Ancestral Images: The Iconography of Human Origins - Couverture rigide

Moser, Stephanie

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0801435498 ISBN 13 : 9780801435492

Editeur : Cornell University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Pictorial reconstructions of ancient human ancestors have twin purposes: to make sense of shared ancestry and to bring prehistory to life. Stephanie Moser analyzes the close relationship between representations of the past and theories about human evolution, showing how this relationship existed even before a scientific understanding of human origins developed. How did mythological, religious, and historically inspired visions of the past, in existence for centuries, shape this understanding? Moser treats images as primary documents, and her book is lavishly illustrated with engravings, paintings, photographs, and reconstructions.

In surveying the iconography of prehistory, Moser explores visions of human creation from their origins in classical, early Christian, and medieval periods through traditions of representation initiated in the Renaissance. She looks closely at the first scientific reconstructions of the nineteenth century, which dramatized and made comprehensible the Darwinian theory of human descent from apes. She considers, as well, the impact of reconstructions on popular literature in Europe and North America, showing that early visualizations of prehistory retained a firm hold on the imagination--a hold that archaeologists and anthropologists have found difficult to shake.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Stephanie Moser is Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Southampton. She has published many articles on the role of visual representation in archaeology.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Cornell University Press
• Date d'édition: 1998
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0801435498
• ISBN 13: 9780801435492
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 224
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Mare Nostrum Group B.V.; gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk; ; Doelen 72; Breda; 4831 GR; Pays-Bas