Cro-Magnon
How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans
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Narrated by:
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James Langton
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By:
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Brian Fagan
About this listen
Best-selling author Brian Fagan brings early humans out of the deep freeze with his trademark mix of erudition, cutting-edge science, and vivid storytelling.
Cro-Magnon reveals human society in its infancy, facing enormous environmental challenges - including a rival species of humans, the Neanderthals. For ten millennia, Cro-Magnons lived side by side with Neanderthals, an encounter that Fagan fills with drama. Using their superior intellects and tools, these ingenious problem solvers survived harsh conditions that eventually extinguished their Neanderthal cousins.
Cro-Magnon captures the indomitable adaptability that has made Homo sapiens an unmatched success as a species. Living on a frozen continent with only the most basic tools, Ice Age humans survived and thrived.
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Horses have a story to tell - one of resilience, sociability, and intelligence and of partnership with human beings. In The Horse, journalist and equestrienne Wendy Williams brings that story brilliantly to life. Williams chronicles the 56-million-year journey of horses as she visits with experts around the world, exploring what our biological affinities and differences can tell us about the bond between horses and humans and what our longtime companions might think and feel.
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Full of science.
- By Jennifer90046 on 02-07-17
By: Wendy Williams
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The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
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"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
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1491
- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
- By: Charles C. Mann
- Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus' landing had crossed the Bering Strait 12,000 years ago; existed mainly in small nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas were, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But as Charles C. Mann now makes clear, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent the last 30 years proving these and many other long-held assumptions wrong.
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Exposes Non-Academic Audience to The Debate Between Ideas of Pre-Colombian America's
- By Christopher on 01-19-17
By: Charles C. Mann
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The Statues That Walked
- Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island
- By: Terry Hunt, Carl Lipo
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
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The monumental statues of Easter Island, both so magisterial and so forlorn, gazing out in their imposing rows over the island’s barren landscape, have been the source of great mystery ever since the island was first discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday 1722. How could the ancient people who inhabited this tiny speck of land, the most remote in the vast expanse of the Pacific islands, have built such monumental works?
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The "Mystery of Easter Island" remains raveled
- By Diane on 09-14-12
By: Terry Hunt, and others
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Ancient Bones
- Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human
- By: Madelaine Böhme
- Narrated by: Aimée Ayotte
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
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Africa has long been considered the cradle of life - where life and humans evolved - but somewhere west of Munich, Germany, paleoclimatologist and paleontologist Madelaine Böhme and her team make a discovery that is beyond anything they ever imagined: the 12-million-year-old bones of an ancient ape - Danuvius guggenmos - which makes headlines around the world and defies prevailing theories of human history and where human life began.
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Brave Attempt
- By Bill Treat on 10-15-22
By: Madelaine Böhme
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American Serengeti
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- By: Dan Flores
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
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America's Great Plains once possessed one of the grandest wildlife spectacles of the world, equaled only by such places as the Serengeti, the Masai Mara, or the veld of South Africa. Pronghorn antelope, gray wolves, bison, coyotes, wild horses, and grizzly bears: less than 200 years ago these creatures existed in such abundance that John James Audubon was moved to write "it is impossible to describe or even conceive the vast multitudes of these animals".
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Could have been great, but
- By An Amazon Buyer on 08-29-18
By: Dan Flores
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Cahokia
- Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi
- By: Timothy Pauketat
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
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Professor Timothy R. Pauketat illuminates the riveting discovery of the largest pre-Columbian city on U.S. soil. Once a flourishing metropolis of 20,000 people in 1050, Cahokia had rotted away by 1400. Its earthen mounds near modern-day St. Louis reveal “woodhenges” and evidence of large-scale human sacrifice.
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probably better in hard copy
- By Mary on 06-05-11
By: Timothy Pauketat
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Born in Africa
- The Quest for the Origins of Human Life
- By: Martin Meredith
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In Born in Africa, Martin Meredith follows the trail of discoveries about human origins made by scientists over the last hundred years, recounting their intense rivalry, personal feuds, and fierce controversies, as well as their feats of skill and endurance. The results have been momentous. Scientists have identified more than 20 species of extinct humans. They have firmly established Africa as the birthplace not only of humankind but also of modern humans.
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A Brief History of Paleoanthropology
- By Jeff Harris on 05-06-13
By: Martin Meredith
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The Sediments of Time
- My Lifelong Search for the Past
- By: Meave Leakey, Samira Leakey
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Preeminent paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey brings us along on her remarkable journey to reveal the diversity of our early pre-human ancestors and how past climate change drove their evolution. She offers a fresh account of our past, as recent breakthroughs have allowed new analysis of her team’s fossil findings and vastly expanded our understanding of our ancestors. Meave’s own personal story is replete with drama, from thrilling discoveries on the shores of Lake Turkana to run-ins with armed herders and every manner of wildlife, to raising her children....
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Brilliant!
- By tess koffler on 04-07-21
By: Meave Leakey, and others
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What listeners say about Cro-Magnon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Karin W.
- 09-09-10
A comprehensive overview of the Ice Age
Not just about the Cro-Magnon, this book also goes into great detail about what scientists currently know about the Neanderthal people and the current scientific knowledge regarding the climactic changes, geology, flora, and fauna of the Ice Age.
I'm an archaeology geek, didn't know much about this period, and found the topic engrossing. It's popular science writing at its best--clear, interesting, and accessible without being condescending.
The narrator is also excellent, with a very pleasant British accent and flawless pronounciation of the many French and German terms in the book, not to mention the occasional Hebrew or !Kung word.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Brian
- 03-18-11
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
I thought this was an excellent look at our ancestors and extinct close relatives as well as some of the theories on how man became the dominant species on the planet.
I know in many of the reviews people criticized the speculative narrative that the author has put together on what life was like for these groups of individuals. The narrative added to my personal enjoyment of this book. I think anyone reading this realizes that we can only speculate by filling in the missing pieces with the hard evidence that archaeological finds provide.
I thought the narration of this book was excellent.
The author provided a narrative that kept me interested balanced with providing evidence to support the author story.
One interesting comment; I think the author gives a the benefit of the doubt to our ancestors regarding the now extinct Neanderthals. Any casual study of human nature and its brutality would definitely indicate that there probably was significant conflict between humans and Neanderthals that led to their extinction. I did like the authors less heavy-handed take that it's possible these two groups live side-by-side even if it was cautiously with little interaction.
If you're interested in the topic of evolution or the history of early man. I highly recommend this book!
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1 person found this helpful
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- James
- 09-03-12
Ah Ha... So That's How We All Started Out!!!
This book was an excellent look at the lives, history, culture of the Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal and peoples. The discoveries set forth in this book really helped explain a lot of the lineage of how people spread from Africa, through Europe and Asia and eventually populated the world. It also dealt with the seemingly impossible situations of everyday life that they had to overcome and learn by experience. When I hear people today talk about harsh conditions, and the suffering that they're going through now, there's no comparison!
I've been a vegetarian for almost 30 years, and one thing that I learned in reading this book, was that people have eaten meat (probably through scavenging carcasses that were left behind by predators and animals dying via natural death and accidents) from almost the beginning of time when they could first catch an animal, it is the actual agricultural cultivation of plants and vegetables that began about 10,000 years ago.
I would highly recommend this excellent book!
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- Thomas
- 05-09-16
An amazing description of our species' history!
One of my best purchases ever! This book carries you into the past and intertwines all of our ancestors into a mosaic of humanity.
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Overall
- rachel
- 07-31-10
Dense
This was an interesting topic but the book got bogged down at times with information that was too complicated for a someone whose area of expertise is not pre-history, archaeology or anthropology. (particular the former two, I think).
Perhaps others will disagree and find the dense discussion more accessible than I did. However, I don't consider myself a complete neophyte on the subject: I took a graduate level course on ancient technology that covered flintknapping and other technologies. As an art instructor, I am familar with Lascaux and Chauvet and the Venus of Willendorf among others.
There were several times when I wanted the author to just skip the correct terminology and jump to the part where he tells us what it means. There were several other times when I felt a little confused about whether the evidence he'd just outlined supported or refuted the claim he had made at the beginning of the thought. And at least once I wondered why he said that "obviously" wasn't correct. Why was it obvious? Why not remind us? This is a long detailed history, why skip a little "obvious" bit like that?
I listened to this book in my studio while working on several projects. It was a good mellow story, interesting enough to give my mind something to do without being a distraction. I do not recommend listening to this book while driving. The author's voice lulls you into a sleepy state.
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2 people found this helpful
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- REBECCA J MILLER
- 03-28-15
So much information. Must listen to more than once
Really enjoyed the book. The level of detail gives you people places and institutes to use for further research. Excellent.
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- Chas Rogers
- 02-20-16
Very Fine Writing
Brian Fagan has compiled a rich web of the most fascinating stories ever written. His compilation of the study of the Cro-Magnon shall live forever.
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Overall
- Helen
- 07-30-10
Enjoyed and wished for more
I thoroughly enjoyed both Part 1 (Neanderthals and the emergence of early modern man) and Part 2 (differences between remnants of known Cro-Magnon sites life and what they hint about the differences in lifestyle, climate and locale).
The speculation as to the daily lives of the people was as interesting as the facts - with carbon-dating, geological surveys, archaeological digs, current (or relatively recent) practices of Arctic, African and Aboriginal dwellers, all contributing.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-21-24
Outdated and biased
Totally outdated, still portraying Cro magnon and neanthertals as opposed, adversarial, totally different from each other. He also asserts there was no interbreeding between the two species and insist N. did not have spoken language. All of that has been proven wrong and new theories based on the new findings of the last 14 years have been developed. Lastly, the description of these long ago peoples is tremendously biased. Don’t waste your money on this title.
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Overall
- Krista
- 08-15-10
Very interesting
I enjoyed this very much. Great narration and mix of "imagine...." to set the stage to see a Cro-Magnon. Also really enjoyed the details of the different sciences that go into determining age of fossils and other evidence of our ancestors. There were times that were a little slow or the details a little too details for listening, so had to re-listen to parts. If I were reading, they might have sunk in better in the written versus audio format. Still enjoyed very much and I looked up many the places and artifacts mentioned for better understanding of the imagery.
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4 people found this helpful