Trained as a marine biologist, I first had a career as applied scientist and consultant in coastal ecology until I decided to go back to academia and study the evolution of hominins. The term “hominins” refers to species in the genus Homo, and to our extinct relatives back to the split from the apes about 5-7 million years ago. I completed my PhD in Earth and Life Sciences (Free University Amsterdam) in 2011. I worked as researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology (Leiden University) from 2010 to 2017, next from 2017 to 2018 at
the Free University Amsterdam, and from 2018 to 2023 at Naturalis. From 2019- 2024, I held the “Naturalis Dubois Chair in Hominin Paleoecology and Evolution” as special professor at Maastricht University. Currenly I am a guest researcher at Naturalis, guest special professor at the faculty of Archaeology (Leiden University) and guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (Germany).
Keywords
Hominids, archaeology, evolution, biology, geology
Researchinterest
Where do we humans come from, how did we evolve? In my research I try to answer these fascinating questions.
Themes: hominin evolution, (aquatic) paleoecology, biogeography, archaeology, paleoclimatology, (aquatic) paleoenvironmental reconstruction, paleodiet, geochronology.
Tools: faunal analyses, isotope geochemistry, DNA analyses, sedimentology and stratigraphy, dating methods.
Currenttopics
Homo erectus from a coastal perspective
Keypublications
Pop, E.L., Hilgen, S.L., Adhityatama, S., Berghuis, H., Veldkamp, A., Vohof, H.B., Sutisna, I., Alink, G., Noerwidi, S., Roebroeks, W., Joordens, J.C.A., 2023. Reconstructing the provenance of the hominin fossils from Trinil (Java, Indonesia) through an integrated analysis of the historical and recent excavations. Journal of Human Evolution 176 (103312): 1-26.
Hilgen, S.L., Pop, E.L., Adhityatama, S., Veldkamp, A., Berghuis, H.W.K., Sutisna, I., Yurnaldi, D., Dupont-Nivet, G., Reimann, T., Nowaczyk, N., Kuiper, K.F., Krijgsman, W., Vonhof, H.B., Ekowati, D.R., Alink, G., Hafsari, M., Drespriputra, O., Verpoorte, A., Bos, R., Simanjuntak, T., Prasetyo, B., Joordens, J.C.A., 2023. Revised age and stratigraphy of the classic Homo erectus bearing succession at Trinil (Java, Indonesia). Quaternary Science Reviews 301: 107908.
Joordens, J.C.A., Feibel, C.S., Vonhof, H.B., Schulp, A.S., Kroon, D., 2019. Relevance of the eastern African coastal forest for early hominin biogeography. Journal of Human Evolution 131: 176-202.
Joordens, J.C.A., d’Errico, F., Wesselingh, F.P., Munro, S., de Vos, J., Wallinga, J., Ankjærgaard, C., Reimann, T., Wijbrans, J.R., Kuiper, K.F., Mücher, H.J., Coqueugniot, H., Prié, V., Panuel, M., van der Haas, V., Lustenhouwer, W., Joosten, I., Schulp, A., van Os, B., Reijmer, J.J.G., Roebroeks, W., 2015. Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving. Nature 518: 228-231.
Joordens, J.C.A., Kuipers, R.S., Wanink, J.H., Muskiet, F.A.J., 2014. A fish is not a fish: patterns in fatty acid composition of aquatic food may have had implications for hominin evolution. Journal of Human Evolution 77: 107-116. Joordens, J.C.A., Wesselingh, F.P., de Vos, J., Vonhof, H.B., Kroon, D., 2009. Relevance of aquatic environments for hominins: a case study from Trinil (Java, Indonesia). Journal of Human Evolution, 57 (6): 656-671.