Robert A. Foley Telephone: +44 (0)1223 764 704
Fax: +44 (0)1223 764 710
E-mail: r.foley(at)human-evol.cam.ac.uk
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POSITIONS HELD
Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies
Leverhulme Professor of Human Evolution
Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge
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OFFICE HOURS: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10-11am. RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research is concerned with understanding the pattern of human evolution in terms of evolutionary processes. At one level this relates specifically to the evolution of adaptive behaviours and morphologies during the course of human evolution, in relation to environmental and socioecological context of fossil hominins. At another level it is concerned with the integration of adaptive microevolutionary processes with macroevolutionary patterns (speciation, diversity and extinction). This work has focused on evolutionary ecology, social evolution, community ecology and biogeography. While much of this work has been concerned with the whole range of human evolution since the divergence from the African apes, more recently it has been developed in relation to modern human evolution and diversity. This work, with Marta Lahr, has been particularly concerned with the integration of genetic, archaeological and fossil evidence into a coherent model of geographical diversification, adaptive change and behavioural evolution in recent human populations.
CURRENT PROJECTS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Books
Lewin, R., and Foley, R.A., 2003, Principles of Human Evolution : Oxford, Blackwells.
Donnelly P, and Foley RA, eds. (2001) Genes, Fossils and Behaviour: an integrated approach to human evolution. Brussels: NATO.
Foley RA (1995) Humans before humanity: an evolutionary perspective. Oxford: Blackwells Publishers
Foley RA (1987) Another Unique Species: Patterns of Human Evolutionary Ecology. Harlow: Longman
Foley RA, ed. (1984) Hominid Evolution and Community Ecology: Prehistoric Human Adaptation in Biological Perspective. New York and London: Academic Press.
Foley RA (1981) Off-Site Archaeology and Human Adaptation in Eastern Africa. Oxford: British Archaeological Research.
Papers
Dunn, M., Terrill, A., Reesink, G., Foley, R.A., Levinson, S.C. (2005) Structural Phylogenetics and the Reconstruction of Ancient Language History. Science 23:2072-2075. pdf
Lahr, M.M. & Foley, R.A. (2004) Palaeoanthropology: Human evolution writ small. Nature 431, 1043-1044. pdf
Bateson, P., Barker.D., Clutton-Brock, T., Deb, D., D'Udine, B., Foley, R.A., Gluckman, P., Godfrey, K., Kirkwood, T., Lahr, M.M., McNamara, J., Metcalfe, N.B., Monaghan, P., Spencer, H.G., Sultan, S.E. (2004) Developmental Plasticity and Human Health. Nature 430:419-421. link
Foley, R.A. & Lahr, M.M. (2003) On stony ground: Lithic technology, human evolution, and the emergence of culture. Evolutionary Anthropology 12:109-122. pdf
Foley RA (2002) Parallel tracks in time: archaeology and human evolution. In B Cunliffe, C Renfew and W Davies (eds): Archaeology: The Widening Debate. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-42.
Collard IF, and Foley RA (2002) Latitudinal patterns and environmental determinants of recent human cultural diversity: do humans follow biogeographical rules? Evolutionary Ecology Research 4:371-383. pdf
Foley RA (2001) Evolutionary perspectives on the origins of human social institutions. In WG Runciman (ed.): The Origins of Human Social Institutions. London: The British Academy, pp. 171-196.
Foley RA (2001) In the shadow of the modern synthesis: alternative perspectives on the last 50 years of palaeoanthropology. Evolutionary Anthropology 10:5-14. pdf
Foley RA (1999) The evolutionary geography of Pliocene hominids. In T Bromage and F Schrenk (eds.): African Biogeography, Climatic Change, and Hominid Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 328-348
Foley RA (1998) Pattern and process in hominid evolution. In J. Bintliff ed.: Structure and Contingency: Evolutionary Processes in Life and Human Society. Leicester University Press: London. pdf
Lahr MM, and Foley RA (1998) Towards a theory of modern human origins: Geography, demography, and diversity in recent human evolution. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, Vol 41 - 1998 41:137-176. pdf
Foley RA (1997) The adaptive legacy of human evolution: a search for the EEA. Evolutionary Anthropology 4:194-203.
Foley RA, and Lahr MM (1997) Mode 3 technologies and the evolution of modern humans. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 7:3-36. pdf
Foley, R.A. (1994) Speciation, extinction, and climatic change in hominid evolution. Journal of Human Evolution 26:277-289. pdf
Lahr MM, and Foley RA (1994) Multiple dispersals and modern human origins. Evolutionary Anthropology 3:48-60.
Foley RA (1991) How many hominid species should there be? Journal of Human Evolution 20:413-427.
Layton R, Foley RA, and Williams E (1991) The transition between hunting and gathering and the specialized husbandry of resources - a socioecological approach. Current Anthropology 32:255-274. pdf
Foley RA, and Lee PC (1991) Ecology and energetics of encephalization in hominid evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London Series B 334:223-232.
Foley RA, and Lee PC (1989) Finite social space, evolutionary pathways and reconstructing hominid behaviour. Science 243:901-6.
Foley RA (1987) Hominid species and stone tools assemblages: how are they related? Antiquity 61:380-392. pdf
Foley RA (1981) A model of regional archaeological structure. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 47:1-17.
