Module ANTH2307: Palaeoanthropology: The Story of Human Evolution

Department: Anthropology

ANTH2307: Palaeoanthropology: The Story of Human Evolution

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• 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

Content

• 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

Learning Outcomes

• 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

• 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

• 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

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• 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

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Formative feedback on project proposal and in-class discussions.