Paleoanthropology

Paleoanthropology is an emerging focus in the Department of Anthropology at The University of Iowa. Students have the opportunity to pursue an integrated curriculum of biological anthropology and archaeology to explore the complex mosaic of biocultural human evolution. Particular research strengths include: early primate paleobiology and the anatomy and geological context of Asian Homo erectus (Russell Ciochon); Late Pleistocene genus Homo evolution, especially Neandertals and early modern humans (Robert Franciscus); faunal analysis, ethnoarchaeology and the Middle and Upper Paleolithic archaeology of Europe (James Enloe). Faculty members and graduate students have carried out research in recent years in: Portugal (Lagar Velho); the Czech Republic (Dolní V_stonice); Croatia (Krapina, Vindija); Namibia (Tsoana); France (Arcy-sur-Cure, Pincevent, Verberie); Ukraine (Prolom II); Myanmar (Pondaung localities); China (Zhoukoudian); and Indonesia (Sangiran).

Paleoanthropology resources in our department include: two biological anthropology/paleoanthropology laboratories with a large recent human comparative skeletal collection (> 1,300 individuals), an extensive research quality hominid/primate cast collection, and a zooarchaeology laboratory with comparative faunal skeletal collections. Extra-departmental research resources include: the Paul H. Nelson Stable Isotope Laboratory and the Quaternary Materials Laboratory in the Department of Geoscience. In addition, Geoscience is adding a new Ultra Clean Lab with facilities for K/Ar, Ar/Ar, U-series and cosmogenic-isotope dating. These facilities emphasizing paleoenvironmental studies and Quaternary dating coupled with Geoscience’s emphasis in Geoarchaeology, are a valuable resource for our emerging program in Paleoanthropology. Human gross anatomy at the largest teaching hospital in the U.S. is available for those students in the Paleoanthropology focus who specialize in human paleontology. Faculty also have direct ties to the U-I School of Medicine through affiliate positions in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Ph.D. program (Franciscus) and Pediatric Dentistry (Ciochon). Additional resources in lithic technology, comparative faunal collections and Geographic Information Systems are available with the associated Office of the State Archaeologist. Faculty (Enloe) also have long-term, direct affiliation with the Laboratoire d’Ethnologie Préhistorique of the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Faculty

Russell Ciochon
James Enloe
Robert Franciscus

Current and Recent Graduate Students in Paleoanthropology Focus:

Alexander D. Woods – “Sorting it All Out: Consistent Spatial Patterning in Faunal Exploitation at Pincevent Level IV-20”, MA 2005;  “Examining the Effects of Raw Material Quality on Blade Production”, conducting doctoral research.

 

Clare Tolmie – “Aurignacian Faunal Exploitation at the Abri Cellier, France”, conducting doctoral research


Nathan Holton – “3-D Modeling of in vivo Bite Force Production and efficiency in Homo”, conducting doctoral research

Valerie Johnson – “A Comparative Archaeological and Anatomical Study of Throwing Technology and Shoulders in the Late Pleistocene”. M.A. 2002

Grant McCall – “Lower Paleolithic Lithic Technology and early hominid behavior in Africa”, Ph.D. 2006

Steven Miller – “Patterning and Determinants of Cranial Robusticity in Pleistocene Homo”, conducting doctoral research

Joshua Polanski – “Craniofacial Integration in Homo”, conducting doctoral research

Cynthia Toll – “Neandertal Cervical Vertebrae and their Development and Functional Integration into the Ectobasicranium: Implications for Language, Behavior and Phylogeny”. M.A. 2001

Jessica White – “Functional Morphology and Evolution of the Asian Sivaladapid Primates, Ph.D. 2006

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences