Homo erectus: Pleistocene Evidence from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia
Gilbert WH & Asfaw B (eds.). 2008. Homo erectus: Pleistocene Evidence from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. University of California Press. 458 pp. ISBN 978-0-520-25120-5.
Contributors:
Asfaw B, Ambrose SH, Bernor RL, Boisserie J-R, Frost S, Garcia N, Gilbert WH, Hart WK, Holloway RL, Howell FC, Kono R, Kubo D, Renne PR, Richards GD, Saegusa H, Stidham T, Suwa G, WoldeGabriel G.
Description:
This book is the first in The Middle Awash Series (editor Tim White), with intended later editions focusing on Ardipithecus kadabba (recently published), A. ramidus, Homo sapiens idaltu, and possibly other topics. WH Gilbert’s PhD thesis (UC Berkeley) formed the basic template for this work, which was then expanded with additional contributions from others, resulting in essentially a collaborative monograph with primary input from Gilbert. The volume opens with two introductory chapters, the first providing an overview of the history of and approaches to fieldwork in the Daka Member of the Bouri Formation, and the second providing geological and geochronological context. The chapters that follow (3-11) provide descriptions, photos, raw data, and analyses for fossil finds belonging to the following major mammalian groups: Bovidae, Carnivora, Cercopithecidae, Equidae, Giraffidae, Hippopotamidae, Elephantidae, Rhinocerotidae, Suidae. This is followed by a brief accounting of the rare taxa (bird, murine rodents, catfish). Chapters 13-16 focus on the hominin remains, including detailed descriptions, measurements, and quantitative analyses of the well-preserved Homo erectus calvaria and postcranial remains, and cladistic analyses and consideration of Homo erectus systematics more broadly. The volume concludes with a consideration of ecological and biogeographic context, and discussion of the possible evolutionary insights that can be gleaned from the Daka Member. The bulk of the material presented in this volume has not been presented elsewhere (excepting brief announcements/reports in high-impact journals), and as such this volume is an important resource for the field of paleoanthropology and all researchers interested in the Pleistocene mammals of eastern Africa.
