Archaeology
Seyyed Milad Hashemi
Abstract
Professor Robin Dennell is one of the most well-known Paleolithic archaeologists with a specialty on Asia. His recent book, published by Routledge Publication in 2020, is a good example of borrowing ecological and biological concepts, and in particular, invasion biology in archaeology. The focus of this ...
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Professor Robin Dennell is one of the most well-known Paleolithic archaeologists with a specialty on Asia. His recent book, published by Routledge Publication in 2020, is a good example of borrowing ecological and biological concepts, and in particular, invasion biology in archaeology. The focus of this book is on the dispersal of Middle and Upper Paleolithic hominins and the dynamism of their range expansion/ contraction in Asia. In the book, our species, modern human, is introduced as an invasive species from an ecological point of view; because such groups quickly settled across the whole ancient continent and in doing so, others, such as Neanderthals became extinct. This occurrence put an end to the biological diversity of the genus Homo forever. Due to its comprehensiveness, the use of the most up-to-date evidence and publications, as well as the interdisciplinary approaches, the book is a must-read for Paleolithic archaeologists interested in the mobility of human populations, landscape archaeology, the exodus of modern humans out of Africa, and the resultant colonization of Asia.
Archaeology
Seyyed Milad Hashemi
Abstract
Professor Robin W. Dennell is a well-known British archaeologist specialized in Asian Paleolithic studies. One of his books, entitled “The Paleolithic Settlement of Asia”, published by Cambridge University Press, is reviewed here. It is considered a skillful synthesis of archaeological, paleoanthropological, ...
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Professor Robin W. Dennell is a well-known British archaeologist specialized in Asian Paleolithic studies. One of his books, entitled “The Paleolithic Settlement of Asia”, published by Cambridge University Press, is reviewed here. It is considered a skillful synthesis of archaeological, paleoanthropological, and paleoclimatological evidence of Early and Middle Pleistocene periods in Asia. The book comprises some important and rather innovative ideas about the subject which the author had been developing during his academic life; for instance, among them are the idea of the presence of an extensive grassland belt stretching from northeast Africa to east Asia during Early Pleistocene, which facilitated the dispersal of hominins out of Africa (Out of Africa I). Another novel hypothesis that is discussed in the book is the controversial idea that Asia could be considered where Homo erectus was originated. Apart from what is mentioned, a large part of the book is dedicated to the climatic fluctuations and the evolution and dispersal of hominins during Early-Middle Pleistocene periods. The evidence used in the book has been recovered from well-known archaeological sites containing hominin fossils and faunal remains, as well as from major maritime and continental sites within which paleoclimatic investigations have been conducted. The mentioned book is considered one of the pioneering attempts to modify the absolute Afrocentric view in Lower Paleolithic Archaeology.
