Mostly Out of Africa: Chris Stringer and the palaeoanthropology of the last million years

The field of palaeoanthropology is not known for consensus.According to reports in the media, new fossils are repeatedly overturning everything we understand, while researchers in the field will often compete over contrasting views on how all the fossils fit together -both literally and figuratively.Explanations of how and why humans evolved can vary widely, from devotees of the aquatic ape hypothesis to aficionados of the primary role of language and culture.However, on one thing virtually all are broadly agreed -that hominins evolved in Africa and dispersed repeatedly from there into Eurasia.In particular, our own species, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and eventually spread to all corners of the globe.It was not always this way.The 'Out of Africa' model emerged in the 1980s, and was fiercely debated, not really becoming a consensus view until this century.Much of the credit for the acceptance of the model is owed to Chris Stringer.From the time of the first publication of the evidence from mitochondrial DNA showing a recent African origin for our species, Chris Stringer was at the forefront of research demonstrating that the fossil record was consistent with the genetic evidence.His publication in 1988 with his colleague Peter Andrews was pivotal in establishing the basis for the Out of Africa model, and since then he has persistently strengthened, refined and extended the idea in numerous papers and talks.Nothing is more iconic, perhaps, than the 'big red book' , The Human Revolution, published with the sadly-missed Sir Paul Mellars, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) , -