The drop-down boxes below give detailed information on the content of BioAnth papers. BioAnth papers are offered to students from different Triposes, who can sit them as part of both Part I and Part II depending on each Tripos.
Part I (Archaeology, HSPS, and PBS students):
- B1 Humans in Biological Perspective
Part II (Archaeology, HSPS, MedST/VetST, NST, and PBS students):
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Full-year Courses:
- B2 Human Ecology and Behaviour
- B3 Human Evolution
- B4 Comparative Human Biology
- B5 From Data to Interpretation
- One-term Courses:
- B12 Human Palaeobiology
- B13 Evolutionary Medicine
- B14 A Technologically Dependent Lineage
- B15 Human Sociality: evolutionary perspectives on cooperation, culture and cognition
- B16 Genomes: Ancient, Modern and Mixed
- B17 Our Extended Family: Primate Biology and Behaviour
B1 – Humans in Biological Perspective
The paper covers major topics in Biological Anthropology, including non-human primate biology, evolution and behaviour, human origins, comparative perspectives on human health, growth and nutrition, and human genetic diversity. The paper introduces students to behavioural and gene-environment interactions, and the ecology and adaptations of modern populations in the context of their growth, health and cultural diversity. Specific topics covered include the diversity of primates, major patterns and processes in the evolution of humans, the burden of malnutrition and interrelationships with poverty, the role of nature and nurture in shaping the human mind, and insights into the genetic diversity within and between human groups.
Paper Coordinator: Dr. Guy Jacobs
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures
Lent Term: 16 lectures
Easter Term: 4 lectures
Assessment: three-hour exam
B2 – Human Ecology and Behaviour
This paper examines human behaviour from a comparative perspective, emphasising both the primate evolutionary context and the vast diversity within our species. The paper begins with a focus on non-human primates and introduces students to the core principles of primatology. Particular attention is paid to the interrelationships between foraging strategies, social systems and life-history. We then situate humans within the broader primate context by exploring how the shift to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle drove the evolution of our derived life-history and social behaviour. Finally, we consider evolutionary explanations for the astounding behavioural diversity across the entire spectrum of human societies, from industrialised market economies to small-scale farmers, pastoralists and foragers. Variation in mate choice, marriage systems, familial relationships and fertility rates among human populations is examined.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Nikhil Chaudhary
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures
Lent Term: 8 lectures & 3 seminars
Assessment: three-hour exam
B3 – Human Evolution
This paper is organised into two parts - an overview of human evolution in Michaelmas Term (16 lectures), and a set of 8 lectures focused on the evolution of modern humans and their interaction with other contemporary hominin species. In Michaelmas, the paper introduces students to human evolution, with an emphasis on the fossil record and the evolutionary principles that shaped the evolution of our lineage. The course will explore the apes of the Miocene, and discuss the controversies surrounding hominin origins; it will review the record for Pliocene hominins, focusing on evolutionary trends among the australopithecines, the appearance of morphological and technological innovations, and the role of African geography in shaping early hominin diversity; it will introduce the debate on the origins of the genus Homo, and explore the evolutionary geography of inter-continental hominin dispersals in the Pleistocene; finally, it will critically assess the fossil record for the evolution of multiple regional species in the later Quaternary, including our own, and explore the adaptive processes that led to this diversity. In Lent, the paper will focus on later hominins, the evidence for their behaviour and morphological adaptive trends, and the genetic evidence for inter-specific interactions.
Paper Coordinator: Prof Marta Lahr
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures
Lent Term: 8 Lectures & 3 seminars
Assessment: three-hour exam
B4 – Comparative Human Biology
This paper examines the biology of our species in the context of non-human primate and wider mammalian variation. The paper covers diverse aspects of human biology, including anatomy, physiology, behaviour, cognition, growth patterns and life-history characteristics.
It considers the ways in which our biology differs from that of our closest living relatives, the non-human primates, as well as mammals and vertebrates more broadly. It also explores biological variation within and between human populations, drawing on evidence from both past and contemporary human groups by combining perspectives from the fields of Palaeoanthropology, Evolutionary Genetics, Osteoarchaeology and Human Biology. The paper considers not only how we vary, but why, discussing both the underlying evolutionary mechanisms (such as natural selection, neutral variation and epigenetics), as well as the developmental basis of the variation we observe.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Mark Dyble
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures
Lent Term: 8 Lectures & 3 seminars
Assessment: three-hour exam
B5 – From Data to Interpretation
This paper introduces students to quantitative data analysis and scientific computing.
This paper provides foundational skills for critical thinking, data handling, and quantitative analysis for archaeological and anthropological research. It covers theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of modern scientific research, enabling the identification of appropriate statistical analyses and relevant data required to address specific research questions. Lectures cover theoretical aspects pertaining to the logic of scientific arguments and the core principles of statistical inference, as well as key concepts of data handling, visualisation, and analysis. Practical sessions and supervisions provide hands-on experience for carrying out many of the analysis presented in the lecture primarily through the use of R statistical computing language.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Alfredo Cortell-Nicolau
Michaelmas Term: 9 lectures & 7 ‘hands-on’ sessions
Lent Term: 10 lectures & 6 ‘hands-on’ sessions
Assessment: Coursework
B12 – Human Palaeobiology
This paper focuses on major aspects of hominin and human palaeobiology, exploring the main innovations in our evolutionary history in the last 7 million years through in-depth discussions and debates. Four traits that today make humans unique will be explored – (1) the evolution of bipedalism, (2) the evolution of carnivory and its relation to technology, (3) the evolution of body size and life-history, (4) hominin encephalisation and the evolution of language. Discussions will be based on introductory and advanced readings, so that all students (with or without previous background on human evolution) may participate.
Paper Coordinator: Prof Marta Lahr
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures & seminars
Assessement: two-hour exam
B13 – Evolutionary Medicine
Evolutionary medicine is an emerging field that promises to provide valuable insights into human health and disease. In this paper (B13), we will critically examine the central ideas of evolutionary medicine and the concept of evolutionary “mismatch”, before considering evolutionary perspectives on specific topics including human diet, exercise, and non-communicable disease, human-microbe interactions, reproductive health, and mental health. We will also explore the potential contribution that evolutionary approaches to human behaviour can make in helping to understand behaviour in a pandemic and the spread of beliefs that contribute to vaccine hesitancy. Particular attention will be paid to the use of data from contemporary hunter-gatherer populations in the evolutionary medicine literature.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Mark Dyble
Timetable to be confirmed. 16 lectures & seminars.
Assessment: two-hour exam
B14 – A Technologically Dependent Lineage
Humans are unique among primates in their dependence on technology. This paper explores how and why hominins (incl. modern humans) became entirely dependent upon technology, and how the development of stone and organic tools over the last three million years can be used to unravel this story. After establishing a foundation in gene-culture co-evolutionary theory, we will explore how hominin anatomy and technology evolved together to produce our diverse fossil and artefact record. This includes focused discussion on hominin cognition, language, post-cranial anatomy, and subsistence behaviours, and how each was facilitated and influenced by material culture. Equally, we will discuss how the evolutionary trajectory of stone and organic technology was impacted by anatomical and cognitive developments in the human lineage. Further, we will investigate several major technological innovations and the role they played in the colonisation of highly diverse ecological settings across Africa, Eurasia and the Americas. This includes the use of fire, clothing, and projectile technologies, among others.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Alastair Key
Timetable to be confirmed. 16 lectures & seminars.
Assessment: Coursework
B15 – Human Sociality: evolutionary perspectives on cooperation, culture and cognition
This course focuses on understanding the remarkable social behaviour and cognition of our species. Whilst cooperation is widespread throughout the natural world, many anthropologists consider human prosociality as unparalleled. Here, we consider evolutionary explanations for the scale and ubiquity of cooperation between non-relatives and the emergence of our prosocial emotions. Along the way students are introduced to the field of cultural evolution as we explore the co-evolutionary relationship between human culture and cooperation. We also address the evolution of our highly sophisticated social cognition, and finish by examining the persistence of disturbances to the social brain such as autism and schizophrenia. Throughout the term ongoing debates related to human social evolution are discussed, including the relationship between cooperation, religion and morality. Additionally, analytical techniques used in the study of sociality such as game theory and social network analysis are introduced.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Nikhil Chaudhary
Michaelmas Term: 14 lectures & 2 seminars
Assessment: two-hour exam
B16 – Genomes: Ancient, Modern and Mixed
Human genetic diversity is the product of our evolutionary history. The theory and tools of population genetics allow us to read this history, revealing evidence of migrations, natural selection, social practices and ancient admixture. In this paper, we combine theory and case studies to build a genetic narrative of human evolution. Specifically, the paper introduces the evolutionary processes underlying global patterns of genetic variation, describes classic and more complex signals of genetic adaptation, investigates regional demographic histories and diversity in kinship systems based on modern and ancient DNA, and explores the genetic legacy of ancient hominin admixture in our genomes. The paper discusses how genetics can illuminate different aspects of the human past, with a focus on building an intuitive understanding of genetic evidence as a source of information in human evolutionary research.
Paper Coordinator: Dr. Guy Jacobs
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures, seminars & practical sessions
Assessment: two-hour exam
B17 – Our Extended Family: Primate biology and behaviour
This paper explores the fascinating world of our closest relatives in the animal world - the diversity, evolution, ecology, and behaviour of non-human primates. Primates exhibit both unique features among mammals, such as their sociality, life history and potential for culture, but they also share with them patterns of adaptive radiations, extinction, dispersals and competition. Advanced primatology offers an opportunity to study current research topics that bring together the general approaches of evolutionary biology and the unique perspectives of primatologists.
Paper Coordinator: TBC
Lent Term: 16 lectures & seminars
Assessment: two-hour exam
Dissertations in Biological Anthropology as part of the Archaeology Tripos
Dissertations towards the completion of Part IIB in the Archaeology Tripos (Biological Anthropology Track or Biological Anthropology/Archaeology Joint Track) or as a Part II option/minor in the PBS or NST Triposes follow these regulations:
- A topic within the field of Biological Anthropology, approved by the Head of Department by the end of Michaelmas Term
- Not more than 10,000 words, including footnotes, figures, tables, and captions but not including appendices and bibliography.
- It may or not include original data collection and analysis (i.e., either in the form of a piece of original research, or in the form of an extended essay)
Dissertations in Biological Anthropology as part of BBS, Natural Sciences Tripos
Dissertations submitted towards the completion of Part II in the NST Biological and Biomedical Sciences ‘Major in Human Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour’ follow these regulations:
- A topic within the field of Biological Anthropology, approved by the division of Michaelmas Term
- Not more than 6,000 words, excluding tables, figures, and references.
- Not including original data collection and analysis (i.e., in the form of an extended essay)
Further guidance is available on the BBS Dissertation webpage.
Paper Coordinator: BioAnth Part II Coordinator
