Homo Heidelbergensis: The Link to Our Kind

Step back 700,000 years to meet the human who stood between the old world and our own.Homo Heidelbergensis: The Link to Our Kindtells the story of a powerful hunter and builder who bridged the gap between earlier humans and those who would follow. Their fossils, found from Africa to Europe, reveal tall bodies, strong frames, and larger brains than those who came before. They shaped wooden spears, hunted great animals, and built shelters, leaving behind clues that mark them as the ancestors of both Neanderthals and modern humans.Life for Homo heidelbergensis was demanding yet advanced. They mastered group hunting, learned to plan, and may have been the first to control fire on a wide scale. Their strength and intelligence carried them through harsh Ice Age landscapes, but their world was also filled with danger from beasts now extinct.This book includes black and white illustrations of fossils, fossil sites, tools, landscapes, extinct animals, and reconstructions of how Homo heidelbergensis may have looked in life. The story explains how this species gave rise to us, to the Neanderthals, and to the hidden branch of humanity later uncovered in Denisova Cave, before asking how such a powerful human could ultimately disappear. This third volume of The Human Evolution Series continues its journey through our deep past, following the species that stood on the threshold of becoming us. Read more