Universität Wien
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300076 VO Special Paleoanthropology (2023S)

Origins and dispersal of Homo sapiens

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 30 - Biologie
Moodle

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Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Fridays 9:45-11:15 am at UBB, Room 1.2 (floor 1)

17.03.23 1. Introduction.
24.03.23 2. Earliest evidence for the genus Homo.
31.03.23 3. Homo erectus.
Easter Break
21.04.23 4. Hominins of the Middle Pleistocene.
28.04.23 5. The emergence of early (Archaic) Homo sapiens.
05.05.23 6. The Neanderthals.
12.05.23 7. The genome searching for a fossil: The Denisovans.
19.05.23 8. The small humans of Island Southeast Asia.
26.05.23 9. Out of Africa.
02.06.23 10. Disappearing from the world.
09.06.23 11. Modern humans and their ultimate dispersals.

  • Friday 17.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 24.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 31.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 21.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 28.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 05.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 12.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 19.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 26.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 02.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1
  • Friday 09.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 1.2, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.004, Ebene 1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course focuses on the genus Homo and the complex story of the emergence of Homo sapiens. New evidence has emerged over the last two decades that has produced a significantly different story of the evolution of the human lineage. This has shown that there were multiple different types of humans, often overlapping chronologically, and who regularly admixed or interbred with one another. Today there is only one branch remaining; us. How did this happen? What other humans existed who are now extinct and to what extent did we interact with them prior to their disappearance.
In this lecture series we will explore some of the most important discoveries in the field of human evolution and evaluate the evidence for the emergence of Homo. The series is structured as a weekly series of lectures, along with recommended reading lists and links to resources.

Assessment and permitted materials

Examination in the format of multiple choices and short answer questions/mini-essay

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirement to pass: 55%

Examination topics

Based on lecture slides (Moodle) and bibliographic references given by the lecturer.

Reading list

Scarre. (2009). The human past : world prehistory and the development of human societies (2. ed..). Thames & Hudson. (early chapters).
Stringer, C & Andrews, P. (2011). The complete world of human evolution (Rev. ed., 2. ed..). Thames & Hudson.
Stringer. (2016). The origin and evolution of Homo sapiens. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1698), 20150237–20150237. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0237
Tattersall, I. (2022). Understanding Human Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wood, B. 2015. Wiley Blackwell Student Dictionary of Human Evolution (1st ed.). Wiley.
(useful dictionary of terms used in human evolutionary studies)
Wood, B. & Henry, A. 2011. Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of human evolution. Wiley Blackwell.

Popular books and accounts:
Higham, T. 2021. The World Before Us: How Science is Revealing a New Story of Our Human Origins. Penguin.
Humphrey, L and Stringer, C. 2018. Our Human Story: Where we come from and how we evolved.
Tattersall, I. 2012. Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins.
Wragg-Sykes, R. 2020. Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art.

Association in the course directory

MAN 1

Last modified: Fr 07.07.2023 11:07