The organization of the UISPP XVI world congress in FlorianOpolis was the occasion to focus a certain number of themes that are preferably dealt with at a transcontinental scale. Several sessions discussed the issue of transition mechanism (technological, social, economic, and their climatic and environmental contexts). Marcel Otte opens the volume, focusing on the specific role of straits, a topic that is also at the foundation of Judith Carlin's et al. paper. Contributions by Fabio Parenti et al., Gustavo Wagner and Mercedes Okumura et al., discuss the human adaptations in different...