April 2010

Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel

Professor (Practical School of High Studies, Paris)
and Research director (CNRS)

Born in Paris on 1949. Married, four children
Member of the Scientific Board of the Practical School of High Studies (EPHE)
2008 Professor, EPHE (Practical School of High Studies, 3rd section), Paris
2004-05 Invited Professor: Department of Prehistory, University of Barcelona
2003-05 Invited Lecturer : Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.
1995- Research director: Research laboratory UPR2147: Dynamics of Evolution, National Center for Scientific Research
1983-95 Research fellow: Laboratory of Informatics for Human Sciences, National Center for Scientific Research
1985-86 Post-doc stay with Robert Sokal : Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York at Stony Brook.
1981-83 Research Attaché: Institute of Human Paleontology, National Center for Scientific Research
1977-81 Assistant : Laboratory of Biological Anthropology (EPHE 3rd section)
1978-84 D.Sc. in Biology-Genetics with Jean Hiernaux and Jean-Marc Lalouel, University of Paris VII.
1974-77 Ph.D. in Historical Anthropology, with Denise Ferembach and Jean-Marie Pesez, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.
1971-74 Diploma of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE 6th section). Prehistoric Anthropology (Annette Laming-Emperaire).

version française

Selected references

 

Demographic anthropology

Researches :

What unifies the demography of Humans and, beyond that, the demography of Primates and even that of Mammals, are the many physiological, biochemical and molecular similarities existing between the different species. I am thus reasoning within a conceptual framework common to Human populations, whether they are those of a near or distant past or current populations. There is no reason to think that Past Humans have escaped to this between-species demographic quasi-continuum. What primarily differentiates the demographies known as prehistoric, historical and contemporary, are not so much the problems, of which a good many are common to them, as the information sources – the data - on which the handling of the problems is based. Depending on the periods of the history of humanity, demographic information can come from current census data, but also from paleoanthropology, archaeology, genealogies, and even from molecular genetics. It is thus hardly surprising if some of my research work, alongside general biodemographic themes, has been related to the tools for extracting this demographic information, often non-conventional, in various chronological situations. My recent studies concern European palaeodemography (Neolithic demographic transition, expansion/contraction of modern humans and Neanderthals ; population cinetic of Upper Palaeolithic) and contemporary demography of Europe and India (diffusion of fertility transition, at its onset).

 

Teaching:

Seminar in Paleodemography at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes : program.

 

Main research grants (2000-12) :

• OBRESOC : Un observatoire rétrospectif d’une société archéologique: La trajectoire du néolithique Rubané / A retrospective observatory of an archaeological society: The trajectory of the LBK Neolithic, a project funded by the French ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) under the ANR-CEP program (Convention ANR-09-CEP-004-01/OBRESOC), 7 research groups, coordinator : Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel.
  
• FEPRE : The Formation of Europe: Prehistoric Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity, a project funded by the European Commission (Nest FP6 2004). Palaeodemography : Detection of diffusion and contact zones of early farming in Europe.
  
• ACI 3T « Mondialisation » : La Transition Démographique Néolithique / The Neolithic demographic transition, 9 international and national institutions and research groups ; coordinator : Jean-Pierre Bocquet Appel.
  
• OHLL « Origine de l’Homme, du langage et des langues » : Paléodémographie de l’ Europe au Paléolithique Moyen et Supérieur / Palaeodemography of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Europe ; 6 international and national institutions and research groups ; coordinator : Jean-Pierre Bocquet Appel.
  

 

Iterage Program

Paleodemography at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (in French)

 

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