Becoming Human

The volume is entitled Becoming Human and looks afresh at the relationships between early art, religion and symbolism. In the process, it aims to uncover new perspectives on the way in which human values and beliefs emerged.

It examines the great diversity of Upper Palaeolithic evidence for activities which were clearly symbolic, such as the creation of representations of animals and other features of the natural world. The authors explore the links between symbolism, spirituality and humanity in prehistoric societies, both in Europe and elsewhere, with religion and archaeological evidence for spiritual practices being a particular focus.

The book is edited by Professor Colin Renfrew, Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute and Dr Iain Morley, Fellow of the Institute and Research Fellow of Darwin College. The chapters are written by fifteen of the world’s leading researchers into Palaeolithic archaeology, symbolism and spirituality.

The book has been published by Cambridge University Press, and is available in hard and paperback versions from the Cambridge University Press website: http://www.cambridge.org/

The McDonald Institute provides a base for archeologists at Cambridge and was established in 1990 through a benefaction from the late Dr Daniel McLean McDonald. The Cambridge Archaeological Journal and the McDonald Institute Monographs series are also produced by the Institute.