The Lawrence Jacobsen Library
Books Received (Primate-Science/PrimateLit)

AMONG ORANGUTANS: RED APES AND THE RISE OF HUMAN CULTURE

By: Carel Van Schaik
Photographs by: Perry Van Duijnhoven
(Description taken from Harvard University Press Publicity Release)
In 1993 Carel Van Schaik, one of the world's leading experts on orangutans,
journeyed to the Lembang river in Sumatra to find the red ape. After a year
of searching in the coastal swamp, Van Schaik and his colleagues were
exhausted and discouraged. Tired of counting orangutan nests and coming up
short of seeing the apes, the group held an important meeting and then
decided to head back into the forest's sweltering heat. Once there, they
continued to battle the elements: heat, mud, muck, and mosquitoes. Finally
the forest gave way to peat swamp and Van Schaik and his sweaty crew
stumbled upon a forest that was rather open and not too tall. Here,
according to their nest counts, orangutan density was off the chart, with
over ten individual apes per square kilometer. At last they found
themselves in "orangutan heaven."
Van Schaik's discovery and its significance comes vividly to life AMONG
ORANGUTANS: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture, a first-hand account of
his field research. Written in collaboration with a professional nature
photographer, AMONG ORANGUTANS tells the story of the orangutans that
emerged out of this Sumatran swamp. Part adventure, part field research
journal, and part call to conscience, Van Schaik's book provides true
insight into the day-to-day struggles of field research. It will change not
only how we view the orangutan itself, but also how we view ourselves in
relation to our closest ape relatives.
While the chimpanzee story has been told, orangutans have never been on
center-stage because they are out in Asia and not part of the main, African
family line. Moreover, they are hard to find and easy to lose once found.
Orangutans were not considered social in the wildÔø‡Ôø‡as opposed to those in
captivity, which are every bit as social if not more so than chimpanzees.
Van Schaik discovers that these Sumatran orangutans were extremely social
and were proficient at using a variety of tools (he observes them making
rain hats during storms or finding shelter). In fact, Van Schaik finds the
red apes to be so adept at making and using tools that he comes to think of
them as Asian chimpanzees.
In AMONG ORANGUTANS Van Schaik sheds light on human evolution: why the
great apes did not become more like us and why humans became great ape
species that developed and built life around culture, communicating with
symbols, a moral code, and other complex institutions. In addition, Van
Schaik's book documents the dangers inherent to field research. While the
elements are challenging in and of themselves, the author and his
colleagues often found themselves in a politically unstable environment
filled with guerilla warfare and threats to the observation area. The
tragic human and environmental tollÔø‡Ôø‡and lossÔø‡Ôø‡is chronicled in Van Schaik's
tale, a beautiful and unforgettable six-year odyssey of discovery.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (taken from book jacket)
Carel Van Schaik is Professor and Director of the Anthropological Institute
and Museum, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER (taken from book jacket)
Perry Van Duijnhoven is a Dutch artist and photographer.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface                                                             ix
1 The Orangutan Paradox                                   1
2 Planet of the Apes                                         7
3 Homo Sylvestris                                            17
4 Orangutan Heaven                                         35
5 Arbo-Reality                                                  51
6 Party On (And Off)                                        69
7 Life in Slow Motion                                       97
8 The Dawn of Technology                               115
9 The Culture Club                                           137
10 Triangulating Human Nature                         167
Epilogue: Living on Borrowed Time                   195
Notes                                                               225
References                                                       231
Index                                                                241
HOW TO ORDER
Harvard University Press
79 Garden Street
Cambridge MA 02138
ISBN 0-674-01577-0 Hardcover
152 Color Illustrations and 17 Maps and Charts
$29.95
Harvard University Press Website:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/
Link to online catalog entry:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/VANAMO.html
Posted Date: 11/12/04