Adventures in the Bone Trade

By Jon Kalb,

Book cover of Adventures in the Bone Trade: The Race to Discover Human Ancestors in Ethiopia's Afar Depression

Book description

Over the past 25 years, a stream of fossil and artifact discoveries in the Afar Depression of Ethiopia has produced the longest single record of human ancestors in the world. Many of the fossils found in this region are the missing links leading to modern humans. This book chronicles the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Adventures in the Bone Trade as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Reading this book is like watching an adventure movie on a Sunday afternoon on the couch. But it’s not a movie; it actually happened. The late author, a recognized geologist, recounts his personal biography during the 1970s, exploring the Afar region of Ethiopia and searching for the earliest human ancestors.

The “plot” involves the US government, spy accusations, funny stories about personalities in the field, and one of the “game changers” in paleoanthropology: The discovery of “Lucy,” the skeleton of a tiny female of Australopithecus afarensis that lived more than 3 million years ago. Knowing some of the personalities mentioned…

Want books like Adventures in the Bone Trade?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Adventures in the Bone Trade.

Browse books like Adventures in the Bone Trade

Book cover of Hyperion
Book cover of Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Book cover of What's Next: Dispatches on the Future of Science

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in archaeology, social science, and paleontology?

Archaeology 129 books
Social Science 90 books
Paleontology 33 books