First published 2022
Graham Hancock investigates humanity's most puzzling transformation. Less than 50,000 years ago, humans possessed no art, religion, or complex symbols. Then suddenly, all the qualities we prize most appeared fully formed. Hancock calls this shift the greatest riddle in human history. His investigation leads him through painted caves in France, Spain, and Italy, then to remote rock shelters in South Africa's mountains. There he discovers Stone Age art depicting strange animal-human hybrids. The same mysterious beings appear in Amazon shamanic paintings. Hancock drinks ayahuasca with Indian shamans and explores how mescaline produces identical visions. Cutting-edge consciousness researchers now consider whether these hallucinations might reveal other dimensions. Hancock questions whether supernatural beings served as humanity's ancient teachers. He challenges Darwin's view of evolution as blind and meaningless, proposing instead a more purposeful process. This edition restores chapters missing from earlier releases and includes new material from the bestselling author of Fingerprints of the Gods.
Genres: archaeology, anthropology, evolution, non-fiction, ancient
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: ancient-mysteries, challenging-beliefs
Setting: France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Amazon
Period: Stone Age
642 pages · Kindle Edition · New Page Books