Advanced time–series analysis to provide a spatiotemporal framework for the evolution, expansion and technological innovation of Homo sapiens (DFG)

PD Dr. Wolfgang Schwanghart

The archaeological, morphological and genetic findings show that Homo sapiens emerged and evolved from reproductively semi-isolated populations, connected by sporadic gene flow through green corridors and networks which change in the course of climate change. This proposal seeks funding to create a spatiotemporal paleoclimatic framework for testing current hypotheses about a multiregional origin of our species. The principal research questions addressed by the project are: (1) How do spatiotemporal climate fluctuations affect human evolution, expansion and innovation? and (2) How does the physical character of the landscape affect human evolution, expansion and innovation? The project's goals may lead to important insights into the environmental changes occurring at the same time as speciation, brain expansion, dispersal of H. sapiens out of Africa and cultural innovations. The project's quantitative reconstructive approach will also provide the necessary data to validate and improve current ecological models for the living conditions of early humans. The results will also help to expand paleoanthropological investigations into neglected areas of Africa that at least at times provided favorable conditions for humans.