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When we became humans
Tuesday October 21st, 2008 , h.20,30At the question: "when did the first humans appear on our planet?", at first we have to specify what we mean with the word "humans". Is there a borderline that separates us from our non-human progenitors? As far as it concerns the "when" and "where", there are many theories and create as many questions: do we come only from Africa? Why did we go around the world? Who were the Neanderthal and what was their destiny? When and how did the anatomically modern humans appear? How was their behavior different? We will discuss all of these questions and more with Giovanni Destro Bisol and Margherita Mussi, who will present, based on their points of view, the instruments which allow us to face the study of such events, so far back in the past, that apparently only few traces remain.
Relevant articles:The certainty of the exact sciences. (link in italian)
Giovanni Destro Bisol
Giovanni Destro Bisol, graduated in Biological Sciences, is associate professor of Anthropology in the Animal and Human Biology Department at the University of Rome "La Sapienza".His research interests evolve around the study of genetic variability and the settlement processes of the human groups in various geographical contexts (central Africa and Italy) and the processes of natural selection at the level of the human genome.
He is secretary in the Italian Institute of Anthropology and editor of the Journal of Anthropological Sciences, both institutions founded for the promotion of interdisciplinary approaches in the anthropological research.
Margherita Mussi
Margherita Mussi is associate professor of Prehistory and Protohistory in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy (Literature) in the University of Rome "La Sapienza".Her primary research topics are about the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, with particular interest in the settlement of the populations in Italy, the art, the burial rituals and the interaction between human groups and the natural habitat.
Since 1991 she is conducting excavation-schools and systematic exploration campaigns with PhD and undergraduate students, as well as specialization schools of archeology.
She has been a permanent member, as Italian representative, in the The Palaeolithic occupation of Europe Network, which is supported by the European Science Foundation.
