Phenotypic Adaptability, Variation and Evolution Research Group

PAVE is an interdisciplinary research group in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Our research aims to understand the ways in which the human phenotype adapts to environmental variation throughout the life course. Biological variation can reflect either the natural or behavioural environment of the individual, through natural selection or plasticity in development and maintenance of the organism. We're interested in the ways in which these mechanisms produce variation within our species and among earlier human and hominin populations, and the evolution of this variation through time.

In this context, PAVE has three main research themes:

Hominin Palaeobiology

Understanding the biology of hominins through morphological variation of the skeleton

Human Bioarchaeology

Investigating relationships between cultural evolution, the natural environment and human variation in the past

Human Biology

Studying mechanisms of adaptability of the human phenotype among recent historic and living populations