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) in Southeast Asia.

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 supporting and promoting this book project.

> **Rintaro Ono** National Museum of Ethnology, Japan

**Alfred Pawlik** Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ateneo de Manila University, Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines

**1**

Section 1

Introduction

Section 1 Introduction

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**1. About this book**

Introductory Chapter: Pleistocene

This book aims to review the current and latest research outcomes in the field of Pleistocene Archaeology around the world. From our understanding, the major purpose of Pleistocene Archaeology is to research the deep human history of hunter-gatherers before the development of agricultural or Neolithic societies and civilizations during the Holocene. The current geological timeline of the Pleistocene is regarded to be between about 2.58 million years ago and 11,700 years ago [1–3]. It is then followed by the Holocene as the present geological period. In terms of human history during the Pleistocene times, a variety of human species have been existed, and most important for us as modern-day *Homo sapiens* are the emergence, evolution,

With such understanding, this book mainly focuses on archaeological studies of our species, from archaic hominins like *H. erectus*, H. *neanderthalensis*, H. *floresiensis*, to *Homo sapiens* as anatomically modern humans (AMH). The main topics of this book are: (1) human migrations in and out of Africa by Homo species, particularly by *Homo sapiens* who migrated into most regions of the world and various environments, (2) the development of human technology from early to archaic Homo species and *Homo sapiens* (e.g. stone and bone tool production and use, ornaments, rock art, hunting, fishing, gathering, resource exchange), and (3) human adaptation to new environments or environmental changes caused by past climate changes during the Pleistocene. With such perspectives in mind, this book contains a total of eight insightful and stimulating chapters related to these topics which review and discuss

It is true that the main human actors during the Pleistocene are Homo erectus and similar archaic hominins as Homo erectus appeared by 2 million years ago (2 Ma) in Africa and existed at least by around 110 ka in Java, Indonesia [4]. Homo erectus or their related species (e.g. H. rudolfensis, H. heidelbergensis, H. ergaster, and possibly H. habilis as well) most probably originated in Africa and are considered to be the first hominin group that succeeded to move "Out of Africa" and migrate into Asia and Europe possibly after [5–7]. Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis were also the likely ancestors to Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) and Denisovans in Europe and Siberia [8–10], as well as ancestral to small-bodied hominins like H. floresiensis, a recently found species in Flores Island in Indonesia [11] and H. luzonensis another

Although these facts clearly support Homo erectus and other archaic hominin species can be one of the main targets for Pleistocene Archaeology, this book mainly

Archaeology - Migration,

*Rintaro Ono and Alfred Pawlik*

and dispersal of the genus Homo during this time range.

human history during the Pleistocene times.

newly discovered species in Luzon Island in the Philippines [12].

Technology, and Adaptation
