Prehistoric Asia: Difference between revisions

[[File:Asia (orthographic projection).svg|thumb|right|200px|alt=Image of the globe with Asia centered and highlighted|The boundaries of [[Asia]] within [[Eurasia]] are culturally determined; Asia is generally described as the eastern portions of the landmass.]]

'''Prehistoric Asia''' refers to events in [[Asia]] during the period of human existence prior to the invention of [[writing systems]] or the documentation of [[recorded history]]. This includes portions of the [[Eurasia]]n land mass currently or traditionally considered as the [[continent]] of Asia. The continent is commonly described as the region east of the [[Ural Mountains]], the [[Caucasus Mountains]], the [[Caspian Sea]] and [[Black Sea]], bounded by the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]], [[Indian Ocean|Indian]], and [[Arctic Ocean]]s.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia | title=Asia | url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110518/Asia | encyclopedia=eb.com, [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] | year=2006 | location=Chicago | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |accessdate=2014-03-07}}</ref> This article gives an overview of the many regions of Asia during prehistoric times.

==Caucasus==

[[File:Homo_Georgicus_IMG_2921.JPG|thumb|200px|This skull of ''[[Homo erectus georgicus]]'' from [[Dmanisi]] in modern [[Republic of Georgia|Georgia]] ([[Caucasus]]) is the earliest evidence for the presence of early humans outside the African continent.]]

The [[Caucasus]] is a region at the border of [[Europe]] and [[Asia]], situated between the [[Black Sea|Black]] and the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] seas. It is home to the [[Caucasus Mountains]], which contain Europe's highest mountain, [[Mount Elbrus]]. The southern part of the Caucasus consists of independent sovereign states, whereas the northern parts are under the jurisdiction of the [[Russian Federation]].

The earliest human fossils found in Asia are skulls and mandibles of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' ("upright man") from [[Dmanisi]] (modern [[Republic of Georgia]]). They are approximately 1.75 Ma ([[Megaannum]], or million years) old. Archaeologists have named these fossils ''[[Homo erectus georgicus]]''. This find has made archaeologists questions the long accepted theory that ''Homo erectus'' came out of Africa and spread into Asia. It is now possible that ''Homo erectus'' evolved in Southwest Asia (perhaps in the Caucasus) and from there moved back to Africa and to other parts of the [[Eurasia|Eurasian landmass]].{{sfn|Rightmire|Lordkipanidze|2010|p=242}}{{sfn|Dennell|2010|pp=247–48, 266}}

* [[Prehistoric Armenia]] – The [[Armenian Highland]] shows traces of settlement from the [[Neolithic]] era. The [[Shulaveri-Shomu culture]] of the central [[South Caucasus|Transcaucasus]] region is one of the earliest known prehistoric culture in the area, carbon-dated to roughly 6000–4000 BC. Another early culture in the area is the [[Kura-Araxes culture]], assigned to the period of ca. 3300–2000 BC, succeeded by the Georgian [[Trialeti culture]] (ca. 3000–1500 BC).

* [[Prehistoric Georgia]] – The prehistory of Georgia is the period between the first human habitation of the territory of modern-day nation of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and the time when [[Assyria]]n and [[Urartu|Urartian]], and more firmly, the [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] accounts, brought the proto-Georgian tribes into the scope of recorded history.

==Near East==

The [[Near East]] is a [[Geography|geographical]] term that roughly encompasses [[Western Asia]]. Despite having varying definitions within different academic circles, the term was originally applied to the maximum extent of the [[Ottoman Empire]], but has since been gradually replaced by the term [[Middle East]]. The region is sometimes called the [[Levant]].

At 1.4 million years, [[Ubeidiya]] in the northern [[Jordan River Valley]] is the earliest ''Homo erectus'' site in the [[Levant]].{{sfn|Tchernov|1987}}

* [[Prehistory of the Southern Levant]]

* [[Prehistory of Iran]]

==East Asia==

[[East Asia]] is a [[subregion]] of [[Asia]] that can be defined in either [[Geography|geographical]]<ref name=encarta-east-asia>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861672714/East_Asia.html|title= East Asia|accessdate=2008-01-12|work= encarta|publisher= Microsoft|quote= the countries, territories, and regions of [[China]], [[Mongolia]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Japan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], [[Macau]], and [[Taiwan]].|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kwbU9Hqq|archivedate=2009-10-31|deadurl=yes}}</ref> or [[cultural]]<ref name=easia-columbia>{{citation |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525065013/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/webcourse/key_points/kp_5.htm |archivedate=2012-05-25|url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/webcourse/key_points/kp_5.htm|publisher=Columbia University|title=Introduction to Classical Japan and Classical Korea|quote=The East Asian cultural sphere evolves when Japan, Korea, and what is today Vietnam all share adapted elements of Chinese civilization of this period (that of the Tang dynasty), in particular Buddhism, Confucian social and political values, and literary Chinese and its writing system.}}</ref> terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it covers about {{convert|12000000|km2|abbr=on}}, or about 28% of the Asian [[continent]], about 15% bigger than the area of [[Europe]].

The earliest traces of early humans (''Homo erectus'') in East Asia have been found in China. Fossilized remains from [[Yuanmou Man|Yuanmou]] ([[Yunnan]] province in southwest China) have been dated to 1.7 Ma, whereas stone tools from the [[Xiaochangliang|Nihewan Basin]] ([[Hebei]] province in northern China) are 1.66 million years old.{{sfn|Rightmire|Lordkipanidze|2010|p=241}}

* [[Prehistoric China]]

** [[List of Paleolithic sites in China]]

** [[List of Neolithic cultures of China]]

** [[List of Chalcolithic cultures of China]]

** [[List of Bronze Age sites in China]]

** [[Chinese Bronze Age]]

** The [[Prehistory of Taiwan]] ended with the arrival of the [[Dutch East India Company]] in 1624, and is known from archaeological finds throughout the island. The earliest evidence of human habitation dates back 20,000 to 30,000 years, when the Taiwan Strait was exposed by lower sea levels as a land bridge. Around 5,000 years ago farmers from mainland China settled on the island. These people are believed to have been speakers of [[Austronesian languages]], which dispersed from Taiwan across the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The current [[Taiwanese aborigines]] are believed to be their descendants.

** [[Prehistory of Tibet]]

** [[Prehistory of Xinjiang]]

* [[Prehistoric Korea]] is the era of human existence in the [[Korean Peninsula]] for which written records did not exist. It, however, constitutes the greatest segment of the Korean past and is the major object of study in the disciplines of [[archaeology]], [[geology]], and [[palaeontology]].

* [[Prehistoric Japan]]

** [[Japanese Paleolithic]]

** [[Jōmon]]

* [[East Asian Bronze Age]]

==Southeast Asia==

[[Southeast Asia]] is a [[subregion]] of [[Asia]], consisting of the countries that are geographically south of [[China]], east of [[India]], west of [[New Guinea]] and north of [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map_of_southeast_asia.htm

|title= Map of Southeast Asia Region|author= Klaus Kästle|date= September 10, 2013|website= Nations Online Project|publisher= One World – Nations Online|accessdate= September 10, 2013}}</ref> The region lies on the intersection of [[plate tectonics|geological plates]], with heavy seismic and volcanic activity. Southeast Asia consists of two geographic regions: (1) [[Mainland Southeast Asia]], also known as [[Indochina]], comprising [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], Myanmar ([[Burma]]), [[Thailand]], and [[Vietnam]]; and (2) [[Maritime Southeast Asia]], comprising [[Brunei]], [[Malaysia]], [[East Timor]], [[Indonesia]], [[Philippines]], and [[Singapore]].<ref name="unitednations1">{{cite web|url=http://www.projetdeloi.info/?REF=HG446|title=World Macro Regions and Components|publisher=The United Nations|accessdate=September 13, 2009}}{{dead link|date=October 2011}}</ref>

The rich [[Sangiran]] Formation in Central [[Java]] (Indonesia) has yielded the earliest evidence of hominin presence in [[Southeast Asia]]. These ''Homo erectus'' fossils date to more than 1.6 Ma.{{sfnm|Swisher|1994||2010|2p=123|Dennell|2010|3p=262}} Remains found in [[Mojokerto]] have been dated to 1.49 Ma.{{sfn|Dennell|2010|p=266, citing {{harvnb|Morwood|2003}}}}

* [[Early history of Burma]]

* [[Prehistory of the Philippines]]

* [[Prehistoric Thailand]]

* [[Early history of Cambodia]]

* [[Prehistoric Malaysia]]

* [[Prehistoric Indonesia]]

==South Asia==

[[South Asia]] is the southern [[region]] of the Asian [[continent]], which comprises the [[Himalayas|sub-Himalayan]] countries and, [[#Definition by South Asian Studies programs|for some authorities]], also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the [[Indian Plate]], which rises [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]] as the [[Indian subcontinent]] south of the Himalayas and the [[Hindu Kush]]. South Asia is bounded on the south by the [[Indian Ocean]] and on land (clockwise, from west) by [[Western Asia|West Asia]], [[Central Asia]], [[East Asia]], and [[Southeast Asia]].

The [[Riwat]] site in modern-day [[Pakistan]] contains a few [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] – a [[lithic core|core]] and two [[lithic flake|flake]]s – that might date human activity there to 1.9 million years ago, but these dates are still controversial.{{sfn|Dennell|2007|pp=41 and 55–58}}

* [[South Asian Stone Age]]

* [[Prehistoric India]]

** [[Prehistoric Tamil Nadu]]

* [[Prehistory of Sri Lanka]]

==Central Asia==

[[Central Asia]] is the core region of the [[Asia]]n [[continent]] and stretches from the [[Caspian Sea]] in the west to [[People's Republic of China|China]] in the east and from [[Afghanistan]] in the south to [[Russia]] in the north. It is also sometimes referred to as Middle Asia, and, colloquially, "the [[-stan|'stans]]" (as the six countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the [[Persian language|Persian]] suffix "-stan", meaning "land of")<ref>{{cite web|author=Paul McFedries |url=http://www.wordspy.com/words/stans.asp |title=stans |publisher=Word Spy |date=2001-10-25 |accessdate=2011-02-16}}</ref> and is within the scope of the wider [[Eurasia]]n continent.

* [[Prehistory of Central Asia]]

==The Far East and Siberia==

[[Far East]] is an [[English language|English]] term (with equivalents in various other [[languages of Europe]] and [[languages of Asia|Asia]]) mostly describing [[East Asia]] (including [[Northeast Asia]]), [[Southeast Asia]], and the [[Russian Far East]] (part of [[North Asia]], aka [[Siberia]])<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/fareast?view=uk |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095944/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/fareast?view=uk |archivedate=2007-09-29 |publisher=AskOxford |title=Far East}}</ref> with [[South Asia]] sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.<ref>[http://www.feer.com/ The 'Far Eastern Economic Review' for example covers news from India and Sri Lanka.]{{dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref>

[[Siberia]] is an extensive geographical [[region]], consisting of almost all of [[North Asia]]. Siberia has been [[Russian conquest of Siberia|part of Russia]] since the seventeenth century.

* [[Prehistoric Siberia]]

{{portal|Asia|History}}

* [[History of Asia]]

* [[List of archaeological sites sorted by continent and age]]

* [[Prehistoric Europe]]

* [[Prehistory]]

:* [[Timeline of human prehistory]]

* [[Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures]]

==References==

{{reflist|2}}

==Works cited==

*{{citation|last=Dennell|first=Robin|year=2007|chapter='Resource-rich, stone-poor': Early hominin land use in large river systems of Northern India and Pakistan|title=The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia: Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics|editor=Michael D. Petraglia and Bridget Allchin (eds)|series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series|pages=41–68|location=Dordrecht|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-5561-4}}.

*{{citation|last=Dennell|first=Robin|year=2010|chapter='Out of Africa I': Current Problems and Future Prospects|title=Out of Africa I: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia|series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series|editor=John G. Fleagle et al. (eds)|location=Dordrecht|pages=247–74|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-90-481-9036-2}}.

*{{citation|last=Morwood|first=M. J.|coauthors=P. O'Sullivan; E. E. Susanto; F. Aziz|year=2003|title=Revised age for Mojokerto 1, an early ''Homo erectus'' cranium from East Java, Indonesia|url=https://www.library.uq.edu.au/ojs/index.php/aa/article/view/526/1690|journal=Australian Archaeology|pages=1–4|volume=57|issue=}}.

*{{citation|last1=Rightmire|first1=G. Philip|last2=Lordkipanidze|first2=David|year=2010|chapter=Fossil Skulls from Dmanisi: A Paleodeme Representing Early ''Homo'' in Asia|title=Out of Africa I: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia|series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series|editor=John G. Fleagle et al. (eds)|location=Dordrecht|pages=225–44|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-90-481-9036-2}}.

*{{citation|last=Swisher|first=C. C.|coauthors=G. H. Curtis; T. Jacob; A. G. Getty; A. Suprijo; Widiasmoro|year=1994|title=Age of the earliest known hominin in Java, Indonesia|journal=Science|pages=1118–21|volume=263|issue=}}.

*{{citation|last=Tchernov|first=E.|title=The age of the 'Ubeidiya Formation, and Early Pleistocene hominid site in the Jordan River Valley, Israel|year=1987|journal=Israel J. Earth Sci.|pages=3–30|volume=36|issue=}}.

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{{Prehistoric Asia}}

[[Category:Prehistoric Asia]]

[[Category:History by continent]]