Full Description
In this fascinating volume, the Middle Paleolithic archaeology of the Middle East is brought to the current debate on the origins of modern humans. These collected papers gather the most up-to-date archaeological discoveries of Western Asia - a region that is often overshadowed by African or European findings - but the only region in the world where both Neandertal and early modern human fossils have been found. The collection includes reports on such well known cave sites as Kebara, Hayonim, and Qafzeh, among others. The information and interpretations available here are a must for any serious researcher or student of anthropology or human evolution.
Contents
Issues of Evolution and Chronology.- Evolutionary Implications of Altered Perspectives on Hominine Demes and Populations in the Later Pleistocene of Western Eurasia.- Chronological and Biogeographic Perspectives on Later Human Evolution.- The Chronology of the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant.- Progress in ESR and U-Series Chronology of the Levantine Paleolithic.- Gif Labotatory Dates for Middle Paleolithic Levant.- The Faunal Sequence of the Southwest Asian Middle Paleolithic in Relation to Hominid Dispersal Events.- Archaeological Assemblages: Cultural Interpretations and Subsistence Strategies.- The Earliest Paleolithic Occupation in Syria.- Site Formation Processes in Kebara and Hayonim Caves and Their Significance in Levantine Prehistoric Caves.- Intrasite Spatial Patterns and Behavioral Modernity.- The Lithic Assemblages of Amud Cave.- Hayonim Cave Lithic Assemblages in the Context of the Near Eastern Middle Paleolithic.- Bitumen as Hafting Material on Middle Paleolithic Artifacts from the El Kowm Basin, Syria.- The Technological Abilities of the Levantine Mousterians.- The Role of Hunting and Scavenging in Neandertal Procurement Strategies.- Pleistocene Species Trends at Hayonim Cave.- Neandertal and Early Modern Human Mobility Patterns.- Prospects for Stable Isotopic Analysis of Later Pleistocene Hominid Diets in West Asia and Europe.- The Human Fossils.- Climatic Changes, Paleogeography, and the Evolution of the Neandertals.- Sapiens and Neandertals.- Anatomy of the Neandertal Infant Skeleton from Dederiyeh Cave, Syria.- The Search for the Earliest Modern Europeans.- Does Any Mousterian Cave Present Evidence of Two Hominid Species?.- Morphological Variation in West Asian Postcrania.- Ontogenetic Variation in Late Pleistocene Homo Sapiens from the Near East.- Upper Limb Versus Lower Limb Loading Patterns among Near Eastern Middle Paleolithic Hominids.- A Reassessment of the Tabun C2 Mandible.- Cultural and Human Evolution: Views from Neighboring Regions.- The Evolution of Culture.- Domestic Fire as Evidence for Language.- A Comparative Perspective on Paleolithic Cultural Patterns.- The Middle and the Early Upper Paleolithic around the Black Sea.- Turkey as a Key.- The Impact of Climatic Changes on the Demography of Late Neandertal and Early Anatomically Modern Populations in Europe.- Why Anatomically Modern People Did Not Disperse from Africa 100,000 Years Ago.- Afterword.
