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The HUMAN ROOTS AWARD is being presented by the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum of Human Behavioural Evolution, an institution of the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) based in Mainz, Germany. This year's award goes to American anthropologist and professor John D. Speth, one of the most influential scholars in the field of early human history. The MONREPOS jury particularly commends his research-based perspective on historical sources and his pioneering studies on Palaeolithic diets. The HUMAN ROOTS AWARD is endowed with 10,000 Euros and honours scientists who have made significant contributions to the understanding of human behavioural evolution.
John D. Speth is one of the world’s leading experts on the lifeways and diets of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. He is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and served as Curator at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA, where he was responsible for the North American archaeology collections. His areas of expertise include zooarchaeology, Pleistocene and early Holocene archaeology (i.e. the archaeology of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic), Southwestern American archaeology, and ethnohistory — the study that connects written and oral traditions with archaeological findings.
Over a career spanning more than five decades, Speth has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of how our ancestors obtained, processed and shared food. His extensive fieldwork in the southwestern United States and the Middle East has transformed debates on meat consumption, big-game hunting and the social and symbolic behaviours of early humans. Speth challenged long-held assumptions, such as the idea that protein was the most vital nutrient. Instead, he demonstrated that fat and social relationships played a decisive role in survival.
His interdisciplinary approach, integrating archaeological data with insights from physiology and ethnography, has earned him a distinguished place within the fields of anthropology and archaeology. John D. Speth is also one of the last active representatives of the influential generation associated with the so-called “New Archaeology” – a movement that, since the 1960s, has introduced innovative methods and theories into archaeological research.
The HUMAN ROOTS AWARD – a prize for interdisciplinary research
The HUMAN ROOTS AWARD has been presented by the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre since 2017 and is now regarded as the "little Nobel Prize" of archaeology and human behavioural evolution. The aim of the award is to promote interdisciplinary scientific dialogue and raise public awareness of the relevance of findings from research into the evolution of humankind for the future of humanity.
"With the HUMAN ROOTS AWARD, we aim to build a bridge between the archaeology of human origins and other sciences," explains Professor Dr Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Head of MONREPOS and member of the award jury. "By linking the archaeological perspective on 'becoming human' with the humanistic agenda of 'being human,' we can sustainably shape 'remaining human' for our future."
Following the death of Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, one of the founding fathers of human ethology and patron of the first HUMAN ROOTS AWARD, the renowned evolutionary biologist and first prizewinner Richard Dawkins assumed the role of patron in 2018. Previous recipients include Steven Pinker and Robin Dunbar. In 2022, developmental psychologist Michael Tomasello was honoured. In 2024, Paola Villa is the first female archaeologist to receive this award.
Dr. Lutz Kindler (MONREPOS, Coordinator and member of the award jury)
Tel.: +49 (0) 2631 9772 242 | Mail: lutz.kindler@leiza.de
Archaeologist John D. Speth is the sixth recipient of the HUMAN ROOTS AWARD. This award recognises o ...
Source: University of Michigan
Copyright: University of Michigan, Ann Abor, USA
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