Human evolution: Neanderthals and ancient pathways from Africa to Britain
Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum of London addresses the big questions: how can we define modern humans and how can we recognise our beginnings in the fossil and archaeological record? How can we accurately date fossils, including ones beyond the range of radiocarbon dating? What do the genetic data really tell us? Were our origins solely in Africa? Are modern humans a distinct species from ancient people such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans, or are we much more like them than previously believed? What contact did our ancestors have with them? When did humans first inhabit Britain?
The Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution has invited Professor Stringer to New Zealand to give a series of public talks, with support from the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Ticketing
Tickets are free, except for the Wellington talk (details below). At the free venues we have reserved half the seating in each venue for tickets and these can be booked below. Once these tickets have been allocated, the other half of the seating will be available on the night but we suggest you turn up early to secure a seat. This is a change to our normal ticketing system to ensure that empty seats are filled on the night even if ticket holders do not turn up.
In Wellington, you can purchase tickets online (below). Any remaining tickets will be sold at the venue on the night of the event. NB: Cash sales only.
AUCKLAND
Time: 6.00pm
Date: Wednesday 22 February
Location: Events Centre, Auckland Museum, The Domain, Parnell, Auckland
The reserved seating is now booked, but there are still plenty of SEATS AVAILABLE on a first come, first served basis. To ensure a seat, come as early as possible.
CHRISTCHURCH
Time: 6.30pm
Date: Thursday 23 February
Location: C1, Central Lecture Block, University of Canterbury
The reserved seating is now booked, but there are still plenty of SEATS AVAILABLE on a first come, first served basis. To ensure a seat, come as early as possible.
DUNEDIN
Time: 6.00pm
Date: Friday 24 February
Location: St David Lecture Theatre, cnr of St David and Castle St, University of Otago
The reserved seating is now booked, but there are still plenty of SEATS AVAILABLE on a first come, first served basis. To ensure a seat, come as early as possible.
WELLINGTON
Time: 5.30pm for 6.00pm start
Date: Saturday 25 February
Location: Embassy Theatre, Courtenay Place
Tickets can be purchased online until 4pm on Saturday 25 February. The remaining tickets will be sold at the door - cash sales only.
Tickets are $15, including glass of wine ($10 for students/Royal Society members – you may be required to show proof at the door). Drinks will be served from 5.15pm. You must be seated in the theatre by 5.55pm as the lecture will start promptly at 6pm.
ABSTRACT
About 2 million years ago the first humans appeared in Africa. Through their larger brains, human body shape, tool-making and meat-eating, they were different from their more ancient African ancestors, and there are various ideas about what drove their evolution and led to a spread of humans from their evolutionary homeland to Asia and, eventually, Europe. About 600,000 years ago we find the first evidence of a new species in Europe and Africa, Homo heidelbergensis, and this species appears to have evolved into at least three descendant forms: the Neanderthals in western Eurasia, the Denisovans in eastern Eurasia, and our own species Homo sapiens in Africa. The Neanderthals are often depicted as bestial ape-men, but in reality they walked upright as well as we do, and their brains were as large as ours.
I will examine how much like us they were, and their eventual fate, utilising the latest genomic information. Modern humans are characterised by large brains and creativity, but it is still uncertain how our species arose and spread across the world, and exactly how we interacted with other human forms, including the Neanderthals and the Denisovans. However, genomic data indicate that there was at least sporadic contact and interbreeding. The growing body of fossil, archaeological and genetic data will be reviewed to assess the current status of the different theories about modern human origins, including Recent African Origin (“Out of Africa”), Assimilation, and Multiregional Evolution.
Professor Chris Stringer, Natural History Museum of London, is one of the UK’s leading paleo-anthropologists.
Learn more about the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution
