Overview
- Sheds new light on the paleodemographic processes underlying modern human origins, evolution and cultural adaptations in Africa
- Integrates perspectives from multiple biomes and academic specialisms
- Will appeal to researchers in the fields of palaeolithic archaeology, paleoanthropology, hominin evolution, quaternary paleoclimate and palaeoenvironments, and human population genetics
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology (VERT)
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About this book
Bringing together archaeological, paleoenvironmental, paleontological and genetic data, this book makes a first attempt to reconstruct African population histories from out species' evolution to the Holocene. Africa during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 6 to 2 (~190-12,000 years ago) witnessed the biological development and behavioral florescence of our species. Modern human population dynamics, which involved multiple population expansions, dispersals, contractions and extinctions, played a central role in our species’ evolutionary trajectory. So far, the demographic processes – modern human population sizes, distributions and movements – that occurred within Africa during this critical period have been consistently under-addressed.
The authors of this volume aim at (1) examining the impact of this glacial-interglacial- glacial cycle on human group sizes, movements and distributions throughout Africa; (2) investigating the macro- and micro-evolutionary processes underpinning our species’ anatomical and behavioral evolution; and (3) setting an agenda whereby Africa can benefit from, and eventually contribute to, the increasingly sophisticated theoretical and methodological palaeodemographic frameworks developed on other continents.
The authors of this volume aim at (1) examining the impact of this glacial-interglacial- glacial cycle on human group sizes, movements and distributions throughout Africa; (2) investigating the macro- and micro-evolutionary processes underpinning our species’ anatomical and behavioral evolution; and (3) setting an agenda whereby Africa can benefit from, and eventually contribute to, the increasingly sophisticated theoretical and methodological palaeodemographic frameworks developed on other continents.
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Keywords
Table of contents (19 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Coasts
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Front Matter
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Deserts
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Front Matter
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Grasslands, Woodlands and Rainforests
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Front Matter
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Reviews
“For anyone interested in African prehistory, populations, and paleoenvironments/ paleoclimates, Africa from MIS 6-2: Population Dynamics and Paleoenvironments is a must read.” (Deborah I. Olszewski, University of Pennsylvania)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Dr. Sacha C. Jones is a postdoctoral research associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. She specializes in the Palaeolithic period, in particular that of North Africa and India.
Dr. Brian A. Stewart is a paleolithic archaeologist in the Department of Anthropology and the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research focuses on the archaeology of prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Africa, especially southern Africa.
Dr. Brian A. Stewart is a paleolithic archaeologist in the Department of Anthropology and the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research focuses on the archaeology of prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Africa, especially southern Africa.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Africa from MIS 6-2
Book Subtitle: Population Dynamics and Paleoenvironments
Editors: Sacha C. Jones, Brian A. Stewart
Series Title: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7520-5
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-017-7519-9Published: 14 March 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-024-1368-7Published: 25 April 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-94-017-7520-5Published: 04 March 2016
Series ISSN: 1877-9077
Series E-ISSN: 1877-9085
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 424
Number of Illustrations: 67 b/w illustrations, 39 illustrations in colour
Topics: Paleontology, Archaeology, Genetics and Population Dynamics, Cultural Anthropology, African History, Demography