John Gurche

I have always been fascinated by the evolution of man. I read anything I come across about Lucy, the tiny Australopithecus afarensis woman, thought to be about 3 million years old. Of course, she is just one, although probably the best known, of the many discoveries of early hominids both before and since her discovery back in the 1970s, some even older than Lucy. But most of these discoveries have consisted of a few bones, maybe some teeth. A complete skeleton has been a rarity so how do we know what these early hominids looked like? What differentiated them from other apes or from each other? What made them first venture out of the tree tops and what happened over the millions of years to make them, well, us?

In his book, Shaping Humanity, paleoartist John Gurche answers these and other questions for us in easily accessible language and with dozens of multi-coloured illustrations. He explains how he is able to reconstruct early hominids from these bits of bones using his forensic knowledge, his understanding of anatomy and not a small amount of imagination. This book is beautifully illustrated with examples of his work, often from beginning to end showing the painstaking work required to accurately reproduce these long extinct faces and physiques from tiny shards as well as with easily understandable explanations of how he works his magic. But his sculptures are not just simply portraits of our early ancestors; he takes into account the geography in which they are found and any tools, bones, shells, etc. found on or near these shards to give us a glimpse at what their lives may have been like.

I won’t say this is an easy read but it is certainly an interesting one. I give it a high recommendation for anyone interested in man’s long journey from our first tentative steps out of the jungle, especially for those like me, with the interest but without the scientific background, to follow in their footsteps.… (altro)