Penetrating the Darkness of Time is about cultural milestones and the origins of the use of materials by ancient humans that led to the world we live in today. The book is written for the general public. It is interdisciplinary, and covers a series of topics in readable language about the development of various technologies—stone, bone, ceramics, metallurgy, art—from prehistoric to modern times, and discusses the role of trade, travel, exploration, language, and genetics in spreading and improving upon these technologies throughout the world. The book also briefly addresses some of the problems we humans have created by being the only species in an ecological niche (intellectual) making decisions for the rest of the earth and its occupants.
Barbara A. Purdy is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and Curator Emerita in Archaeology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. She is the author of numerous books including Florida’s Prehistoric Stone Technology, How to Do Archaeology the Right Way, Indian Art of Ancient Florida, Florida’s People During the Last Ice Age, the Art and Archaeology of Florida’s Wetlands, West of the Papal Line, The Precise and True Story of Terra Florida, plus several edited volumes.