About us
The Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins was founded in 2000 and is based in the Archaeology Department at the University of Southampton, UK. With a broad range of research interests spanning the Lower Palaeolithic through to the Mesolithic, we are a dynamic and varied group, always keen to collaborate and develop new ideas. Current and past research projects have looked at topics such as hominin biomechanics and stone tool morphometrics, the impact of climate and environmental change on hominin dispersals, and submerged Quaternary landscapes from South America to Australia and even the murky waters of the UK.
Made up of current human origins students, researchers and staff, we also have many active alumni members who remain an important part of our group, providing an ever-important network of human origins researchers the world over. You can find a list of our students, staff and alumni on our ‘who we are‘ page, where you can find out more about our current work and view contact details.
In October 2006 CAHO gained a new laboratory, in the purpose-built archaeology building, where MA teaching and CAHO seminars take place. The Wymer Laboratory, named after John Wymer, one of the most prominent British Palaeolithic archaeologists, contains a huge collection of stone tools, experimental and genuine, an enormous library and cutting edge technological equipment for presentations and seminars. All the resources are available to the students and researchers of CAHO alike.
Come and study with us
Our staff and post-graduates are actively engaged with research-led teaching in the department from our undergraduate BA/BSc Archaeology (with joint honours options) through to our postgraduate taught programmes with a particular pathway available in MSc Archaeology (Palaeoanthropology).
Postgraduate research (MPhil/PhD) supervision is also available – please see our ‘who we are‘ page for our individual research interests and current supervisory areas.