Hominid Evolution: Archaeology, Palaeoanthropology, Science, Prehistory, History
In this 8-week course, students will learn about the evolution of hominids from an Australian Archaeologist.
Owen Archaeologist
Average rating:
4.8
Number of reviews:(25)
What's included
Homework
1 hour per week. OPTIONAL: I will provide feedback if learners would like to write a summary after each lesson. They can either summarise the lecture and discussion in our class, or they can summarise one aspect or topic from the lesson. This will demonstrate understanding and allow me as a teacher to provide further explanation and clarification as applicable. They can either upload a screenshot or a document to the classroom or in a message, or they can show their work in person at the start of the next class. Each class recording will be made available so that learners who need to can review the lesson from each day before moving on to the next day.Assessment
OPTIONAL: - End of the course multiple choice quiz; - On Day 1, I will provide a list of possible essay topics, should any of my students wish to turn in an essay at the end of this course for feedback and marking/grading.Grading
includedClass Experience
US Grade 8 - 11
No prior knowledge is required in order to take this course. I will make the relevant class materials available by 12pm GMT/UTC on Monday of each week. This will include videos with lectures on the topics of the week, along with handouts that pertain to these topics. I look forward to interacting asynchronously with my learners in this class. This course will cover the following topics and material: Week 1: The evolution of the universe, life, and forms of intelligence; This week we will explore the origins of life on Earth and the possibility of astrobiological discoveries in the future. Week 2: Classification of Life, the Nature of Mammals and the Nature of Primates; This week we will cover the Domains and Kingdoms that life can be categorised into, including marsupials, monotremes, and mega fauna. Week 3: Footsteps Towards Humanity: Early Hominids, Hominins, Hominoids, and Pongids; This week we will discuss the journey from primate to the cusp of what it means to be human. Week 4: The Evolution of Early Hominids and Hominins - Through the Interpretation of the Fossil Evidence and Existing Primates; Week 5: Homo Erectus, Neanderthal, Denisovan, and "The Hobbit" (Homo Floresiensis); This week we will delve into the Genus Homo that eventually led to us, as well as looking at recent DNA evidence of extinct species that are still present in our genetics. Week 6: Becoming Human: Anatomically Modern Humans, and how a Super Volcano almost ended our Genus; This week we will also discuss the Origins of Speech in humans and in other animals. Week 7: The Migration of Modern Humans Around the World (Genetic Evidence and Dates) Week 8: From Microbes to Space, and ongoing debates I always teach the class, even if there is only one learner enrolled, so please do not worry about the cancellation of my classes if you should receive an automated email from Outschool stating that the class might be canceled if enrolment is too low.
Learning Goals
Learners will understand how the Genus Homo evolved, leading to humans as we are today.
They will learn how scientists discover and interpret the evidence found to explain our origins.
Learners will also be introduced to recent discoveries and debates in the field of paleoanthropology and archaeology.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
- I will use Google Slides to screen share information during the live classes.
- Learners will not need to access the internet outside of Outschool for this course.
- The Scientific Method is used in this class, as is the Theory of Evolution, amongst other widely accepted forms of evidence.
Supply List
- Paper and pencil or pen, or electronic device to take notes with if they want to; - On Day 1, I will provide a list of possible essay topics, should any of my students wish to turn in an essay at the end of this course for feedback and marking/grading.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Sources
Argue, D, Donlon, D, Groves, C & Wright, R 2006 ‘Homo floresiensis: microcephalic, pygmoid, australopithecus or homo’ Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 51, no. 4, pp 360-374.
Bromham, L & Cardillo, M 2007 ‘Primates follow the ‘island rule’: implications for interpreting homo floresiensis’ Biology Letters, vol. 3, pp. 398-400.
Brown, P, Sutikna, T, Morwood, MJ, Soejono, RP, Jatmiko, Saptomo, EW & Rokus Awe Due 2004 ‘A new small-bodied hominin from the late pleistocene of flores, indonesia’ Nature, vol. 431, pp. 1055-1061.
Brumm, A, Azia, F, van den bergh, GD, Morwood, MJ, Moore, MW, Kurniawan, I, Hobbs, DR & Fullager, R 2006 ‘Early stone technology on flores and its implications for homo floresiensis’ Nature, vol. 441, pp. 624-628.
Brumm, A, Jensen, GM, van den Bergh, GD, Morwood, MJ, Kurniawan, I, Aziz, F & Storey, M 2010 ‘Hominins on flores, Indonesia, by one million years ago’ Nature, vol. 464, pp. 748-752.
Culotta, E 2006, ‘How the hobbits shrugged: tiny hominids story takes new turn’, Science, vol. 312, p983-984.
Falk, D, Hildebolt, C, Smith, K, Morwood, MJ, Sutikna, T, Brown, P, Jatmiko, Saptomo, EW, Brunsden, B & Prior, F 2005 ‘The brain of LB1, homo floresiensis’ Science, vol. 308, pp. 242-245.
Falk, D, Hildebolt, C, Smith, K, Morwood, MJ, Sutikna, T, Jatmiko, Saptomo, EW, Brunsden, B & Prior, F 2006 ‘Response to comment on “the brain of LB1, homo floresiensis”’ Science, vol. 312, no. 577, pp. 999.
Falk, D, Hildebolt, C, Smith, K, Morwood, MJ, Sutikna, R, Jatmiko, Saptomo, EW & Prior, F2009 ‘LB1’s virtual endocast, microcephaly, and hominin evolution’ Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 597-607.
Forth, G 2005 ‘Hominids, hairy hominids and the science of humanity’ Anthropology Today, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 13-17.
Gordon, AD, Nevell, L & Wood, B 2008 ‘The homo floresiensis cranium (LB1): size, scaling, and early homo affinities’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, no. 12, pp. 4650-4655.
Jacob, T, Indriati, E, Soejono, RP, HSU, K, Frayer, DW, Eckhardt, RB, Kuperavage, AJ, Thorne, A & Henneberg, M 2006 ‘Pygmoid australomelanesian homo sapiens skeletal remains from liang bua, flores: population affinities and pathological abnormalities’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 103, no. 36, pp. 13421-13426.
Jungers, WL, Harcourt-Smith, WEH, Wunderlich, RE, Tocheri, MW, Larson, SG, Sutikna, T, Rhokus Awe Due & Morwood, MJ 2009a ‘The foot of homo floresiensis’ Nature, vol. 459, pp. 81-84.
Jungers, WL, Larson, SG, Harcourt-Smith, Morwood, MJ, Sutikna, T, Rokhus Due Awe, & Djubiantono, T 2009b ‘Descriptions of the lower limb skeleton of homo floresiensis’ Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 57, pp. 538-554.
Lahr, MM & Foley, R 2004 ‘Human evolution writ small’ Nature, vol. 431, pp.1043-1044.
Larson, SG, Jungers, WL. Morwood, MJ, Sutikna, T, Jatmiko, Saptomo, EW, Rokus Awe Due & Djubiantono, T 2007 ‘Homo floresiensis and the evolution of the hominin shoulder’ Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 53, pp. 718-731.
Lieberman, DE 2009 ‘Homo floresiensis from head to toe’ Nature, vol. 459, pp. 41-42.
Martin, RD, MacLarnon, AM, Phillips, JL, Dussubieux, L, Williams, PR, & Dobyns, WB 2006 ‘Comment on “the brain of LB1” homo floresiensis’ Science, vol. 312, p 999b.
Mijares, AS, Detroit, F, Piper, P, Grun, R, Bellwood, P, Aubert, M, Champion, G, Cuevas, N, de Leon, A & Dizon, E 2010 ‘New evidence for a 67,000-year-old human presence at Callao Cave, Luzon, Philippines’ Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 59, no. 1, pp.123-132.
Morwood, MJ, Soejono, RP, Roberts, RG, Sutikna, T, Turney, CSM, Westaway, KE, Rink, WJ, Zhao, JX, van den Bergh, GD, Rokus Awe Due, Hobbs, DR, Moore, MW, Bird, MI & Fifield, LK 2004 ‘Archaeology and age of a new hominin from flores in eastern indonesia’ Nature, vol. 431, pp. 1087-1091.
Morwood, MJ, Brown, P, Jatmiko, Sutikna, T, Saptomo, EW, Westaway, KE, Rokus Awe Due, Roberts, RG, Maeda, T, Wasisto, S & Djubiantono, T 2005 ‘Further evidence for small-bodied hominis from the late Pleistocene of flores, indonesia’ Nature, vol. 437, pp. 1012-1017.
Nova beta,Alien from earth: expert q & a, viewed 8 October 2010, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/alien-earth-ask-expert.html.
Obendorf, PJ, Exnard, CE & Kefford, BJ 2008 ‘Are the small human-like fossils found on flores human endemic cretins?’ Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, vol. 275, pp. 1287-1296.
Saptomo, EW, Piper, PJ & Dobney, KM 2009 ‘The liang bua faunal remains; a 95 k.yr. sequence from flores, east indonesia’ Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 527-537.
Stanford, C, Allen, JS & Anton, SC 2009 Biological Anthropology The Natural History of Humankind Second Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Torchert, MW, Orr, CM, Larson, SG, Sutikna, T, Jatmiko, Saptomo, EW, Rokus, Awe Due, Djubiantono, T, Morwood, MJ & Jungers, WL 2007 ‘The primitive wrist of homo floresiensis and its implications for hominin evolution’ Science, vol. 317, no. 5845, pp. 1743-1745.
Weber, J, Czarnetzki, A & Pusch, CM 2005 ‘Comment on “the brain of LB1 homo floresiensis”’, Science, vol. 310, p.236b.
Westaway, KE, Roberts, RG, Sutikna, T, Morwood, MJ, Drysdale, R, Zhao, J-x & Chivas, AR 2009 ‘The evolving landscape and climate of western flores; an environmental context for the archaeological site of liang bua’, Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 450-464.
Weston, EM & Lister, AM 2009 ‘Insular dwarfism in hippos and a model for brain size reduction in homo floresiensis’ Nature, vol. 459, pp. 85-88.
Chazan, Michael 2008. World Prehistory and archaeology. Pathways through Time. Pearson Education, New York.
Green Richard, Briggs Adrian, Krause Johannes, Prufer Kay, Burbano Hernan, Siebauer Michael, Lachmann Michael, Paabo Svante (2009). The Neanderthal genome and ancient DNA authenticity (pg 2494-2502). The EMBO journal 28.
In Encyclopædia Britannica (2010). Homo sapiens.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1350865/Homo-sapiens
Lewin Roger, Foley Robert (2004). Principals of Human Evolution. Blackwell Publishing, United Kingdom.
Owen James (2005). Neandertals Had Long Childhoods, Tooth Study Suggests. National Geographic.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0920_050920_neanderthal.html
Ovchinnikov Igor, William Goodwin (2001). The Isolation and Identification of Neanderthal Mitochondrial DNA (pg 7-9). Profiles in DNA.
Potts surname database (2009). Glossary.
http://www.pottsinfo.com/PottsDNAGlossary.html
Stankus Tony 2010. The Renaissance in Neanderthal Studies: Publication of the Neandertal Genome Sequence Is Yet another Addition to Our Growing Scientific Knowledge.
http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/dbio/2010/05/the-renaissance-in-neanderthal-studies-publication-of-the-neandertal-genome-sequence-is-yet-another-addition-to-our-growing.html
Zilhao Joao (2006). Genes, Fossils and Culture. An overview of the Evidence for the Neanderthal-Modern Human Interaction and Admixture (pg 1-20). Proceedings from the Prehistoric Society 72.
Joined July, 2022
4.8
25reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
As a qualified Archaeologist, I have taken tertiary-level units of study that specialise in the evolution of primates and hominids, as well as anatomy and forensics.
Further, I have taken specialised courses which cover paleoanthropology, the Pleistocene epoch, and the Holocene epoch.
I have degrees, post-graduate, and professional qualifications in the following areas of expertise, which includes the evolution of our species:
- Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology & History
- A1 First-Class Honours in Archaeology
- Member of AAA (Australian Archaeological Association)
- Member of ASHA (Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology)
- PhD Candidate in Archaeology (Full Scholarship)
- Academic Medal in Undergraduate Coursework
- Winner of the Robert Mays Memorial Prize for North Queensland History
- Member of the Golden Key International Honour Society
- I have co-authored published articles in professional archaeological journals
- I have delivered speeches at the Australiasian Mining History Association
- Winner of the Best Poster Presentation at AAA
- I have started my TESOL (150-Hours) Professional Certificate through Arizona State University, and I expect to complete this
within the next month
I am also a homeschool father of multiple children. We have always homeschooled and participated in distance education. We came to Outschool in 2018 as learners, and now I am excited to also teach on this platform. I understand the needs of parents of learners here as I am one myself. Further, I am a native English speaker. Reviews
Live Group Class
$160
for 8 weeks8 weeks
Completed by 4 learners
No live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
This class is no longer offered
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