Arsuaga, Juan Luis 1959- (Juan Luis de Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis de Arsuaga)

PERSONAL:

Born 1959, in Madrid, Spain. Education: Obtained degree.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain; fax: +34-91-387-7548. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Paleontologist and writer. University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, professor of paleontology, team member of Sierra de Atapuerca dig, 1982-91, codirector, 1991—; Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, professor of paleontology. Visiting professor, University College of London.

MEMBER:

International Association for the Study of Human Paleontology, National Academy of Sciences.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Principe de Asturias prize (with José María Bermúdez and Eudald Carbonell), Spanish government, 1997; Castilla y León de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, 1997.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with José María Bermúdez and Eudald Carbonell) Evolución Humana en Europa y los Yacimientos de la Sierra de Atapuerca: Actas: Jornadas Científicas, Castillo de la Mota, Medina del Campo, Valladolid, 1992 (title means "Human Evolution in Europe and the Atapuerca Evidence: Workshop"), Consejería de Cultura y Turismo (Valladolid, Spain), 1995.

(With Ignacio Martínez) La Especie Elegida: La Larga Marcha de la Evolución Humana, illustrated by Mauricio Antón, Temas de Hoy (Madrid, Spain), 1998, translated by Rachel Gomme as The Chosen Species: The Long March of Human Evolution, Blackwell (Malden, MA), 2006.

El Collar del Neandertal: En Busca de los Primeros Pensadores, illustrated by Juan Carlos Sastre, Temas de Hoy (Madrid, Spain), 1999, translated by Andy Klatt as The Neanderthal's Necklace: In Search of the First Thinkers, Four Walls Eight Windows (New York, NY), 2002.

(With others) La Memoria de la Tierra: Yacimientos que Cambiaron la Historia, Fundación Marcelino Botín (Santander, Spain), 2002.

(With Milagros Algaba and Alfonso Esquivel) El Mundo de Atapuerca, Plaza & Janés Editores (Barcelona, Spain), 2004.

(With Ignacio Martínez) Green Fire: The Life Force, from the Atom to the Mind, translated by Michael B. Miller, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Al Otro Lado de la Niebla: Las Aventuras de un Hombre en la Edad de Piedra (novel), Suma de Letras (Madrid, Spain), 2005.

Contributor to The First Europeans: Treasures from the Hills of Atapuerca, Junta de Castilla y León (Valladolid, Spain), 2003. Contributor to periodicals, including American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Science, and Nature. Associate editor, Journal of Human Evolution.

SIDELIGHTS:

Juan Luis Arsuaga is a Spanish paleontologist and writer. He is a professor of paleontology in Madrid but remains quite active in the field as well. In 1982 he began working at the Sierra de Atapuerca archaeological excavation site and in 1991 became its codirector. The site in central Spain holds fossils and remains of prehistoric flora and fauna, including three different types of hominoids. Arsuaga's work has garnered awards from the Spanish government, including the Principe de Asturias prize.

Arsuaga has published books on various topics within the field of paleontology and even a novel, Al Otro Lado de la Niebla: Las Aventuras de un Hombre en la Edad de Piedra, in 2005. The publication that received the most acclaim was his El Collar del Neandertal: En Busca de los Primeros Pensadores, later translated into English by Andy Klatt and republished as The Neanderthal's Necklace: In Search of the First Thinkers. The book discusses Neanderthals as beings capable of constructing language and culture, a theory once thought impossible. Through examining material remains, including a necklace found at the Atapuerca site, Arsuaga recreates Neanderthal life. Glorida Maxwell, writing in Library Journal, called The Neanderthal's Necklace "a provocative book for scholars and people with an interest in human origins." In a Popular Science review, Ofer Bar-Yosef wrote that the book is "not an entirely easy read," but thought that the author's "anecdotes and lucid writing provide a very engaging account of human evolution." Michael S. Bisson, concluding a review in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, noted that despite "some flaws," the book "is a very good and up-to-date introduction to the evolution of consciousness."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Insight on the News, September 17, 2001, Jennifer Harper, "Syllabic Skulduggery," p. 28.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, September, 2004, Michael S. Bisson, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace: In Search of the First Thinkers, p. 710.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2002, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace, p. 1186.

Library Journal, November 15, 2002, Gloria Maxwell, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace, p. 79.

New Scientist, January 11, 2003, Douglas Palmer, "Butchery and Needlework: Douglas Palmer Takes a Look at Those Misunderstood Meat Eaters, the Neanderthals, and Why They Disappeared," p. 46.

Popular Science, January 1, 2003, Ofer Bar-Yosef, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace, p. 86.

Publishers Weekly, November 11, 2002, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace, p. 51.

Science News, February 15, 2003, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace, p. 111.

SciTech Book News, June, 2006, review of The Chosen Species: The Long March of Human Evolution.

ONLINE

Danny Yee's Book Reviews,http://www.dannyreviews.com/ (November 6, 2002), Danny Yee, review of The Neanderthal's Necklace.

Freelance Spain,http://www.spainview.com/ (October 8, 2004), author profile.

University of Madrid Web site,http://www.ucm.es/ (October 8, 2004), author profile.