The development of human innovation in an arid biodiversity environment.

The goal of this research is to study the patterns of connection and isolation among human populations that may have supported the evolution of humans’ adaptive capabilities, which ultimately allowed human populations to increase their population densities, expand globally, and thrive in every inhabitable region of earth. While human genetic and fossil evidence indicates that the ancestors of all living people evolved in Africa, the process appears to have been complex, with multiple connected populations contributing and periods of reorganization.

Archaeology is well placed to provide evidence of these periods of reorganization, through the examination of cultural innovations and their transmission, and to provide critically-needed information on associated past environments and how they changed locally in response to global climatic patterns.

The project examines when and how technological innovations appeared, spread, and were abandoned, in the context of advanced reconstructions of past environments and chronology. The team focuses on the archaeology and environmental history of the Succulent Karoo, the world’s only arid biodiversity hotspot. Such regions have historically been marginalized in accounts of human evolution yet recent evidence suggests that they were loci of innovation over the last 120,000-years or more.

To explore the importance of such areas to the evolution of humans’ adaptive capabilities, this project produces comprehensive new datasets relating to the climatic, environmental, and social context of innovation among early humans occupying the region. The results test prevailing models of human behavioral evolution, shedding new light on how humans came to be.

The project provides training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students with special attention to those from traditionally underrepresented groups. The project is also developing exhibits for local display.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.