British Science Festival

Event details

AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND HUMAN EVOLUTION: GROWTH OF A SOCIAL BRAIN

£ 5.00

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Organisation:	Anthropology and Archaeology Section
Collaborative organisations:	The University of Liverpool, British Academy Centenary Project Lucy to Language
Date of Event:	Start Date: 15/09/2010 End Date: 15/09/2010
Time of Event:	Start time: 09:30 - End time: 13:00
Sponsors / Supporters:
Event Summary:	All humans have African roots. For 2.5 million years our ancestors have produced cascades of archaeological evidence, providing vital clues about technologies and social behaviours. Examine key pieces of archaeological evidence from across Africa and the idea of the Social Brain to reconstruct how our earliest ancestors developed technical and social skills in demanding environments.
Audience level:	4. All adults
Event Category:	What makes us human?
Keyword:	weekly pass
Booking information:	Included in weekly pass
Venue:	G11, Aston University

Event Agenda

15/09/2010 09:30 - 10:10	A starter for two million years: human evolution and the vital sense of proportion Professor John Gowlett - The University of Liverpool	Talk
	One of the major features of human evolution is that we have become able to project and impose ourselves onto the world – socially, economically and technically. Any technological analysis shows that a sense of proportion is absolutely vital. You cannot make a stone tool or a space station unless the right ideas can be assembled ‘out there’ in the right proportions.

15/09/2010 09:55 - 10:10	The social brain: a perspective on human evolution Professor Robin Dunbar - University of Oxford	Talk
	Our social world is on a much smaller scale than we often imagine. In fact, it is limited to around 150 other people – a limit that is set by the size of our brains and our capacity to spend time with each of them. I will explore sex differences in how we maintain our social worlds, and ask whether social network sites like FaceBook have allowed us to overcome these constraints.

15/09/2010 10:20 - 10:10	Primates to hominids: changes in socioecology Dr Caroline Bettridge - University of Oxford	Talk
	Human ancestors are often compared directly to primates such as chimpanzees and baboons, in an attempt to understand our evolutionary past. Using relationships between modern primate behaviour and environmental conditions, I explore how extinct early hominins such as the australopithecines would have had to differ from modern primate species.

15/09/2010 10:45 - 11:15	Coffee break Dr Sarah Elton -	Reception / Refreshment Break

15/09/2010 11:15 - 11:00	Material culture and behavioural plasticity in the Oldowan Dr Matt Grove - University of Oxford	Talk
	The first recorded stone tools appear in Africa during a period of profound climatic instability. These tools, like the many subsequent developments in hominin material culture, can be interpreted as a means of mediating between agent and environment, facilitated by a cognition that had itself evolved to buffer against the increasingly unpredictable environments faced by our Oldowan ancestors.

15/09/2010 11:40 - 12:05	Confronting society in the Acheulean Dr John McNabb - University of Southampton	Talk

15/09/2010 12:05 - 12:30	Language, brain and handedness Dr Natalie Uomini - The University of Liverpool	Talk
	Why are 90% of people in the world right-handed? How did we become makers and users of such complex tools? Why did human language evolve? I will explore the idea that right-handedness and language are linked through the social and technical skills of our prehistoric ancestors. Language allowed people to teach and learn complex tool-making, and complex tool-use caused people to become right-handed.

15/09/2010 12:30 - 13:00	The Social Brain: questions and answers Professor John Gowlett - The University of Liverpool	Questions and Answers
	Robin Dunbar, Clive Gamble and John Gowlett field questions on the social brain. The social brain is one of the most powerful explanatory ideas in human evolution, involving concepts such as 'Dunbar's number'.

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