The world at 18,000 BP, published by Gamble and Soffer (The world at 18,000 BP. Vol. 2: low latitude, Unwin Hyman, 1990), represents the first, and so far the only, attempt at characterising and discussing the impact of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) on human societies on a global scale. At the time, they highlighted that research and data on the LGM in southern latitudes and the tropics in particular were scant. Since 1990, however, many sites dated to the LGM and located in tropical latitudes have been published. Many paradigms have changed regarding the peopling of the Americas, which allows the archaeology of this continent to be integrated into global scale studies of the LGM. The development of Pleistocene archaeology in tropical contexts, in parallel with methodological advances in cultural, geosciences and palaeoenvironmental studies have strongly reshaped what we know of the antiquity of human occupation in tropical regions and specific human–environment interactions. This article provides for the first time a pan-tropical perspective on the impact of the LGM on human groups living within the tropical latitudes, drawing from case studies in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America, specifically regions which have up until now never been discussed together. To this end, we focus on six different tropical regions between 30 and 10 ka. We present the archaeological and paleoenvironmental data available in these areas, along with proposed relationships for variations in these two records. Finally, we discuss at the regional scale the presence or absence of human changes (site density and techno-cultural change or continuity) before, during and immediately after the LGM.Introduction What are the Tropics? Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum in the Tropics: Some Consequences for the Preservation of Pleistocene Archaeological Sites A Qualitative Approach to Track the Last Glacial Maximum in the Tropics Regional Overviews West Africa (c. 6 million km2) Archaeological Assemblages Dated to the Period 30–10 ka Palaeoenvironmental Data for the Period 30–10 ka Human–Environment Interactions in the Period 30–10 ka in West Africa Central Africa (Congo Basin: c. 3.8 Million km2) Cultural Diversification in Central Africa from c. 40 ka Asynchronous Environmental Changes During the Last Glacial Maximum Across Central Africa Horn of Africa (c. 1.8 million km2) Site Distribution in Light of Regional Environmental Diversity Human–Environment Interaction at the Local Scale Discussion Mainland Southeast Asia (c. 2.5 million km2) The Example of One Cave in Cambodia: Laang Spean Regional Human–Environment Interactions Around the Last Glacial Maximum in Mainland Southeast Asia Insular Southeast Asia (c. 2 million km2) Significance of Song Terus Cave (Central Java, Indonesia) Ambarawa Significance of Tabon Cave (Palawan Island, the Philippines) Discussion Central Brazil (c. 2 million km2) Focus on the Stratigraphic Sequence of Santa Elina Discussion Different Types of Last Glacial Maximum Archaeological Data in the Tropics A Changing Environment at the Last Glacial Maximum in the Tropics? Low Sea Levels and Palaeolandscapes of Continental Shelves in the Tropics at the Last Glacial Maximum Site Distribution over the Period 30–10 ka Cultural Changes over the Period 30–10 ka Some Conclusion
