ANTH2307: Palaeoanthropology: The Story of Human Evolution

• Human Evolution and Diversity (ANTH1091) OR Organisms and Environment (BIOL1161)

• None.

• None.

• To develop an understanding of the patterns and processes of fossilisation, speciation, morphological variation, and diversity in hominins, with specific reference to the hominin fossil record
• To introduce relevant theories, concepts and methods in the study of human evolution
• To become familiar with hominin species: their time and geographic ranges, environments, morphological adaptations, and behaviours

• Topics include:
• Hominin species diversity in the late Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene
• Hominin species identification
• Hominin morphology and behaviours
• Temporal, geographical, and environmental contexts of human evolution

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Theoretical foundations: understanding variation and diversity, how and when variation arose in hominin evolution, and functional adaptation, with particular reference to the hominin fossil record
• Methodological foundations: knowledge of methods and materials used in functional morphological research, species identification and the reconstruction of hominin relatedness
• A functional knowledge of dental, cranial and postcranial skeletal morphology
• Understanding of the technical vocabularies of human evolution and morphology as these apply to anthropology

Subject-specific Skills:

• Ability to link patterns of morphological variation and diversity in hominins to the evolutionary processes that created such diversity
• Ability to critically analyse and evaluate human evolutionary research in the literature and to apply arguments, methods, and concepts therein
• Practical skills in the observation and analysis of hominin morphological variation

Key Skills:

• Critical thinking
• Hypothesis testing
• Ability to extract and integrate key concepts from primary research material
• Written and oral communication of evolutionary concepts
• Proficiency in identifying key material in the scientific literature
• Ability to undertake scientific project work independently

• Lectures cover subject-specific knowledge
• Practicals cover subject-specific knowledge and skills, and develop key analytical skills
• Coursework assesses subject-specific knowledge and key analytical skills
• Summative assessment comprises a 2000 word research project
• Formative assessment will be a project proposal, with additional formative feedback provided during a pre-arranged face-to-face project development meeting with a module tutor
• The module will have its own Learn Ultra site which will ensure that students have access at all times to the course information they require

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