Professor Steven Mithen's reviews

Excerpts from book reviews

The Prehistory of the Mind: A Search for the Origins of Art, Science and Religion (1996)

'An accessible, very well written, provocative and most valuable book'Lewis Wolpert, The Observer

'A dramatic reconstruction of how the modern mind has evolved over the past few million years. He writes with clarity and verve'.Lawrence Straus, Nature

'Mithen's achievement — and it is not a small one — is to bring together the many specific discoveries of cognitivearchaeology into a systematic account. By drawing on the indispensable contributions of archaeology to cognitive history, his book begins to explain how we evolved as a species whose members can think about such things.'Howard Gardner, New York Review of Books

'Readers will be entertained and provoked by Mithen's insightful synthesis of so many aspects of our evolution. It is a wonderful start to a new and productive way of thinking.'Roger Lewin, New Scientist

'The Prehistory of the Mind is set to join the canon of essential texts and is also an excellent read.'

Colin Tudge, The Independent

'Daring and original … it's a fine book and a fine read ...and we are all in his debt'.

Jerry Fodor, London Review of Books

'Steven Mithen's impressive interdisciplinary effort to synthesize a general evolutionary model of how human cognitive abilities emerged in their modern form makes for a rewarding and ...intellectually exciting read'.American Antiquity

'This is an amazing book on an amazing topic. Mithen has stolen a march on everyone else working in the field, and written the first account of the evolution of the human mind to be informed by new discoveries in archaeology. The result is a grippingly told history: rich in detail and fiercely intelligent.'Nicholas Humphrey

'A truly pioneering work'Colin Renfrew,Times Higher Educational Supplement

After The Ice: A Global Human History 20,000-5000 BC (2003)

'In After the Ice, [Steven Mithen] has done for the world what is hinted at in the poetry of one garden . . . the lucidity of Mithen's thought and prose will inform the professional and illuminate the general reader.After the Ice is that rare event: the right book at the right time.'Alan Garner, The Times

'Original and refreshing . . . [Mithen] has in fact visited many of the locations himself, sometimes while the relevant archaeological excavations were under way . These are often the best bits of writing, and they give the book the authenticity of first-hand experience . . This is an important book, which succeeds in writing about the prehistoric past in a new way, restraining though not eliminating the preoccupations of the writer and offering a wealth of experienced detail for each continent . . . a sympathetic and informed introduction to a formative period in world history.'Colin Renfrew, Times Literary Supplement

'Mithen has not only mastered his material, he has delivered a charming read and an up-to-date informative resource.After the Ice is an exceptional book . . . a wonderful book that students, specialists or anyone else with curiosity about our early history can enjoy.'Mike Pitts, New Scientist

'Mithen presents the archaeological and palaeoclimatic evidence in plain English, without jargon, attending to details that help the reader understand the sites, the scientists who excavated them, what they found, and the natural and cultural processes that they illuminate. The text is quite comprehensible on its own, and extensive chapter notes at the end of the book provide background, explanatory comment and citations of original references for the lay reader. Mithen presents and evaluates all of this evidence clearly, but what distinguishes this book is the way he tries to bring it to life for the lay reader.'Robert L. Bettinger, Nature

'Steven Mithen has written a magnificent account of archaeology worldwide, and…I am happy to hail the success of a great world archaeologist.'Andrew Selkirk, Current World Archaeology

'There is absolutely no doubt about the range and depth of scholarship that underpins After the Ice … Mithen deserves archaeologists' gratitude and admiration for taking on such a huge project and having the courage to try and tell it to the wider public in the way he has done.' Graeme Barker, British Archaeology

'The book is a masterly and exhaustive compendium … To this rich and complex history Mithen is an expert guide. …Through the medium of his perambulating ghost Mithen reanimates the past to reconstruct the daily life of vanished cultures.'Richard Fortey, London Review of Books

'Mithen's scope is worldwide … it deserves success commensurate with Lubbock's effortful travels through time.'Norman Hammond, Times Higher Educational Supplement

The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Body and Mind (2005)

'A genuine tour de force – unquestionably Mithen's best book to date'.

Robin Dunbar, British Archaeology

'Mithen knows a great deal and he writes well by the received standards of cognitive science … So his book is both edifying and a pleasure to read. If you're in the market for a summary of what's known (a little) and what's surmised (a lot) about the evolutionary history of our species, I'd be hard put to think of a better one to recommend. Also, and more to the point, the question to which the book wants to address itself is thoroughly fascinating to, as Mithen says, 'anyone who has an interest in the human condition'. Namely, 'Why should we be so compelled to make and listen to music?' And if all that's not enough, there's a theory of the origin of language (that again!) thrown in for free.'

Jerry Fodor, London Review of Books

'In his extraordinary new book The Singing Neanderthals Steven Mithen uses anecdotes and a panoply of forensic evidence from linguistics, palaeoanthropology, archaeology, psychology and neuroscience to present a new and controversial theory of the origins of language and music …grand in scope and bold in conception.' Adrian Woolfson, The Sunday Telegraph

'Mithen is anything but diffident in his arguments…his passion is the use of archaeology to construct narratives about the evolution of the human mind…his case is persuasive.' Marek Kohn, The Independent

'Rich, dispassionate study … indicating that music is essential not so much of civilization as of actual human survival' Norman Lebrecht, Evening Standard

'This is a long-overdue book, which approaches human evolution from an intriguing as well as entertaining angle' Times Literary Supplement

'A joy, packed with the latest research and intriguing new suggestions.'Richard Wentk, Focus

'The book is extremely well-written and Mithen's clear and infectious enthusiasm will make it a good introduction for non-specialists interested in the topic. I can recommend it to anyone interested in the biology and evolution of music' Techumseh Fitch, Nature

'This is a beguiling book, with enough documentation to satisfy the cynical linguist. Even if you are unconvinced by the argument, you will enjoy an up-to-date and original survey of human origins from one of archaeology's leading writers' Mike Pitts, The Sunday Times

'With a fascinating blend of neurology, anatomy, archaeology, developmental psychology and musicology Mithen seeks the source of our propensity for making music… Mithen makes a persuasive case that our ancestors got rhythm and beings to prehistory a sense of sound'. Blake Edgar, Scientific American