Preface	6
	Contents	8
	Contributors	10
	Introduction	12
	Chapter 1: Early Pleistocene Mammals of Africa: Background to Dispersal	14
	Introduction	14
	Anthropoid Faunal Assemblages	14
	Patterns of Catarrhine Dispersal	16
	Patterns of Carnivore Dispersal	17
	The Early Pleistocene Carnivore Guild	18
	Early Pleistocene Herbivores: Proboscideans, Perissodactyls and Artiodactyls	18
	Conclusions	20
	References	20
	Chapter 2: Carnivoran Dispersal Out of Africa During the Early Pleistocene: Relevance for Hominins?	23
	Introduction	23
	The Plio-Pleistocene Carnivoran Guilds of Africa	24
	Questions Surrounding the Dispersal of Megantereon	25
	Brief History of the Taxonomy of Megantereon	25
	A New Species of African Megantereon: Significance for Dmanisi	29
	Ecomorphology of African Megantereon	30
	Megantereon and Hominin Behavior	31
	Reiteration of Questions Posed Earlier	32
	Conclusions	34
	References	34
	Chapter 3: Saharan Corridors and Their Role in the Evolutionary Geography of ‘Out of Africa I’	37
	Introduction	37
	A Biogeographical Model for Dispersals Out of East Africa	39
	Plio-Pleistocene North Africa	40
	Across Deserts and Mountains, Seas and Deltas	43
	Out of Africa Across the Sahara	46
	‘Out of Africa I’: Different Routes and Directions	47
	Integrating Model and Data	48
	Causes, Conditions, Constraintsand Consequences	51
	Conditions	51
	Causes	51
	Constraints	52
	Consequences	52
	Concluding Thoughts	52
	References	53
	Chapter 4: Stone Age Visiting Cards Revisited: A Strategic Perspective on the Lithic Technology of Early Hominin Dispersal	57
	Introduction	57
	Background	58
	Early Paleolithic Stone Tools	58
	Pebble-Cores	59
	Large Cutting Tools	60
	Early Paleolithic Industries	61
	The Oldowan Industry	62
	The Developed Oldowan Industry	62
	The Early Acheulean Industry	62
	Early Paleolithic Industrial Variability as Strategic Variabiliity	62
	Core Reduction Strategies	62
	Pebble Core Reduction Strategies: Costs and Benefits	63
	LCT Reduction Strategies: Costs and Benefits	63
	Explaining Early Paleolithic Industrial Variability	64
	Alternatives to the Strategic Variation Model	69
	Biological Variation?	69
	Cultural Variation?	70
	Functional Variation?	70
	Conclusion	71
	References	72
	Chapter 5: Behavioral and Environmental Background to ‘Out-of-Africa I’ and the Arrival of Homo erectus in East Asia	77
	Introduction	77
	The African Context for ‘Out-of-Africa I’	77
	Morphological Indicators of Terrestrial Mobility	78
	Archeological Measures of Mobility: Lifting of Landscape Constraints	78
	Adaptability to Novel Environments	79
	Arrival in East Asia: Evidence from Yuanmou and Nihewan, China	80
	Yuanmou Basin Hominin Fossils and Stone Tools	80
	Nihewan Basin Archeological Sites	82
	Biogeographic Context of Out-of-Africa Dispersal	83
	Levant	83
	Bab-el-Mandeb	83
	Arabian Peninsula	84
	Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia	84
	Fellow Travelers and Three Hypotheses of Hominin Dispersal	85
	Environmental Contexts of the Oldest Hominins in East Asia	89
	Distinctive Faunas and Regional Diversity	89
	Climate Dynamics	90
	Discussion	90
	Conclusion	92
	References	92
	Chapter 6: New Archeological Evidence for the Earliest Hominin Presence in China	96
	Introduction	96
	The Natural Landscape and Chronological Scale of China	96
	Three Newly Discovered Early Archeological Sites in Southern China	97
	Renzidong Site in Fanchang County of Anhui Province	97
	Longgudong Site in Jianshi County of Hubei Province	99
	Longgupo Site in Wushan County of Chongqing City	99
	Hominoid Coexistence and Other Relevant Information	100
	Conclusions	101
	References	103
	Chapter 7: Geological Evidence for the Earliest Appearance of Hominins in Indonesia	105
	Introduction	105
	Quaternary Geology of Indonesia	105
	Quaternary Stratigraphy of Hominin and Vertebrate Remains in Java	107
	Quaternary Stratigraphy of West Java	107
	Quaternary Stratigraphy of Central Java	109
	Bumiayu Area	109
	Patiayam Area	109
	Sangiran Area	110
	Sambungmacan Area	111
	Quaternary Stratigraphy of the KendengZone, East Java	111
	Trinil Area	111
	Ngandong Area	111
	Kedung Brubus Area	111
	Perning (Mojokerto) Area	111
	Quaternary Stratigraphy of the Islands Outside Java	113
	Java: The Home for Hominins in Southeast Asia	113
	Conclusions	116
	References	117
	Chapter 8: Divorcing Hominins from the Stegodon-Ailuropoda Fauna: New Views on the Antiquity of Hominins in Asia1	119
	Introduction	119
	Evidence from China	120
	Mohui Cave, Guangxi, China	120
	Jianshi, Hubei, China	122
	Longgupo Cave, Sichuan, China	122
	Sanhe Cave, Guangxi, China	124
	Nihewan Basin, Hebei, China	124
	Shanxi Province, China	125
	Evidence from Peninsular Southeast Asia	126
	Lang Trang Caves, Vietnam	126
	Tham Khuyen Cave, Vietnam	127
	Evidence from Java	127
	How Did Homo erectus Disperse from Africa to Island Southeast Asia?	127
	Early Hominins in Central Java	128
	New Paleoecological Studies in the Sangiran Dome	129
	Discussion and Conclusions	131
	References	132
	Chapter 9: Early Pleistocene Mammalian Faunas of India and Evidence of Connections with Other Parts of the World	136
	Introduction	136
	Plio-Pleistocene Deposits of Indo-Pakistan and the Mammalian Fauna	138
	Plio-Pleistocene Paleoecology and Climate in the Indian Subcontinent	140
	Connections with Other Parts of the World	142
	Tectonic Activity, Climate Change and Migration of the Siwalik Mammals at the Plio-Pleistocene Boundary	145
	Discussion and Conclusions	146
	References	147
	Chapter 10: The Indian Subcontinent and ‘Out of Africa I’	151
	Introduction	151
	The Biogeography of South Asia	152
	South Asian Plio-Pleistocene Environments	154
	The Two Routes of Entry into the Indian Subcontinent	155
	Central India	155
	Narmada Valley	155
	Mahadeo Piparia and Durkadi	156
	Northern Pakistan	157
	The Siwalik Hills	157
	Northern India	157
	Kheri-Jhiran (Northern India)	157
	Jainti Devi Ki Rao (Chandigarh Area, Northern India)	158
	Toka (Northern India)	159
	Uttarbaini (Northern India)	159
	Riwat and the Pabbi Hills Assemblages (Northern Pakistan)	160
	Riwat	160
	Pabbi Hills Assemblages	160
	Claims of Pre-Middle Pleistocene Hominin Fossils	164
	Nadah	164
	Khetpurali and Masol	164
	Discussion and Conclusion	165
	References	167
	Chapter 11: The Early Paleolithic of the Indian Subcontinent: Hominin Colonization, Dispersals and Occupation History	171
	Introduction	171
	Geography and Paleoenvironments	171
	Earliest Occupation of the Subcontinent	174
	The Upper Siwaliks and the Earliest Colonization	174
	The Soan Industry and Its Antiquity	174
	So, Are There Occupations at the Plio-Pleistocene Boundary?	175
	Acheulean Colonization and Dispersal	176
	Acheulean Dispersals	176
	Dispersals and the Basin Model	176
	Occupation Intensity During the Acheulean	178
	The South Asian Acheulean and ‘Acheulean-Like’ Assemblages to the East	178
	The Luonan Basin: An Acheulean Sortie into China?	181
	Conclusion	181
	References	182
	Chapter 12: Early Pleistocene Faunal Connections Between Africa and Eurasia: An Ecological Perspective	187
	Introduction	187
	Testing the Environmental Hypothesis: The Case of the Southern Levant	188
	Multivariate Analysis of the Large Mammal Community of ‘Ubeidiya	189
	How Can the Presence of African Taxa Be Explained in a Mediterranean Biome?	194
	The LDD Model	195
	Testing the LDD Model in the Plio-Pleistocene of the Southern Levant	196
	Grazers	197
	Browsers	199
	Aquatic Taxa	199
	Carnivores	200
	Discussion and Conclusions	202
	Hominin Dispersal	202
	References	203
	Chapter 13: Early Pleistocene Faunas of Eurasia and Hominin Dispersals	210
	Introduction	210
	Middle and Late Pliocene Large Mammal Assemblages	210
	The Plio-Pleistocene Transition and the Early Pleistocene Large Mammal Assemblages	212
	The Pachycrocuta brevirostris Event	213
	The Early Pleistocene Faunas	213
	The Early-Middle Pleistocene Faunal Transition	215
	The Early Pleistocene African Taxa in Eurasia and Their Connection with Homo Dispersals	216
	The Plio-Pleistocene Transition and Significant Early Pleistocene Taxa	217
	Pelorovis oldowayensis (Now Bos oldowayensis After Martínez-Navarro et al. 2007)	217
	Kolpochoerus olduvaiensis	217
	Hippopotamus antiquus	218
	Megantereon whitei	219
	Theropithecus oswaldi	220
	Early Pleistocene Eurasian Species in Africa	220
	Discussion	221
	Conclusions	222
	References	222
	Chapter 14: Fossil Skulls from Dmanisi: A Paleodeme Representing Earliest Homo in Eurasia	228
	Introduction	228
	The Site	229
	The D2280 Cranium	229
	The D2282/D211 Skull	232
	The D2700/D2735 Subadult Skull	234
	The D3444/D3900 Skull	236
	The Dmanisi Paleodeme	238
	Comparisons with Early Homo from Eastern Africa	239
	Resemblances to Homo erectus	240
	Dmanisi and Human Evolution	242
	Summary	244
	References	245
	Chapter 15: “Out of Africa I”: Current Problems and Future Prospects	248
	Introduction	248
	Part I: Problems with the “Out of Africa I” Model	249
	The Enigmatic Origin of H. erectus in Africa	249
	The Implications of Dmanisi	250
	The Taxonomic Unity of H. erectus: Coherent Taxon or a Dust-Bin Category?	251
	The Asian Late Pliocene Fossil Record: Absence of Evidence Versus Evidence of Absence	251
	Southwest Asia	252
	Part II: Climatic Change and Hominin Settlement in Asia During the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene	253
	Part III: A Research Agenda for Improving Our Understanding of Our Early Hominin Settlement in Asia	256
	Southwest Asia: From the Mediterranean and Red Sea to the Indus	258
	Central Asia and North China	261
	South Asia (India, Pakistan and Nepal)	263
	The Upper Siwaliks of North India, Pakistan and Nepal	264
	Peninsular India	265
	South China and Mainland Southeast Asia	265
	Flood Plains: Yuanmou Revisited?	267
	Indonesia	267
	Summary	267
	References	269
	Chapter 16: Summary and Prospectus	275
	External Versus Internal Stimulus to Hominin Dispersal	276
	The Nature and Number of Early Hominin Dispersal(s)	276
	Fellow Travelers	277
	Who’s Who in the Fossil Record	277
	What Are Artifacts and Who Made Them?	278
	How Old?	278
	Prospectus	278
	References	279