Early and Middle Pleistocene Hominid Behaviour in Northern China
Early and Middle Pleistocene Hominid Behaviour in Northern China

Author: S. G. Keates

Publisher: BAR International Series

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13:

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The fossil record of the Far East has been the focus of debate and confusion since the discovery of Javanese and Chinese specimen at the end of the 19th century. Both the paleontological and lithic record, as well as the sites from which these materials are recorded, are not well understood due to a variety of factors and depite their relevance for general issues in human evolution. Keates discussion offers a valuable historical and theoretical background of research relevant to hominid behaviour during the Early and Middle Pleistocene before introducing an examination from the Nihewan sites as well as Xiaochangliang and Dongguto assemblages. Keates focuses on both lithic and fossil materials. An up-to-date review of some of the most important localities (e.g. Zhoukoudian, Kehe, Gongwangling) is included. While Keates conclusions are perhaps inevitable - she calls for the integration and recording of a variety of data-sets including fauna and sediments, better quality of research and integration of it - the volume offers a detailed introduction to Far Eastern Pleistocene human evolution in addition to valuable primary reserach. Both are well presented and assessable in the context of her comprehensive review. Extending beyond the usual coverage of textbooks this volume is an essential introduction as well as research contribution to the field. 387p. 179 b/w illus (BAR 2000)

The Palaeolithic Settlement of Asia
The Palaeolithic Settlement of Asia

Author: Robin Dennell

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2008-12-15

Total Pages: 574

ISBN-13: 1316583074

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This book provides the first analysis and synthesis of the evidence of the earliest inhabitants of Asia before the appearance of modern humans 100,000 years ago. Asia has received far less attention than Africa and Europe in the search for human origins, but is no longer considered of marginal importance. Indeed, a global understanding of human origins cannot be properly understood without a detailed consideration of the largest continent. In this study, Robin Dennell examines a variety of sources, including the archaeological evidence, the fossil hominin record, and the environmental and climatic background from Southwest, Central, South, and Southeast Asia, as well as China. He presents an authoritative and comprehensive framework for investigations of Asia's oldest societies, challenges many long-standing assumptions about its earliest inhabitants, and places Asia centrally in the discussions of human evolution in the past two million years.

Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia
Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia

Author: Yousuke Kaifu

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2015-02-15

Total Pages: 1019

ISBN-13: 1623492777

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Despite the obvious geographic importance of eastern Asia in human migration, its discussion in the context of the emergence and dispersal of modern humans has been rare. Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia focuses long-overdue scholarly attention on this under-studied area of the world. Arising from a 2011 symposium sponsored by the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, this book gathers the work of archaeologists from the Pacific Rim of Asia, Australia, and North America, to address the relative lack of attention given to the emergence of modern human behavior as manifested in Asia during the worldwide dispersal from Africa.

Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions
Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions

Author: Marta Camps

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2009-09-01

Total Pages: 575

ISBN-13: 0387764879

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As the study of Palaeolithic technologies moves towards a more analytical approach, it is necessary to determine a consistent procedural framework. The contributions to this timely and comprehensive volume do just that. This volume incorporates a broad chronological and geographical range of Palaeolithic material from the Lower to Upper Palaeolithic. The focus of this volume is to provide an analysis of Palaeolithic technologies from a quantitative, empirical perspective. As new techniques, particularly quantitative methods, for analyzing Palaeolithic technologies gain popularity, this work provides case studies particularly showcasing these new techniques. Employing diverse case studies, and utilizing multivariate approaches, morphometrics, model-based approaches, phylogenetics, cultural transmission studies, and experimentation, this volume provides insights from international contributors at the forefront of recent methodological advances.

Out of Africa I
Out of Africa I

Author: John G Fleagle

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-08-20

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 9048190363

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For the first two thirds of our evolutionary history, we hominins were restricted to Africa. Dating from about two million years ago, hominin fossils first appear in Eurasia. This volume addresses many of the issues surrounding this initial hominin intercontinental dispersal. Why did hominins first leave Africa in the early Pleistocene and not earlier? What do we know about the adaptations of the hominins that dispersed - their diet, locomotor abilities, cultural abilities? Was there a single dispersal event or several? Was the hominin dispersal part of a broader faunal expansion of African mammals northward? What route or routes did dispersing populations take?

Early-Middle Pleistocene Transitions
Early-Middle Pleistocene Transitions

Author: Geological Society of London

Publisher: Geological Society of London

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9781862391819

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The Early-Middle Pleistocene transition (around 1.2 to 0.5 Ma) marks a profound shift in Earth's climate state. Low-amplitude 41 ka climate cycles, dominating the earlier part of the Pleistocene, gave way progressively to a 100 ka rhythm of increased amplitude that characterizes our present glacial-interglacial world. This volume assesses the biotic and physical response to this transition both on land and in the oceans: indeed it examines the very nature of Quaternary climate change. Milankovitch theory, palaeoceanography using isotopes and microfossils, marine organic geochemistry, tephrochronology, the record of loess and soil deposition, terrestrial vegetational change, and the migration and evolution of hominins as well as other large and small mammals, are all considered. These themes combine to explore the very origins of our present biota.

Current Research in Chinese Pleistocene Archaeology
Current Research in Chinese Pleistocene Archaeology

Author: Chen Shen

Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13:

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These twelve papers, taken from a symposium held by the Society for American Archaeology in Philadelphia in 2000, provide an overview of recent developments in our understanding of the Chinese Palaeolithic.

Early Human Behaviour in Global Context
Early Human Behaviour in Global Context

Author: Ravi Korisettar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-09-02

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 1134828551

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Early Human Behaviour in a Global Context will be of use to students and professionals who are interested in prehistory, Paleolithic archaeology, and paleoanthropology. Those interested in our ancestors and their place in the natural world will also benefit from the information presented in this book. Chapters focus on: * the nature of archaeological evidence * stone tool technology * subsistence practices * settlement distributions.

Understanding Climate's Influence on Human Evolution
Understanding Climate's Influence on Human Evolution

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-04-17

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0309148383

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The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species. Improved climate records for specific regions will be required before it is possible to evaluate how critical resources for hominins, especially water and vegetation, would have been distributed on the landscape during key intervals of hominin history. Existing records contain substantial temporal gaps. The book's initiatives are presented in two major research themes: first, determining the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal; and second, integrating climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative scientific drilling program in lakes, lake bed outcrops, and ocean basins surrounding the regions where hominins evolved and a major investment in climate modeling experiments for key time intervals and regions that are critical to understanding human evolution.