Conversations in Human Evolution: Volume 1

Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explore the breadth and interdisciplinarity of human evolution studies. This volume reports twenty interviews (referred to as ‘conversations’ as they are informal in style) with scholars at the forefront of human evolution research, covering the broad scientific themes of quaternary and archaeological science, Palaeolithic archaeology, biological anthropology and palaeoanthropology, primatology and evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary genetics. This project features academics at various different stages in their careers and from all over the world; in this volume alone, researchers are based at institutions in seven different countries (namely the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America, Germany, Denmark, India, and China), covering four continents.

Having arisen at the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Conversations in Human Evolution aims to encourage engagement with both human evolutionary studies and the broader socio-political issues that persist within academia, the latter of which is particularly pertinent during this time of global uncertainty. The conversations delve deeply into the study of our species’ evolutionary history through the lens of each sub-discipline, as well as detailing some of the most current advances in research, theory and methods. Overall, Conversations in Human Evolution seeks to bridge the gap between the research and researcher through contextualisation of the science with personal experience and historical reflection.

Table of Contents

Conversations in Human Evolution – Lucy Timbrell

Part 1: Quaternary and Archaeological Science

Enrico Crema

Felix Riede

Ben Marwick

Chris Hunt

Andy Herries

Part 2: Palaeolithic Archaeology

Shanti Pappu

Michael Petraglia

Shi-Xia Yang

John Gowlett

Eleanor Scerri

Rob Davies

Part 3: Biological Anthropology and Palaeoanthropology

Emma Pomeroy

Chris Stringer

Katerina Harvati

Bernard Wood

Part 4: Primatology and Evolutionary Anthropology

Susana Carvalho

Isabelle Winder

Fiona Jordan

Part 5: Evolutionary Genetics

Eske Willerslev

Pontus Skoglund

Lucy Timbrell is an AHRC-funded PhD researcher in the Archaeology of Human Origins Research Group at the University of Liverpool. Broadly, she is interested in the evolution of modern human diversity, with her doctoral research focussing on quantifying the population structure of early Homo sapiens in Late-Middle Pleistocene Africa. Alongside her PhD research, she organises the widely-known University of Liverpool Evolutionary Anthropology seminar series.