The Origins of Modern Humans (PDF)

This update to the award-winning The Origins of Modern
Humans: A World Survey of the Fossil Evidence covers the most
accepted common theories concerning the emergence of modern Homo
sapiens--adding fresh insight from top young scholars on
the key new discoveries of the past 25 years.

The Origins of Modern Humans: Biology Reconsidered allows
field leaders to discuss and assess the assemblage of hominid
fossil material in each region of the world during the Pleistocene
epoch. It features new fossil and molecular evidence, such as the
evolutionary inferences drawn from assessments of modern humans and
large segments of the Neandertal genome. It also addresses the
impact of digital imagery and the more sophisticated morphometrics
that have entered the analytical fray since 1984.

Beginning with a thoughtful introduction by the authors on
modern human origins, the book offers such insightful chapter
contributions as:

* Africa: The Cradle of Modern People

* Crossroads of the Old World: Late Hominin Evolution in Western
Asia

* A River Runs through It: Modern Human Origins in East Asia

* Perspectives on the Origins of Modern Australians

* Modern Human Origins in Central Europe

* The Makers of the Early Upper Paleolithic in Western
Eurasia

* Neandertal Craniofacial Growth and Development and Its
Relevance for Modern Human Origins

* Energetics and the Origin of Modern Humans

* Understanding Human Cranial Variation in Light of Modern Human
Origins

* The Relevance of Archaic Genomes to Modern Human Origins

* The Process of Modern Human Origins: The Evolutionary and
Demographic Changes Giving Rise to Modern Humans

* The Paleobiology of Modern Human Emergence

Elegant and thought provoking, The Origins of Modern Humans:
Biology Reconsidered is an ideal read for students, grad
students, and professionals in human evolution and
paleoanthropology.