In this innovative, wide-ranging synthesis of anthropology and biogeography, Alexander Harcourt tells how and why our species came to be distributed around the world. He explains our current understanding of human origins, tells how climate determined our spread, and describes the barriers that delayed and directed migrating peoples. He explores the rich and complex ways in which our anatomy, physiology, cultural diversity, and population density vary from region to region in the areas we inhabit. The book closes with chapters on how human cultures have affected each other’s geographic distributions, how non-human species have influenced human distribution, and how humans have reduced the ranges of many other species while increasing the ranges of others. Throughout, Harcourt compares what we understand of human biogeography to non-human primate biogeography.
Alexander H. Harcourt is Professor Emeritus in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Davis. He is the coauthor of Gorilla Society and coeditor of Coalitions and Alliances in Humans and Other Animals.
“Human Biogeography, is an outstanding publication that serves as an unrivaled synthesis and nexus of two disciplines – human diversity and biogeography.” --Mark Lomolino, co-author of Biogeography
“This is the first book to explain and illustrate what human biogeography is all about. Moreover, Human Biogeography gives us a highly persuasive demonstration that anyone looking for answers about our diversity as a species and our impact on the planet must take biogeography into account. An outstanding work of scholarship supported by an immense depth and breadth of knowledge. ” --John Edward Terrell, Regenstein Curator of Pacific Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History
328 pp.6 x 9Illus: 56 line illustrations, 3 maps, 6 tables
9780520272118$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
May 2012