The Invaders - Pat Shipman

A Times Higher Education Book of the Week

Approximately
200,000 years ago, as modern humans began to radiate out from their
evolutionary birthplace in Africa, Neanderthals were already thriving in
Europe-descendants of a much earlier migration of the African genus Homo.
But when modern humans eventually made their way to Europe 45,000 years
ago, Neanderthals suddenly vanished. Ever since the first Neanderthal
bones were identified in 1856, scientists have been vexed by the
question, why did modern humans survive while their closest known
relatives went extinct?

"Shipman admits that scientists have yet
to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if
she's right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive
overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins."
-Toby Lester, Wall Street Journal

"Are
humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat
Shipman-and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The
relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis
is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman
posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our
ancestors was the domestication of wolves."
-Daniel Cressey, Nature