SKU: 48227375275

The Invention of Prehistory : Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins

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The Invention of Prehistory : Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human OriginsBooks about the origins of humanity dominate best seller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. In this coruscating work, acclaimed historian Stefanos Geroulanos demonstrates how claims about the earliest humans not only shaped Western intellectual culture but gave rise to our modern world. The very idea that there was a

Books about the origins of humanity dominate best-seller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. In this coruscating work, acclaimed historian Stefanos Geroulanos demonstrates how claims about the earliest humans not only shaped Western intellectual culture but gave rise to our modern world. The very idea that there was a human past before recorded history only emerged with the Enlightenment, when European thinkers began to reject faith-based notions of humanity and history in favour of supposedly more empirical ideas about the world. From the "state of nature" and Romantic notions of virtuous German barbarians to theories about Neanderthals, killer apes and a matriarchal paradise where women ruled, Geroulanos captures the sheer variety and strangeness of the ideas that animated many of the major thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin and Karl Marx. Yet as Geroulanos shows, such ideas became, for the most part, the ideological foundations of repressive regimes and globe-spanning empires. Deeming other peoples "savages" allowed for guilt-free violence against them; notions of "killer apes" who were our evolutionary predecessors made war seem natural. The emergence of modern science only accelerated the West's imperialism. The Nazi obsession with race was rooted in archaeological claims about prehistoric IndoGermans; the idea that colonialised peoples could be "bombed back to the Stone Age" was made possible by the technology of flight and the anthropological idea that civilisation advanced in stages. As Geroulanos argues, accounts of prehistory tell us more about the moment when they are proposed than about the deep past-and if we hope to start improving our future, we would be better off setting aside the search for how it all started. A necessary, timely, indelible account of how the quest for understanding the origins of humanity became the handmaiden of war and empire, The Invention of Prehistory will forever change how we think about the deep past.

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SKU: 48227375275

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Dianna H
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
Not Scented, but Dog Approved
Size: 2-pack, Style: Duo
They don't smell like peanut butter or bacon. But our dogs still love them.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2025
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waragon
Omaha, US
★★★★★ 4
If they squeaked, they would be the perfect ball!
Size: 2-pack, Style: Duo
I bought our 15 month old Coton several Chuck-It toys on an Amazon deal. He is incredibly playful, mischievous, and ball/toy obsessed, especially for anything that makes noise. He can also be very destructive so I love how durable most of their products are - they’re among our longest lasting toys and worth every penny. We have yet to take them to the dog park, but they’re a perfect size for sharing in plat time. And they are keeping him busy at home - that’s a good thing. The scent is subtle but strong enough for him I guess because he loves gnawing on them. If they had squeakers, they would be absolutely perfect. Hopefully Chuck-It will see an opportunity for that down the road!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026
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Reepeat
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
Most durable fetch balls I know of.
Size: 2-pack, Style: Duo
These balls are the biggest balls of them all. Well, not the biggest, but the best. Every other ball she would chew up in short order and I'd be throwing her a floppy piece of rubber. She just wants to fetch, but if it's not bouncing, she can't catch it on the bounce. Got these balls in July and no damage to them. I just ordered another pair, but only because the other two somehow got stuck up in trees. We have some very old and very large oak trees so not so easy to retrieve. Hope they somehow drop someday. But in the meantime, Lassie will be happy with her new ones. Very highly recommended!
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Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2025
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Blonde Aggie
Boise, US
★★★★★ 5
Works great for scent work! Bounce is great for air retrieve!
Size: 2-pack, Style: Duo, Size: 2-pack, Style: Duo
My dog doesn’t know he loves them yet but I do! They are a little softer so when we do air retrieve, I don’t have to worry as much about his teeth! I’m hoping he will learn to find them by smell vs sight. We often play in the evenings and he tends to loose his ball. Love chuck it! Right now, we have about 10 chuck it balls! The tennis balls don’t work for air retrieve! Chuckit does!!! Love the thrower too! Saves my arm!!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2025
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None of your business
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 3
I guess the smell is offputting
Size: 2-pack, Style: Duo
My dog loves chocolate stuff. But for some reason, wasn’t a huge fan of these balls. She played with them a little bit, but they’re not her favorite.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2025

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