First Migrants

The first publication to outline the complex global story of human migration and dispersal throughout the whole of human prehistory. Utilizing archaeological, linguistic and biological evidence, Peter Bellwood traces the journeys of the earliest hunter-gatherer and agriculturalist migrants as critical elements in the evolution of human lifeways.

• The first volume to chart global human migration and population dispersal throughout the whole of human prehistory, in all regions of the world

• An archaeological odyssey that details the initial spread of early humans out of Africa approximately two million years ago, through the Ice Ages, and down to the continental and island migrations of agricultural populations within the past 10,000 years

• Employs archaeological, linguistic and biological evidence to demonstrate how migration has always been a vital and complex element in explaining the evolution of the human species

• Outlines how significant migrations have affected population diversity in every region of the world

• Clarifies the importance of the development of agriculture as a migratory imperative in later prehistory

• Fully referenced with detailed maps throughout

Auteur

Peter Bellwood is Professor of Archaeology at the Australian National University. A renowned authority in a fi eld driven by contesting paradigms, his vast experience and detailed empirical research have informed his widely-translated publications, especially covering South East Asia and the Pacifi c. Recent key works include The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, Volume 1: Prehistory (2013), co-edited with Immanuel Ness, First Farmers (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago (second edition 1997, reprinted 2007), and Examining the Farming/Language Dispersal Hypothesis (2002), co-edited with Colin Renfrew. His research integrates a range of techniques from archaeology, linguistics, and human biology, and he is currently engaged in archaeological research in Vietnam and the Philippines.

Texte du rabat
" Bellwood rebalances our understanding of cultural evolution to show colonization and immigration as prime movers in spreading languages, religions and people, and in generating the diversity of ancient societies' material cultures."
Norman Hammond, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, Boston University Peter Bellwood's global perspective on human migration offers an unprecedented view of the evolution of human lifeways. Charting the fascinating story of human migration throughout prehistory, the author takes the reader on an archaeological odyssey from humanity's origins in Africa two million years ago, through the challenges and dislocations of the Ice Ages, to the continental migrations of agricultural peoples within the last 10,000 years. Drawing on a wide variety of data from archaeology, evolutionary biology, human genetics, and comparative linguistics, the book's central argument posits that migration has always been a fundamental imperative in human affairs. Bellwood argues that human diversity is not just the result of purely local processes, but that signifi cant migrations have always occurred, and identifi es the development of agriculture as a critical element in recent human prehistory. The analysis provided in these pages is informed by the latest research and is well-illustrated with detailed maps.

Contenu
List of Figures ix

Preface xiv

A Note on Dating Terminology xvi

Acknowledgements xvii

1 The Relevance and Reality of Ancient Migration 1

Migration in Prehistoric Times 4

Hypothesizing About Prehistoric Migrations 6

Migrations in History and Ethnography 8

The Helvetii 8

Ancient China 9

Medieval Iceland 10

The Nuer of Sudan 10

The Iban of Sarawak 12

Relevance for Prehistoric Migration? 13

2 Making Inferences About Prehistoric Migration 17

Changes in Time and Space Genes, Languages, Cultures 18

Human Biology, Genetics, and Migration 19

Demic Diffusion 21

Language Families and the Study of Migration in Prehistory 22

Language Family Spread: Lessons from Recent History 26

Language Family Spread: Lessons from Anthropology 28

Dating the Spreads of Language Families 29

Cultures in Archaeology Do They Equate with Linguistic and Biological Populations? 30

Archaeology and the Study of Migration in Prehistory 32

One End of the Spectrum Intensive Culture Change without Significant Migration 32

The Other End of the Spectrum Intensive Cultural Change with Significant Migration 33

3 Migrating Hominins and the Rise of Our Own Species 36

Behavioral Characteristics and Origins of Early Hominins in Africa 38

First Hominin Migration(s) Out of Africa 1 41

Unfolding Species in Time and Space 46

Java, Flores, and Crossing the Sea 48

Out of Africa 2? 50

Out of Africa 3? The Origins of H. sapiens 52

The Recognition of Modern Humans in Biology and Archaeology 54

The Expansion of Modern Humans Across the African and Eurasian Continents, 130,00045,000 Years Ago 58

Africa 58

The Levant and Southern Asia 60

Northern and Western Eurasia 63

The Fate of the Neanderthals 66

Explanations? 67

4 Beyond Eurasia: The Pioneers of Unpeopled Lands Wallacea and Beyond, Australia, The Americas 71

Crossing the Sea Beyond Sundaland 72

How Many Settlers? 74

The First Australo-Melanesians 76

The Archaeology of Island Colonization Wallacea, Melanesia, Australia 77

Heading North and Offshore Again Japan 81

The Americas 83

Getting to Beringia 84

Circumventing the Ice 88

The Rapid Unfolding of American Colonization 90

5 Hunter-Gatherer Migrations in a Warming Postglacial World 96

Postglacial Recolonizations in Northern Eurasia 97

After the First Americans: Further Migrations Across Bering Strait 101

Na-Dene and Yeniseian 101

The Apachean Migration 104

The Holocene Colonizations of Arctic Coastal North America 105

The Thule Migration and the Inuit 107

The Early Holocene Colonization of a Green Sahara 109

Continental Shelves and Their Significance for Human Migration 112

Holocene Australia Pama-Nyungan Migration? 113

Linguistic Prehistory during the Australian Holocene 117

Who Were the Ancestral Pama-Nyungans? 119

6 The First Farmers and Their Offspring 123

Where and When Did Food Production Begin? 124

Why Did Food Production Develop in Some Places, but Not Others? 127

Why Was Domesticated Food Production Relatively Slow to Develop? 128 Food Production and ...