Cover: The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind, and Body, from Harvard University PressCover: The Singing Neanderthals in PAPERBACK

The Singing Neanderthals

The Origins of Music, Language, Mind, and Body

Product Details

PAPERBACK

$27.00 • £23.95 • €24.95

ISBN 9780674025592

Publication Date: 10/31/2007

* Academic Trade

384 pages

5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches

19 halftones

United States and its dependencies only

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  • Preface
    • 1. The Mystery of Music: The Need for an Evolutionary History of Music
  • Part One: The Present
    • 2. More than Cheesecake? The Similarities and Differences between Music and Language
    • 3. Music without Language: The Brain, Aphasia and Musical Savants
    • 4. Language without Music: Acquired and Congenital Amusia
    • 5. The Modularity of Music and Language: Music Processing within the Brain
    • 6. Talking and Singing to Baby: Brain Maturation, Language Learning and Perfect Pitch
    • 7. Music Hath Charms and Can Heal: Music, Emotion, Medicine and Intelligence
  • Part Two: The Past
    • 8. Grunts, Barks and Gestures: Communication by Monkeys and Apes
    • 9. Songs on the Savannah: The Origin of ‘Hmmmm’ Communication
    • 10. Getting into Rhythm: The Evolution of Bipedalism and Dance
    • 11. Imitating Nature: Communication about the Natural World
    • 12. Singing for Sex: Is Music a Product of Sexual Selection?
    • 13. The Demands of Parenthood: Human Life History and Emotional Development
    • 14. Making Music Together: The Significance of Cooperation and Social Bonding
    • 15. Neanderthals in Love: ‘Hmmmmm’ communication by Homo neanderthalensis
    • 16 The Origin of Language: The Origin of Homo sapiens and the Segmentation of ‘Hmmmmm’
    • 17. A Mystery Explained, but Not Diminished: Modern Human Dispersal, Communicating with the Gods, and the Remnants of ‘Hmmmmm’
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Picture Acknowledgements
  • Index

Awards & Accolades

  • A 2008 Granta Book of the Year
  • 2007 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, Concert Music Books Category, American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers

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