Starting in October 2009, the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (SHEP) was established at the University of Tübingen. In May 2017, SHEP was officially recognized as an institute of the Leibniz Association.
The centre is headed by Prof. Katerina Harvati.
The scientific coordination of the institute is overseen by Dr. Sibylle Wolf.
The Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology is located at the Castle, while its subgroups Archaeozoology and Archaeobotany are based in Rümelinstraße. The Chairs of Paleoanthropology and Geoarchaeology, as well as the long-term project “The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans” of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, are also located there. The remaining research groups work in the future SHEP building on Hölderlinstraße / Sigwartstraße.
Close scientific collaboration with other locations of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung is reflected in joint projects with, for example, the Section of Paleoanthropology in Frankfurt or the Research Station for Quaternary Palaeontology in Weimar. SHEP Tübingen conducts research on diverse aspects of the biological and cultural evolution of humans and great apes, as well as on climate and environmental change throughout the Cenozoic. The collaboration between Senckenberg and the University of Tübingen also includes teaching activities and the curation of the university’s extensive palaeozoological, palaeobotanical, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, and geoarchaeological collections, which are managed by Senckenberg. These internationally renowned collections are a unique feature of SHEP.
The biological and cultural evolution of humans within their environment is a fundamental question of humanity. SHEP’s research is based on the assumption that both the biological and early cultural evolution of humans and their ancestors were strongly influenced by changes in the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate. From around 2.5 million years ago, cultural evolution gradually began to play an increasingly important role. Methods such as genetic analyses, isotope geochemistry, geological and geochronological techniques, climate and environmental reconstructions, as well as analyses of archaeological artifacts, are used to investigate the interactions between human biology, culture, and environment.
SHEP offers excellent infrastructure for research and teaching. The research is strongly field-oriented, with numerous excavations taking place worldwide. SHEP Tübingen represents a unique international concentration of expertise in the fields of biogeology, evolutionary anthropology, geoarchaeology, palaeobotany, palaeogenetics, palaeozoology, palaeontology, palaeoclimatology, and prehistory. Its scientists investigate phylogenetic relationships, anatomical and physiological adaptations to dietary resources, and social interactions among early human species, using methods such as virtual anthropology. Of particular interest are the evolutionary interactions between pathogens and humans.
SHEP’s publication record is internationally outstanding. Noteworthy examples include the ERC Consolidator Grant “Crossroads – Human Evolution at the Crossroads” and the DFG Research Training Group “Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past”, both based in the Paleoanthropology research group. SHEP pursues a scientifically and socially relevant research agenda that is internationally unique in its approach and coherence and receives significant public attention.