>> It might just be me, but it seems that your analysis is a little
>> naive. Though I am not familiar with the genesis of the
>> multiregional hypothesis, it seems probable to me that it originated
>> as a response to problems with the "Out of Africa" theory. If the
>> multiregional hypothesis is falsified, then the problems which it
>> originated to explain remain unsolved.
Not really. What would now be called the multiregional hypothesis
originated with Franz Weidenreich in the 1940s (I forget what, if
anything, he called it). Carleton Coon was a supporter in the 1960s,
and today it's Milford Wolpoff and Alan Thorne's baby. It's always been
fairly unpopular, as far as I can tell.
The evidence in favor of it is regional characteristics which supposedly
can tracked from H. erectus to H. sapiens populations in different parts
of the world. Most people find this evidence tenuous, so the problems
solved by the multiregional hypothesis are fairly unproblematic in most
people's opinion.
There was a Scientific American issue, early 1991 I think, which had
pro- and con- articles on multiregionalism, for anyone who wants more
info. I can find the exact date if anyone's interested. "The
Neandertals", by Trinkaus and Shipman, also discusses it.
-- Jim Foley Symbios Logic, Fort Collins, COJim.Foley@symbios.com (303) 223-5100 x9765 I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. -- Edmund Blackadder