In the past two decades, archaeological research on human evolution in Southeast Asia has flourished exponentially. The recent discovery of a new species of hominin in the Philippines, Homo luzonensis, expands the hominid record of Island Southeast Asia. Together with the previously identified species of H. floresiensis on the island of Flores, there is an increasing diversity in the Late Pleistocene hominin record of Southeast Asia in general. The mosaic of archaic and derived morphological features demonstrated by both H. luzonensis and H. floresiensis and their relatively late survival (until c. 50,000 years ago) in Island Southeast Asia raises several important questions regarding our understanding of hominin evolution, migration, adaptation, colonization and interactions with other human species. Meanwhile, other significant archaeological discoveries and research in Island and Mainland Southeast Asia have suggested an early modern human migration into Island Southeast Asia by 70,000 years ago, the first evidence of a hominin presence on Sulawesi and greater than expected hominin diversity in Indonesia.
This issue aims to bring together scholars working on hominin evolutionary research in island environments across the globe, with the objective of framing a broad range of topics that will advance understanding of hominid adaptation in islands over the coming years. We invite papers that address topics such as hominin migration and adaptation on islands, the effects of insular endemism, hominin interactions and the technological and cognitive abilities of hominins as revealed through island case studies.
