Overview

Abstract

A brief background to the study of human evolution in the Quaternary is provided to set the context for the other papers in this section. Some of the advances of the last 50 years are examined. The contribution concentrates on adaptive radiations and the issues of speciation, extinction, and climate change. Social and environmental reasons for the population dispersals and diasporas during the Quaternary are explored and the importance in the Upper Pleistocene of the human revolution assessed.