Suggested Readings

Chapter 8: Homo erectus and the Emergence of Hunting and Gathering

Campbell, B. G., & Loy, J. D. (1995). Humankind Emerging (7th ed.). New York: HarperCollins.

This well-illustrated book has three good chapters on Homo erectus and their way of life.

Ciochon, R. L., & Fleagle, J. G. (Eds.). (1993). The Human Evolution source book. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Part V of this book reproduces eight articles that deal with a variety of topics on the history of recovery, diversity, tempo, and mode of evolution and culture of H. erectus. An introduction by the editors puts the articles in context.

Gamble, C. (1986). The Paleolithic Settlement of Europe. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Although it does not deal exclusively with Homo erectus, this work does discuss material   from Europe associated with this species. In doing so, it takes a critical stance as to conventional interpretations and offers novel explanations of H. erectus’ behavior based on a better understanding of the process of archaeological site formation.

Rightmire, G. P. (1990). The Evolution of Homo Erectus: Comparative anatomical studies of an extinct human species. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

This is the standard work on our current understanding of Homo erectus.

White, E., & Brown, D., et al., and the editors of Time-Life. (1973). The First Men. New York:  Time-Life.

This magnificently illustrated volume in the Time-Life Emergence of Man series deals with Homo erectus. Its drawbacks are that it is not up-to-date, and it portrays early H. erectus as too much of a big game hunter; nevertheless, it remains a good introduction to many of the classic fossils, sites, and tools associated with this hominine.