Since the 1960s, spectacular advances made in the disciplines concerned with prehistory have led to a dramatic revision of our view of human evolution and the forces that have shaped the cultural foundations of modern humanity. It is now possible to make a reconstruction of the physical and behavioural characteristics that lay behind the social life of pre-human ancestors as much as two million years ago. This interdisciplinary book introduces the new evidence to a wider audience and argues that human evolution and human status are only intelligible through an interaction of biological and social factors. The significance and relevance of prehistory to the social sciences is a major theme of the book.