Surviving in Lower Palaeolithic Europe: four seasonal perspectives
by Dr Robert Hosfield FSA, Associate Professor in Palaeolithic Archaeology, University of Reading
How did the earliest European hunter-gatherers survive? In this talk I’ll explore four challenges to, and requirements of, survival in the European Lower Palaeolithic (between roughly 1.6 and 0.3 million years ago) from a seasonal perspective, focusing on reproduction (spring), knowledge transmission (summer), stockpiling (autumn), and cultural insulation (winter).
Rob is a Professor in Palaeolithic Archaeology at Reading University, where he’s worked since 2004. He’s conducted fieldwork on British Lower Palaeolithic sites (and occasionally further afield), and written about Lower Palaeolithic settlement histories, technology, and survival strategies.
My new book is out: The Earliest Europeans – A Year in the Life: Seasonal survival strategies in the Lower Palaeolithic (available open access at: https://books.casematepublishers.com/The_Earliest_Europeans.pdf)
Where copyright permits you can find post-print copies of my other publications at: http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000911.html
http://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/r-hosfield.asp (University Webpage)
http://www.facebook.com/ArchaeologyReading (Department Facebook) http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~sgs04rh/ (Personal Webpage)
Palaeolithic (early prehistory) resources for schools:
http://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/copingwithclimate/resources-for-schools/
A couple of recent blog posts:
https://research.reading.ac.uk/research-blog/a-year-in-the-life-of-the-earliest-europeans/
https://research.reading.ac.uk/research-blog/finding-the-fires-of-early-humans/
This meeting will be on Zoom at the usual time of 2pm for 2:30. Details will be emailed to members before the event.
Cover image: This is a reconstruction illustration from my recent 2020 book (it’s a female Homo heidelbergensis, with infant). The artist’s is Mark Gridley
