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):
-
Full-year Courses:
- B2 Human Ecology and Behaviour
- B3 Human Evolution
- B4 Comparative Human Biology
- B5 From Data to Interpretation
- One-term Courses:
- B11 Quantitative modelling in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
- B12 Evolution of the Human Skeleton
- B13 Modern Human Origins: Models, Timescales & Controversies
- B15 Human Sociality: Evolutionary Perspectives on Cooperation, Culture and Cognition
- B16 Human evolutionary genetics: diversity, ancestry and the human past
- 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 Emma Pomeroy
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 Sylvain Lemoine
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 Enrico Crema
Michaelmas Term: 9 lectures & 7 ‘hands-on’ sessions
Lent Term: 10 lectures & 6 ‘hands-on’ sessions
Assessment: Coursework
B11 – Quantitative modelling in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
This paper introduces students to applied statistical modelling in Archaeology and Biological anthropology through a “hands-on” approach via practical sessions using R statistical computing language. Topics covered include linear regression, generalised linear models, multilevel models, geometric morphometrics and causal inference. Each concept will be introduced by examining archaeological and anthropological case studies. Optional, targeted sessions on specific topics concerning data handling and visualisation will be available on moodle. The course does not have any specific pre-requisites, but students with no familiarity with basic statistical notions are advised to take a short online self-assessment quiz and contact the coordinator.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Enrico Crema
Michaelmas Term: 16 lectures & practicals
Assessment: Coursework
B12 – Evolution of the Human Skeleton
This paper explores the evolutionary history of the human skeleton by drawing on information derived from the hominin fossil record and anatomical comparisons with our closest living ape relatives. Each lecture will focus on a particular anatomical region and/or complex, its functional significance in present-day humans, and how its structure and function have changed throughout human evolution. In doing so, we will also consider key obstacles we face in reconstructing the past, such as the interpretation variation (e.g., growth and development, sexual dimorphism), homoplasy and parallelisms, and morphologies present in fossil taxa that have no modern analogues. Practicals will provide hands-on osteological training using recent human samples and fossil cast collections.
Paper Coordinator: Dr John Rowan
Lent Term: 16 lectures and practicals
Assessment: two-hour exam
B13 – Modern Human Origins: Models, Timescales & Controversies
The origins of our species, Homo sapiens, is one of the major topics in the study of human evolution. Since the 1990s, with the important advances in modern and ancient genetics and genomics, as well as in dating techniques, there has been a general consensus that modern humans evolved in Africa, relatively recently, from where they dispersed to Eurasia largely replacing other hominin populations. This view of modern human origins, known as the ‘Out of Africa Model’, is supported by fossil and genetic evidence that is inconsistent with the alternative multiregional interpretations of how our species evolved. However, in the past few years, the ‘Out of Africa Model’ has been challenged, and a number of alternative scenarios have been recently proposed, including multiregional evolution within Africa, multiple out of Africa dispersals with incomplete replacement of Eurasian hominins, and indeed, a possible origins of our species outside Africa. In this paper, we will review and discuss the evidence, ideas and controversies that again surround our interpretation of how, when and where our species evolved.
Paper Coordinator: Prof Marta Mirazón Lahr
Lent Term: 16 lectures
Assessment: two-hour exam
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 cooperative behaviour 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 in our species 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 examine the evolution of our highly sophisticated social cognition. We then finish by examining the persistence of disturbances to the social brain such as schizophrenic spectrum disorders, as well as how departures from the social structure of hunter-gatherer societies may have increased vulnerability to mental illness in the industrialised world. 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
Lent Term: 16 lectures
Assessment: two-hour exam
B16 – Human evolutionary genetics: diversity, ancestry and the human past
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. This paper will discuss how genetic analyses have illuminated different aspects of human history, with a focus on building an intuitive understanding of genetics as a source of information in human evolutionary research.
The paper will begin by revisiting the impact of core evolutionary processes – drift, selection, migration, inbreeding – on genetic variation. It will introduce important theoretical models in population genetics and the principles of model inference and simulation. It will explore the distinctive genetic signals left by different types of adaptation and different demographic processes, and use these to map a journey from our evolutionary past to present-day genetic diversity.
Paper Coordinator: Dr Guy Jacobs
Lent Term: 16 lectures & practicals
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: Dr Sylvain Lemoine
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
