Archaeology and Human Origins

Archaeology is the study of the human past through material culture - the physical objects that ancient people and their pre-human ancestors left behind. Archaeology at Emory Anthropology is distinguished by its close integration with biology and evolutionary theory.

Faculty focus on the material culture record of human origins, the co-evolution of human biology and behavior, and the investigation of deep-time records of our past. Humans have used material culture to solve problems for more than two million years, starting most noticeably with the first stone tools.

At Emory, the relationship between stone tool use and important aspects of our biology - such as brain organization and social learning - are examined using a battery of novel approaches that include experimental artifact production and brain imaging (Stout Paleolithic Technology Lab). The Ancient DNA lab (Lindo) examines the relationships of past people to one another and to modern groups as they themselves underwent a number of recent adaptive processes.