My Anthropological Work

Between the late 1990s and the early 2000s, while I was still pursuing my degree in Natural Sciences at University of Palermo, my interest focused on the evolution of our species, and in particular on its social evolution. After my initial readings in paleoanthropology and cultural anthropology, I decided to undertake a study on the social evolution of human populations, drawing mainly on my naturalistic background. This led me to begin a period of more in-depth bibliographic research and, at the same time, to develop ideas that eventually resulted in the writing of an experimental thesis titled: Riflessioni sul processo di espansione di Homo sapiens e sulla sua evoluzione ecologica e sociale durante la transizione pleistocene-olocene (A. A. 2002-2003) [Reflections on the expansion process of Homo sapiens and on its ecological and social evolution during the pleistocene-holocene transition (Academic Year 2002-2003)].

The present work is a shorter and partially revised version of that thesis. It is a study on the evolution of our species that employs concepts and methods from Biogeography and Ecology which, though seemingly distant from anthropological discourse, have in my opinion been ignored or underestimated by anthropologists for far too long — and not only by them. It is well known that, at least until a few decades ago, naturalistic studies and traditional approaches in the human sciences and cultural anthropology followed separate paths, especially in Italy, where ideas (and “truths”) about the nature of our species have been almost exclusively the domain of humanists and theologians. Today, it is clear that we cannot separate the biological nature of Homo sapiens from its cultural nature. Nor can we, for obvious ontological reasons, hope to properly interpret the human animal without first acquiring the theoretical foundations needed to understand the evolutionary dynamics — in space and time — of species, and of the natural world in general, of which Homo sapiens is a part and with which it interacts.

I am convinced that Anthropology — understood as the study of the natural history of human populations — when it interacts with other naturalistic and humanistic disciplines, can pave the way for an interpretation of human nature that is more “scientific” (that is, more intellectually honest) and as little “ideological” as possible. Anthropology can and must fulfill this role, and finally establish itself not merely as one of many interpretive alternatives, but as the essential and indispensable starting point for understanding human nature — something which, in my opinion, would have numerous positive repercussions on our social life.

From this conviction — perhaps a somewhat romantic one — arose the motivation and the interest to continue my study over the years.

I could never have written this work without the help of Professor Mario Zunino, biogeographer and heretical thinker who profoundly influenced my training as a naturalist; of Professor Luca Sineo, who gave me great support in my bibliographic research; and without the help of my family, who supported me financially and in many other ways. A heartfelt thanks also goes to Laura, my partner, for her moral support and patience.