Paleoanthropology and prehistory

Paleoanthropologist and geologist, Yves Coppens fully integrates human paleontology into the Chair of Prehistory. Best known as the co-discoverer of Lucy (first Australopithecus afarensisskeleton , 1974), his lectures focus on the bushy nature of human evolutionary trajectories, in constantly changing geographical and environmental contexts.

In his theory of the " East Side Story " (1983), he presented the aridification of the East African landscape and its " opening " as the driving force behind the diversification of ancient hominins, and in particular the development and spread of the Homogenus .

His lectures combine discoveries of human fossils and other primates with geological and paleoclimatological data. He addresses human diversity through the study of australopithecines and the definition of the genus Homo, presenting the material culture associated with each fossil species and the importance of technological innovations in the adaptability and expansion of hominins.

It offers insights into the construction of evolutionary and phylogenetic models linking environments, biology and culture, around the milestones represented by bipedalism and cultural innovations in the emergence from Africa, the spread of the Homogenus , the first settlements of Eurasia and America, and island settlements.

Written by Juliette Henrion (PhD, Chair of Paleoanthropology, CIRB-Collège de France-CNRS /UMR 7241 - Inserm U1050).