Main description:

Michael P. Richards and Jean-Jacques Hublin The study of hominin diets, and especially how they have (primates, modern humans), (2) faunal and plant studies, (3) evolved throughout time, has long been a core research archaeology and paleoanthropology, and (4) isotopic studies. area in archaeology and paleoanthropology, but it is also This volume therefore presents research articles by most of becoming an important research area in other fields such as these participants that are mainly based on their presentations primatology, nutrition science, and evolutionary medicine. at the symposium. As can hopefully be seen in the volume, Although this is a fundamental research topic, much of the these papers provide important reviews of the current research research continues to be undertaken by specialists and there in these areas, as well as often present new research on dietary is, with some notable exceptions (e. g. , Stanford and Bunn, evolution. 2001; Ungar and Teaford, 2002; Ungar, 2007) relatively lit- In the section on modern studies Hohmann provides a tle interaction with other researchers in other fields. This is review of the diets of non-human primates, including an unfortunate, as recently it has appeared that different lines interesting discussion of the role of food-sharing amongst of evidence are causing similar conclusions about the major these primates. Snodgrass, Leonard, and Roberston provide issues of hominid dietary evolution (i. e.

Feature:

Features new multidisciplinary, integrated approaches to the study of hominid diets

Back cover:

This volume brings together new and important research from the top experts in hominid diets across multiple fields. The objective of the volume is to explore if there is a consensus between the different methods, allowing us to better understand the nature of hominin dietary strategies through time. Contributions focus on modern studies, faunal studies, physical anthropology, archaeological studies, and isotopic studies, all aimed at answering the major questions of the evolution of hominid diets, such as: meat-eating emergence, hunting vs. scavenging, hunting technologies, and resource intensification in later humans.

Contents:

1. The diets of non-human primates: frugivory, food processing, and food sharing. G. Hohmann

2. The Energetics of Encephalization in Early Hominids. J.J. Snodgrass, W.R. Leonard, and M.L. Robertson

3. Meals vs. snacks and the human dentition and diet during the Paleolithic. P. Lucas, Z.Q. Sui, K.Y. Ang, H.T.W. Tan, S.H. King, B. Sadler, and N. Peri

4. Modern human physiology with respect to evolutionary adaptations that relate to diet in the past. S. Lindeberg

5. Hunting and hunting weapons of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Europe. P. Villa and M. Lenoir

6. Neanderthal and modern human diet in Eastern Europe. J. Hoffecker

7. Hominin subsistence patterns during the Middle and Late Pleistocene in northwestern Europe. S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser and L. Niven

8. Late Pleistocene subsistence strategies and resource intensification in Africa. T.E. Steele and R.G. Klein

9. Seasonal Patterns of Prey Acquisition and Inter-group Competition During the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of the Southern Caucasus. .D. S. Adler and G. Bar-Oz

10. Epipaleolithic subsistence intensification in the southern Levant: the faunal evidence. N. Munro

11. Paleolithic diet and the division of labor in Mediterranean Eurasia. M.C. Stiner and S.L. Kuhn

12. Moving north: archaeobotanical evidence for plant diet in Middle and Upper Paleolithic Europe. M. Jones

13. Diet in early hominin species: a paleoenvironmental perspective. Z. Alemseged and R. Bobe

14. The Impact of Projectile Weaponry on Late Pleistocene Hominin Evolution. J.J. Shea

15. The evolution of the human capacity for 'killing at a distance'. S.E. Churchill and J.A. Rhodes

16. An energetics perspective on the Neandertal record. K. Macdonald, W. Roebroeks, and A. Verpoorte

17. d13C valuesreflect aspects of primate ecology in addition to diet. M.J. Schoeninger

18. Increased Dietary Breadth in Early Hominin Evolution: Revisiting Arguments and Evidence with a Focus on Biogeochemical Contributions. M. Sponheimer and D.L. Dufour

19. Neanderthal dietary habits: Review of the isotopic evidence. H. Bocherens

20. Stable isotope evidence for European Upper Paleolithic human diets. M.P. Richards