Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/group/3760/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. Late Pleistocene Movement of People and Ideas in the Southern Cape, South Africa (March 29, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120716 120716-21845171@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 29, 2024 12:00pm
Location: School of Education
Organized By: Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

During the late Pleistocene (~126,000-11,600 years ago) in southern Africa, we see the emergence of new technologies and an overall expansion of the material culture record of Homo sapiens. These changes have been argued to represent the development of increasingly complex technologies and some of the earliest evidence of behaviors that, later in time, are described as typical of our species. Current arguments focus on increases in cultural connections between groups as a primary driver of these technological and behavioral innovations, but we still have a limited understanding of how people were moving around the landscape, how information was transmitted between groups, or the degree of social interconnectivity present during the late Pleistocene. I address questions including: How did people and ideas move around the landscape? When did complex social networks between groups begin to form? And in what ways did these factors affect the emergence of innovations that contributed to the success of our species?

]]>
Lecture / Discussion Mon, 25 Mar 2024 15:24:04 -0400 2024-03-29T12:00:00-04:00 2024-03-29T13:00:00-04:00 School of Education Museum of Anthropological Archaeology Lecture / Discussion sw
RCGD/EHAP Winter Seminar Series: Runaway Social Selection in Human Evolution (April 1, 2024 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/115987 115987-21835980@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 1, 2024 2:00pm
Location: Institute For Social Research
Organized By: Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

Runaway Social Selection in Human Evolution
Monday, April 1, 2024 (2 PM – 3:30 PM)

Mark Flinn
University of Missouri

Charles Darwin posited that social competition among conspecifics could be a powerful selective pressure. Richard Alexander (1989, 1990) proposed a model of human evolution involving a runaway process of social competition based on Darwin’s insight. Here we briefly review Alexander’s logic, and then expand upon his model by elucidating runaway, positive-feedback processes that were likely involved in the evolution of the remarkable combination of adaptations in humans. We discuss how these ideas fit with the hypothesis that increased inter-group interaction and cooperation among individuals in small fission-fusion groups opened the door to runaway social selection and cumulative culture during hominin evolution.

]]>
Workshop / Seminar Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:24:24 -0500 2024-04-01T14:00:00-04:00 2024-04-01T15:30:00-04:00 Institute For Social Research Museum of Anthropological Archaeology Workshop / Seminar RCGD/EHAP Winter Seminar Series: Runaway Social Selection in Human Evolution
RCGD/EHAP Winter Seminar Series: A Seven Decade Lifespan? Variations on an Evolutionary Theme (April 8, 2024 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/115988 115988-21835981@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 8, 2024 2:00pm
Location: Institute For Social Research
Organized By: Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

A Seven Decade Lifespan? Variations on an Evolutionary Theme
Monday, April 8, 2024 (2 PM – 3:30 PM)

The evolution of human longevity still remains a curious puzzle. Here I provide some new perspectives on the why and how of longevity over the course of human evolution, using longitudinal study of subsistence societies as an imperfect lens for gaining insight. I argue that our evolved human lifespan is about seven decades, and that the multifaceted contributions of middle-to-older aged adults is part of the reason why. I will combine ethnographic, demographic and biomedical studies to shed light on the timing and significance of the transition from “asset” to “burden” in late adulthood, with implications on the global Gray Wave of population aging.

Michael Gurven is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is Chair of Integrative Anthropological Sciences, and Associate Director of the Broom Center for Demography. His research program applies an evolutionary lens to help inform our understanding of aging and today’s complex diseases. Since 2002, Gurven has co-directed the Tsimane’ Health and Life History Project to better understand how lifestyle and the physical and social environment affect health and lifespan in subsistence-level societies.

]]>
Workshop / Seminar Fri, 09 Feb 2024 13:36:55 -0500 2024-04-08T14:00:00-04:00 2024-04-08T15:30:00-04:00 Institute For Social Research Museum of Anthropological Archaeology Workshop / Seminar RCGD/EHAP Winter Seminar Series: A Seven Decade Lifespan? Variations on an Evolutionary Theme