Silvana Condemi is an anthropologist who studied at the Universities of Paris VI and Bordeaux (France).  She is currently Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in the laboratory of Anthropology at the University of Marseille, where she directs the unit of paleoanthropology. She has specialized in Pleistocene human evolution, in particular concerning the origin and evolution of Neanderthals and on the emergence of modern humans. She conducts field work in the Middle East and Europe. Her research focuses on interpretation of the archeological record, on patterns of human anatomical variation, the relationship between genetics and environment, ecogeographical patterning and, more recently, collaboration on ancient DNA analysis and modelling of Neanderthal populations.

Gerd-Christian Weniger is a palaeolithic archaeologist with special interest in human cultural and biological evolution during the Upper Pleistocene in Europe and the Near East. Since 1991 he is professor of Prehistory at the University of Cologne and since 1996 he is director of the Neanderthal Museum. His current research includes the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe. As director of the Neanderthal Museum he is engaged in various research projects including field work in the Western Mediterranean and directing NESPOS an interactive online database on the archaeology and anthropology of Neanderthals.

1. The Genus Homo:  Origin, Speciation and Dispersal

Winfried Henke and Thorolf Hardt

2.  Before the Neanderthals:  Hominid Evolution in Middle Pleistocene Europe

Ian Tattersall

3.  The Earliest European Human Peopling after the Recent Discoveries:  Early Neanderthals or Different Lineages?

Francesco Mallegni

4.  The Gran Dolina-TD6 Human Fossil Remains and the Origin of Neanderthals

Juan  Maria Bermudez de Castro, M. Martinon-Torres, A. Gomez-Robles, A. Margvelashvili, J.L. Arsuaga, J.M. Carretero, I. Martinez & S. Sarmiento

5.  The Hominid Fossils from China Contemporaneous with the Neanderthals and Some Related Studies

Wu Liu and Xiujie Wu

6.  Behavioral and Cultural Origins of Neanderthals:  A Levantine Perspective

Naama Goren-Inbar

7.  Discontinuities in the Faunal Assemblages and Early Human Populations of Central and Western Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene

Wighart von Koenigswald

8.  Neanderthal Geographical and Chronological Variation

Bernard Vandermeersch and Maria- Dolores Garralda

9.  A Preliminary Approach to the Neanderthal Speciation by Distance Hypothesis: a View from the Shoulder Complex

Jean-Luc Voisin

10.  Facts and Ideas in Paleolithic Growth Studies (Paleoauxology). Evidence from Neanderthals in Europe.     

Anne-Marie Tillier

11.  Dental Development and Age at Death of a Middle Paleolithic Juvenile Hominin from Obi-Rakhmat Grotto, Uzbekistan

Tanya M. Smith, D. J. Reid, A.J. Olejniczak, S. Bailey, M. Glantz, B. Viola and J.-J.Hublin

12.  Computerized Reconstruction of Prenatal Growth Trajectories in the Dentition: Implications for the Taxonomic Status of Neandertals

Patricia Smith, Gal Avishai, Ralph Müller and Yankel Gabet

13.  Endostructural Characterisation of the Regourdou 1 Neanderthal Proximal Arm:  Bilateral Asymmetry and Handedness

Virginie Volpato, Christine Couture, Roberto Macchiarelli and  Bernard Vandermeersch

14.  A Three-dimensional Look at the Neanderthal Mandible

Katerina Harvati, Nandini  Singh and Elisa Nicholson López

 15.   Integration and Homology of "Chignon" and "Hemibun" Morphology

Philipp Günz and Katerina Harvati

16. Virtual Synthesis of the Skull in Neanderthals by FESS

Ulrich Witzel

17. Neandertal mtDNA from a Late Pleistocene Human Mandible from the Cova del Gegant  (Spain)

Juan Luis Arsuaga, R. Quam, J. Daura, M. Sanz, M.E. Subira, L. Dalen and A. Götherstrom

18. Towards Neanderthal Paleogenomics

David Caramelli, Lucio Milani, Roscoe Stanyon and Carles Lalueza Fox

19. Twelve Years of Neandertal Genetic Discoveries : State-of-the-art and Future Challenges

Ludovic Orlando and Catherine Hänni

20.  Radiocarbon Dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition: the Demise of the Last Neanderthals and the First Appearance of Anatomically Modern Humans in Europe

Olaf Jöris, Martin Street, Thomas Terberger and Bernhard Weninger

21.  Archaeological, Paleontological and Genomic Perspectives on Late European Neandertals at Vindija Cave, Croatia

Ivor Jankovic, Ivor Karavanic, James C. M. Ahern, Dejana Brajkovic, Jadranka Mauch, Lenardic and  Fred H. Smith

22.  Late Neandertals and Early Modern Humans in Europe: Population Dynamics and Paleobiology

Erik Trinkaus

23. Aliens from Outer Time? Why the "Human Revolution" Is Wrong, and Where Do We Go from Here?

João Zilhão

24. Neandertals and the Roots of Human Recency

Milford H. Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari

25. Epilogue

Since the Western world first became aware of the existence of Neanderthals, this Pleistocene human has been a regular focus of interest among specialists and also among the general public. In fact, we know far more about Neanderthals than we do about any other extinct human population. Furthermore, over the past 150 years no other palaeospecies has been such a constant source of discussion and fierce debate among palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists. This book presents the status of our knowledge as well as the methods and techniques used to study this extinct population and it suggests perspectives for future research.