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Topic · Anthropology

Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology is a research topic within Anthropology. Science Explorer counts 30k research works in it since 1950. 42.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the genetic, archaeological, and paleontological evidence related to human evolution, including the origins of modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. It also delves into the behavioral modernity of early humans, stone tool technology, and the environmental factors influencing Pleistocene extinctions.

  • Hominin Genetics
  • Paleolithic Archaeology
  • Modern Human Origins
  • Neanderthal Genome
  • Early Hominid Fossils
  • Pleistocene Extinctions
  • Stone Tool Technology
  • Ancient Human Behavior
  • Cultural Innovation
  • Genomic History
Research works
30k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
13k
per year above
Top-10% rate
42.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+9%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology research?

By volume, the United States and France publish the most (723 and 591 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 723 works
  2. 2 France 591 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 352 works
  4. 4 China 349 works
  5. 5 Spain 347 works
  6. 6 Germany 233 works
  7. 7 Russia 197 works
  8. 8 Argentina 195 works
  9. 9 Australia 184 works
  10. 10 Italy 123 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 22.0%France: 17.9%United Kingdom: 10.7%China: 10.6%6 others listed: 38.8%22%largest
United States723 · 22.0%France591 · 17.9%United Kingdom352 · 10.7%China349 · 10.6%6 others listed1,279 · 38.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology research, followed by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas and University of the Witwatersrand.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 73 works
  2. 2 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 58 works
  3. 3 University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 42 works
  4. 4 University of TübingenGermany 37 works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 36 works
  6. 6 Department of ArchaeologySri Lanka 35 works
  7. 7 Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les SociétésFrance 34 works
  8. 8 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 30 works
  9. 9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 27 works
  10. 10 Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució SocialSpain 26 works

Who are the leading researchers in Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology include Hai Cheng, Bernd Kromer and William M. Gardner.

  1. 1 Hai Cheng China 2.9k citations
  2. 2 Bernd Kromer Germany 2.7k citations
  3. 3 William M. Gardner United States 2.7k citations
  4. 4 Alex Bayliss United Kingdom 2.6k citations
  5. 5 Christopher Bronk Ramsey United Kingdom 2.4k citations
  6. 6 A. Townsend Peterson United States 2.1k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology research done?

The largest centres of Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), Beijing (China), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Madrid (Spain). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Metz, Tarragona and Pessac.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 209 works
  2. 2 Beijing China 143 works
  3. 3 Buenos Aires Argentina 92 works
  4. 4 Madrid Spain 85 works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 72 works
  6. 6 Johannesburg South Africa 61 works
  7. 7 Oxford United Kingdom 55 works
  8. 8 Toulouse France 55 works
  9. 9 Moscow Russia 54 works
  10. 10 Tübingen Germany 53 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MetzFR · 25.0 works83×
  2. TarragonaES · 46.2 works53×
  3. PessacFR · 27.9 works39×
  4. NanterreFR · 36.2 works27×
  5. TübingenDE · 52.7 works22×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology than the world average.

See Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology on the map

Where is the best place to study Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Tübingen, University of the Witwatersrand and Universitat Rovira i Virgili score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%25%50%75%mean 59.78%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Tübingen: 37, 64.2%University of the Witwatersrand: 42, 52.6%Universitat Rovira i Virgili: 20, 65.7%University of Algarve: 16, 60.6%Griffith University: 14, 54.7%University of Ferrara: 10, 64.9%Australian National University: 24, 49.5%Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona: 18, 58.4%University of Johannesburg: 19, 67.3%Universidad de Alcalá: 9, 59.9%Universitat Rovira i…University of TübingenUniversity of AlgarveUniversity of the Wi…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of TübingenGermany 74.964.2%22.4×37 +69.8%
2 University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 68.852.6%23.1×42 +35.5%
3 Universitat Rovira i VirgiliSpain 68.165.7%30.4×20 +44.2%
4 University of AlgarvePortugal 64.860.6%42.3×16 +38.3%
5 Griffith UniversityAustralia 64.554.7%8.1×14 +275.4%
6 University of FerraraItaly 61.764.9%13.1×10 +47.5%
7 Australian National UniversityAustralia 61.349.5%11.3×24 +14.8%
8 Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaSpain 60.858.4%9.7×18 +4.0%
9 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 60.467.3%6.9×19 +56.5%
10 Universidad de AlcaláSpain 59.459.9%11.8×9 +64.5%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2020. The fastest-growing topics are Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.