This is the longest chapter in the book. It covers both Homo neanderthalensis andthe emergence of Homo sapiens. We focus in this chapter on the modern human diaspora, originating in Africa and spreading to all the continents except Antarctica by the end of the Pleistocene. You may want to discuss the peopling of the New World elsewhere in an introduction to the archaeology of the Americas. We cover the first Americans here because we view the subject in terms of the general expansion of Homo sapiens, rather than a particular question of the Americas. You may want to separate Neanderthals in this section or discuss them earlier in the context of human evolution during the Pleistocene and their isolation in Europe. We find the interplay between Neanderthals and modern humans in Europe and the Near East to be a particularly informative part of the archaeological record.

The evolution of Homo sapiens is the most important development of the later Pleistocene. From both genetic and fossil evidence, it seems very likely that fully modern humans appeared initially in Africa, sometime before 100,000 years ago. These expanding groups of modern humans created a number of remarkable innovations in human culture. Human culture, in fact, changed more during the period after 50,000 years ago than it had during the previous several million years.

The earliest fully modern humans have been found in South Africa, for example at the Klasies River Mouth Caves around 100,000 years ago. Europe and western Asia at this time were occupied by another, specialized form known as Homo neanderthalensis (or Homosapiens neanderthalensis). Conventional wisdom today generally regards the Neanderthals as a rather specialized form that evolved from Homo erectus in the colder, more isolated areas of Europe sometime before 200,000 years ago. Beginning around 70,000 years ago, fully modern humans replaced Neanderthals in western Asia and then in Europe by 35,000 years ago.

This chapter tells the story of the Neanderthals and of the appearance, expansion, and spread of Homo sapiens to virtually all parts of the world, as evidenced at sites such as Klasies River Mouth in South Africa, the Neander Valley in Germany, Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic, and Lascaux and Pincevent in France. The evidence from Lake Mungo in Australia, and from Monte Verde, Lindenmeier, and Kennewick in the Americas, documents the movement of humans to Australia and the New World during the last 40,000 years. The Kennewick controversy is discussed in part as evidence for the peopling of the New World and in part to introduce questions about ethics and responsibility in archaeology.

To help tell this story, a number of different issues are discussed in text blocks including the origins of language, art, symbols, and notation. Archaeological methods involving ancient DNA and radiocarbon dating are also described. Major questions concerning the fate of the Neanderthals and Pleistocene extinctions are also components of this chapter.