Author Description

"Quaternary of the Levant presents extensive and up-to-date research from a region that displays unique interactions between climate, the environment and human evolution. Focusing primarily on southeast Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, it brings together more than 80 contributions from the field's leading researchers. Together they review 2.5 million years of environmental change and human cultural evolution. Information from key prehistoric sites and palaeoanthropological studies contributing to our understanding of "out of Africa" migrations, Neanderthals, cultures of modern humans and the origins of agriculture, are assessed within the context of glacial-interglacial cycles, marine isotope cycles, plate tectonics, geochronology, geomorphology, palaeoecology and genetics. The book is divided into five parts: The Evolution of Current Landscapes and Basins; Archaeology of Human Evolution; Palaeoecology; Landscapes of Rift, Coastal Plain, Alluvial Streams, Loess and Soils; and Humans in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Complemented by overview summaries that draw together the findings of each chapter, the resulting coverage is wide-ranging and cohesive. The cross-disciplinary nature of the volume makes it an invaluable resource for academics and advanced students of Quaternary science and human prehistory, as well as an important reference for archaeologists working in the region"--