he Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) has just published the book, “Proceedings of the II Meeting of African Prehistory”, edited by Mohamed Sahnouni, Sileshi Semaw y Joseba Rios Garaizar, which is a result of the successful conference organized by CENIEH on the 15-16 April, 2015 in Burgos.

Prominent scientists in the field of Paleoanthropology from several countries in Europe and Africa participated, including well-renowned figures such as Professor Ronald Clarke (Witwatersrand University), who has been intimately involved with the Leakeys on the reconstruction and description of Homo habilis, the handy man.  Ronald Clarke, Chris Stringer from the British Museum, and Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid were among the keynote speakers at the conference.

This book encompasses a vast time period in human evolution in East, North and South Africa, covering important time intervals in human evolution from Early to Late Pleistocene, going up to the beginning of complex societies in the Holocene.

More than 60 scientists coauthored 19 chapters dealing with a vast array of topics beginning with “Homo habilis” including taphonomy of the earliest archaeological sites in Africa. The chapters also include technical as well as theoretical issues in Paleoanthropology dealing with understanding of site distributions over ancient landscapes at early Pleistocene sites, funerary practices and preservation of rock art sites. This is the first in a series of volumes to be published by CENIEH.