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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology pp 1–29Cite as

Near East (Including Anatolia): Geographic Description and General Chronology of the Paleolithic and Neolithic

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State of Knowledge and Current Debates

Introduction

The Near East is situated at the crossroads between the genus Homo’s African evolutionary core and the Eurasian periphery (Fig. 1). The Paleolithic and Neolithic prehistory of the Near East is literally central for understanding the genus Homo as a globally distributed lineage, whose single surviving species – Homo sapiens – continues to shape and be shaped by the terrestrial, omnivorous, extractive, and socially intensive niche with which it has coevolved. This essay examines the general theoretical issue of biocultural evolution in the context of Near Eastern geography, climate, ecology, and Stone Age prehistory. In doing so, it offers an overview of Paleolithic and Neolithic paleoanthropology and archaeology, with basic introductory information about industries, technocomplexes, fossils, and key sites in chronological context.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Regions and locations in the Near East that are key for understanding the geographic structure of...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Oxford College of Emory University, Oxford, GA, USA

    Aaron Jonas Stutz

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  1. Aaron Jonas Stutz
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Correspondence to Aaron Jonas Stutz .

Section Editor information

  1. Service of Prehistory, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Marcel Otte

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Stutz, A.J. (2018). Near East (Including Anatolia): Geographic Description and General Chronology of the Paleolithic and Neolithic. In: Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1910-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1910-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51726-1

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  1. Latest

    Near East (Including Anatolia): Geographic Description and General Chronology of the Paleolithic and Neolithic
    Published:
    22 September 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1910-3

  2. Original

    Near East (Including Anatolia): Geographic Description and General Chronology of the Paleolithic and Neolithic
    Published:
    27 July 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1910-2

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