This volume is based on the symposium on controversies in 'Homo sapiens evolution' in Zagreb. It examines the competing models for modern human origins within the framework of present-day knowledge in the areas of human paleontology, paleolithic archaeology, and molecular genetics.1. Defining modern humans: A multivariate approach 2. The persistence of Neanderthal features in post-Neanderthal Europeans 3. Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island of Crete 4. The evolution of Homo sapiens as indicated by features of the postcranium 5. Paleolithic archaeology, ancient behavior, and the transition to modern Homo 6. Neanderthal cognition and the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition 7. Social transformations at the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition: The implications of the European record 8. Middle Palaeolithic chronology and the transition to the Upper Palaeolithic in southwest Asia 9. The origin of anatomically modern humans in east Asia 10. The human colonisation of the Australian continent