Prolegomenon to a history of paleoanthropology: The study of human origins as a scientific enterprise. Part 1. Antiquity to the eighteenth century

Interest in the history of paleoanthropology and the other disciplines related to human origins studies has grown considerably over the last several decades. Some very informative historical surveys have been written by prominent scientists reflecting on the major developments in their fields. Some well‐known early examples include Glyn Daniel's The Idea of Prehistory (1962) and The Origins and Growth of Archaeology (1967), which focus primarily on the history of archaeology, Kenneth Oakley's “The problem of man's antiquity: an historical survey” published in the Bulletin of the British Museum ( Natural History ) [Geology] (1964), and L. S. B. Leakey's Unveiling Man's Origins; Ten Decades of Thought about Human Evolution (1969), with the latter two focusing on the contributions of geology, paleontology, and biology to the problem of human evolution.