About the lab

The Laboratory of Biological Anthropology mainly utilizes analyses ob biomolecules to investigate the various lived experiences of "us". The laboratory studies how "we" were born, grew, reproduced, and died. Here, "we" includes ancient humans, evolutionary-related primate species such as chimpanzees and orangutans, and people living in modern society. How do the lived experiences of "us" differ in different cultures and environments, and how did it lead to biological evolution and adaptation? We are trying to find out such things. The laboratory is closely related to the scientific fields of human evolution, bioarchaeology, primate ecology, and paleontology.

Therefore, our subjects and approaches are interdisciplinary and wide-ranging. For example, we are reconstructing child-rearing practices in the Jomon and Edo periods of ancient Japan, revealing the diet of wild orangutans living in the rainforests of Malaysian Borneo, and investigating the phylogeny of extinct fossil animals. We use mass spectrometry, such as stable isotope and proteomic analyses and ancient DNA analysis (palaeogenomics) as our main methods, as well as reading historical, archaeological, and ethnographic literature to discuss the results. Our scientific approaches range from the field to the lab. For example, we are participating in excavations and wildlife studies to collect samples and data, pre-processing and analyzing the samples in the laboratory, and using computers to analyze data and develop programs to build mathematical models.

For more information

For more information on our research, please see the Research page.

We are looking for graduate students and postdocs. For more information, please see the Join us page.

If you would like to contact a faculty member or lab, please see Contact page.