Do cannibals exist? Is there contemporary evidence for human sacrifice? What are vampires? This book charts the story of the human response to death from prehistory to the present day. At some moment in human history, our ancestors invented death. Retracing four million years, this book investigates the many ways that our descendents have come face to face and dealt with the idea of life. Many of these encounters have been passed down to us, accounts of sacrifices in early histories, rituals that have stood the test of time, bodies discovered in caves and bogs, and remains revealed by archeological digs. Through these insights into the past, Tim Taylor pieces together evidence of how our ancestors created their universe - both physical and mental - and, most importantly, the possibility of the afterlife. This book also looks at the way that we respond to - and deny - death today. From cinema images to packaged food, the treatment of corpses and the growing science of ageing, "viseral insulation" is all-pervasive and, in Taylor's opinion, dangerous. Combining history, archeology, philosophy, science and autobiography, this book is an exploration of the sepulchral world.

"I never would have thought that archaeology would be so interesting, so relevant to how we think today ... and so disturbing. In "The Buried Soul", Timothy Taylor tells a provocative and often grisly tale. This is a fascinating book, grippingly written, of considerable scope and ambition." Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, Yale University No archaeoogist who reads this book will ever be able to contemplate human remains with the same innocence as before, nor can any reader regard fellow humans with as much optimism. Taylor calls into question the adequacy of both the ecological rationalism and the cultural relativism that for decades have been the interpretational mainstays of archaeology...Taylor makes a major contribution to building a more comprehensive understanding of human beings. Bruce Trigger, Professor of Anthropology, McGill University Praise for THE PREHISTORY OF SEX: 'Taylor's book, in short, is a sort of Communist Manifesto for the new sexual revolution.' Evening Standard 'Taylor has written an illuminating and immensely entertaining account of one of the most fundamental aspects of humanity.' Mail on Sunday 'An intelligent, well-researched contribution to our understanding of past societies and, by extension,of how we view ourselves.' Scotland on Sunday

Timothy Taylor is a lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Bradford and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA). His previous book THE PREHISTORY OF SEX was high acclaimed in the UK, Europe and US. He has worked on numerous television projects including CANNIBAL (Channel 4).