Nicholas J. Conard - Böcker

A number of researchers have tried to characterise the anatomy and behavioural systems of early hominid and early modern human populations in an attempt to understand how we became what we are. Can archaeology, palaeo-anthropology and genetics tell us how and when human cultures developed the traits that make our societies different from those of our closest living relatives? In which cases are these differences substantial, and when do they simply reflect our definitions of culture, species, the image we have of their evolution or of ourselves? From Tools to Symbols, a collection of twenty-seven selected papers from a South African-French conference organised in honour of the well-known palaeo-anthropologist Phillip Tobias, provides a multidisciplinary overview of this field of study. It is based on collaborative research conducted in sub-Saharan Africa by South African, French, American and German scholars in the last twenty years, and represents an excellent synthesis of the palaeontological and archaeological evidence of the last five million years of human evolution.

The first remains of European sabre-toothed cats were discovered in 2012 at Schöningen, in Lower Saxony, Germany, where mankind’s oldest wooden weapons had been found. This volume addresses the various topics surrounding the European sabre-toothed cat, including the circumstances of their extinction, comparisons to extant big cats and their relationship to past humans. Big cats, especially sabre-toothed cats, are for many people the symbol of a dangerous predator. As a result of the discovery of the first remains of European sabre-toothed cats at the approximately 300,000 year old site of Schöningen., a two-day scientific workshop was held in there in 2015, titled »The Homotherium finds from Schöningen 13II-4 and big cats of the Ice Age«. This volume is based on the lectures of this workshop and presents an overview of a topic that is crucial for human development, our coexistence with big cats.

The present book represents one of two volumes which arose from the results of an international congress in honor of the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the famous Neanderthal fossils. It complements the paleontologically orientated volume (edited by G.-C. Weniger and S. Condemi) and has its focus on multiple aspects of archaeological investigation on Neanderthal lifeways. In-depth studies of top-ranking scientists, incorporating a variety of different regions and time frames, provide a detailed and comprehensive survey of contemporary research. Subdivided into five major fields of study -- chronology, subsistence, technology, land use and cultural adaptations among late Neanderthals -- the volume covers a wide range of innovative approaches.

The 150th anniversary of the discovery of the famous Neanderthal fossils gave reason for an international and interdisciplinary symposium in Bonn/Germany. The present book arose from this congress and focuses on multiple aspects of archaeological investigation on Neanderthal lifeways. In-depth studies of top-ranking scientists provide a detailed and comprehensive survey of contemporary research on our Pleistocene relatives. Examinations and debates are embedded in a variety of regions and time frames. Chronology, subsistence, land use, and cultural adaptations among late Neanderthals form the major trajectories of the book. The wide range of approaches involved, leads to an increasing understanding of the facets of and the variability of Neanderthal behavioural patterns. The present volume is complemented by a paleontologically orientated publication of the same congress (edited by Gerd-Christian Weniger and Silvana Condemi).

This volume introduces a model of the expansion of cultural capacity as a systemic approach with biological, historical and individual dimensions. It is contrasted with existing approaches from primatology and behavioural ecology; influential factors like differences in life history and demography are discussed; and the different stages of the development of cultural capacity in human evolution are traced in the archaeological record.   The volume provides a synthetic view on a) the different factors and mechanisms of cultural development, and b) expansions of cultural capacities in human evolution beyond the capacities observed in animal culture so far. It is an important topic because only a volume of contributions from different disciplines can yield the necessary breadth to discuss the complex subject. The model introduced and discussed originates in the naturalist context and tries to open the discussion to some culturalist aspects, thus the publication in a series with archaeological and biological emphasis is apt. As a new development the synthetic model of expansion of cultural capacity is introduced and discussed in a broad perspective. ​