Objective
Over 25 years, knowledge of modern human origins, evolution and diversity has increased dramatically. Genetics has been a major driver, promoting the ‘out of Africa model’, but, except for ancient DNA, it only tells the story of evolutionary survivors. African human population’ distributions mean that the history reconstructed from genetic data is partial and comparatively shallow. Although patchy, archaeological research in South and North Africa reveals the complexity of early human prehistory. Homo sapiens’ fossils in Africa from 200Kyr, (earliest 'modern-looking' remains) to ~10Kyr are known from only 17 sites. This makes it difficult to address questions on the selective and demographic pressures that led to our evolution, rates of population expansion/fragmentation, the scale of differentiation and levels of diversity in Africa through time, and the reasons why an African population was so successful that it eventually dominated the world. This proposal argues that intensive research ‘in Africa’ lies at the heart of the ‘out of Africa’ paradigm, and that the discovery of new fossils and archaeological sites, especially in East Africa, the hinge of the continent, is essential. Our recent field and archival surveys in Kenya (Turkana, Nakuru) have identified extremely rich archaeological and fossiliferous deposits of apparent Upper Pleistocene-Early Holocene age. This project will carry out a major fieldwork programme in W. Turkana, and sampling and dating of sites around Gamble's Caves, Nakuru. The goals are to: 1 Increase significantly the human fossil record of Upper Pleistocene age in East Africa; 2 Record changes in human behaviour in the area leading to the dispersals across and out of Africa; 3 Map the character and timing of the Middle to Later Stone Age transition in the Central Rift Valley; 4 Integrate the prehistoric record with palaeoenvironmental data; 5 Increase public awareness in Kenya of the role of Africa in the evolution of H.sapiens.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- humanities history and archaeology history prehistory
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology ethnoarchaeology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2011-ADG_20110406
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
CB2 1TN Cambridge
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.