Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the European Landscape of the Last Glaciation

From 1996 to 2003, archeologists, paleoclimatologists, geologists, and other specialists applied state-of-the-art climate models (from ice core and pollen data) for Europe to the question of what led to the extinction of the Neanderthals but not early modern humans. In introducing the Stage 3 Project (named for the Middle and Upper Paleolothic period studied), van Andel (earth sciences, U. of Cambridge) and Davies (archeology, U. of Southampton, UK) dispel the notion that the last Ice Age was uniformly cold. Contributors review evidence for competing hypotheses. The volume includes many illustrations and data tables; appendices provide further chapter details. Lacks an index. Distributed in the US by the David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Tjeerd H van Andel is Honorary Professor in Earth History, Quaternary Science and Geo-archaeology at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge. William Davies is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Human Origins, University of Southampton.