Last Neanderthal

I'm not a reader who usually pays too much attention to photos and illustrations, but I could recommend "The Last Neanderthal" on that basis alone. There are nearly 150 of them in this 200-page book, some covering an entire page in my oversized edition. Almost all of them are superb. The illustrations are mostly of various fossilized bones and reconstructions. They are not haphazardly thrown throughout the book or tightly grouped in the middle, but introduced when appropriate for the text.Ian Tattersall's set-up of what is known about Neanderthals is masterful. Most of the first third of the book is about evolution, how fossilization works, and a brief description about what is known of the precursors to both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. Tattersall is clearly at home with this material and confident in his presentation of it. He takes his time in this area - even though it has little to directly do with the topic of his book - because one cannot understand Neanderthals unless one has some understanding of other pre-modern humans and the scientific techniques used to understand them.The set-up is not wasted on a flat ending. When Tattersall finally gets to the Neanderthals, he maintains a high level of interest for the reader by first showing how the scholarly views on Neanderthals have changed so much over the last hundred-fifty years (much more fascinating than it sounds) and then by moving into areas about its evolution and what is known about its lifestyle. He appears to be a fair partisan, pointing out evidence both for and against different sides of the numerous controversial topics on Neanderthals.

The Last Neanderthal is a wonderfully illustrated book perfect for anyone interested in human evolution. While providing an excellent overview of human evolution and the history of the discovery and study of Neanderthals, this book's true merit lies in its photographs of all the major finds of both Neanderthals and other human ancestors. Great as a reference for someone wishing to begin a more in-depth study of Neanderthals for class or just for fun.

Dr. Tattersall's writing is straightforward, unbiased and presents a clear view of this compelling area of paleoanthropology. Written as an introduction to the field, the volume does as charged, with copious full page photos, illustrations and a summation of currently held theories without the complexities of a technical journal.

I am a high school student with an interest in human origins and I found "The Last Neanderthal" fascinating. The author does justice to Neanderthals without making the book too academic. He answers, as much as current theory and evidence allow, many of the questions I had about Neanderthals: How much like us in intellect and abstract thought were the Neanderthals? Were they our ancestors? What was their geographic range? How many were there? When did they disappear? Did modern humans eliminate them? And so on. Tattersall discusses cranial shapes and skeletal remains, other human ancestors, genetics, stone tools, cave bears, and what have you. There are plenty of photographs of skeletons, skulls, tools, maps, and plenty of sidebar topics. This is a great book for intelligent laypeople of all ages and I greatly recommend it.

This profusely illustrated and well written book deals with the Neanderthals and the world they lived in, as well as their lifestyles and "technology". Starting in Chapter 1, the author gradually introduces the reader in the Neanderthal world, also explaining other interesting areas related to their study, such as how evolution works, how was the world during Neanderthal periods, and techniques used in dating the antiquity of fossils. The book contains a lot of photographs on Neanderthal skulls and skeletons, as well as some of the tools they used. Requiring almost no background in anthropology or paleoanthropology, this book contains a lot of information and it is very thought provoking, and I think is a must for anyone interested in learning about our closest relatives.