Hominid Origins: Inquiries Past and Present

Pp. xxxiv, 238; some illustrations (line-drawings).  Original white stiff wrappers, lettered in blue and red on the spine and front cover, 8vo.  This is the first book of Kathleen J. Reichs, an American crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic.  She is one of 100 anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.  She went on to write 20 books of fiction based on real life forensic science.  Reichs was also a producer for the TV series “Bones”, which is loosely based on her novels, which in turn, are inspired by her life (from her Wikipedia entry).  This book is based on a symposium at Northern Illinois University in 1976. The chapters of “Hominid Origins” include: Introduction by Kathleen Reichs; 1) A Short History of the Discovery and Early Study of the Australopithecines: The First Find to the Death of Robert Broom (1924-1951) by Charles A Reed; 2) Turning Points in Hominid Studies by Becky A. Sigmon; 3) Sediment Matrices of the South African Australopithecines: A Review by Karl Butzer; 4) Australopithecines: The Unwanted Ancestor by Milford Wolpoff; 5) The Kohl-Larsen Eyasi and Garusi Hominid Finds in Tanzania and Their Relation to Homo erectus by R.R.R. Protsch; 6) The Structure of Anatomical Fragments, and Their Combination: A Problem Underlying the Assessment of the Australopithecines by Charles Oxnard; 7) A Behavioral Reconstruction of Australopithecus by Adrienne Zihlman.