Human origins and evolution

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

An introductory subject which presents the main outlines of human evolution, both physical and cultural. The subject's scope encompasses our immediate pre-hominid ancestors of the Miocene, dating to between 6 and 22 million years ago, and all subsequent hominids including anatomically modern Homo sapiens who first appear within the past 150,000 years. The class charts hominid evolution from savanna/woodland dwelling primates with a distribution in tropical Africa to modern humans whose mental abilities and complex technology have enabled them to colonize all corners of the world. The class includes a survey of the late Pleistocene human cultural adaptations which formed the basis for the subsequent development of agricultural and pastoral based economies and urbanization which are the hallmarks of many human societies of the past 10,000 years. The subject concludes with discussion of modern human morphological variation and races.

The subject integrates recent research in human palaeontology and archaeology to examine the interconnections between human physical and cultural development during the course of human evolution. Beginning with the Oligocene and Miocene primate substratum, the subject examines the five subsequent major stages of hominid evolution: 1) the earliest hominids (australopithecines), 2) the earliest Homo, 3) Homo erectus, 4) Homo heidelbergensis and neanderthalensis, and 5) modern Homo sapiens. For each stage a synopsis of the historical highlights of previous research will be presented, as will a description of the hard fossil evidence contributing to our knowledge of the hominid's physical form. The archaeological evidence for the cultural behavior (including symbolic behavior, subsistence patterns, and the level of technological capabilities) represented in each stage will be discussed using the format of mini-case studies using selected archaeological sites including Olduvai Gorge, East Turkana, Olorgesailie, Terra Amata, Dolni Vestonice and Abu Hureyra.

By the very nature of the fossil and archaeological record the detailed history of human evolution can never be certainly known, but it is the subject's aim to provide students with an appreciation of what is reliably known (the "facts") about human evolution, what must remain informed speculation, and what avenues still remain to be investigated.

N.B. attendance at lectures and participation in the discussions will be considered in evaluating your performance in this class.

Don't show me this again

This is one of over 2,200 courses on OCW. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free & open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum.

No enrollment or registration. Freely browse and use OCW materials at your own pace. There's no signup, and no start or end dates.

Knowledge is your reward. Use OCW to guide your own life-long learning, or to teach others. We don't offer credit or certification for using OCW.

Made for sharing. Download files for later. Send to friends and colleagues. Modify, remix, and reuse (just remember to cite OCW as the source.)

Learn more at Get Started with MIT OpenCourseWare