Venue/Location: Bagdad Theater, 3702 Southeast Hawthorne Blvd, Phone: (503) 467-7521
Date: Monday, April 9, 2012 - 7:00 PM
OMSI Science Pub:
The Last Neandertals: The Evolution and Extinction of a Species
Presenter: April Nowell, PhD, archaeologist and associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Victoria
Admission: $5.00 suggested cover charge
21 and over, or minor with adult
Human evolution can be traced back 7,000,000 years. Modern humans evolved in Africa only 200,000 years ago and as recently as 26,000 years ago we shared parts of the world with at least one other species – the Neandertals (or Neanderthals). Since the discovery of the first Neandertal remains in 1856 in Germany, this species has generated controversy: questions concerning their genetic relationship to modern humans, their capacity for language and artistic expression, and the reasons for their extinction.
This Science Pub will present the latest research transforming our understanding of these ancient people and will focus, in particular, on the last surviving populations of Neandertals in Gibraltar.
April Nowell, PhD, is an archaeologist and associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Victoria. She specializes in human evolution, particularly the origins of art, language, and symbol use and the emergence of the modern mind. While she has excavated sites in many parts of the world, from Thule Inuit sites in the Canadian High Arctic to Mayan sites in Belize, her current research takes her to Jordan in the Middle East where she leads an international team in the study of Neandertal ways of life.