Dr. Daegling
The lifeways of our ancestors are inferred from multiple ecological and behavioral perspectives, but ultimately the test of these inferences focuses on fossils and their geological context. This course critically examines the methods used in human paleontology to reconstruct the major events and behavioral innovations that define hominin emergence and diversification. Issues of taxonomy, phylogenetic inference, functional morphology, social organization and life history are examined in terms of the the analytical approaches employed to resolve them. This course will explore why certain questions of hominin adaptation remain unresolved, and how novel perspectives can yield insight into what we can and cannot know about human evolution. Prerequisites: ANT 3514C; ANT 4586 or 4468 recommended.