Module description 

This course will examine the evidence for the evolution of the human brain, cognition, and cultural transmission. Students will assess the evidence from a wide range of disciplines including not only archaeology and anthropology, but also cognitive neuroscience and neuroanatomy, comparative and developmental psychology, primatology and evolutionary biology, to investigate how and why human brains are adapted to a culturally-constructed niche involving the learned use of (and dependence on) languages, artefacts, and social norms. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the strengths and limitations of the different forms of evidence available for tracking the evolution of this distinctively human adaptive strategy.

Module Aims 

The aims of this course are to:

1) Undertake an in-depth study of archaeological, anthropological, and neuroscientific evidence relating to the patterns and processes of evolution of the human brain and behaviour

2) Examine the wide range of methods and theory applied to the question of the evolution of the human brain and behaviour, and to consider possibilities for productive integration

Learning Outcomes 

On successful completion of this course, a student should have developed:

1) A detailed knowledge of archaeological, anthropological, and neuroscientific evidence of the evolution of the human brain and behaviour

2) Enhanced written and oral skills in communicating complex ideas and data-sets derived from a range of academic disciplines

3) The ability to critically evaluate evidence and arguments regarding issues in the evolution of the human brain and behaviour.

On successful completion of the course, students should have further developed skills and abilities in:

1) Assimilation and critical reflection on complex information

2) Evaluation and application of acquired knowledge

3) Oral and written communication

 

 

Further Reading:

Fitch, W.T. (2010). The Evolution of Language. Cambridge University Press.

Gowlett, J., Gamble, C. & Dunbar, R. (2012). Human evolution and the archaeology of the social brain. Current Anthropology 53: 693-722.

Isler, K. & van Schaik, C.P. (2009). The Expensive Brain: a framework for explaining evolutionary changes in brain size. Journal of Human Evolution 57, 392-400.

Sherwood, C.C., Suniaul, F. & Zawidzki, T. W. (2008). A natural history of the human mind: tracing evolutionary changes in brain and cognition. Journal of Anatomy 212, 426-454.

Steele, J., Ferrari, P.-F., & Fogassi, L. (eds) (2012) Special Issue on 'From action to language: comparative perspectives on primate tool use, gesture and the evolution of human language.' Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 367 (1585).

Whiten, A., Hinde, R.A., Stringer, C.B. & Laland, K.N. (eds) (2011) Special Issue on 'Culture evolves'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series B 366 (1567).

Further information is available here https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/study/graduate-taught/courses/evolution-human-brain-and-behaviour