The scientific project

While observational and analytical methods vary, they complement one another when applied to a common subject. The interdisciplinary nature of the research at the Musée de l’Homme could not exist without the collaboration of other scientific departments in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, in particular, the ecologists, geologists and archaeologists, and of other laboratories in France and worldwide.

Interactions between societies and the environment

The issue is to grasp societies’ behaviour with regard to natural resources, to understand how and why the profound changes that have occurred in the human species happened, how nomadic hunter-gatherers shifted to a sedentary lifestyle, and how increasingly complex societies have adapted, in a wide range of situations, to environmental changes that they themselves have often brought about. Climate change, the increase or reduction in available resources and the spread to new territories are all causes of “environmental stresses” to which humans respond both biologically and culturally (for instance changes in diet). Such changes are often behind major technological and behavioural innovations. Close observation of present-day peoples offers models for understanding the phenomena of the past.

The work of scientists at the Musée de l’Homme and at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle more widely focuses on human diversity and on our relationships with nature, themes that find powerful resonance with current events. Our current landscape, largely anthropised (shaped by humans), is the result of centuries and even millennia of human activities. Today we are experiencing the consequences of both the actions of our ancestors and of the development of our contemporary societies.

Having become accelerators of evolution, we as human beings must now confront these environmental changes, their repercussions on the climate, and the decline of biodiversity… all occurrences for which our species is largely responsible. From this standpoint, studying adaptive strategies used in the past reveals several strategies that societies could in the future develop to mitigate these changes.

Thanks to the complementary nature of approaches and competencies, the researchers’ work aims to cover cross-cutting subjects, across the ages, from prehistoric times to our contemporary period, in direct relation to the most burning issues we face today including the human ability to adapt behaviour in the face of rapid changes, the persistence of techniques and cultural traditions in societies, gender differences and migrations.