Simon John Underdown

Simon John Underdown
Oxford Brookes University · Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

PhD Biological Anthropology, Cambridge
Professor of Biological Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University

About

36
Publications
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Introduction
Simon Underdown is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University. www.underdown.info Simon does research in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology. Their current project is 'PATHOCENE: Prehistoric pathogen research initiative: Microscopic and genomic analysis of disease vectors and pathogens from southern African Pleistocene archaeological contexts'.

Publications

Publications (36)
Article
Full-text available
The impact of endemic and epidemic disease on humans has traditionally been seen as a comparatively recent historical phenomenon associated with the Neolithisation of human groups, an increase in population size led by sedentarism, and increasing contact with domesticated animals as well as species occupying opportunistic symbiotic and ectosymbioti...
Chapter
Human dispersals and adaptations are the result of the dynamic relationship between cultural and biological systems. This chapter focuses on the last half a million years with an emphasis on the environmental controls on human dispersal and adaptation, with the perspective of spatiotemporal variations in environments as a key factor. It provides a...
Article
Full-text available
Changing climatic conditions are thought to be a major control of human presence in Arabia during the Paleolithic. Whilst the Pleistocene archaeological record shows that periods of increased monsoon rainfall attracted human occupation and led to increased population densities, the impact of arid conditions on human populations in Arabia remains la...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The archaeological incidence of ancient human faecal material provides a rare opportunity to explore the taxonomic composition and metabolic capacity of the ancestral human intestinal microbiome (IM). Here, we report the results of the shotgun metagenomic analyses of an ancient South African palaeo-faecal specimen. Methods: Following...
Preprint
Full-text available
Following the recovery of a single desiccated palaeo-faecal specimen from Bushman Rock Shelter in Limpopo Province, South Africa, we applied a multi-proxy analytical protocol to the sample. Our results indicate that the distal IM of the Neolithic ‘Middle Iron Age’ (c. AD 1485) Bantu-speaking individual exhibits features indicative of a largely mixe...
Article
Les entrées de grottes et les abris sous roche sont des lieux fréquentés depuis le début du Pléistocène par les homininés anciens puis par les premiers Homo sapiens. Les découvertes archéologiques provenant de plusieurs grottes d'Afrique subsaharienne témoignent de l ' évolution technologique et comportementale des Hommes Anatomiquement Modernes, d...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Simoni et al (2016) reported variation in the frequency of Neanderthal alleles found in modern humans and argued that they may have provided an evolutionary advantage. One such allele is SNP rs3917862, associated with hypercoagulability. rs3917862 can be deleterious but can also help prevent blood loss. Aim: To investigate two possible...
Article
Full-text available
Analysis of pathogen genome data sequenced from clinical and historical samples has made it possible to perform phylogenetic analyses of sexually transmitted infections on a global scale, and to estimate the diversity, distribution, and coevolutionary host relationships of these pathogens, providing insights into pathogen emergence and disease prev...
Article
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) is a human herpesvirus found worldwide that causes genital lesions and more rarely causes encephalitis. This pathogen is most common in Africa, and particularly in central and east Africa, an area of particular significance for the evolution of modern humans. Unlike HSV1, HSV2 has not simply co-speciated with humans fr...
Article
Full-text available
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) is a human herpesvirus found worldwide that causes genital lesions and more rarely causes encephalitis. This pathogen is most common in Africa, and particularly in central and east Africa, an area of particular significance for the evolution of modern humans. Unlike HSV1, HSV2 has not simply co-speciated with humans fr...
Preprint
Full-text available
Herpes simplex virus 2 is a human herpesvirus found worldwide that causes genital lesions and more rarely causes encephalitis. This pathogen is most common in Africa, and particularly in central and east Africa, an area of particular significance for the evolution of modern humans. Unlike HSV1, HSV2 has not simply co-speciated with humans from thei...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The biology of human migration can be observed from the co-evolutionary relationship with infectious diseases. While many pathogens are brief, unpleasant visitors to human bodies, others have the ability to become life-long human passengers. The story of a pathogen's genetic code may, therefore, provide insight into the history of its...
Article
Full-text available
High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with response to infection and immunity, with a suggestion that derived Neanderthal alleles found in modern Europeans and East Asians may be associated with autoi...
Article
Full-text available
Extract Fischer and Mitteroecker claim to have resolved the obstetric dilemma by establishing a previously unrecognized, ameliorating pattern of selective covariation between pelvis shape, stature, and head size (1). We feel that, although their results are intriguing, the authors do not fully consider the interconnecting web of factors that play i...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with response to infection and immunity, with a suggestion that derived Neanderthal alleles found in modern Europeans and East Asians may be associated with autoi...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Current models of infectious disease in the Pleistocene tell us little about the pathogens that would have infected Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with res...
Conference Paper
Current models of infectious disease in the Pleistocene tell us little about the pathogens that would have infected Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with res...
Conference Paper
High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with response to infection and immunity, with a suggestion that derived Neanderthal alleles found in modern Europeans and East Asians may be associated with autoi...
Conference Paper
Current models of infectious disease in the Pleistocene tell us little about the pathogens that would have infected Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with res...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Current models of infectious disease in the Pleistocene tell us little about the pathogens that would have infected Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). High quality Altai Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are revealing which regions of archaic hominin DNA have persisted in the modern human genome. A number of these regions are associated with res...
Article
Full-text available
Article
The Selk'nam were an indigenous population of Tierra del Fuego that are now extinct. Contemporary accounts, including those of Robert Fitzroy and Charles Darwin, attest to their prodigious size and strength. These accounts and others record that the Selk'nam were enthusiastic wrestlers and fought till one or other of the opponents could no longer c...
Article
Full-text available
Human–wildlife conflict, specifically crop raiding by wildlife, is an increasing concern. Primates are a particular problem across much of Africa and Asia, especially for rural, subsistence farmers living and farming at the forest edge. Most methods designed for sampling and extrapolating from primate crop damage in a subsistence farming context re...
Article
The Neanderthals were a Eurasian human species of the genus Homo that disappeared approximately 30,000 years ago. The cause or causes of their extinction continues to intrigue specialists and non-specialists alike. Here a contributory role for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) is suggested. TSEs could have infected Neanderthal groups...
Article
It is a peculiarity of the Neanderthal skeleton that a high frequency of trauma is commonly observed. This has been postulated as being a result of close contact with large prey species during hunting as well as inter-personal violence (3). Initially the behavioural patterns and ecology of the Neanderthals were statistically analysed in order to tr...
Article
Full-text available
The Neanderthals have long fascinated archaeologists and anthropologists alike. Similarity to us coupled with clear differences has produced endless theorizing. This article reviews the background to such ideas. It examines the current lines of thought about Neanderthals and explores the validity of the conclusions. The ultimate aim is the construc...

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