Built on Bones
15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death
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Built on Bones
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Narrated by:
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Laurence Bouvard
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By:
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Brenna Hassett
About this listen
The city has killed most of your ancestors, and it's probably killing you, too - this book tells you why.
Imagine you are a hunter-gatherer some 12,000 years ago. You've got a choice - carry on foraging or plant a few seeds and move to one of those new-fangled settlements down the valley. What you won't know is that urban life is short and riddled with dozens of new diseases; your children will be shorter and sicklier than you are; they'll be plagued with gum disease and stand a decent chance of violent death at the point of a spear. Why would anyone choose this?
But choose they did. Why? This is one of the many intriguing questions tackled by Brenna Hassett in Built on Bones. Based on research on skeletal remains from around the world, this book explores the history of humanity's experiment with the metropolis and looks at why our ancestors chose city life and, by and large, have stuck to it. It explains the diseases, the deaths and the many other misadventures that we have unwittingly unleashed upon ourselves throughout the metropolitan past and, as the world becomes increasingly urbanised, what we can look forward to in the future.
Built on Bones offers accessible insight into a critical but relatively unheralded aspect of the human story: our recent evolution. It tells the story of shifts in human longevity, growth and health that have occurred as we transitioned from a mobile to a largely settled species. Beginning with the very earliest experiments in settling down, the narrative moves slowly forward in time, with each chapter discussing a new element of humanity's great urban experiment.
©2017 Brenna Hassett (P)2017 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Built on Bones
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rebecca
- 29-11-17
nice idea terrible performance.
So nasal and sarcastic. Why? Otherwise an interesting insight to what bioarchaeology has to offer us. Warning - does grind a feminist agenda over archaic gender roles. Does she actually laugh at a female hominid struggling with several children? Also, a tiny error but one that makes me feel superior - malaria-causing plasmodium microbes are not bacteria, they are protoctistan. Tut tut.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 28-07-17
A fascinating account
Beautifully read (for once the reader has researched the pronunciation of foreign words). But a scholarly work completely spoilt (for me) by irritating, weak, humourous asides throughout.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- C. A. Mealing
- 08-05-17
Fascinating!
This is a fascinating topic, described in a humorous and down to earth way whilst still having substance. If you can get past the slightly odd phrasing and occasional mispronunciation by the narrator, you will enjoy it.
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21 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Kunde
- 24-01-18
Fascinating
Great story read by a great narrator with a pleasant voice. Many insights into city life that one wouldn't know or has heard of which are finally explained.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sue
- 28-08-17
Incredibly dense, but well written and witty
First of all, hats off to the author Brenna Hassett for creating such an accessible book for such a complex subject. Secondly, I applaud her writing, the tone is sarcastic and witty, unlike a dry scientific journal. It is an absolutely fascinating look into the affects of urbanisation over the past 15,000 years, ingrained into the bones discovered from various archaeological sites.
From the spread of disease and conflict, to social practices and customs, there's more to skeletal remains than meets the eye. She also reveals the depth of inequality, through the health of slaves, women and children, as well as those poverty stricken, who carry ill health for generations. It is detailed and extensive, so you'll need to concentrate. A great listen.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AReader
- 28-10-17
Very interesting
AS other reviewers have indicated, this is a fascinating topic of scientific interest presented in a slightly humorous tone. Personally I didn't mind the asides at all and didn't have a problem with the narrator's voice as some did. It might be worth listening to the sample in case the voice just isn't for you.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- David Burden
- 17-09-17
Interesting but a bit repetitive
The idea is good and the earlier subject matter is strong. However it was a bit like a documentary on American TV where every concept is repeated three or four times so you don't miss it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Vikki Gaynor
- 06-08-17
Technically spoke.. brilliantly read
A great book .. with lots of facts and figures. however even with this dry subject it was made fun by the narrator
a great book on history and how ppl lived
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- LC
- 06-09-18
Had to stop listening
It's rare that I give up on a book, but this one has terrible narration, poor prose and very sparse on interesting content.
It is very "dumbed down", to the extend of not giving any real substance, and being quite annoying. It also wastes time trying to be funny, at which it always fails.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Shaun Fletcher
- 11-12-17
Book maybe okay underneath
I somehow managed to endure the whole of this book, which wasn't a pleasant experience - The problem is not with the book itself per se, apart from the continuous needless and unfunny jokes, there is some interesting content in there - but it's the narrator, although technically proficient, she has undoubtedly the most irritating voice I have ever heard. It was as so she was scraping away underneath my skin with sandpaper, for about 15 hours!
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