ABSTRACT
The performance of palaeoanthropology and Pleistocene archaeology as academic disciplines is examined by considering their history from the early or mid-nineteenth century to the present time. This analysis suggests that, rather than influencing the public’s perception of the human past, these fields instead tend to reflect and amplify public and sometimes political opinion. An investigation of the roles of the popular science industry, of the leading ‘luxury’ journals and of the academic cliques these have spawned explains not only the interplay of these factors but also the frequent lack of authenticity in the disciplines concerned with early human history. The incommensurabilities between many of the models they have produced and more realistic paradigms are both explored and explained. This chapter creates in the reader anticipation that veracity of explanations would be achievable in Pleistocene archaeology and palaeoanthropology if only the forces goading these quests were identified. The main aim of this volume is to show that such credibility is achievable through a holistic approach.
