Eric Delson - Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory, 2nd Edition (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities)

Cover

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Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory

Second edition

Garland Reference Library of the Humanities (Vol. 1845)

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Editors

Eric Delson
Lehman College, City University of New York
American Museum of Natural History

Ian Tattersall
American Museum of Natural History

John A.Van Couvering
American Museum of Natural History

Alison S.Brooks
George Washington University
National Museum of Natural History

Garland Publishing, Inc.

A member of the Taylor & Francis Group

New York & London, 2000

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Published in 2000 by
Garland Publishing Inc.
A Member of the Taylor & Francis Group
19 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledges collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

Copyright 2000 by Eric Delson, Ian Tattersall, John A.Van Couvering,
and Alison S.Brooks (including all illustrations not otherwise noted.)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Encyclopedia of human evolution and prehistory.2nd ed./
editors, Eric Delson[et al.]
p. cm(Garland reference library of the humanities; vol. 1845)
First ed. edited by Ian Tattersall, Eric Delson, and John Van Couvering.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8153-1696-8 (alk. paper)
1. Human evolutionEncyclopedias. 2. Prehistoric peoples
Encyclopedias. I. Delson, Eric. II. Tattersall, Ian. III. Van Couvering,
John A. IV. Series
GN281 E53 1999
599.938dc21 99045824

ISBN 0-203-00942-8 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-8153-1696-8 (Print Edition)

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For

Bobbie, Jeanne, Enid, and John
and to the memory of Frank Spencer

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The intense media coverage of new developments in human evolutionary studies testifies eloquently that to our egocentric species no subject is of greater interest than our own past. Yet up to now no comprehensive encyclopedia dealing with the evolution of humankind has been available. In the hope of providing such a source we have worked with our contributors and with Garland Publishing, Inc., to produce the present volume. We have defined human evolution in its broadest sense and so have covered such areas as systematics, evolutionary theory, genetics, primatology, primate paleontology, and Paleolithic archaeology in an attempt to provide the most complete context possible for the understanding of the human fossil record.

The contributions in this volume are written to be accessible to those with no prior knowledge of the subject, yet they contain sufficient detail to be of value as a resource to both students and professionals. The work should prove useful to the widest possible range of individuals interested in human evolution. Each entry has been prepared by a leading authority on its subject; and although every contributor was asked to represent all major points of view on the many topics that are the matter of dispute, each was left free to expound his or her preferred interpretation. The volume thus samples the heterogeneity of opinion that gives paleoanthropology so much of its liveliness, while remaining both authoritative and comprehensive.

We would like to thank our contributors for their efforts to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness within the space limitations inevitable in a work of this kind. The project originated through the initiative of Gary Kuris, of Garland Publishing, whose enthusiasm and diligence were indispensable in seeing it through to completion. At Garland we would also like to thank Rita Quintas, Kennie Lyman, John M.Rblin, and Phyllis Korper. The late Nicholas Amorosi provided numerous clear renderings of fossils, artifacts, and prehistoric scenes and was responsible for a substantial part of the artwork in this volume. We are also indebted to the numerous other scientific illustrators who contributed to the visual qualities of the book. Jaymie Brauer helped with many editorial matters, as did David Dean; we are grateful to them both.

The past decade has seen a wide variety of new fossil finds and theories relevant to human evolution. We are thus pleased to present a thoroughly revised, enlarged, and updated version of the Encyclopedia, incorporating a number of improvements in format based on experience with the first edition. We are especially pleased that Alison S.Brooks has joined the editorial team with primary responsibility for archaeological contributions. Once again, we are indebted to many individuals for their help. On the editorial side, we are most grateful to Ken Mowbray, Joanna Grand, Jaymie Brauer Hemphill, Roberta M.Delson, Steve Velasquez, Paula Lee, Rebecca Jabbour, Tara Peburn, and Haviva M. Goldman; many illustrations were produced or improved through the efforts of Diana Salles, Don McGranaghan, Lorraine Meeker, Chester Tarka, Haviva M.Goldman, John Krigbaum, Andrew Brown, Patricia Iorfino, Brian Stuart, Chet Sherwood, Caitlin M.Schrein and Katarina Harvati. At Garland, we have benefited once more from the inspiration of Gary Kuris and the technical organization of Marianne Lown, Earl Roy, Joanne Daniels, Richard Steins, Alexis Skinner, and their associates. And last but not least, our grateful thanks to all of our contributors.