Robert A. Foley
Encyclopedia
Professor Robert Andrew Foley (born 1953) is Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies and Leverhulme Professor of Human Evolution at the University of Cambridge
. He was educated at Ardingly College
and Peterhouse, Cambridge
where he earned an MA and PhD in anthropology. He is a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.
Foley is the leading light of the Cambridge school in evolutionary biology which argues, within the context of the Out of Africa theory of human origins
, for two waves of migrations by Homo sapiens. The competing Oxford school, championed by Stephen Oppenheimer
, holds that there was just one migration across the Bab-el-Mandeb
strait at the end of the Red Sea
. The two schools also diverge on when they date the migrations. While the Oxford school places it around 85,000 years ago, before the Toba
eruption 74,000 years ago, the Cambridge school believes the first migration occurred nearer to 60,000 years ago. This dispute should eventually be settled by the Genographic Project initiated by the National Geographic Society
and IBM
due to be completed in 2010.
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He was educated at Ardingly College
Ardingly College
Ardingly College is a selective independent co-educational boarding and day school, founded in 1858 by Canon Nathaniel Woodard, included in the Tatler list of top public schools. The college is located in the village of Ardingly near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England, having moved to its present...
and Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the University, having been founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely...
where he earned an MA and PhD in anthropology. He is a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.
Foley is the leading light of the Cambridge school in evolutionary biology which argues, within the context of the Out of Africa theory of human origins
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
, for two waves of migrations by Homo sapiens. The competing Oxford school, championed by Stephen Oppenheimer
Stephen Oppenheimer
Stephen Oppenheimer is a British paediatrician, geneticist, and writer. He is a member of Green Templeton College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and carries out and publishes research in the fields of genetics and human prehistory.-Career:Oppenheimer...
, holds that there was just one migration across the Bab-el-Mandeb
Bab-el-Mandeb
The Bab-el-Mandeb meaning "Gate of Grief" in Arabic , is a strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, Djibouti and Eritrea, north of Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, and connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden...
strait at the end of the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. The two schools also diverge on when they date the migrations. While the Oxford school places it around 85,000 years ago, before the Toba
Toba catastrophe theory
The Toba supereruption was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred some time between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago at Lake Toba . It is recognized as one of the Earth's largest known eruptions...
eruption 74,000 years ago, the Cambridge school believes the first migration occurred nearer to 60,000 years ago. This dispute should eventually be settled by the Genographic Project initiated by the National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
due to be completed in 2010.