Thomas Higham

Tom Higham’s "Disperse" project will explore the key steps in the movement of humans out of Africa and into Eurasia, where they encountered Neanderthals and other now extinct forms of human. It is thought that the modern day Levant was the location through which humans passed. The latest dating methods will be used to build chronologies from archaeological sites across Eurasia to track them. The key Lebanese archaeological site of Ksar ‘Akil will be reopened for excavation and sampling to test the arrival of humans in the Levant, obtain sediment DNA, reconstruct the climatic record and consider the role of novel technological developments in tracking the dispersal of humans into the Old World.