News 2016

In a new paper in Evolutionary Anthropology, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History review the evidence for the time-depth and nature of Homo’s relationship with tropical forest environments. more

The earth sciences have defined a new human age - now social scientists are calling for broader and more interdisciplinary discussion.
Erle Ellis, Mark Maslin, Nicole Boivin, and Andrew Bauer:Involve social scientists in defining the Anthropocene. Nature, Vol. 540, 8. December 2016 more

One of our research themes is exploring the ways in which biological and cultural processes interact over long-term historic and prehistoric timescales. In a piece published Dec 7 in The Guardian, incoming postdoctoral fellow William Taylor highlights recent archaeological research on climate and ancient nomadic life in Mongolia, discussing implications for the future in the context of anthropogenic climate change. more

With their research project “Heirloom Microbes: The History and Legacy of Ancient Dairying Bacteria”, Dr. Jessica Hendy and Dr. Christina Warinner have won the Max Planck Society’s Annual Donation Award 2017. more

Conference at MPI for for the Science of Human History, November 8-10, 2016 Organised by Prof. Michael Petraglia more

Nicole Boivin on TV. Aired on Oct 25, 2016, 3sat [In German] more

A multidisciplinary team of scientists recently excavated one of Zanzibar’s most important caves, revealing a complex human occupation history over the last 18,000 years.  Initial occupations by Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers ranged between ~18,000 - 13,000 years ago.  Later peoples inhabited the cave in the late first to early second millennia AD. The new research contrasts with previous excavations and interpretations, painting a radically different picture of human habitation in the Zanzibar Archipelago of Tanzania. more

Press release to: Boivin, N. L.; Melinda Zederc, M.; Fullerd, D.; Crowthere, A.; Larsonf, G.; Erlandsong, J.; Denhamh, T.; Petraglia, M. D.: Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113 (23) , S. 6388-6396 (2016)
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Press release to: Alison Crowther, Leilani Lucas, Richard Helm, Mark Horton, Ceri Shipton, Henry T. Wright, Sarah Walshaw, Matthew Pawlowicz, Chantal Radimilahy, Katerina Douka, Llorenç Picornell-Gelaber, Dorian Q Fuller, and Nicole Boivin (2016) Ancient crops provide first archaeological signature of the westward Austronesian expansion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113 (24), 6635-6640 (2016) more