Admission requirements
This course is part of the minor Human Evolution and registration is restricted to students who followed the preceding course of this minor.
Description
In this course the fossil record of the human lineage will be explored from the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees to the emergence of Homo sapiens. We will meet the main hominins of the past 8 million years and look at traits such as bipedal locomotion, life histories, body size, brain size, and their diseases. We will study our collection of casts including for example “Lucy”, Neandertals and early modern humans and investigate which tools they used, what they ate, whether they used fire, and why all but Homo sapiens got extinct.
Course Objectives
After completion of the course, students can:
Explain the basic principles of paleoanthropology and the formation of the archaeological record.
Explain the basic principles of dating methods.
Describe and recognize the main fossil hominins based on anatomical features and age.
Explain the basic principles of identifying pathology in fossils. ·
Describe and interpret the history of the human lineage with regard to bipedality, brain size, diet, and life history.
Describe and interpret the evolution of Homo sapiens and genetic evidence for inter-species contact
Describe and interpret the development of complex behaviours in the human lineage and the concept of “behavioral modernity”.
Create a group scientific poster and present a pitch on a paleoanthropological topic.
Timetable
A detailed time table will be published on Brightspace.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, tutorials and practicals. Also, reading textbook and primary literature. Selfstudy. During this course, you will spend around 28 hrs working in groups on one of your half-minor essay topics (Evolution of Diet, Brain, Life Histories, or Disease in humans) from an archeological perspective.
Assessment method
Exam: Multiple choice test: percentage of the final grade 50%
Poster + pitch: percentage of the final grade 50%
Minimum grade:
Courses require a minimum, unrounded 5.5 grade to complete.
If a course has 2 or more written partial exams, the minimum grade only applies to the weighted average of the exams.
For partial grades from components other than exams (e.g. practicals, seminars, writing assignments), the bottom grade does apply to the individual components.
Please refer to the Student Charter for an overview of regulations.
Reading list
Compulsory book: R. Boyd & J.B. Silk; How Humans Evolved, 8th edition, 2018; Norton Publishers.
Note: earlier editions as well as the 9th edition, loose leaf edition, and e-book are also acceptable.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Prospective students website for information on how to apply.
Contact
Coordinator: Dr. G.L. Dusseldorp
Email: g.l.dusseldorp@arch.leidenuniv.nl
Workdays: Tue-Fri
Remarks
Brightspace will be used for communication
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.