Early Steps in Human Progress by Harold J. Peake takes a macro look at the beginnings and early stages of development of material culture. Working chronologically from the use of stone tools to copper to bronze and so forth, Peake weaves a story about the development of humankind from gatherer to agriculturalist. He draws on the archeological discoveries of his time to piece together a logical narrative about who we are, what we do, and what we create.
As with much anthropological output from the 1930s, the text dips into the territory of phrenology on occasion, and is thus more likely to be of use to those with an interest in the history of science than to any cultural anthropologists practicing currently. That being said, the black and white plates which appear throughout the text are beautiful and varied and worth the occasional dubious conclusion about race science.
- Title: Early Steps in Human Progress
- Author: Harold J. Peake
- Publisher: B. Lippincott Company
- Place: Philadelphia
- Year: 1933
- Edition: First
- Length: 256pp
- Dimensions: 8vo; 6” x 8.75” x 1.75”
- Condition: Very good. Olive green cloth-covered boards have minimal edge wear and soiling. The spine is quite faded but legible and has a call number written at its base. Binding tight. Pages clean. No folds, tears, extraneous marks, or missing pages. A library stamp for the Blessed Sacrament Academy and inscription are in the front endpapers, and a library pocket sits on the back pastedown.