Introduction Pleistocene polyphony: the diversity of human adaptations at the Last Glacial Maximum

Investigating the global record at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 18000 years ago, is an exercise in a new approach to world prehistory. Our aim in these volumes is to show that it is appropriate and possible to assemble archaeological data on a global scale. The purpose of compiling such a record is to examine long-term human adaptation to a climatic minimum and investigate the trajectories of change among later prehistoric hunter-and-gatherer societies.