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Africa from MIS 6-2: The Florescence of Modern Humans

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Africa from MIS 6-2

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

Africa from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 6-2 saw the crystallization of long-term evolutionary processes that culminated in our species’ anatomical form, behavioral florescence, and global dispersion. Over this ~200 kyr period, Africa experienced environmental changes on a variety of spatiotemporal scales, from the long-term disappearance of whole deserts and forests to much higher frequency, localized shifts. The archaeological, fossil, and genetic records increasingly suggest that environmental variability profoundly affected early human population sizes, densities, interconnectedness, and distribution across the African landscape – that is, population dynamics. At the same time, recent advances in anthropological theory predict that such paleodemographic changes were central to structuring the very records we are attempting to comprehend. The book introduced by this chapter represents a first concerted effort to assess modern human population dynamics throughout Africa, whether these changed with environmental fluctuations, and how they contributed to our species’ evolutionary trajectory.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Graeme Barker and Peter Mitchell for their thoughtful comments on an earlier draft of this introductory chapter.

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  1. Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ruthven Museums Building, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Brian A. Stewart

  2. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK

    Sacha C. Jones

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    Sacha C. Jones

  2. University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, ANN ARBOR, Michigan, USA

    Brian A. Stewart

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Stewart, B.A., Jones, S.C. (2016). Africa from MIS 6-2: The Florescence of Modern Humans. In: Jones, S., Stewart, B. (eds) Africa from MIS 6-2. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7520-5_1

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