Contents



Preface

The aim of this book is to review the current research outcomes in the field of Pleistocene Archaeology around the world, particularly with regard to our own species, Homo sapiens. The collection of articles in this book focuses mainly on issues of migration, technology and adaptation of Homo sapiens as the only human species that have migrated all over the world and colonized every continent as well as the vast region of Oceania. It also provides information on the environment and life of earlier hominins like H. erectus,

H. neanderthalensis and H. floresiensis in several regions of Europe and Asia.

This volume contains eight insightful chapters that constitute a diverse but generally coherent collection on human migration and expansion during the Pleistocene, the development and advancement of prehistoric technologies, and human adaptation to new and changing environments and climate conditions around the world. The geographical focus extends from Central Europe (Chapter 2) to South Asia (Chapter 3), Insular Southeast Asia including the Pleistocene Sunda region (Chapter 4) and the Wallacean islands (Chapter 5), Eastern Asia including South China (Chapter 6), and the Ryuku Islands in Japan (Chapter 7), and the American continent (Chapters 8 and 9).

For the preparation and envisioning of this book, we have received much support and inspiration from the on-going project "Cultural History of PaleoAsia" as the scientific research initiative of a MEXT Grant in Aid Project in Japan (headed by Prof. Yoshihiro Nishiaki from 2016-2020), in which both of us (Ono and Pawlik) have participated since 2016. This project aims to analyze an extensive set of relevant field and theoretical data from Asia in order to interpret the nature of distinct patterns in the formation and expansion of Homo sapiens across Asia and Oceania after the Out of Africa event. This project has already produced a number of relevant publications, including our own articles, on human history and evolution (anatomically, behaviorally, and culturally)

Lastly, we would like to thank all the contributing authors for having made their research and their expertise available, and all the peer-reviewers who helped us in improving the quality of the papers and this book as well. Our special thanks go to IntechOpen and its Author Service Manager Mateo Pulko, for wholeheartedly

**Rintaro Ono**

**Alfred Pawlik**

Loyola Heights,

Japan

National Museum of Ethnology,

Ateneo de Manila University, Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall,

Quezon City, Philippines

Department of Sociology and Anthropology,

in Southeast Asia.

supporting and promoting this book project.
