The First Humans
Convened by Richard Leakey, the 3rd Annual Human Evolution Symposium is a full-day event featuring many of the foremost scholars in the field.
This year's workshops will examine the origins of the human lineage in Africa. Human-like fossils and archaeological artifacts can be traced back as far as some 2.5 million years ago in East and South Africa. These fossils and the archaeological traces are usually attributed to the earliest members of the human genus, Homo. However, there is good reason to suspect that these remains lack critical features that would describe them as being truly human. If such suspicions are correct, then the earliest evidence for humans is found only substantially later–at about 1.8 million years ago.
When did humans make their first appearance on Earth, and what sorts of environmental factors may have been responsible for the emergence of humankind? We will cover the human fossil record, the archaeological record, and the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental records from the standpoint of the geological, vertebrate palaeontological, and isotopic data. We hope to be able to resolve some of the outstanding issues of debate, and to identify productive new avenues for future research.
REGISTRATION FULL
Due to an overwhelming response, we are sold out for this year's Human Evolution Symposium. A few seats might open up due to cancellations, but we CANNOT GUARANTEE IT. Any openings that might occur will be available onsite on a strictly first-come, first-serve basis. We apologize for this, and encourage you to register early next year. Thank you for your continued interest, and we look forward to seeing you at future events.
Announcing the Turkana Basin Institute
In conjunction with Richard, Meave, and Louise Leakey, Stony Brook University has created the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI), an international research institute to facilitate and support paleontological, archeological, and geological research in the Turkana Basin. Read more...
Stony Brook University Life Matters Planning Committee
Richard Leakey
Committee Chair
Professor
Anthropology
John Fleagle
Distinguished Professor
Anatomical Sciences
Frederick Grine
Professor and Chair
Anthropology
Program Organizer, Human Evolution Workshop 2006
Lawrence Martin
Professor, Anthropology
Dean of the Graduate School
John Shea
Associate Professor
Anthropology