Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Berger, Lee R.
Hawks, John David
Titre(s) : Almost human [Texte imprimé] : the astonishing tale of Homo naledi and the discovery that changed our human story / Lee R. Berger and John Hawks
Publication : Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, [2017]
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (239 pages) : color illustrations ; 24 cm
Note(s) : "This first-person narrative about an archaeological discovery is rewriting the story
of human evolution. A story of defiance and determination by a controversial scientist,
this is Lee Berger's own take on finding Homo naledi, an all-new species on the human
family tree and one of the greatest discoveries of the 21st century. In 2013, Berger,
a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, caught wind of a cache of bones in a
hard-to-reach underground cave in South Africa. He put out a call around the world
for petite collaborators--men and women small and adventurous enough to be able to
squeeze through 8-inch tunnels to reach a sunless cave 40 feet underground. With this
team of "underground astronauts," Berger made the discovery of a lifetime: hundreds
of prehistoric bones, including entire skeletons of at least 15 individuals, all perhaps
two million years old. Their features combined those of known prehominids like Lucy,
the famous Australopithecus, with those more human than anything ever before seen
in prehistoric remains. Berger's team had discovered an all new species, and they
called it Homo naledi. The cave quickly proved to be the richest primitive hominid
site ever discovered, full of implications that shake the very foundation of how we
define what makes us human. Did this species come before, during, or after the emergence
of Homo sapiens on our evolutionary tree? How did the cave come to contain nothing
but the remains of these individuals? Did they bury their dead? If so, they must have
had a level of self-knowledge, including an awareness of death. And yet those are
the very characteristics used to define what makes us human. Did an equally advanced
species inhabit Earth with us, or before us? Berger does not hesitate to address all
these questions. Berger is a charming and controversial figure, and some colleagues
question his interpretation of this and other finds. But in these pages, this charismatic
and visionary paleontologist counters their arguments and tells his personal story:
a rich and readable narrative about science, exploration, and what it means to be
human"
Sujet(s) : Homo naledi
Hominidés fossiles -- Afrique du Sud
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9781426218118 (hardback). - ISBN 1426218117 (hardback)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45207492s
Notice n° :
FRBNF45207492
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
