And his science is as details-rich and thorough as one would hope.It's an organization problem. I feel guilty even saying this.It's not that he doesn't write evocative passages about what life for Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons must have been like. I like Fagan and appreciate his ability as a scientist and writer. Ultimately, this remains a book that says much and means little in a generally interesting way.Cautiously recommended - go ahead if you're looking for something intriguing and big picture but take it with a grain of salt. There just isn't the evidence or archaeological record to say much at all with confidence. And there was a lot of poor quality foreshadowing that sounded sort of like "well this is a really cool topic, but we won't talk about it until Chapter 6".Overall, the book was really good at piquing my interest and at pointing out all the things that we really *don't* know about life for the first anatomically modern humans. Often figures didn't appear anywhere near where they were being discussed which resulted in a lot of page flipping. There were also many side bars that two 2-3 pages each that disrupted the flow of reading. Finally, throughout the book there were fluffy imaginary scenes meant to illustrate these peoples and make them 'real' which I felt were superfluous and made the book feel more like historical fiction.
There were many comparisons made to current hunter/gatherer societies - but I have to imagine there were some pretty substantial differences there as well. Climate changes and shifts in glaciers and temperatures would very likely have an impact on animal and human migration and settlement patterns, but I'm not yet convinced to make the leap that climate change would directly influence the human human evolution or the propensity for culture, religion, art, etc.I'm also fairly skeptical that life was quite as static over the millenia as is repeatedly stated - while I can't think of a way to prove it, it just doesn't seem quite right that there weren't social changes that just may not be reflected in the archaeological artifacts. There were a lot of "must have been"s when really it's "could have been". And there's a lot we can imagine things being like and that's stated up front.But there was also a lot that was stated that was overstated. There's a lot we can infer and that's stated up front. There's a lot we don't know and that's stated up front. It also does a great job of sticking to the big picture and broad sweeps of human pre-history. This book does a great job of not getting bogged down in minutiae, classifications, or jargon, all of which abound in the technical fields. The content is fascinating, looking at the big picture was done well, and the story was well told in terms of bringing together the changes in climate/ice ages with the archaeology, anthropology, stone age technology and society.Its written for a general audience as a narrative of what we know and can surmise about Cro-Magnon evolution, migration/geography, contact with and domination over Neanderthals, and general way of life/culture/art etc. It was interesting but probably could have been shortened a bit and I felt there were some flaws and some stylistic things I would have preferred otherwise.It was a fast read (for me) - about a week, with most of it going by on two airplanes.
I am waffling about what to rate this one.