by Chip Colwell
University of Chicago Press, 2023
eISBN: 978-0-226-80156-8 | Cloth: 978-0-226-80142-1 | Paper: 978-0-226-83663-8
Library of Congress Classification GN406.C659 2023
Dewey Decimal Classification 306

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ABOUT THIS BOOK
How humans became so dependent on things and how this need has grown dangerously out of control.
 
Over three million years ago, our ancient ancestors realized that rocks could be broken into sharp-edged objects for slicing meat, making the first knives. This discovery resulted in a good meal and eventually changed the fate of our species and our planet.
 
With So Much Stuff, archaeologist Chip Colwell sets out to investigate why humankind went from self-sufficient primates to nonstop shoppers, from needing nothing to needing everything. Along the way, he uncovers spectacular and strange points around the world—an Italian cave with the world’s first known painted art, a Hong Kong skyscraper where a priestess channels the gods, and a mountain of trash that rivals the Statue of Liberty. Through these examples, Colwell shows how humanity took three leaps that led to stuff becoming inseparable from our lives, inspiring a love affair with things that may lead to our downfall. Now, as landfills brim and oceans drown in trash, Colwell issues a timely call to reevaluate our relationship with the things that both created and threaten to undo our overstuffed planet.
 

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