Palaeolithic Europe: A Demographic and Social Prehistory (Cambridge World Archaeology)

In this book, Jennifer French presents a new synthesis of the archaeological, palaeoanthropological, and palaeogenetic records of the European Palaeolithic, adopting a unique demographic perspective on these first two-million years of European prehistory. Unlike prevailing narratives of demographic stasis, she emphasises the dynamism of Palaeolithic populations of both our evolutionary ancestors and members of our own species across four demographic stages, within a context of substantial Pleistocene climatic changes. Integrating evolutionary theory with a socially oriented approach to the Palaeolithic, French bridges biological and cultural factors, with a focus on women and children as the drivers of population change. She shows how, within the physiological constraints on fertility and mortality, social relationships provide the key to enduring demographic success. Through its demographic focus, French combines a 'big picture' perspective on human evolution with careful analysis of the day-to-day realities of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities-their families, their children, and their lives.ISBN : 9781108492065 "In this book, Jennifer French presents a new synthesis of the archaeological, palaeoanthropological, and palaeogenetic records of the European Palaeolithic, adopting a unique demographic perspective on these first two-million years of European prehistory. Unlike prevailing narratives of demographic stasis, she emphasises the dynamism of Palaeolithic populations of both our evolutionary ancestors and members of our own species across four demographic stages, within a context of substantial Pleistocene climatic changes. Integrating evolutionary theory with a socially oriented approach to the Palaeolithic, French bridges biological and cultural factors, with a focus on women and children as the drivers of population change. She shows how, within the physiological constraints on fertility and mortality, social relationships provide the key to enduring demographic success. Through its demographic focus, French combines a 'big picture' perspective on human evolution with careful analysis of the day-to-day realities of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities- their families, their children, and their lives"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Text Boxes Preface Acknowledgements and Permissions Chapter 1 Towards a Social Palaeodemography of Early Prehistory Chapter 2 Stones, Bones, and Genes: A Palaeodemographic Database Chapter 3 Hunter-Gatherer Demography Chapter 4 Visitation: The First European Populations (~1.8 million–300,000 years ago) Chapter 5 Residency: The Neanderthals and Their Neighbours (~300,000–40,000 years ago) Chapter 6 Expansion: The Arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe and the Extinction of the Neanderthals (~50,000–35,000 years ago) Chapter 7 Intensification: Mid-to-Late Upper Palaeolithic Population Dynamics (~35,000–15,000 years ago) Chapter 8 Palaeolithic Europe: Demography and Society Glossary References Index This book combines archaeological, palaeoanthropological, and paleogenetic data to present a unique demographic perspective on this period of early prehistory, combining social and evolutionary approaches. It will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in archaeology and biological anthropology.