This edited volume systematically reviews the evidence for early human presence in one of the most relevant geographic regions of Europe - the Balkans and Anatolia, an area that has been crucial in shaping the course of human evolution in Europe, but whose paleoanthropological record is poorly known. The primary aim of this book is to showcase new paleoanthropological (human paleontological and paleolithic) research conducted in the region. The volume is organized into three sections. The first one deals with the human fossil record from Greece, the Central Balkans, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. The second section presents the paleolithic record of the same countries. In the third part, the authors provide a synthesis of current paleoenvironmental evidence for the Balkans. Chapters summarize and systematize the available human fossil evidence, examine their context, and place them within the framework of our understanding of human evolution in Europe and beyond, as well as present new analyses of existing human fossils. This book will be of interest to professionals, upper undergraduate and graduate students in paleoanthropology, human paleontology and paleolithic archaeology and in a variety of related fields, including human variation and adaptation, paleontology and biogeography. It will also be appropriate as a reference book for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on human evolution and European paleoanthropology.

It has been said of the Mesolithic that this period heralded an increase in incidents of violence and warfare. These nine papers aim to evaluate whether such a statement holds any credence through a series of wide-ranging case studes: Portugal, Switzerland, the Ukraine, Uruguay, Serbia and Romania, Morocco and China. The first three chapters look at the question more generally and assess various forensic and osteological methods of recognising and interpreting violence. The contributors look at how organised violence amd warefare are recognised in the Mesolithic, and questions whether contact with more sedentary farming communities was a catalyst or cause of violence during this time.

The excavation of shell middens and mounds is an important source of information regarding past human diet, settlement, technology, and paleoenvironments. The contributors to this book introduce new ways to study shell-matrix sites, ranging from the geochemical analysis of shellfish to the interpretation of human remains buried within. Drawing upon examples from around the world, this is one of the only books to offer a global perspective on the archaeology of shell-matrix sites.

"A substantial contribution to the literature on the subject and . . . essential reading for archaeologists and others who work on this type of site."--Barbara Voorhies, University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Coastal Collectors in the Holocene: The Chantuto People of Southwest Mexico