Location of sites so far discussed in the podcast. Note the over-representation of the Levant in the archaeological record, and the complete or near-complete lack of sites in Central Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran. Also depicted are hypothetical mi… — Location of sites so far discussed in the podcast. Note the over-representation of the Levant in the archaeological record, and the complete or near-complete lack of sites in Central Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran. Also depicted are hypothetical migration routes taken by hominins out of Africa, across the Sinai, and into Asia. The dotted lines represent a possible secondary entry point in southern Arabia across the Bab el-Mandeb.

After three episodes stuck inside just two Near Eastern sites, we’re finally getting a look at what’s been going on in the rest of the region, Anatolia to Iran, the Caucasus to Arabia. Don’t get too comfortable though, because once we see what the Near Eastern Quaternary looked like, climate change will return to tear it all down.

Anatolian Plateau near the southeastern Taurus Mountains. This provides some idea of the landscape hominins needed to cross in order to reach western Anatolia at Kocabaş or the Gediz River, or to reach Europe. Remember that this is what it looks lik… — Anatolian Plateau near the southeastern Taurus Mountains. This provides some idea of the landscape hominins needed to cross in order to reach western Anatolia at Kocabaş or the Gediz River, or to reach Europe. Remember that this is what it looks like during an interglacial period. (Credit: Son Kahraman; Source Link)

Quartz chopper collected from the northeastern Iranian site of Kashafrud. (Credit: National Museum of Iran; Source Link)

Sources

Books

Ayala, F. J., & Conde, C. J. C. (2017). Processes in Human Evolution: The Journey from Early Hominins to Neanderthals and Modern Humans. Oxford University Press.
Dennell, R. (2008). The Paleolithic Settlement of Asia. Cambridge University Press.
Enzel, Y., & Bar-Yosef, O. (Eds.). (2017). Quaternary of the Levant: Environments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge University Press.
Harvati, K., & Roksandic, M. (Eds.). (2017). Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human Evolution and Its Context. Springer.
Herrera, R. J., & Garcia-Bertrand, R. (2018). Ancestral DNA, Human Origins, and Migrations. Elsevier Academic Press.
Matthews, R. (2000). The Early Prehistory of Mesopotamia, 500,000 to 4,500 BC. (Subartu V) (pp. 1-149). Brepols.
Potts, D. T. (Ed.). (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford University Press.
Sagona, A., & Zimansky, P. (2015). Ancient Turkey. Routledge.
Shea, J. J. (2013). Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East: A Guide. Cambridge University Press.
Shea, J. J. (2016). Stone Tools in Human Evolution: Behavioral Differences among Technological Primates. Cambridge University Press.
Wenke, R. J., & Olszewski, D. (2006). Patterns in Prehistory: Humankind's First Three Million Years. New York: Oxford University Press.

Research Papers

Bar-Yosef, O. (1992). The role of western Asia in modern human origins. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 337(1280), 193-200.
Bar-Yosef, O., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (2001). From Africa to Eurasia—early dispersals. Quaternary International, 75(1), 19-28.
Bar-Yosef, O., & Belmaker, M. (2011). Early and Middle Pleistocene faunal and hominins dispersals through Southwestern Asia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(11-12), 1318-1337.
Biglari, F., & Shidrang, S. (2006). The lower paleolithic occupation of Iran. Near Eastern Archaeology, 69(3-4), 160-168.
Bridgland, D. R., Westaway, R., Romieh, M. A., Candy, I., Daoud, M., Demir, T., ... & White, T. S. (2012). The River Orontes in Syria and Turkey: downstream variation of fluvial archives in different crustal blocks. Geomorphology, 165, 25-49.
de Castro, J. M. B., & Martinón-Torres, M. (2013). A new model for the evolution of the human Pleistocene populations of Europe. Quaternary International, 295, 102-112.
Chalk, T. B., Hain, M. P., Foster, G. L., Rohling, E. J., Sexton, P. F., Badger, M. P., ... & Martínez-García, A. (2017). Causes of ice age intensification across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(50), 13114-13119.
Dodonov, A. E., Deviatkin, E. V., Ranov, V. A., & Khatib, K. (1993). Latamne formation in the Orontes river valley. BAR International Series, 687, 189-189.
Ehrlich, R. (2007). Solar resonant diffusion waves as a driver of terrestrial climate change. Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics, 69(7), 759-766.
Guipert, G., Vialet, A., & Alcicek, M. C. (2011, January). The Homo erectus from Kocabas in Turkey and the first settlements in Eurasia. In American Journal of Physical Anthropology (Vol. 144, pp. 151-151).
Güleç, E., Howell, F. C., & White, T. D. (1999). Dursunlu-A new lower Pleistocene faunal and artifact-bearing locality in southern Anatolia. Hominid evolution: lifestyle and survival strategies. Edition Archea, Berlin, 349-364.
Maddy, D., Schreve, D., Demir, T., Veldkamp, A., Wijbrans, J. R., Van Gorp, W., ... & Stemerdink, C. (2015). The earliest securely-dated hominin artefact in Anatolia?. Quaternary science reviews, 109, 68-75.
Petraglia, M. D. (2003). The Lower Paleolithic of the Arabian Peninsula: occupations, adaptations, and dispersals. Journal of World Prehistory, 17(2), 141-179.
Tappen, M., Adler, D. S., Ferring, C. R., Gabunia, M., Vekua, A., & Swisher III, C. C. (2002). Akhalkalaki: the taphonomy of an Early Pleistocene locality in the Republic of Georgia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29(12), 1367-1391.
Willeit, M., Ganopolski, A., Calov, R., & Brovkin, V. (2019). Mid-Pleistocene transition in glacial cycles explained by declining CO2 and regolith removal. Science Advances, 5(4), eaav7337.
Zaidner, Y. (2003). The use of raw material at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Bizat Ruhama, Israel. BAR International Series, 1115, 121-132.
Zaidner, Y. (2003). The lithic assemblage of Bizat Ruhama: Lower Paleolithic site in southern coastal plain, Israel (Doctoral dissertation, MA dissertation, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel).