From the jacket flap:
This book contains the oldest Carbon 14 date for human habitation found anywhere by scientists at the time of publication.
It also tells, in human and personal terms, of the dramatic adventures in strange places leading to this crowning achievement.
Thanks to Carbon-14 and other post-war scientific marvels, digging into the prehistoric debris of ancient caves has become an exciting profession; and Carleton S. Coon is unquestionably its foremost practitioner.
From the time of the discover of fire until about 7,000 years ago, man lived primarily in caves. Dr. Coon tells us how he learned to predict the location of these ancient caves, how he excavated them, and what he found. He reveals himself as an adroit story-teller recounting tales of high adventure and personal exploits in remote corners of the world.
He writes for the layman in the easy style made famous in his previous book, The Story of Man. Nevertheless, The Seven Caves contains sensational hypotheses and tentative conclusions about the origins of European culture not yet published in any scientific journal. In itself it is a long leap forward in the ever fascinating science of man.
It is the story of the hunt for seven caves scattered across the globe from Tangier to Afghanistan. Coon takes the reader along on these often arduous, sometimes exasperating, and always exciting expeditions. There are few moments in fiction as dramatic as the triumphant moment of a great archaeological “find”.
