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Department of Archaeology


The ADaPt Project: Adaptation, Dispersals and Phenotype 

Relative to other species, humans are characterised by considerable biological diversity despite genetic homogeneity. This diversity is reflected in skeletal variation, but we lack sufficient understanding of the underlying mechanisms to adequately interpret the archaeological record. The ADaPt project is a five year, ERC funded project to improve our understanding of the origins of human variation in the past by: 


1) documenting and interpreting the pattern of global hunter-gatherer variation relative to genetic phylogenies and climatic variation; 

2) testing the relationship between environmental and skeletal variation among genetically related hunter-gatherers from different environments; 

3) examining the adaptability of living humans to different environments, through the study of energetic expenditure and life history trade-offs associated with locomotion; and 

4) investigating the relationship between muscle and skeletal variation associated with locomotion in diverse environments. 


The research combines detailed study of the global pattern of hunter-gatherer variation in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene with ground-breaking experimental research which tests the relationship between energetic stress, muscle function, and bone variation in living humans. The first component tests the correspondence between skeletal variation and both genetic and climatic history, to infer mechanisms driving variation. The second component integrates this skeletal variation with experimental studies of living humans to, for the first time, directly test adaptive implications of skeletal variation observed in the past. The ADaPt project provides the first links between prehistoric hunter-gatherer variation and the evolutionary parameters of life history and energetics that may have shaped our success as a species. 





Project Tags

Human Evolutionary Studies
Research Expertise / Fields of study: 
Human Population Biology and Health
Human Evolution
Biological Anthropology
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