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Robert Ardrey





PERSONAL

Ardrey attended the University Of Chicago and was married to Helene Johnson from 1938 until they divorced in 1960 . He married his second wife Berdine Grunewald in the same year.


ANTHROPOLOGY

By his own account, Robert Ardrey was not a professional anthropologist or scientist of any kind. His background is in drama. In the '' African Genesis '', the book which earned him most of his fame, he makes it clear that his intention is to use his narrative talent on some of his favorite scientific ideas.

In the academic setting, this theory of aggression was proposed by Washburn And Lancaster , and refuted by Sally Slocum . Ardrey's ''African Genesis'' (1961), along with another book, '' On Aggression '' by Ethologist Konrad Lorenz , were popularizations of the ideas put forth by Washburn and Lancaster.

The textbook ''Anthropological Theory'' by R. Jon McGee and Richard Warms cautions:

It is interesting to note that most of the primate ethology of the 1960s, particularly that on which Ardrey's popular works were based, was fundamentally flawed. It was derived largely from the work of Sir Solly Zuckerman (1904-1993) and Raymond Dart (1893-1988). Zuckerman drew his conclusions from watching an artificially assembled colony of hamadryas baboons in the London zoo in the 1920s....Dart, an anatomy professor and fossil hunter, on the basis of minimal evidence, proposed that early homonids had a murderous culture based on bone and wooden weaponry.


Ardrey was among the most vocal proponents of the Hunting Hypothesis and the Killer Ape Theory . Ardrey identifies himself especially with the South African writer and scientist, Eugene Marais .

According to the hunting hypothesis, Hunting activity and the eating of Meat had strong effects on Human Evolution . Ardrey believed that early African humans survived long dry periods through heavy hunting activity which distinguished them from other Primate s.

The killer ape theory posits that aggression was the primary characteristic that distinguished human ancestors from other Primate s and that the urge to do violence is retained in modern humans.


BIBLIOGRAPHY



PLAYS AND SCREENPLAYS

Ardrey was also a successful playwright and screenwriter, and was nominated for an Academy Award for '' Khartoum '' in 1966 .


Plays



Screenplays



PRIZES AND AWARDS



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