A Brief History of the Origins of Humanity

Original title: Brève histoire des origines de l’humanité

Publication Date:

January 2022

Pages:

304

Original language and publisher

French | Tallandier

Territories Handled

Netherlands, North America, Scandinavia

Genres

History, Science

A Brief History of the Origins of Humanity

Original title: Brève histoire des origines de l’humanité

Synopsis

What is the last information we have of the first humans?

Fossils, trace DNA, footprints, bone fragments… Archaeologists and paleontologists are constantly working to add branches to the family tree of humanity. Not one year goes by without a new discovery. For example, a new species was discovered indicating bipeds existed more than 11 million years ago and that Lucy is not our oldest ancestor; new branches of hominids appeared in Asia; our DNA has similarities to Neanderthals. There are still many missing pieces in the puzzle of our origins. 

Antoine Balzeau, an expert on the evolution of brains from the first hominids to the present day. In this book, he takes stock of recent discoveries and takes us step by-step through evolution to point out how humans differ from other primates.

We have yet to find the first human, but we can get to know it by studying the environments, lifestyles, and behavior of Toumaï, Orrorin, and Lucy.

We can explore the essence of what makes us human.