Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books and articles that you can read to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You don’t have to read all of these and there are none that you must read. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.
Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate on this blog.
Ayala, FJ and Cela-Conde, CJ. 2017. Processes in Human Evolution: The Journey From Early Hominins To Neanderthals And Modern Humans. 2nd edition.
Berger, L et al. 2015. Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/09560
Berger, L et al. 2017. Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/24234
Berger, L. 2017. Almost Human.
Diamond, J. 2006. ‘The Third Chimpanzee’.
Dirks, et al. 2017. The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/24231
Finlayson, C. 2009. ‘The Humans Who Went Extinct’.
Gibbons, A. 2007. ‘The First Human’.
Hawks et al. 2017. New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/24232
Humphrey, L and Stringer, C. 2018. Our Human Story.
Johanson, D, Edgar, B & Brill, D. 2006. ‘From Lucy to Language: Revised’.
Johanson, D & Wong, K. 2009. ‘Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins’.
Lewin, R. 2004. ‘Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction’. 5th edition.
Mithen, S. 2004. ‘After the Ice: A Global Human History 20,000 – 5,000 BC’.
Oppenheimer, S. 2004. ‘Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World’.
Reich, D. 2018. Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the new science of the human past.
Roberts, A. 2009. ‘The Incredible Human Journey’. (DVD also available).
Scarre, C. 2018. ‘The Human Past’. 4th edition.
Stringer, C. 2006. ‘Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain’.
Stringer, C & Andrews, P. 2012. ‘The Complete World of Human Evolution’. 2nd edition.
Sykes. B. 2004. ‘The Seven Daughters of Eve’.
Tattersall, I. 2007. ‘The Last Human’.
Wood, B. 2017. ‘Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction’. 2nd edition.