Deconstructing Prehumanity

An Enquiry into the Archaeological Creation of a Black Past

Jorge Serrano

• Publisher: University Press of America
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9780761863588
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: Social Sciences

Deconstructing Prehumanity is an investigation into the role of archaeological perception in the construction of race. It explores how social knowledge and disciplinary subjectivity have shaped our organization of the human past and how this organization and its lexicon have fueled racialism. The idea of an African prehuman hierarchy powers American race relations in a damaging way. Scientific physical distinctions used in ethnological studies quantified and qualified physical and "racial" differences among so-called African prehumans, all of which plague human social relations as they extend harmful ideas about peoples of African descent. This book delves into the evolution of terms and utilizes Africana studies to present the systematic reconstruction of a black past. By reviewing ethnological studies, nomenclature, and how such processes play a role in conceiving African origins, the multidisciplinary work supplies explanations about notions of African nature, culture, and race as prehuman. It explicates paleoanthropological categories and connects them to racialized inferences. Deconstructing Prehumanity is intended for readers looking to understand how perceptions about human origins add to racialization as it proffered a utilitarian past.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• List of Figures
• Preface
• Introduction
• The Cosmic Origin
• Primal Connectivity
• Black Diffusion
• Envisioning Prebeginnings
• Global Time
• My Dear Little “Negrillo” Looking Tree Shrew
• Anthropoidal Beginnings
• Ape-like to Human-like Taxonomy Ad infinitum
• The Perpetuity of Divisiveness
• Black Persistency
• Africanic Homodization
• Typologies and Black Prehumanity
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index