The Great Divide: Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New

Front Cover
Harper Collins, Jun 26, 2012 - Social Science - 643 pages

In The Great Divide, acclaimed author and historian Peter Watson explores the development of humankind between the Old World and the New, and offers a groundbreaking new understanding of human history.

By 15,000 BC, humans had migrated from northeastern Asia across the frozen Bering land bridge to the Americas. When the last Ice Agecame to an end, the Bering Strait refilled with water, dividing America from Eurasia. This division continued until Christopher Columbus voyaged to the New World in the fifteenth century.

The Great Divide compares the development of humankind in the Old World and the New between 15,000 BC and AD 1,500. Combining the most up-to-date knowledge in archaeology, anthropology, geology, meteorology, cosmology, and mythology, Peter Watson’s masterful study offers uniquely revealing insight into what it means to be human.

 

Contents

A Unique Period in Human History
11
HOW THE FIRST AMERICANS DIFFERED FROM OLD WORLD PEOPLES
18
Religion and the Rocks
36
5 Rings of Fire and Thermal Trumpets
84
Roots v Seeds and the Anomalous Distribution of Domesticable Mammals
104
The Fall
114
four things that never happened in
134
Catastrophe and the AllImportant Origins of Sacrifice
143
WHY HUMAN NATURE EVOLVED DIFFERENTLY IN THE OLD WORLD
226
of Nature
320
Conclusion
427
The Great Divide
440
The NeverEnding Dispute of the New World
459
Some Patterns in Cultural Evolution
479
About the Author
544
Hallucinogens
552

From Narcotics to Alcohol
157
What People Are Made
170
The Psychoactive Rainforest and the Anomalous Distribution
181
Houses of Smoke Coca and Chocolate
576
Sources for Figures
622
Copyright

Other editions - View all

The Great Divide: Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New
Peter Watson
No preview available - 2013
The Great Divide: Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New
Peter Watson
No preview available - 2012
The Great Divide: History and Human Nature in the Old World and the New
Peter Watson
No preview available - 2012
View all »

Common terms and phrases

agriculture alphabet ancient animals appear archaeologists associated Axial Age Aztecs ball became believed Beringia blood bloodletting Brian Fagan Bronze Age Caral cave central centre century ceremonial chapter chariot Chavín China Chinchorro Christianity civilisations climate coast cult culture deity domesticated mammals early Earth El Niño elite emerged Eurasia Europe evidence example excavated fact Fagan feline fertility Goddess gods Greek hallucinogenic horse human Ibid idea ideology important Inca Indians jaguar known land later maize Maya Mayan Mesoamerica Mesopotamia Mexico millennium BC Mixtec Moche monotheism monsoon mountains myths nature Niño North America Old World Olmec pastoral nomads perhaps plants population pottery pyramid Quetzalcoatl rain region religion religious ritual River rulers sacred sacrifice says Serpent shamanistic shamans sheep societies South spread steppes stone temple Teotihuacan Tiwanaku Toltecs transformed underworld University Press Valley Vision Serpent volcanoes warriors worship

About the author (2012)

Peter Watson has been a senioreditor at the London Sunday Times, a New York correspondentof the London Times, a columnist for theLondon Observer, and a contributor to the New YorkTimes. He has published three exposés on the world ofart and antiquities, and is the author of several booksof cultural and intellectual history. From 1997 to 2007he was a research associate at the McDonald Institutefor Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.He lives in London.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Great Divide: Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New
AuthorPeter Watson
Editionunabridged
PublisherHarper Collins, 2012
ISBN0062196677, 9780062196675
Length643 pages
Subjects ›  ›  › 

History / Asia / Central Asia
Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / General
Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / Native American Studies
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan