Early Hominin Ecology, Subsistence, and Cognition

FIX University

Early Hominin Ecology, Subsistence, and Cognition

Insights into the morphological, behavioral, and physiological attributes of modern humans are heavily reliant on developing historical and evolutionary perspectives for our lineage. This endeavor is not simply a matter of constructing phylogenies of hominin evolution and reconstructing a relative framework of the timing of different evolutionary innovations, but rather understanding the processes inherent in our evolutionary past. To gain this perspective, we need to situate ourselves in the adaptive landscape of our ancestors and attempt to decipher the selective pressures that led to shifts in diet, foraging strategy, and ranging patterns that ultimately resulted in tool manufacture and use and the cognitive abilities associated with cumulative culture.

Pursuing these goals requires highly interdisciplinary approaches, and the Anthropology Department provides a foundation for developing and integrating complex and diverse perspectives to issues integral to understanding human evolution.

Students at FIX University benefit from a broad independent training in:

Skeletal Biology

Evolutionary Theory

Archeology

Evolution of the Brain

Paleodietary and Paleoecology Studies

Comparative Primate Research

Human Biology and Physiology