Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa: Hominin behavior, geography, and chronology

ISBN: 9783031202896

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Springer; 1st ed. 2023 edition (August 18, 2023)

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 2291 pages

This handbook showcases an Africa-wide compendium of Stone Age archaeological sites and methodological advances that have improved our understanding of hominin lifeways and biogeography in the continent. The focal time spans the Pleistocene Epoch (c. 2.5 million–11,700 years ago) during which important human traits, such as obligate bipedalism that freed the hands to engage in creative activities, a large brain relative to body size, language, and social complexity, developed in the general forms that they are found today. The handbook is the first of its kind, and it is expected to play a significant role in human evolutionary research by:

❖ Collating the African Stone Age record, which exists in a fragmented state along the lines of national boundaries and colonial experiences.

❖ Showcasing emerging conceptual and methodological advances in African Pleistocene archaeology.

❖ Providing reference datasets for teaching and researching African prehistory.

❖ Making Africa’s Stone Age record accessible to researchers and students based in Africa who may not have access to journal publications where most new field discoveries are published.