The development of complex cultural behaviour in our own species is perhaps the most significant research issue in modern archaeology. Until recently, it was believed that our capacity for language and art only developed after some of our ancestors reached Europe around 40,000 years ago. Archaeological discoveries in Africa now show that modern humans were practicing symbolic behaviours prior to their dispersal from that continent, and more recent discoveries in Indonesia and Australia are...

Socio-Anthropological Approaches to Religion: Environmental Hope interprets the fundamental functions of spirituality through the theories and practices of hope and understanding the futuristic aspiration of new religious movements. The book portrays a neutral notion of hope that can be either religious or humanistic in the face of the suffering or despair of present reality. The concept of hope (or hopelessness) is demonstrated in each chapter under the global circumstance of health risk....

Battered and broken, that's what I am.Kept locked away for over a year, abused and dying inside, I'm nothing but a shattered omega trinket. The only bright spots in my days were when the Ghost came around, offering me the smallest bits of kindness and showing me that not everyone is as terrible as the monster who kept me locked up.When a fiery omega with more heart than I've ever seen rescues me, saving my life, I feel more off-kilter than ever. Her family ...

In the middle of the Atlantic, a doorway opens. Through this doorway is an island only explored by those still trapped here.Thirteen-year-old Annabelle Cross can't explain where the island came from. She does know it’s the only haven after her boat is destroyed. She isn’t alone here. Imprisoned children show her how to overcome the island's unusual trials and the sinister creatures determined at capturing them.Nothing here is what it seems. There are mysterious lights at th...