This update to the award-winningThe Origins of Modern Humans: A World Survey of the Fossil Evidence covers the most accepted common theories concerning the emergence of modernHomo sapiens—adding fresh insight from top young scholars on the key new discoveries of the past 25 years.
The Origins of Modern Humans: Biology Reconsidered allows field leaders to discuss and assess the assemblage of hominid fossil material in each region of the world during the Pleistocene epoch. It features new fossil and molecular evidence, such as the evolutionary inferences drawn from assessments of modern humans and large segments of the Neandertal genome. It also addresses the impact of digital imagery and the more sophisticated morphometrics that have entered the analytical fray since 1984.
Beginning with a thoughtful introduction by the authors on modern human origins, the book offers such insightful chapter contributions as:
Africa: The Cradle of Modern PeopleCrossroads of the Old World: Late Hominin Evolution in Western AsiaA River Runs through It: Modern Human Origins in East AsiaPerspectives on the Origins of Modern AustraliansModern Human Origins in Central EuropeThe Makers of the Early Upper Paleolithic in Western EurasiaNeandertal Craniofacial Growth and Development and Its Relevance for Modern Human OriginsEnergetics and the Origin of Modern HumansUnderstanding Human Cranial Variation in Light of Modern Human OriginsThe Relevance of Archaic Genomes to Modern Human OriginsThe Process of Modern Human Origins: The Evolutionary and Demographic Changes Giving Rise to Modern HumansThe Paleobiology of Modern Human Emergence
Elegant and thought provoking,The Origins of Modern Humans: Biology Reconsidered is an ideal read for students, grad students, and professionals in human evolution and paleoanthropology.
Fred Smith is Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Illinois State University and a past president of the American Association of Physical Anthropology. A noted authority on neanderthal and early modern human evolution, Dr. Smith has a 40 year record of thought-leading publications.
Jim Ahern is Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Ahern's research has covered many aspects of human biological and biocultural evolution, ranging from work on the origin of the hominin lineage to the peopling of the Americas.
Contributors ix Introduction: Thoughts on Modern Human Origins: From 1984 to 2012 xiFred H. Smith and James C. M. Ahern 1 Africa: The Cradle of Modern People 1Osbjorn M. Pearson 2 Crossroads of the Old World: Late Hominin Evolution in Western Asia 45Robert G. Franciscus and Trenton W. Holliday 3 A River Runs through It: Modern Human Origins in East Asia 89Karen R. Rosenberg and Xinzhi Wu 4 Perspectives on the Origins of Modern Australians 123Arthur C. Durband and Michael C. Westaway 5 Modern Human Origins in Central Europe 151James C. M. Ahern, Ivor Jankoviæ, Jean-Luc Voisin, and Fred H. Smith 6 The Makers of the Early Upper Paleolithic in Western Eurasia 223Jean-Jacques Hublin 7 Neandertal Craniofacial Growth and Development and Its Relevance for Modern Human Origins 253Frank LEngle Williams 8 Energetics and the Origin of Modern Humans 285Andrew W. Froehle, Todd R. Yokley, and Steven E. Churchill 9 Understanding Human Cranial Variation in Light of Modern Human Origins 321John H. Relethford 10 The Relevance of Archaic Genomes to Modern Human Origins 339John Hawks and Zach Throckmorton 11 The Process of Modern Human Origins: The Evolutionary and Demographic Changes Giving Rise to Modern Humans 355Rachel Caspari and Milford H. Wolpoff 12 The Paleobiology of Modern Human Emergence 393Erik Trinkaus Index 435The color plate section can be found between pages 242 and 243.
