The earliest occupation of Europe: the environmental background

The aim of this contribution is to examine some of the environmental issues surrounding the earliest occupation of Europe. The evidence presented both in this volume and at the ESF workshop in Tautavel raised issues about site reconstructions, regional comparisons, the definition of Europe and the impact of different chronological scales for modelling the rate of human evolution and the role of environmental selection. The evidence considered here is oxygen isotope stage 9 and older (>300Kyr), and its archaeology is placed under the Lower Palaeolithic flag of convenience. In this discussion environment is taken to refer to the physical changes to the continent and the effect this had upon plant and animal resources. The social environment of the earliest European hominids is not considered here. However, the colonizing ability of these hominids, which must have involved social factors, is briefly discussed and alternative environmental models are reviewed which explain the timing of colonization