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Prehistoric Asia

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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 Eurasian 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, Indian, and Arctic Oceans.[1] This article gives an overview of the many regions of Asia during prehistoric times.

Caucasus

This skull of Homo erectus georgicus from Dmanisi in modern 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 and the 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 Eurasian landmass.[2][3]

Near East

The Near East is a 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.[4]

East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical[5] or cultural[6] terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi), 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 (Yunnan province in southwest China) have been dated to 1.7 Ma, whereas stone tools from the Nihewan Basin (Hebei province in northern China) are 1.66 million years old.[7]

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.[8] The region lies on the intersection of 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.[9]

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.[10] Remains found in Mojokerto have been dated to 1.49 Ma.[11]

South Asia

South Asia is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, 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 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 West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.

The Riwat site in modern-day Pakistan contains a few artifacts – a core and two flakes – that might date human activity there to 1.9 million years ago, but these dates are still controversial.[12]

Central Asia

Central Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to 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 'stans" (as the six countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan", meaning "land of")[13] and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.

The Far East and Siberia

Far East is an English term (with equivalents in various other languages of Europe and Asia) mostly describing East Asia (including Northeast Asia), Southeast Asia, and the Russian Far East (part of North Asia, aka Siberia)[14] with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.[15]

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

See also

References

  1. ^ "Asia". eb.com, Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2006. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  2. ^ Rightmire & Lordkipanidze 2010, p. 242.
  3. ^ Dennell 2010, pp. 247–48, 266.
  4. ^ Tchernov 1987.
  5. ^ East Asia. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. Retrieved 2008-01-12. the countries, territories, and regions of China, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, and Taiwan. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Introduction to Classical Japan and Classical Korea, Columbia University, archived from the original on 2012-05-25, 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.
  7. ^ Rightmire & Lordkipanidze 2010, p. 241.
  8. ^ Klaus Kästle (September 10, 2013). "Map of Southeast Asia Region". Nations Online Project. One World – Nations Online. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  9. ^ "World Macro Regions and Components". The United Nations. Retrieved September 13, 2009.[dead link]
  10. ^ Swisher 1994; 2010, p. 123; Dennell 2010, p. 262.
  11. ^ Dennell 2010, p. 266, citing Morwood 2003.
  12. ^ Dennell 2007, pp. 41 and 55–58.
  13. ^ Paul McFedries (2001-10-25). "stans". Word Spy. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  14. ^ Far East, AskOxford, archived from the original on 2007-09-29
  15. ^ The 'Far Eastern Economic Review' for example covers news from India and Sri Lanka.[dead link]

Works cited

  • Dennell, Robin (2007), "'Resource-rich, stone-poor': Early hominin land use in large river systems of Northern India and Pakistan", in Michael D. Petraglia and Bridget Allchin (eds) (ed.), The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia: Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 41–68, ISBN 978-1-4020-5561-4 {{citation}}: |editor= has generic name (help).
  • Dennell, Robin (2010), "'Out of Africa I': Current Problems and Future Prospects", in John G. Fleagle et al. (eds) (ed.), Out of Africa I: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 247–74, ISBN 978-90-481-9036-2 {{citation}}: |editor= has generic name (help).
  • Morwood, M. J. (2003), "Revised age for Mojokerto 1, an early Homo erectus cranium from East Java, Indonesia", Australian Archaeology, 57: 1–4 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help).
  • Rightmire, G. Philip; Lordkipanidze, David (2010), "Fossil Skulls from Dmanisi: A Paleodeme Representing Early Homo in Asia", in John G. Fleagle et al. (eds) (ed.), Out of Africa I: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 225–44, ISBN 978-90-481-9036-2 {{citation}}: |editor= has generic name (help).
  • Swisher, C. C. (1994), "Age of the earliest known hominin in Java, Indonesia", Science, 263: 1118–21 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help).
  • Tchernov, E. (1987), "The age of the 'Ubeidiya Formation, and Early Pleistocene hominid site in the Jordan River Valley, Israel", Israel J. Earth Sci., 36: 3–30.


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