The authors shed new light on the time frame and pathways followed by Homo sapiens on its
journey from Africa to Europe and provides new insights into the intricate interplay of culture
and environment during the past 200 000 years. The new findings also take into account the
paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental history of East North-East and North-West Africa the
Middle East South-East and Central Europe as well as the Iberian Peninsula. The book is a
compilation of the key results of a multidisciplinary research project (CRC 806 funded by the
German Research Foundation DFG) which studied the dispersal of anatomical modern humans from
Africa to Europe. The findings presented here are based on a wealth of new data of recent
intensive studies of archaeological sites lake sediments and Loess archives which were dated
using radiocarbon luminescence Uranium Thorium and paleomagnetic methods. Models based on
recent ethnological findings from Africa sharpen our understanding of the possible mixing of
societies in the past. Moreover complex algorithms such as the Human Dispersal Model” which
describes the expansion of hunter-gatherer societies and population development are presented
for South-Eastern to Central Europe between 45 000 and 25 000 years ago. Last but not least
educational theories teaching material and an Open Educational Resource are presented to
facilitate the integration of the results from CRC 806 into school-class lectures and to foster
competencies in argumentation and comparison. The data presented in this full-color volume are
a valuable reference for experts in archaeology geosciences anthropology and ethnology
including life-science students and academics. The book may be used as a textbook for graduate
and undergraduate students for interested school teachers and the public. It should be
attractive and relevant to all readers interested in understanding the pre-history of our own
species their migration routes and motivation to migrate triggered by complex interactions of
their culture and environment.
