John F. Hoffecker is a fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has conducted field research in Alaska and Eastern Europe and is the author of Desolate Landscapes: Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe (2002); A Prehistory of the North (2005); (with Scott A. Elias) Human Ecology of Beringia (Columbia, 2007); and Landscape of the Mind: Human Evolution and the Archaeology of Thought (Columbia, 2011).

• 1. Information, Complexity, and Human Evolution2. Modern Human Origins and Dispersal: The Synthesis3. An Evolutionary Context for Homo sapiens4. Recent African Origin5. Global Dispersal: Southern Asia and Australia6. Global Dispersal: Northern Eurasia7. Global Dispersal: Beringia and the AmericasNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex

This is an exceptional book on an inherently interesting topic. Most students of human origins agree that fully modern humans represent the surviving tip of an evolutionary lineage that emerged in Africa, probably beginning at least 300,000 years ago. This was a time when other lineages, including the one that led to the Neanderthals, were evolving in Eurasia. Most specialists also agree that fully modern Africans expanded to Eurasia around 50,000 years ago, where they replaced and sometimes interbred with the Neanderthals and other non-modern people. Much has been written on the ‘Out-of-Africa’ dispersal, but now the emphasis is increasingly on indications that invading Africans acquired some genes from resident Eurasians. Fossils are then valued mostly for their ancient DNA and only incidentally for their form and geographic distribution, while relevant archaeological observations are completely ignored, even though they underlie the most plausible explanations for modern human success. John F. Hoffecker considers everything and ignores nothing, and his synthesis is extraordinary not only for its breadth but for its clarity. Modern Humans will satisfy both curious lay readers and specialists who seek a readily intelligible, authoritative update on where we came from.

John F. Hoffecker is a fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has conducted field research in Alaska and Eastern Europe and is the author of Desolate Landscapes: Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe (2002); A Prehistory of the North (2005); (with Scott A. Elias) Human Ecology of Beringia (Columbia, 2007); and Landscape of the Mind: Human Evolution and the Archaeology of Thought (Columbia, 2011).

• 1. Information, Complexity, and Human Evolution2. Modern Human Origins and Dispersal: The Synthesis3. An Evolutionary Context for Homo sapiens4. Recent African Origin5. Global Dispersal: Southern Asia and Australia6. Global Dispersal: Northern Eurasia7. Global Dispersal: Beringia and the AmericasNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex

This is an exceptional book on an inherently interesting topic. Most students of human origins agree that fully modern humans represent the surviving tip of an evolutionary lineage that emerged in Africa, probably beginning at least 300,000 years ago. This was a time when other lineages, including the one that led to the Neanderthals, were evolving in Eurasia. Most specialists also agree that fully modern Africans expanded to Eurasia around 50,000 years ago, where they replaced and sometimes interbred with the Neanderthals and other non-modern people. Much has been written on the ‘Out-of-Africa’ dispersal, but now the emphasis is increasingly on indications that invading Africans acquired some genes from resident Eurasians. Fossils are then valued mostly for their ancient DNA and only incidentally for their form and geographic distribution, while relevant archaeological observations are completely ignored, even though they underlie the most plausible explanations for modern human success. John F. Hoffecker considers everything and ignores nothing, and his synthesis is extraordinary not only for its breadth but for its clarity. Modern Humans will satisfy both curious lay readers and specialists who seek a readily intelligible, authoritative update on where we came from.

John F. Hoffecker is a fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has conducted field research in Alaska and Eastern Europe and is the author of Desolate Landscapes: Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe (2002); A Prehistory of the North (2005); (with Scott A. Elias) Human Ecology of Beringia (Columbia, 2007); and Landscape of the Mind: Human Evolution and the Archaeology of Thought (Columbia, 2011).

• 1. Information, Complexity, and Human Evolution2. Modern Human Origins and Dispersal: The Synthesis3. An Evolutionary Context for Homo sapiens4. Recent African Origin5. Global Dispersal: Southern Asia and Australia6. Global Dispersal: Northern Eurasia7. Global Dispersal: Beringia and the AmericasNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex

This is an exceptional book on an inherently interesting topic. Most students of human origins agree that fully modern humans represent the surviving tip of an evolutionary lineage that emerged in Africa, probably beginning at least 300,000 years ago. This was a time when other lineages, including the one that led to the Neanderthals, were evolving in Eurasia. Most specialists also agree that fully modern Africans expanded to Eurasia around 50,000 years ago, where they replaced and sometimes interbred with the Neanderthals and other non-modern people. Much has been written on the ‘Out-of-Africa’ dispersal, but now the emphasis is increasingly on indications that invading Africans acquired some genes from resident Eurasians. Fossils are then valued mostly for their ancient DNA and only incidentally for their form and geographic distribution, while relevant archaeological observations are completely ignored, even though they underlie the most plausible explanations for modern human success. John F. Hoffecker considers everything and ignores nothing, and his synthesis is extraordinary not only for its breadth but for its clarity. Modern Humans will satisfy both curious lay readers and specialists who seek a readily intelligible, authoritative update on where we came from.