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Asian Paleoanthropology From Africa to China and Beyond

:	Christopher J. Norton, David R. Braun
:	Christopher J. Norton, David R. Braun
:	Asian Paleoanthropology From Africa to China and Beyond
:	Springer-Verlag
:	9789048190942
:	1
:	CHF 47.50
:

:	Sonstiges
:	English

:	221
:	Wasserzeichen/DRM
:	PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
:	PDF

This volume brings together a group of authors that address the question of the first out of Africa into Asia c. 2 Ma. The scope of the book is comprehensive as it covers almost every major region of Asia. The primary goal of this volume is to provide an updated synthesis of the current state of the Asian paleoanthropological and paleoenvironmental records. Papers include detailed studies of the theoretical constructs underlying the move out of Africa, including detailed reconstructions of the paleoenvironment and possible migration routes. Other papers detail the Plio-Pleistocene archaeological and hominin fossil records of particular regions.

Christopher Norton has spent the past eighteen years conducting paleoanthropological research in China, Korea, and Japan. Of those eighteen years, Norton has spent more than eight years actually living in those respective countries learning not only the paleoanthropology, but the cultures and languages as well. This has allowed Norton to develop a broader, regional scope for his research. This has facilitated his previous research and was the primary impetus for proposing this comprehensive synthesis of the current state of research in Asian paleoanthropology. The co-editor, David Braun, works primarily in Africa. However, we both agreed that comparative research between Africa and Asia was critical to fully comprehending both regional records. This was the primary reason why we co-organized a symposium on Asian Paleoanthropology at the AAPA meeting in March 2007, which forms the foundation for this edited volume. Most of the presentations from that conference are chapters in this book.

	Chapter 1: Asian Paleoanthropology: An Introduction	13
	Introduction	13
	Contents of This Volume	14
	Theoretical Approaches, Expectations, and Re-Evaluations	14
	The Current State of the Asian Paleoanthropological Record	15
	Discussion	16
	References	16
	Chapter 2: The Colonization of Savannahstan : Issues of Timing(s) and Patterns of Dispersal Across Asia in the Late Pliocene a	18
	Introduction	18
	Problems with the Out of Africa 1 Model	20
	The Emergence and Consequences of Grasslands in Late Pliocene East Africa	20
	The Development of Savannahstan The Asian Grasslands	21
	The Tibetan Plateau and the Grasslands of North China	21
	The South Asian Grasslands and the Indian Monsoon	23
	Central and Southwest Asia	23
	Early Pleistocene Lakes in Asia	24
	The Longevity and Importance of the Asian Grasslands	25
	Sangiran: Were the Earliest Hominins Inhabiting a Swampy Estuary?	26
	The Uncertain Origins and Distinctiveness of Homo erectus	27
	The Origin of H. erectus: Africa or Asia?	27
	The Dmanisi Hominins	28
	Were Hominin Migrations Always One-Way from Africa to Asia?	28
	Absence of Evidence and Evidence of Absence	29
	Southwest Asia: The Black Hole of Paleoanthropology	30
	Dispersal Events and the Importance of Absence of Evidence	31
	Some Alternative Perspectives	32
	An Ultra-Long Chronology: Hominins Have Been in Asia as long as in Africa	32
	The Implications of A. bahrelghazali (Chad): Could Hominins Have Dispersed out of Africa c. 3.0 3.5 Ma?	32
	The Implications of Kadar Gona (Ethiopia): Could Hominins Have Dispersed out of Africa c. 2.6 Ma?	33
	Routes of Dispersal	33
	Dispersals or Colonisation?	35
	Summary	35
	References	36
	Chapter 3: On the Road to China: The Environmental Landscape of the Early Pleistocene in Western Eurasia and Its Implication	42
	Introduction	42
	The Use of Large Mammals to Identify Grasslands in Paleoecological Analysis	43
	Indicator Species	44
	Ecological Diversity Analysis	44
	Community-Wide Taxonomic Diversity	44
	Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites	44
	Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites Using the Indicator Species Method	44
	Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites Using the Ecological Diversity Method	45
	Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites Using the Community-Wide Taxonomic Diversity Method	45
	Are the Methods Discordant?	45
	Can These Paleoecological Reconstructions Be Reconciled?	45
	Discussion and Conclusion	48
	References	49
	Chapter 4: Africa and Asia: Comparisons of the Earliest Archaeological Evidence	52
	Introduction	52
	The Oldowan of Africa	52
	An Asian Perspective on the Oldowan	53
	The Context of the Asian Early Paleolithic	53
	The Asian Early Paleolithic: Predictions and Current Data	54
	Nihewan Basin	55
	Discussion	56
	Conclusion	57
	References	57
	Chapter 5: Inter-continental Variation in Acheulean Bifaces	60
	Introduction	60
	Geographic Regions	61
	Eastern Africa	61
	The Arabian Peninsula	62
	The Indian Sub-continent	63
	Eastern Asia	63
	Analyses	63
	Discussion	64
	References	65
	Chapter 6: Cranial Shape in Asian Homo erectus: Geographic, Anagenetic, and Size-Related Variation	67
	Introduction	67
	Materials	68
	Methods	69
	Data Acquisition and Processing	69
	Study Design	72
	Statistical Analysis	73
	Visualization	74
	Results	74
	Neurocranium	74
	Maximum Landmarks Analysis	74
	Maximum Indonesians Analysis	76
	Maximum Zhoukoudian Analysis	76
	Indonesians Only Analysis	78
	Frontal Bone Analysis	79
	Temporal Base Analysis	81
	Occipital Bone Analysis	83
	Discussion:	84
	Geographic Patterns of Variation	84
	Size-Related and Temporal Variation	84
	Variation Within Javanese Homo erectus	85
	Relationships Among Javanese Homo erectus	86
	Evidence for Separate Lineages in Java	86
	86	86
	Conclusions	86
	References	87
	Chapter 7: Rethinking the Palearctic-Oriental Biogeographic Boundary in Quaternary China	90
	Introduction	90
	Chinese Quaternary Environment	90
	Plio-Pleistocene Division	91
	Quaternary Biogeography	91
	Central-East China: A Migration Corridor?	94
	Discussion	97
	Conclusions	106
	References	107
	Chapter 8: The History of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia in Review	110
	Introduction	110
	Defining Central Asia: How Big Is It?	111
	The Paleoclimate of Central Asia	111
	Earliest Evidence of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia	112
	The Late Pleistocene of Central Asia	114
	Who Inhabited Central Asia During the Pleistocene? The Hominin Fossil Record	115
	Concluding Remarks	118
	References	119
	Chapter 9: Core-and-Flake Assemblages of Central and Peninsular India	122
	Introduction	122
	Northern India	123
	Central India	126
	Western India	130
	Eastern India	131
	Southern India	131
	Discussion	132
	Conclusions	133
	References	134
	Chapter 10: South Asia as a