Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations

By: Brian M. Fagan, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Brian M. Fagan

Where do we come from? How did our ancestors settle this planet? How did the great historic civilizations of the world develop? How does a past so shadowy that it has to be painstakingly reconstructed from fragmentary, largely unwritten records nonetheless make us who and what we are?

These 36 lectures bring you the answers that the latest scientific and archaeological research and theorizing suggest about human origins, how populations developed, and the ways in which civilizations spread throughout the globe. It's a narrative of the story of human origins and the many ties that still bind us deeply to the world before writing. And it's a world tour of prehistory with profound links to who we are and how we live today.

Woven through this narrative is a set of pervasive themes: emerging human biological and cultural diversity (as well as our remarkable similarities across surprising expanses of time and space); the impact of human adaptations to climatic and environmental change; and the importance of seeing prehistory not merely as a chronicle of archaeological sites and artifacts, but of people behaving with the extraordinary intellectual, spiritual, and emotional dynamism that distinguish the human. Among the corners of our mysterious past you'll explore: human prehistory from Australopithecus africanus through Homo habilis and Homo erectus; the beginnings of agriculture and animal domestication; theories behind the appearance of urban civilization and overall attributes of preindustrial civilizations; the maritime trading revolutions in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia; and much more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

profound

this is the most important and significant education you can learr. necessary. enlightening. crucial. remarkable

A comprehensive introduction into human history

Very interesting, I actually expected it would cover more extensively the early hominids times and was initially disappointed that it would spend most of the course on the "usual" prehistory. But the approach was different from anything I studied before and made the course very interesting. The narrative voice is a bit peculiar and as a non native speaker I had to get used to it.

a must hear for me

inlteresting. covers a large scope and provde a wide picture of where all is coming from.

Difficulty understanding this professor

Would you be willing to try another book from The Great Courses and Brian M. Fagan ? Why or why not?

No. While I believe the professor to be very knowledgable in his area, I did not enjoy his delivery of the lecture materials.

Would you be willing to try another one of Professor Brian M. Fagan’s performances?

No. Professor Fagan's unusual accent was frequently difficult for me to understand. I'm from the USA. His accent is British but mixed with something else. Even the British don't pronounce the word "prove" with a long "o," to rhyme with "rove." Do they? He also made what I consider to be an unusually high number of speaking mistakes. He meant to say one thing but said another. He would always correct himself but it was distracting.

Good But Needs Updating

As Dr. Dayan expressed throughout the course, the narrative will change as new discoveries come about. This course, as is, captured the narrative as it was 20 years ago. It needs revising - especially with regards to archaic humans such as the Neanderthal and Denisovan. But overall, a great course.