Research Group: Human Evolution, Chronology, Dispersals and Lifeways

The Human Evolution, Chronology, Dispersals and Lifeways group leads cutting-edge, science-based research into human evolution and global dispersal, cognitive development, ancient lifeways and their environmental contexts. Specific foci for current research include:

• Science-based dating of hominin remains and early cave art.
• Mobility, dispersal and place-making among past hunter-gatherers.
• Palaeo-landscape and seascape modelling.
• Stable and radiogenic isotope analyses to determine past movement and lifeways.
• Material culture and cognitive evolution.
• Bio-diversity and bio-archaeology of past populations.
• Morpho-metrical and DNA analysis of ancient fauna.

Recent research highlights include: the demonstration of Neanderthal authorship of Iberian cave art through the application of U-series dating; work on key Pleistocene hominin sites and the origins of place-making in Europe, including La Cotte, Jersey; mapping submerged deposits relating to the earliest hominin settlement of Britain at Happisburgh, Norfolk; and tracking the early spread of leprosy in Europe.

Key Projects

Funded by an ERC grant to Farr, the ACROSS Project is studying the earliest undisputed evidence for seafaring, with the early human colonization of Australia. The global team led by Farr includes archaeologists, geologists and geneticists.

Exploring the submerged landscapes off Happisburgh, UK. Involving innovative off-shore evaluation methodologies, Bynoe leads fieldwork investigating the earliest hominin occupation of northern Europe at Happisburgh, Norfolk. The work is undertaken in collaboration with the Natural History and British Museums.