Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic
Hominin Dispersal and Behaviour during the Late Quaternary

This book examines the first human colonization of Asia and particularly the tropical environments of Southeast Asia during the Upper Pleistocene. In studying the unique character of the Asian archaeological record, it reassesses long-accepted propositions about the development of human 'modernity.' Ryan J. Rabett reveals an evolutionary relationship between colonization, the challenges encountered during this process – especially in relation to climatic and environmental change – and the forms of behaviour that emerged. This book argues that human modernity is not something achieved in the remote past in one part of the world, but rather is a diverse, flexible, responsive and ongoing process of adaptation.

Reviews & endorsements

'Good books on the Palaeolithic of Asia are hard to find. Thankfully, Ryan Rabett has produced a quality volume that synthesises important information about human occupation history in a poorly known region of the world … this book is an excellent new contribution on the Late Pleistocene history of Southeast Asia. The book challenges archaeologists to think about how their regional records developed in response to external and internal influences, ultimately leading to, as Rabett aptly puts it, 'a Pleistocene 'explosion' of new life ways'.' Michael Petraglia, Antiquity

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Product details

• Date Published: October 2012
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9781107018297
• length: 383 pages

• dimensions: 259 x 182 x 26 mm
• weight: 0.94kg
• contains: 64 b/w illus. 9 maps 10 tables
• availability: In stock