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Why the geosciences are becoming increasingly vital to the interpretation of the human evolutionary record

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1971–1977 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Advanced geoscience techniques are essential to contextualize fossils, artefacts and other archaeologically important material accurately and effectively. Their appropriate use will increase confidence in new interpretations of the fossil and archaeological record, providing important information about the life and depositional history of these materials and so should form an integral component of all human evolutionary studies. Many of the most remarkable recent finds that have transformed the field of human evolution are small and scarce, ranging in size from teeth to strands of DNA, recovered from complex sedimentary environments. Nevertheless, if properly analysed, they hold immense potential to rewrite what we know about the evolution of our species and our closest hominin ancestors.

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Fig. 1: Proposed analytical pathways for microcontextualized geoarchaeological investigation.
Fig. 2: Progress of geoscience techniques applied to the study of human evolution.

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Acknowledgements

M.W.M., I.M., A.M.K.-M., A.I.R.H., R.J.-B. and K.W. receive funding support from the Australian Research Council (ARC), through Future Fellowships FT180100309 (M.W.M.) and FT220100184 (I.M.), Linkage Project LP210300105 (A.M.K.-M.), and Discovery Projects DP170100056 (A.I.R.H.), DP220100195 (R.J.-B.) and DP170101597 (K.W.). V.C.H. receives funding support through a Flinders International Postgraduate Research Scholarship. A.Z. receives funding support from the SPHeritage Project (MUR Grant FISR2019_00040).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Flinders Microarchaeology Laboratory, Archaeology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Mike W. Morley, Ian Moffat, Anna M. Kotarba-Morley & Vito C. Hernandez

  2. School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Anna M. Kotarba-Morley

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Andrea Zerboni

  4. Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Andy I. R. Herries

  5. Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia

    Renaud Joannes-Boyau

  6. School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Kira Westaway

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  1. Mike W. Morley
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Correspondence to Mike W. Morley.

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Morley, M.W., Moffat, I., Kotarba-Morley, A.M. et al. Why the geosciences are becoming increasingly vital to the interpretation of the human evolutionary record. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1971–1977 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02215-5

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