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.


Modern Humans

Modern Humans

Author: John F. Hoffecker

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2017-10-31

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 0231543743

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Modern Humans is a vivid account of the most recent—and perhaps the most important—phase of human evolution: the appearance of anatomically modern people (Homo sapiens) in Africa less than half a million years ago and their later spread throughout the world. Leaving no stone unturned, John F. Hoffecker demonstrates that Homo sapiens represents a “major transition” in the evolution of living systems in terms of fundamental changes in the role of non-genetic information. Modern Humans synthesizes recent findings from genetics (including the rapidly growing body of ancient DNA), the human fossil record, and archaeology relating to the African origin and global dispersal of anatomically modern people. Hoffecker places humans in the broad context of the evolution of life, emphasizing the critical role of genetic and non-genetic forms of information in living systems as well as how changes in the storage, transmission, and translation of information underlie major transitions in evolution. He also draws on information and complexity theory to explain the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa several hundred thousand years ago and the rapid and unprecedented spread of our species into a variety of environments in Australia and Eurasia, including the Arctic and Beringia, beginning between 75,000 and 60,000 years ago. This magisterial work will appeal to all with an interest in the ever-fascinating field of human evolution.


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.


Ancestral DNA, Human Origins, and Migrations

Ancestral DNA, Human Origins, and Migrations

Author: Rene J. Herrera

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2018-06-13

Total Pages: 590

ISBN-13: 0128041285

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Ancestral DNA, Human Origins, and Migrations describes the genesis of humans in Africa and the subsequent story of how our species migrated to every corner of the globe. Different phases of this journey are presented in an integrative format with information from a number of disciplines, including population genetics, evolution, anthropology, archaeology, climatology, linguistics, art, music, folklore and history. This unique approach weaves a story that has synergistic impact in the clarity and level of understanding that will appeal to those researching, studying, and interested in population genetics, evolutionary biology, human migrations, and the beginnings of our species. - Integrates research and information from the fields of genetics, evolution, anthropology, archaeology, climatology, linguistics, art, music, folklore and history, among others - Presents the content in an entertaining and synergistic style to facilitate a deep understanding of human population genetics - Informs on the origins and recent evolution of our species in an approachable manner


Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic

Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic

Author: Ryan J. Rabett

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-08-27

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1107018293

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This book examines the first human colonization of Asia and particularly the tropical environments of Southeast Asia during the Upper Pleistocene. In studying the unique character of the Asian archaeological record, it reassesses long-accepted propositions about the development of human 'modernity.' Ryan J. Rabett reveals an evolutionary relationship between colonization, the challenges encountered during this process - especially in relation to climatic and environmental change - and the forms of behaviour that emerged. This book argues that human modernity is not something achieved in the remote past in one part of the world, but rather is a diverse, flexible, responsive, and ongoing process of adaptation.


Southern Asia, Australia and the Search for Human Origins

Southern Asia, Australia and the Search for Human Origins

Author: Robin Dennell

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-02-24

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1107017858

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This volume summarizes what is - and is not - known about the earliest evidence of our species outside Africa, from Arabia to Australia. Most books on the origins of "modern human behavior" and the expansion of our species across the world focus on evidence from Africa, Europe, and the Levant, which have been extensively researched. This book focuses instead on the important areas of southern Asia such as Arabia and India, as well as evidence from Australia, which deserve far wider attention than they have hereto received.


Homo erectus

Homo erectus

Author: W. Henry Gilbert

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2009-02-04

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 052093377X

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This volume, the first in a series devoted to the paleoanthropological resources of the Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia, studies Homo erectus, a close relative of Homo sapiens. Written by a team of highly regarded scholars, this book provides the first detailed descriptions, photographs, and analysis of the fossil vertebrates—from elephants and hyenas to humans—from the Daka Member of the Bouri Formation of the Afar, a place renowned for an abundant and lengthy record of human ancestors. These fossils contribute to our understanding human evolution, and the associated fauna provide new information about the distribution and variability of Pleistocene mammals in eastern Africa. The contributors are all active researchers who worked on the paleontology and geology of these unique deposits. Here they have combined their disparate efforts into a single volume, making the original research results accessible to both the specialist and the general reader. The volume synthesizes environmental backdrop and anatomical detail to open an unparalleled window on the African Pleistocene and its inhabitants.


Human Dispersal and Species Movement

Human Dispersal and Species Movement

Author: Nicole Boivin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-05-27

Total Pages: 573

ISBN-13: 1107164141

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A unique, interdisciplinary and up-to-date treatment exploring human migration and its role in creating novel ecosystems over the long term.


African Genesis

African Genesis

Author: Sally C. Reynolds

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-03-29

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 1107019958

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This book reviews key themes and developments in palaeoanthropology, exploring their impact on our understanding of human origins in Africa.