Asian Paleoanthropology: From Africa to China and Beyond (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology)

This volume brings together a group of authors that address the question of the first out of Africa into Asia c. 2 Ma. The scope of the book is comprehensive as it covers almost every major region of Asia. The primary goal of this volume is to provide an updated synthesis of the current state of the Asian paleoanthropological and paleoenvironmental records. Papers include detailed studies of the theoretical constructs underlying the move out of Africa, including detailed reconstructions of the paleoenvironment and possible migration routes. Other papers detail the Plio-Pleistocene archaeological and hominin fossil records of particular regions. Chapter 1: Asian Paleoanthropology: An Introduction 13 Introduction 13 Contents of This Volume 14 Theoretical Approaches, Expectations, and Re-Evaluations 14 The Current State of the Asian Paleoanthropological Record 15 Discussion 16 References 16 Chapter 2: The Colonization of “Savannahstan”: Issues of Timing(s) and Patterns of Dispersal Across Asia in the Late Pliocene a 18 Introduction 18 Problems with the “Out of Africa 1” Model 20 The Emergence and Consequences of Grasslands in Late Pliocene East Africa 20 The Development of “Savannahstan” – The Asian Grasslands 21 The Tibetan Plateau and the Grasslands of North China 21 The South Asian Grasslands and the Indian Monsoon 23 Central and Southwest Asia 23 Early Pleistocene Lakes in Asia 24 The Longevity and Importance of the Asian Grasslands 25 Sangiran: Were the Earliest Hominins Inhabiting a Swampy Estuary? 26 The Uncertain Origins and Distinctiveness of Homo erectus 27 The Origin of H. erectus: Africa or Asia? 27 The Dmanisi Hominins 28 Were Hominin Migrations Always One-Way from Africa to Asia? 28 Absence of Evidence and Evidence of Absence 29 Southwest Asia: The Black Hole of Paleoanthropology 30 Dispersal Events and the Importance of Absence of Evidence 31 Some Alternative Perspectives 32 An Ultra-Long Chronology: Hominins Have Been in Asia as long as in Africa 32 The Implications of A. bahrelghazali (Chad): Could Hominins Have Dispersed out of Africa c. 3.0–3.5 Ma? 32 The Implications of Kadar Gona (Ethiopia): Could Hominins Have Dispersed out of Africa c. 2.6 Ma? 33 Routes of Dispersal 33 Dispersals or Colonisation? 35 Summary 35 References 36 Chapter 3: On the Road to China: The Environmental Landscape of the Early Pleistocene in Western Eurasia and Its Implication 42 Introduction 42 The Use of Large Mammals to Identify Grasslands in Paleoecological Analysis 43 Indicator Species 44 Ecological Diversity Analysis 44 Community-Wide Taxonomic Diversity 44 Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites 44 Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites Using the Indicator Species Method 44 Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites Using the Ecological Diversity Method 45 Paleoecological Reconstructions of Plio-Pleistocene Higher Latitude Sites Using the Community-Wide Taxonomic Diversity Method 45 Are the Methods Discordant? 45 Can These Paleoecological Reconstructions Be Reconciled? 45 Discussion and Conclusion 48 References 49 Chapter 4: Africa and Asia: Comparisons of the Earliest Archaeological Evidence 52 Introduction 52 The Oldowan of Africa 52 An Asian Perspective on the Oldowan 53 The Context of the Asian Early Paleolithic 53 The Asian Early Paleolithic: Predictions and Current Data 54 Nihewan Basin 55 Discussion 56 Conclusion 57 References 57 Chapter 5: Inter-continental Variation in Acheulean Bifaces 60 Introduction 60 Geographic Regions 61 Eastern Africa 61 The Arabian Peninsula 62 The Indian Sub-continent 63 Eastern Asia 63 Analyses 63 Discussion 64 References 65 Chapter 6: Cranial Shape in Asian Homo erectus: Geographic, Anagenetic, and Size-Related Variation 67 Introduction 67 Materials 68 Methods 69 Data Acquisition and Processing 69 Study Design 72 Statistical Analysis 73 Visualization 74 Results 74 Neurocranium 74 Maximum Landmarks Analysis 74 Maximum Indonesians Analysis 76 Maximum Zhoukoudian Analysis 76 Indonesians Only Analysis 78 Frontal Bone Analysis 79 Temporal Base Analysis 81 Occipital Bone Analysis 83 Discussion: 84 Geographic Patterns of Variation 84 Size-Related and Temporal Variation 84 Variation Within Javanese Homo erectus 85 Relationships Among Javanese Homo erectus 86 Evidence for Separate Lineages in Java > 1 Ma 86 Conclusions 86 References 87 Chapter 7: Rethinking the Palearctic-Oriental Biogeographic Boundary in Quaternary China 90 Introduction 90 Chinese Quaternary Environment 90 Plio-Pleistocene Division 91 Quaternary Biogeography 91 Central-East China: A Migration Corridor? 94 Discussion 97 Conclusions 106 References 107 Chapter 8: The History of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia in Review 110 Introduction 110 Defining Central Asia: How Big Is It? 111 The Paleoclimate of Central Asia 111 Earliest Evidence of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia 112 The Late Pleistocene of Central Asia 114 Who Inhabited Central Asia During the Pleistocene? The Hominin Fossil Record 115 Concluding Remarks 118 References 119 Chapter 9: Core-and-Flake Assemblages of Central and Peninsular India 122 Introduction 122 Northern India 123 Central India 126 Western India 130 Eastern India 131 Southern India 131 Discussion 132 Conclusions 133 References 134 Chapter 10: South Asia as a Geographic Crossroad: Patterns and Predictions of Hominin Morphology in Pleistocene India 138 Introduction 138 Background 138 Middle Pleistocene Hominin Morphology in South Asia 139 Materials and Methods 140 Evolutionary Scenarios for H. heidelbergensis 143 Results 143 Discussion 145 Models and Predictions for South Asia 146 Conclusion 147 References 148 Chapter 11: Cranial Morphology and Variation of the Earliest Indonesian Hominids 151 Introduction 151 Materials and Methods 153 Materials 153 Comparative Samples and Data Collection 154 Analysis 154 Hypotheses To Be Tested 154 Test 1: Morphology of Trinil 2 and Sangiran 2 154 Test 2: Bp 9408 and Bu 9604 157 Bp 9408 158 Bu 9604 158 Summary 159 Test 3: Variation and Morphological Affinities of the Expanded Grenzbank/Sangiran Cranial Sample 159 Discussion 160 Question of Great Variation 161 Questions of Taxonomy and Evolutionary Grade 162 Dates of the Oldest Indonesian Hominids 162 Origins of the Robust Cranial Characteristics 162 Conclusions 163 References 163 Chapter 12: Central-East China – A Plio-Pleistocene Dispersal Corridor: The Current State of Evidence for Hominin Occupations 166 Introduction 166 Natural Barriers and Possible Migration Corridors 167 Through the Qinling Mountain Range 169 East of the Qinling Mountain Range 170 Discussion 172 Relatively Few Early and Middle Pleistocene Sites Have Been Identified in CE China 172 Many of the Existing Sites Require More Detailed Study 172 Conclusions 173 References 173 Chapter 13: The Earliest Hominin Occupations in the Nihewan Basin of Northern China: Recent Progress in Field Investigations 176 Introduction 176 Background 176 Chronology 178 The Lower Palaeolithic Sites 178 Xiaochangliang 178 Donggutuo 180 Dachangliang 180 Goudi (Majuangou III) 181 Lithic Technology of the Nihewan Hominins 182 Raw Material Procurement 182 Core Reduction 183 Flake-Tool Production 183 Tool Utilization 184 Discussion and Summary 184 References 186 Chapter 14: Peopling in the Korean Peninsula 188 Introduction 188 The Oldest Hominin Fossils from the Korean Peninsula 188 The Earliest Archaeological Sites 192 The Current State of Research on the Oldest Industries in Korea 192 Old Fashioned Artifacts in New Contexts 194 What Is the Age of the Earliest Occupation and What Types of Stone Industries Were Associated with This Earliest Dispersal? 195 References 195 Chapter 15: When Were the Earliest Hominin Migrations to the Japanese Islands? 198 Introduction 198 Vertebrate Paleontology 198 Pleistocene Hominin Fossils in Japan 199 Lithic Industries Older than c. 30 ka in Japan 201 The Earliest Site in Japan: Kanedori 202 Lithic Industries from the Kanedori Site 203 Tephrochronology at the Kanedori Site 204 Discussion 205 Conclusions 206 References 206 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Asian Paleoanthropology: An Introduction....Pages 1-5 The Colonization of “Savannahstan”: Issues of Timing(s) and Patterns of Dispersal Across Asia in the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene....Pages 7-30 On the Road to China: The Environmental Landscape of the Early Pleistocene in Western Eurasia and Its Implication for the Dispersal of Homo ....Pages 31-40 Africa and Asia: Comparisons of the Earliest Archaeological Evidence....Pages 41-48 Inter-continental Variation in Acheulean Bifaces....Pages 49-55 Cranial Shape in Asian Homo erectus : Geographic, Anagenetic, and Size-Related Variation....Pages 57-79 Rethinking the Palearctic-Oriental Biogeographic Boundary in Quaternary China....Pages 81-100 The History of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia in Review....Pages 101-112 Core-and-Flake Assemblages of Central and Peninsular India....Pages 113-128 South Asia as a Geographic Crossroad: Patterns and Predictions of Hominin Morphology in Pleistocene India....Pages 129-141 Cranial Morphology and Variation of the Earliest Indonesian Hominids....Pages 143-157 Central-East China – A Plio-Pleistocene Dispersal Corridor: The Current State of Evidence for Hominin Occupations....Pages 159-168 The Earliest Hominin Occupations in the Nihewan Basin of Northern China: Recent Progress in Field Investigations....Pages 169-180 Peopling in the Korean Peninsula....Pages 181-190 When Were the Earliest Hominin Migrations to the Japanese Islands?....Pages 191-200 Back Matter....Pages 201-214