Conceptual Issues in Modern Human Origins Research
Conceptual Issues in Modern Human Origins Research

Author: Geoffrey A. Clark

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published:

Total Pages: 532

ISBN-13: 9780202365022

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While those who study human origins now agree that the evolution of modern human form extends back much further in time than the evolution of modern human behavior, they disagree sharply as to how to interpret the substantive data. Two fundamentally incommensurate interpretations of our origins, the "Replacement" camp and the "Continuity" camp, have now emerged out of pre-existing models and theories that go back to the last quarter of the 19th century. This book contends that these positions are based on radically different biases and assumptions about what the remote human past was like. The purpose of this volume is to examine those conceptual differences, not to arrive at a consensus, but rather to explore the reasons why a consensus might never be possible.

The Archaeology of Iberia
The Archaeology of Iberia

Author: Margarita Diaz-Andreu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-02

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1317799070

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For many archaeologists, Iberia is the last great unknown region in Europe. Although it occupies a crucial position between South-Western Europe and North Africa, academic attention has traditionally been focused on areas like Greece or Italy. However Iberia has an equally rich cultural heritage and archaeological tradition. This ground-breaking volume presents a sample of the ways in which archaeologists have applied theoretical frameworks to the interpretation of archaeological evidence, offering new insights into the archaeology of both Iberia and Europe from prehistoric time through to the tenth century. The contributors to this book are leading archaeologists drawn from both countries. They offer innovative and challenging models for the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Copper Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Early Medieval and Islamic periods. A diverse range of subjects are covered including urban transformation, the Iron Age peoples of Spain, observations on historiography and the origins of the Arab domains of Al-Andalus. It is essential reading for advanced undergraduates and those researching the archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula.

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.

Human Evolution
Human Evolution

Author: Camilo J. Cela-Conde

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2007-09-27

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 0198567804

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This book is intended as a comprehensive overview of hominid evolution, synthesising data and approaches from physical anthropology, genetics, archaeology, psychology and philosophy. Human evolution courses are now widespread and this book has the potential to satisfy the requirements of most, particularly at the advanced undergraduate and graduate level. It is based on a translation, albeit with substantial modification, of a successful Spanish language book.

Estudio Comprensivo del Origen de la Humanidad
Estudio Comprensivo del Origen de la Humanidad

Author: Ryanne Maxine Meyersohn

Publisher: Rosa Amelia Figueroa Nieves

Published: 2023-05-28

Total Pages: 1085

ISBN-13:

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‘PREMIOS’ ‘Medalla de Plata – Concurso de Libros Favoritos de los Lectores Internacionales y Reseñas de 5 Estrellas’ ‘Premio de Oro al Libro Literario Titan y Reseñas de 5 Estrellas’ ‘Bestseller en Amazon – #1 Historia de Oriente Medio y #2 Historia de Civilizaciones Antiguas’ Los dioses Anunnaki del planeta Nibiru llevaron a cabo una misión en la Tierra, y la historia fue documentada en tabletas de arcilla o textos mesopotámicos descubiertos en las ruinas de edificios en Oriente Medio. Los académicos han propuesto que algunas historias del Génesis ya habían aparecido en textos Mesopotámicos hace miles de años. Esta propuesta nos motivó a evaluar los textos más relevantes. Aunque la mayoría de los académicos creen que los textos mesopotámicos son mitología, la investigación se realizó bajo la premisa de que su contenido corresponde a hechos reales. El análisis de las traducciones académicas de los textos reveló que muchos detalles críticos para comprender la historia no han sido revelados. Un análisis exhaustivo de los datos determinó las fechas más probables de los hechos. El libro presenta los acontecimientos relacionados con la llegada de los Anunnaki a la Tierra y las consecuencias de su misión de manera cronológica según los hallazgos en textos Mesopotámicos y libros antiguos. Diversas fuentes, entre ellas libros apócrifos, informes de historiadores antiguos, investigaciones científicas y registros arqueológicos, complementaron la investigación. Se descifraron muchos enigmas, entre ellos quiénes eran los Anunnaki y los Igigi (vigilantes, Nephilim). ¿Por qué, cuándo y cómo se originó el H. sapiens, cómo surgieron las otras especies y por qué se extinguieron? ¿Por qué y cuándo llegaron los Anunnaki y finalmente abandonaron la Tierra? ¿Cuándo regresará el planeta Nibiru a nuestra zona en el sistema solar interior? Los resultados y hallazgos de esta investigación merecen ser conocidos debido a la probabilidad de que las historias de los textos Mesopotámicos realmente sucedieran. Las propuestas del libro difieren de lo que hemos aprendido en las instituciones educativas sobre el origen de la humanidad e invitan al pensamiento crítico para reflexionar sobre la historia de los dioses Anunnaki. Los lectores entusiastas de la temática extraterrestre encontrarán propuestas innovadoras.

Origins and Revolutions
Origins and Revolutions

Author: Clive Gamble

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-03-26

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1139462490

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In this study Clive Gamble presents and questions two of the most famous descriptions of change in prehistory. The first is the 'human revolution', when evidence for art, music, religion and language first appears. The second is the economic and social revolution of the Neolithic period. Gamble identifies the historical agendas behind 'origins research' and presents a bold alternative to these established frameworks, relating the study of change to the material basis of human identity. He examines, through artefact proxies, how changing identities can be understood using embodied material metaphors and in two major case-studies charts the prehistory of innovations, asking, did agriculture really change the social world? This is an important and challenging book that will be essential reading for every student and scholar of prehistory.

Earliest Italy
Earliest Italy

Author: Margherita Mussi

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-04-11

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 0306471957

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This book aims to synthesize more than 600,000 years of Italian prehistory, beginning with the Lower Paleolithic and ending with the last hunter-gatherers of the early Holocene. The author treats such issues as the development of social structure, the rise and fall of specific cultural traditions, climatic change, modifications of the landscape, fauna and flora, and environmental adaptation and exploitation and includes detailed descriptions of the most important sites.

Tools versus Cores
Tools versus Cores

Author: Shannon P. McPherron

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2009-05-27

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1443811459

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The papers in this volume address an incredibly basic question in stone tool studies, namely whether a particular lithic artifact should be classified as a tool, thus implying that at some time in the past it was used directly to perform activities, or whether it should instead be classified as a core, meaning that its purpose was to produce flakes some of which were then made into tools. This question is so basic that it would seem archaeologists should have solved it by now, and in most instances this is the case. This volume, however, looks at some of the remaining problem cases in part to find out if they can be solved, but mainly because the really difficult cases raise the more challenging and interesting methodological issues, which can in turn lead us to question and overhaul long-held assumptions and long-used approaches to the study of stone tools. This is, in fact, what happens in this volume with papers that discuss assemblages from Lower/Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe and southwest Asia to more recent Holocene sites in the New World and Australia. In some instances the very idea of classifying these artifacts as one or the other is entirely discarded; in other instances, it is assumed they fit in both categories, and the behavioral implications are assessed. The end result in each case is a richer understanding of the past less encumbered by categories archaeologists bring to the study.

The Neanderthal Legacy
The Neanderthal Legacy

Author: Paul A. Mellars

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 0691167982

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The Neanderthals populated western Europe from nearly 250,000 to 30,000 years ago when they disappeared from the archaeological record. In turn, populations of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens, came to dominate the area. Seeking to understand the nature of this replacement, which has become a hotly debated issue, Paul Mellars brings together an unprecedented amount of information on the behavior of Neanderthals. His comprehensive overview ranges from the evidence of tool manufacture and related patterns of lithic technology, through the issues of subsistence and settlement patterns, to the more controversial evidence for social organization, cognition, and intelligence. Mellars argues that previous attempts to characterize Neanderthal behavior as either "modern" or "ape-like" are both overstatements. We can better comprehend the replacement of Neanderthals, he maintains, by concentrating on the social and demographic structure of Neanderthal populations and on their specific adaptations to the harsh ecological conditions of the last glaciation. Mellars's approach to these issues is grounded firmly in his archaeological evidence. He illustrates the implications of these findings by drawing from the methods of comparative socioecology, primate studies, and Pleistocene paleoecology. The book provides a detailed review of the climatic and environmental background to Neanderthal occupation in Europe, and of the currently topical issues of the behavioral and biological transition from Neanderthal to fully "modern" populations.

Risky Transactions
Risky Transactions

Author: Frank K. Salter

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2002-07

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1571813195

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Trust is a central feature of relationships within the Mafia, oppressed minorities, kin groups everywhere, among dissidents, nationalist freedom fighters, ethnic tourists, ethnic middlemen, exchange networks of Kalahari Bushmen, and families subjected to Stalinist social control. Each of these types of trust is examined by a leading scholar and compared with the expectations of neo-Darwinian theory, in particular the theories of kin selection and ethnic nepotism. The result is a fascinating, theoretically focused yet empirically eclectic contribution to the overlapping fields of human ethnology, evolutionary psychology, and bio-politics. The common thread uniting these diverse phenomena is a trusting relationship predicated on altruism. Chapters examine the strengths and limits of human trust under various stressers and temptations to defect. By exploring the relationship between kin and ethnic altruism and showing its sensitivity to culture, Risky Transactions recasts the evolutionary approach to ethnicity as a blend of primordial and instrumental factors.