"Sounding the Depths" is an innovative enquiry into the origins and deep history of some of humankind's most venerable and highly valued traditions, suggesting "solutions to mysteries that, until recently, were thought to be completely beyond the reach of systematic investigation." Building on his many years of research on world music, the author draws on a wide range of anthropological, archaeological and biological evidence, with special emphasis on the revolutionary genetic research behind the widely discussed "Out of Africa" model of early human history. A major objective is to demonstrate that evidence distilled from the music of contemporary indigenous peoples can function as a kind of cultural "genome," roughly analogous to the biological genome currently being explored by geneticists. Indeed, it is the author's hope that his research may some day do for cultural history what population genetics is currently doing for our biological history; going, in both cases, all the way back to our beginnings in Africa.Written in a straightforward, non-academic style, this book should appeal to a wide range of readers, from anyone with an interest in world music, cultural evolution or early human history, to students and professionals in fields such as anthropology, archaeology, population genetics, ethnomusicology and pre-history.(NB: "Sounding the Depths" was originally released as a "Blog Book," and may be read, free of charge, at the following website: http://soundingthedepths.blogspot.com/.

The paperback for sale here is intended for readers, students, educators, etc., for whom a printed format would be more comfortable or appropriate. All figures and multimedia materials referenced in the printed version can be accessed via links available on the blog website. For details, see "Preface to the hard copy edition.").