Antiquity of Man Evolution

The Antiquity of Man Exploring human evolution, gender and social organisation

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Human evolution

[Sections: Excavations; Articles; Articles on other sites; Photos]

Excavations

Excavations in the ancient Near East requiring volunteers.

Archaeology Abroad - Quaterly UK publication listing vacancies for volunteers and staff to work on archaeological sites all over the world

Israeli field excavation opportunity: Philistine Gath - The Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological project. Having excavated in Israel myself, on the former Tel Miqne - Ekron excavation, I would urge everyone looking to excavate overseas to seriously consider this project and the invaluable experience, expertise and contacts which would be accured.

Call for volunteers to join the Western Sahara Project. See the details and contact Dr Nick Brooks at http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/%7Ee118/wsahara.htm.

Articles

Summary of human evolution, by Mikey Brass

Can we achieve an adequate archaeology of religion ? If so, what can we learn from it ?, by Mikey Brass (unpublished Masters degree essay, 2003, in pdf format)

Is the archaeology of gender necessarily a feminist archaeology?, by Mikey Brass (unpublished Masters degree essay, 2003, in pdf format)

Early Stone Age experimental archaeology, by Mikey Brass

Should African Historical Archaeology be regarded as part of the Euro-American Historical Archaeological framework or as its own sub-discipline?, by Mikey Brass (in pdf format)

Archaeology of the landscape, by Mikey Brass

Thoughts on Open Access and the peer-review system, by Mikey Brass

Handaxes: Products of Sexual Selection?, by Dr Marek Kohn & Dr Steven Mithen

Recent developments in Human Biological and Cultural Evolution, by Professor J. Desmond Clark

Stone tools have been used as cognitive/chronological, cultural/ethnic, and functional/environmental indicators in African prehistory. Consider the possible problems associated with each of these interpretative approaches, by Mikey Brass (unpublished Masters degree essay, 2003, in pdf format)

Mode 3 Technologies and the Evolution of Modern Humans, by Professor Robert Foley & Dr Marta Lahr

Evidence for interbreeding between members of the genus Homo, by Mikey Brass

Hunting, scavening and stone tools, by Mikey Brass

Phylogenetic Impact of KNM-WT 17000: A Discussion of the Hypotheses Existing Prior to, Reformulated, and Postulated as a Result of the Unearthing of the 'Black Skull', by Kimberly Oliveir

Affinities of the Paleoindians, by Mikey Brass

The conquest of the Incas, by Mikey Brass

Peers Cave, South Africa, by Mikey Brass

Constitution of the Southern African Later Stone Age, by Mikey Brass

Legacies from the Later Stone Age, by Professor Lyn Wadley

Meaning of Southern African rock art, by Mikey Brass

Magic, Diversity and the Ethnographic of San Rock Art Paintings in Southern Africa, by Dr Anne Solomon

Meanings, models and minds: a reply to Lewis-Williams, by Dr Anne Solomon

The Myth of Ritual Origins? Ethnography, Mythology and Interpretation of San Rock Art, by Dr Anne Solomon

The octagon: an icon of Willem Adriaan van der Stel's aspirations?, by Dr Yvonne Brink

The chemical composition of glass and its usage in comparative analysis in Ancient Egypt, by Mikey Brass

The Egyptian Predynastic, by Professor Kathryn Bard

Badarian government and religious evolution, by Mikey Brass

The Narmer Macehead and Related Objects, by Professor N.B. Millet

Remembering Egypt: Historical Perspectives on the Social Construction of the Image of Egypt, by Mikey Brass (unpublished Masters degree essay, 2003, in pdf format)

How can we attempt to assess what real power the scribes of ancient Egypt wielded ?, by Mikey Brass (unpublished Masters degree essay, 2004, in pdf format)

The nature of Ancient Egyptian urbanism, by Mikey Brass (unpublished Masters degree essay, 2004, in pdf format)

Ecological context of Ancient Egyptian Predynastic settlements, by Mikey Brass

New radiocarbon dates and Late Palaeolithic diet at Wadi Kubbaniya, Egypt, by Professor Fred Wendorf et al.

Predynastic Egyptian subsistence activities, by Mikey Brass

The Palermo Stone, by Mikey Brass

Articles on other websites

A Look At Modern Human Origins, by C. David Kreger

* Orrorin tugenensis (Figures of: Lukeino Material)
* Australopithecus/Ardipithecus ramidus (Figures of: ARA-VP-1/129)
* Australopithecus anamensis (Figures of: KNM-KP 29281, KNM-KP 29283, KNM-KP 29285)
* Australopithecus afarensis (Figures of: Hadar Teeth, A.L. 288-1, A.L. 333-105, A.L. 444-2, MAK-VP 1/1, A.L. 129-1A and A.L. 129-1B, L.H.-4, A.L. 200-1, Laetoli Footprints)
* Australopithecus africanus (Figures of: Taung Child, Mrs. Ples, STS 71 and STS 36, STS 14, STS 52, STW 505)
* Australopithecus bahrelghazali (Figures of: KT12/H1)
* Australopithecus/Paranthropus aethiopicus (Figures of: KNM-WT 17000, Omo 18)
* Australopithecus/Paranthropus boisei (Figures of: OH 5, KNM-ER 406, KNM-ER 729, KNM-ER 732, Omo L. 7a-125)
* Australopithecus/Paranthropus robustus (Figures of: SK 48, SK 79, TM 1517, SK 6, SK 23, DNH 7, DNH 8)
* Australopithecus garhi (Figures of: BOU-VP-12/130)
* Homo/Australopithecus habilis (Figures of: KNM-ER 1813, OH 24, OH 7, OH 8, STW 53)
* Homo/Australopithecus rudolfensis (Figures of: KNM-ER 1470)
* Homo ergaster (Figures of: KNM-ER 3733, OH 9, KNM-ER 992, SK 847)
* Homo erectus (Figures for: Peking Man Reconstruction, New Peking Man Reconstruction, KNM-WT 15000, Zhoukoudian XII, Solo 6, Solo 9, Sangiran 2, Sangiran 17, PA 1051-6 (Gongwangling), Yuanmou, Chenjiawo, PA 109 (Zhoukoudian 5), PA 86, EV 9001 (Yunxian), EV 9002 (Yunxian), PA 830 (Hexian), Dmanisi Mandible, PL-1 (Sambungmacan))
* Homo antecessor (Figures for: Gran Dolina Material)
* Homo heidelbergensis (Figures for: Arago XXI, Apidima 2, Broken Hill 1, Atapuerca 4, Atapuerca 5, Petralona 1, Steinheim, Bodo, Mauer 1, Box Grove Tibia)
* Homo neanderthalensis (Figures for: Neanderthal 1, La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Gibralter 1, Mount Circero, Krapina C, Krapina Teeth, Saccopastore 1, Teshik-Tash, Kebara 2, Amud 1, Amud 7, Shanidar 1, Shanidar 2, Shanidar 4, Shanidar 5, La Ferrassie 1, Saint Césaire, Zafarraya Mandible, Hochdal, Altamura, Tabun 1)
* Homo sapiens (Figures for: Cro Magnon 1, Arene Candide ("Young Prince"), Cohuna, Coobool 16, Coobool 49, Coobool 65, Coobool 76, Coobool 86, Kow Swamp 1, Kow Swamp 5, Kow Swamp 7, Nacurrie 1, Skhul V, Upper Cave 101, Upper Cave 102, Border Cave 1, Omo I, Omo II, Mungo 1 (WLH 1), Mungo 3 (WLH 3), WLH 50, Dali, Qafzeh VI, Qafzeh IX, Klasies River Mouth, Liujiang, Wadjak 1, Wadjak 2, Xujiayao 2, Xujiayao 3, Xujiayao Mandible, PA 84 (Maba), Jinniushan, Roonka 20, Roonka 80, Roonka 108, Keilor, Talgai, Minatogawa 1, Florisbad, Predmostí 3)
* Australopithecus indeterminate (Figures for: LT 329, STW 252)
* Homo indeterminate (Figures for: A.L. 666-1)
* Male Chimpanzee (photo)
* Female Gorilla (photo)
* Male Gorilla (photo)
* Sivapithecus (photo)
* Definitions Index
* Did Neanderthals Have Language?
* The Path to a Scientific Archaeology
* Three-Stage Timing Sequence at FLK 22
* Human Thermoregulation and Hair Loss
* Modern Human Origins in a Historical Perspective
* The Concept of Human Races: Uses and Problems

Archaeology: an introduction - an electronic companion, by Kevin Greene

* The idea of the past - How the concerns of modern archaeologists developed in the past - human origins; the recognition of human tools; the recording of ancient sites; the investigation of early civilizations.
* Discovery, fieldwork and recording - Non-destructive ways of looking at sites in their local and regional settings.
* Excavation - This chapter not only explains how excavation is conducted, but also emphasises the background work that precedes it, and the time-consuming processing of site records and finds for publication.
* Dating the past - Dating is the key to organising all archaeological evidence; the development of dating methods, whether 'traditional' or scientific, illustrates the ingenuity of archaeological problem-solving.
* Science and archaeology - There are few questions about the past that would not benefit from investigation with the help of the natural or biological sciences; indeed, many questions may only be answered with the assistance of scientific methods.
* Making sense of the past - Are we simply making what we want of the past because we can do nothing about the present, let alone change the future?

Paleoindian & Other Archaeological Stuff, by Tony Baker

* Recycling. A paper about visually different surfaces on artifacts and what they mean
* Contrasting the Lithic Technologies of Mesa and Folsom
* The 1999 Folsom Point Replication Workshop
* Folsom Point Manufacture
* Art and The Folsom Point
* The Folsom Workshop
* The Clovis First/ Pre-Clovis Problem -- Revisited 2004
* The Clovis/Folsom Transition
* The Clovis First / Pre-Clovis Problem (1997)
* The Flake-Stepchild of Lithic Analysis. A argument for the flake being the desired product instead of the byproduct of tool or core manufacture
* The Acheulean Handaxe. A proposal, with justification, that the handaxe was the by-product of flake extraction and not the desired final product * Late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter-gatherers of the Pampas and Patagonia, Argentina and Chile
* Variation in Paleoindian Lithic Assemblages Through Time
* The Lithic Containers of the Archaeological Record. A paper unifying the manufacture of biface, Levallois, and blade (macro & micro) cores that are found near quarries sites
* A Theory for Flake Creation. A mathematical connection between percussion and pressure flaking is offered in this paper. This is a continuation of my research into flake mechanics, which began in 1998

Paleoclimates and Human Evolution. A workshop on integrating continental drilling research with paleoanthropology and other geological records. Nov 17-20, 2005.

* Leslie C. Aiello: Climate and Early Human Adaptation. Abstract.
* Zeresenay Alemseged and Jonathan G. Wynn: New geological and paleontological data from the Dikika hominin site, Ethiopia. Abstract and presentation.
* A list of the other conference participants' abstracts is at http://www.geo.arizona.edu/web/HumanEvolutionWorkshop/abstracts.htm, with the presentation pdfs at http://www.geo.arizona.edu/web/HumanEvolutionWorkshop/presentations.htm.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (journal contents)

* Nuts, nut cracking, and pitted stones at Gesher Benot Ya`aqov, Israel (19 February 2002), by Naama Goren-Inbar, Gonen Sharon, Yoel Melamed & Mordechai Kislev
* Radiocarbon evidence for maritime pioneer colonization at the origins of farming in west Mediterranean Europe (20 November 2001), by João Zilhão
* Paternity and relatedness in wild chimpanzee communities (6 November 2001), by Linda Vigilant, Michael Hofreiter, Heike Siedel & Christophe Boesch
* Nitrogen cycling by wood decomposing soft-rot fungi in the "King Midas tomb," Gordion, Turkey (6 November 2001), by Timothy R. Filley, Robert A. Blanchette, Elizabeth Simpson & Marilyn L. Fogel
* Comparative morphology and paleobiology of Middle Pleistocene human remains from the Bau de l'Aubesier, Vaucluse, France (25 September 2001), Serge Lebel, Erik Trinkaus, Martine Faure, Philippe Fernandez, Claude Guérin, Daniel Richter, Norbert Mercier, Helène Valladas & Günther A. Wagner
* Origin and significance of a founding settlement in Polynesia (25 September 2001), by David V. Burley & William R. Dickinson
* Stone tool function at the paleolithic sites of Starosele and Buran Kaya III, Crimea: Behavioral implications (11 September 2001), by Bruce L. Hardy, Marvin Kay, Anthony E. Marks & Katherine Monigal
* A cranium for the earliest Europeans: Phylogenetic position of the hominid from Ceprano, Italy (14 August 2001), by G. Manzi, F. Mallegni & A. Ascenzi
* Old World sources of the first New World human inhabitants: A comparative craniofacial view (14 August 2001), by C. Loring Brace, A. Russell Nelson, Noriko Seguchi, Hiroaki Oe, Leslie Sering, Pan Qifeng, Li Yongyi & Dashtseveg Tumen
* Thirty years on the "Broad Spectrum Revolution" and paleolithic demography (19 June 2001), by Mary Stiner
* Ornaments of the earliest Upper Paleolithic: New insights from the Levant (19 June 2001), by Steven L. Kuhn, Mary C. Stiner, David S. Reese & Erksin Güleç
* Stable isotope evidence for increasing dietary breadth in the European mid-Upper Paleolithic (22 May 2001), by Michael P. Richards, Paul B. Pettitt, Mary C. Stiner & Erik Trinkaus
* From the Cover: Evidence of termite foraging by Swartkrans early hominids (13 February 2001), by Lucinda R. Backwell & Francesco d'Errico
* The earliest archaeological maize (Zea mays L.) from highland Mexico: New accelerator mass spectrometry dates and their implications (13 February 2001), by D. R. Piperno & K. V. Flannery
* Archaeological evidence of teosinte domestication from Guilá Naquitz, Oaxaca (13 February 2001), by Bruce F. Benz
* Ancient Maya documents concerning the movements of Mars (13 February 2001), by Harvey M. Bricker, Anthony F. Aveni & Victoria R. Bricker
* Peopling the past: New perspectives on the ancient Maya (2 January 2001), by Cynthia Robin
* Genetics and the population history of Europe (2 January 2001), by Guido Barbujani & Giorgio Bertorelle

Nature

* A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa, by Michel Brunet et al. (2002)
* Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad, by Patrick Vignaud et al. (2002)
* Palaeoanthropology: Hominid revelations from Chad, by Bernard Wood (2002)
* Australopithecus africanus: The Man-Ape of South Africa, by Raymond Dart (1925; .pdf format)
* A new fossil skull from Olduvai, by Louis Leakey (1959; .pdf format)
* A new species of the genus Homo from Olduvai Gorge, by Louis Leakey et al. (1964; .pdf format)
* Evidence for an advanced Plio-Pleistocene hominid from East Rudolf, Kenya, by Richard Leakey (1973; .pdf format)
* Plio-Pleistocene hominid discoveries in Hadar, Ethiopia, by Don Johanson & M. Taieb (1976; .pdf format)
* Pliocene footprints in the Laetolil Beds at Laetoli, northern Tanzania, by Mary Leakey & Richard Hay (1979; .pdf format)
* Early Homo erectus skeleton from west Lake Turkana, Kenya, by Fred Brown et al. (1985; .pdf format)
* Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution, by Rebecca Cann et al. (1987; .pdf format)
* Three new human skulls from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site in Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain, by J-L. Arsuaga (1993; .pdf format)
* Australopithecus ramidus, a new species of early hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia, by Tim White et al. (1994; .pdf format)

Human Osteology

* Basics - Anatomical orientation
* Basics - General elements
* Basics - Types of bone
* Skull - temporal
* Skull - frontal
* Skull - occiptial
* Skull - parietal
* Skull - foramina
* Skull - nasal bones
* Skull - malar
* Skull - maxilla
* Skull - mandible
* Postcrania - vertebral column
* Postcrania - ribcage, sternum
* Postcrania - scapula, clavicle
* Postcrania - upper appendage
* Postcrania - pelvis
* Postcrania - lower appendage

Papers available online by Professor Holloway

* 1967: The evolution of the human brain: some notes toward a synthesis between neural structure and the evolution of complex behavior. General Systems, XII:3-19.
* 1969: Culture: a human domain. Current Anthropology, 10(4):395-412.
* 1974: On the meaning of brain size. Book review: Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence. By H.J. Jerison. New York: Academic Press, 1973. Science, 184: 677-9.
* 1980: Within-species brain-body weight variability: a reexamination of the Danish data and other primate species. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 53:109-21.
* 1982: Holloway, R.L. and Post, D.G. The relativity of relative brain measures and hominid mosaic evolution. In E. Armstrong and D. Falk (eds.), Primate Brain Evolution: Methods and Concepts. New York: Plenum Publishing Co., pps. 57-76.
* 1982: Holloway, R.L. and de LaCoste-Lareymondie, M.C. Brain endocast asymmetry in pongids and hominids: some preliminary findings on the paleontology of cerebral dominance. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 58:101-10.
* 1983: Human paleontological evidence relevant to language behavior. Human Neurobiology, 2:105-14.
* 1990: Sexual dimorphism in the human corpus callosum: its evolutionary and clinical implications. In G.H. Sperber (ed.), From Apes to Angels: Essays in Anthropology in Honor of Phillip V. Tobias. New York: Wiley-Liss, Inc., pps. 221-8.
* 1993: Holloway, R.L., Anderson, P.J., Defidine, R., and Harper, C. Sexual dimorphism of the human corpus callosum from three independent samples: relative size of the corpus callosum. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 92:481-98.
* 1996: Evolution of the human brain. In A. Lock and C. Peters (eds.), Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution, Chapter 4. New York: Oxford University Press. pps.74-116.
* 2001: Broadfield, D.C., Holloway, R.L., Mowbray, K., Silvers, A., and Marquez, S. The endocast of Sambungmacan 3 (Sm3): A new Homo erectus from Indonesia. The Anatomical Record, 262: 369-379.
* 2001: Holloway, R.L., Broadfield, D.C., and Yuan, M.S. Revisiting Australopithecine visual striate cortex: newer data from chimpanzee and human brains suggest it could have been reduced during Australopithecine times. In D. Falk and K. Gibbon (eds.), Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex. Cambridge University Press, pps. 177-186.

The Danish excavations at Tell Aushariye in Syria

From the introductory material:

Since 2000 Danish archaeologists have carried out excavations at Tell Aushariye in northern Syria. Aushariye is an ancient fortress, located strategically on an important route across the river Euphrates. Probably it can be identified with a site known from several ancient sources. Foremost Assyrian inscriptions from the 9th cent. BC, which mention a place named Pitru, which was located exactly where Aushariye is.

The first excavations have uncovered remains of the Iron Age settlement, including the Assyrian period, but also revealed that Aushariye was occupied already in the 4th mill. BC.

Tell is an Arabic word for a mound of accumulated settlement ruins. Aushariye is the name of a modern village some 700 m from the tell, and which has given it its name. The tell itself lies high on a cliff with a fantastic view over the recently formed, artificial Tishrin Lake. On the slopes of the cliff are eroded remains of terraces and fortification walls.

The excavation at Tell Aushariye is at present the only Danish project of this kind in Syria. It has come about thanks to the kind permission of the Syrian Antiquities Authority and support from several Danish institutions and foundations.

The Earliest Remains

On the high plateau of Aushariey thick Iron Age levels effectively seal the earlier settlements, but sherds found in various places, on the eroded slopes or in later fills, show that the site presumably was occupied in the 4th mill. BC. The sherds belong to the local Chalcolithic tradition.

A few hundred meters from Aushariye, on the north bank of the Sajour, is a small site on a hilltop. On its surface are sherds which show that the site was occupied in the same period, but the sherds include types which are linked to ceramic traditions of southern Mesopotamia. At other sites along the Euphrates similar material has been excavated, and these sites appear to be actual colonies of people from the south, who for as yet unknown reasons (trade?) settled far and wide outside their homeland. It seems therefore that the small site, known as Nizel Hussain, may be such a colony, establehed close to the local settlement on Aushariye. We hope in a later season to investigate this site more closely.

The Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC)

During the Middle Bronze Age the Euphrates south of Karkemish was border between the kingdom of Jamhad with its capital Halab (modern Aleppo) in western Syria, and Mesopotamian kingdoms to the east. During a brief period in the 18th cent. BC all of northern Mesopotamia was united under the mighty king Shamshi-Adad I, who ruled a kingdom stretching from the Iranian mountains to the Euphrates. Written sources provide accounts of confrontations between Shamshi-Adad and the king of Jamhad, Sumu-Epuh, and of forts on the Euphrates which were established, lost and reconquered.

Aushariye may have been one of these forts, known as Dur-Shamshi-Adad or Dur-Sumu-Epuh (dur means fortress in the ancient Akkadian language and the rest of the name refers to two rivals that the place).

In Area G at the southwestern corner of Aushariye excavation has uncovered 3 different levels dating to the Middle Bronze Age. In the oldest Level VIII are remains of an enceinte built of mud bricks on limestone footings. Associated ceramics and other finds show that it probably dates to the early part of the period (ca. 2000-1900 BC).

The Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC)

During the Late Bronze Age the Karkemish region and the Syrian Euphrates was focus for conflicts between the great powers of the time: the Hittite empire in Anatolia, the Mitanni kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia, and interventions from Egypt, which controlled parts of the Levant.

The earliest level of this period in Aushariye (in Area G) is built directly on top of the burnt rooms of Level VI. Apparently the ruins were cut down and the old walls used as foundations for new houses. The finds show that this level (V) dates to the early part of the period when the region formed part of the Hurrian Mitanni kingdom.

The Iron Age (1200-600 BC)

In the early Iron Age Karkemish was the capital of a local Hittite dynasty, which controlled a stretch of the Euphrates southwards, probably including Aushariye. Other forces, however, were at work. From west and south appeared mobile Aramean groups and settled in the region, and simultaneously the Assyrians, from their base in northern Iraq started to expand their domain. Tiglathpileser I (1114-1076 BC), according to information by his later successor Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC), occupied Pitru on the west bank of the Euphrates, but this place was lost to Arameans ca. 100 years later, and was recaptured by Shalmaneser in the mid-9th cent. BC. Subsequently the Assyrians largely controlled the Euphrates region until the fall of their empire in the late 7th cent.

In Aushariye parts of three Iron Age levels have been excavated. The upper, younger Level I is badly damaged by erosion and later pits, but dates to the later part of the Iron Age (8th-7th cent. BC), when the region had become firmly integrated in the Assyrian empire. Towards the end of this period Aushariye was apparently no longer needed as a fortress, and the many pits with Late Assyrian material would indicate that the site ended as a kind of village. This situation is seen also on other Iron Age sites on the Euphrates. The region was no longer a border zone, but virtually part of the Assyrian home land.

SEPE: Survey and Excavation Projects in Egypt

* News and updates
* East Delta (Tell Tebilla Project)
* South Sinai (Sites 345 & 346, El-Markha Plain)
* Satellite Imaging in Archaeology

The myth of the Indus Valley/Harrapan script, by Michael Witzel et al.

A comprehensive list of Milford Wolpoff's publications available online in pdf format

Associate-Professor Judith Sealy explaining isotope values to amateurs and discussing the significance of differing rich coastal diets in southern Africa

New Pliocene hominids from Gona, Afar, Ethiopia, including a Quicktime video and summaries

"Portrait of the Artist as a Child: The Gravettian Human Skeleton from the Abrigo do Lagar Velho and its Archeological Context". The extensive report of 600+ pages is available online.

Mandara Archaeological Project

Research and conservation on the DGB sites, a set of pretty impressive stone ruins found in the mountains in northern Cameroon
* Northern Montagnards
* Ethnographic Literature
* Ethnic groups
* Bibliography
* Research projects

Hall of Human Origins

Publications by Rob Boyd on evolutionary theory and cultural evolution

* Culture and the evolution of the human social instincts
* Indirect reciprocity can stabilize cooperation without the second-order free rider problem
* Adaptaton, and Innateness
* The Importance of Standing for the Evolution of Indirect Reciprocity
* The Cultural Evolution of Human Cooperation
* Shared Norms Can Lead to the Evolution of Ethnic Markers
* Was Agriculture Impossible During the Pleistocene but Mandatory during the Holocene? A Climate Change Hypothesis
* Why Culture is Common but Cultural Evolution is Rare
* Why Does Culture Increase Human Adaptibility?

How humans evolved

* Adaptation by Natural Selection
* Genetics
* The Modern Synthesis
* Speciation and Phylogeny
* Introduction to the Primates
* Primate Ecology
* Primate Mating Systems
* The Evolution of Social Behavior
* Primate Intelligence
* From Tree Shrew to Ape
* The Earliest Hominids
* The Lives of Early Hominids
* The Ancients
* The Moderns
* The Evolution of Language
* Human Genetic Diversity
* Evolution and the Human Life Cycle
* Evolution and Human Behavior
* Human Mate Choice and Parenting

A National Geographic video which recounts (in about than 10 minutes) the story of the discovery of the Dikika hominin child's skeleton.

Spanish Pleistocene site of the Atapuerca Foundation

* Details about the Foundation's work and history, site history, discoveries, a virtual tour and numerous resources are available through the Flash-driven website on the above url link.

Predicting the Location of Hominin Sites in Africa and Asia

* Developed by Matthew Collins, Kathryn Holmes, Katharine Robson Brown (2005)
"Early human archaeological and fossil sites are known in Africa from about 6 million years ago, and in Asia from about 1.8 million years ago. The distribution of these sites in time and space is very patchy, and while this situation may in part be the result of the practical difficulties of working in these regions, it is also likely that given the variables of geomorphology, climate and vegetation, sites in which hominin, faunal, archaeological or environmental information is preserved may not be distributed uniformly across the landscape. The overall aim of this project, therefore, was to formulate a method of predicting where well-preserved palaeolithic archaeological sites might be located. Such a tool would be of enormous value to the disciplines of palaeolithic archaeology and palaeoanthropology in assessing the completeness of the existing fossil record, facilitating appropriate fieldwork strategies, and contributing to informed heritage management policy... This dataset has a large coverage in time and space. A database of archaeological and palaeontological sites from Africa and Asia dating to between 6 million and 10,000 years ago was collected. Only sites for which latitude/longitude and information on assemblage type could be obtained were included."

Early Dynastic Egypt, by Francesco Raffaele

* A Synthetic Model of the Ancient Egyptian Civilization Origin and Development
* Galleries of images
* An Example of Early Dynastic Writing
* Saqqara
* The South Saqqara
* Dynasty 00 (including figures of: Gebelein painted textile, Hierakonpolis: Tomb 100, Abydos tomb U-j, Scorpion I, Abydos U-i, U cemetery statuettes)
* Dynasty 0: The introduction, the kings and the table of royal names from Naqada IIIB
* Serekhs of Dynasty 0
* Narmer
* The Narmer Palette
* Stone Vessels inscriptions of Egyptian Early Dynastic Kings
* Corpus of Ist Dynasty Ivory and wooden labels: Narmer, Aha, Djer, Djet, Den, Adjib, Semerkhet, Qa'a
* Aha
* Djer
* Djet
* Merneith
* Den
* Adjib
* Semerkhet
* Qa'a
* Sneferka
* Notes on the Second Dynasty
* Hotepsekhemwy
* Nebra
* Ninetjer
* Wngsekhemwy
* Sened
* Nwbnefer , Neferkara and Neferkaseker
* Sekhemib-Perenmaat
* Peribsen
* Khasekhemwy - Nebwyhotepimef
* The Ancient Egyptian Third Dynasty
* Sanakht/Nebka
* Netjerykhet/Djoser
* Sekhemhet/Tety
* Ba
* Khaba (Sedjes)
* Nebkara-Neferka
* Qa Hedjet
* Huni (Niswteh)
* Saqqara: Early Dynastic monuments (Dynasties 1-3)

Saqqara Online, Leiden Excavations in the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara

* What's New?
* The tomb of Meryneith
* The Tomb of Horemheb
* Saqqara History: Introduction
* Saqqara History: History
* Saqqara History: Timeline
* Saqqara History: Monuments
* Saqqara History: Hidden Tombs
* Early Exploration: Introduction
* Early Exploration: Present-Day Fieldwork
* Early Exploration: Profiles
* (Anglo-)Dutch Excavation: Introduction
* (Anglo-)Dutch Excavation: Overview
* (Anglo-)Dutch Excavation: The Tombs
* (Anglo-)Dutch Excavation: RMO Objects
* (Anglo-)Dutch Excavation: The Team
* (Anglo-)Dutch Excavation: Publications
* Egyptology
* Egyptology: Birth of Museums
* Egyptology: Napoleon's Expedition
* Egyptology: FAQ

The Theban Mapping Project

* KV 5: Tomb of Sons of Rameses II: History, Excavation, Finds
* Tomb Development: Selection of Tomb Sites, Development of Tombs, Anatomy of a Tomb: Modern Tomb Designations, Anatomy of a Tomb: Ancient Designations, Tomb Digging and Cutting Techniques, Tombs in Collision, Tomb Builders and Dayr al Madinah, Decorating the Tombs
* History of the Valley of the Kings: Geography and Geology of the Valley, Historical Development of Royal Cemeteries outside Thebes and inside Thebes (Early Dynastic-Second Intermediate Period), Historical Development of the Valley of the Kings in the New Kingdom, History of the Valley of the Kings (Third Intermediate Period-Byzantine Period), The Valley Today, Tomb Robberies, Exploration of the Valley of the Kings, The Valley of the Kings: Then and Now, Tomb Numbering Systems in the Valley
* Mortuary Beliefs and Practices: Funerary Compositions, Funerary Equipment, Foundation Deposits
* Sites
* Searches: Architectural, Condition, Dating, Decoration, Exploration, Graffiti, Image, Keyword, Sarcophagi
* Resources: Bibliography, Glossary, Egyptian Timeline, Becoming an Egyptologist, Links

G3 journal (Geochemestry, Geophysics, Geosystems)

* Douglas J. Keenan, "Volcanic ash retrieved from the GRIP ice core is not from Thera"; G3 journal (Geochemestry, Geophysics, Geosystems) vol. 4, no. 11, Nov 2003. Available on-line as PDF (104 kB).

AIGYPTOS, the database of the Munich Egyptological Institute's database of Egyptological literature. With its standardized keyword system, AIGYPTOS offers the possibility to process very detailed thematic searches for egyptological publications, monographs, and individual articles.

The excavations at Deir al-Bersha, Middle Egypt

Institutes

* Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA)
* American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE)
* Deutsche Archaologische Institut (DAI)
* Egypt Exploration Society (EES)
* Institut Francais D'Archeologie Orientale du Caire (IFAO)
* Nederlands-Vlaams Institut in Cairo (NVIC)
* Oriental Institute / Chicago House, Luxor

Associations

* International Association for Egyptologists
* World Archaeological Congress
* The World Conservation Union (WCU)

Archaeology photos

Tel Miqne - Ekron, Israel
I participated in the 13th and last session of excavation at the Biblical city of Tel Miqne - Ekron, in 1996.

"Tel Miqne, one of the largest Iron Age sites in Israel, is identified with biblical Ekron, one of the five capital cities of the Philistines. Tem miles inland from the Mediterranean seaport of Ashdod, Ekron is located on the border that separates the coastal plain from the hill country of Judah. In antiquity, it was a powerful, independant city-state which, in the beginning, threatened the existence of the indeginous Canaanites and the newly settled Israelites. Ekron was a major Philistine political and commercial center. In the 10th. c. B.C.E. it came under the shadow of the powerful kingdom of Judah, and by the 7th. c. was one of the vassal city-states of the Neo-Assyrian empire. In 603 B.C.E. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, destroyed Ekron and with it the last vestiages of Philistine culture.
"Excavations have shed new light on four dramatic chapters in the history of Ekron. The first was the Canaanite settlement of the second millennium B.C.E.; the second, a large fortified city founded by the Sea Peoples/Philistines in the 12th and 11th c. B.C.E. which contained metal and other industries and a large palace and hearth sanctuaries with Aegean affinities. the third occurred in the 10th through 8th. c. B.C.E. when the city was reduced in size and conquered by the Neo-Assyrian King Sargon II in 712 B.C.E. The fourth took place when the city expanded and became one of the most important olive oil production centers in the ancient Near East. The city also produced a unique assemblage of four-horned altars, inscriptions to the goddess Aherah, and five caches of jewlry and silver ingots."
[The above is from the 1996 Tel Miqne - Ekron session information pamphlet]

Peers Cave, South Africa
A detailed description of Peers Cave and its excavated contents is available by clicking this link.

Historical artifacts from Paris
These are photos from a trip to Paris made in August 2001. They consist of the glass pyramid outside the Louve Museum, the Egyptian collonade, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Greek goddess Aphrodite (known in this example as the Venus de Milo) and the Mona Lisa.

Cederberg Mountain Range, South Africa
Bushmen rock art in the Cederberg Mountain Range, Western Cape, South Africa. Dates range from c. 5 000 BC to the 19th century AD. These photos display both the rock art and the surrounding landscape of the Cederberg.

Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo and Cueva Negra gallery exhibition
Photos of the 2001-2002 gallery exhibition moving around the top museums and galleries across Europe. These photos were sent by the director of the Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo and Cueva Negra expeditions, Professor Michael Walker, to Earthwatch Europe, who are his main sponsors. Professor Walker kindly gave permission in person for them to be reproduced here.

Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo and Cueva Negra sites
Photos from an Earthwatch (Europe) volunteer participating in Professor Walker's 2001 excavations at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Rio Quipar and Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo
* Interior of the caves
* Exterior of the caves
* Sieving and sorting
* Fossils

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