of Cultures