This volume is the result of the Cambridge Annual Student Archaeology Conference (CASA), held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research from September 13–15, 2019. CASA developed out of the Annual Student Archaeology Conference, first held in 2013, which was formed by students at Cambridge, Oxford, Durham and York. In 2017, Cambridge became the home of the conference and the name was changed accordingly. The conference was developed to give students (from undergraduate to PhD candidates) in archaeology and related fields the chance to present their research to a broad audience. The theme for the 2019 conference was New Frontiers in Archaeology and this volume presents papers from a wide range of topics such as new geographical areas of research, using museum collections and legacy data, new ways to teach archaeology and new scientific or theoretic paradigms. From hunting and gathering in the Neolithic to the return of artefacts to Turkey, the papers contained within show a great variety in both geography and chronology. Discussions revolve around access to data, the role of excavation in today’s archaeology, the role of local communities in archaeological interpretation and how we can ask new questions of old data. This volume presents 18 papers arranged in the six sessions with the two posters in their thematic sessions.

Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explore the breadth and interdisciplinarity of human evolution studies. This volume reports another twenty interviews (referred to as 'conversations' as they are informal in style) with scholars at the forefront of human evolution research, covering the broad scientific themes of Palaeolithic archaeology, palaeoanthropology and biological anthropology, earth science and palaeoclimatic change, evolutionary anthropology and primatology, and human disease co-evolution. This project features academics at various different stages in their careers and from all over the world; in this volume alone, researchers are based at institutions in eleven different countries (namely Iran, India, the United Kingdom, Greece, Australia, South Africa, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Israel), covering five continents. Having arisen at the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Conversations in Human Evolution aims to encourage engagement with both human evolutionary studies and the broader socio-political issues that persist within academia, the latter of which is particularly pertinent during this time of global uncertainty. The conversations delve deeply into the study of our species' evolutionary history through the lens of each sub-discipline, as well as detailing some of the most current advances in research, theory and methods. Overall, Conversations in Human Evolution seeks to bridge the gap between the research and researcher through contextualisation of the science with personal experience and historical reflection.

Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explore the breadth and interdisciplinarity of human evolution studies. This volume reports twenty interviews (referred to as ‘conversations’ as they are informal in style) with scholars at the forefront of human evolution research, covering the broad scientific themes of quaternary and archaeological science, Palaeolithic archaeology, biological anthropology and palaeoanthropology, primatology and evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary genetics. This project features academics at various different stages in their careers and from all over the world; in this volume alone, researchers are based at institutions in seven different countries (namely the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America, Germany, Denmark, India, and China), covering four continents. Having arisen at the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Conversations in Human Evolution aims to encourage engagement with both human evolutionary studies and the broader socio-political issues that persist within academia, the latter of which is particularly pertinent during this time of global uncertainty. The conversations delve deeply into the study of our species’ evolutionary history through the lens of each sub-discipline, as well as detailing some of the most current advances in research, theory and methods. Overall, Conversations in Human Evolution seeks to bridge the gap between the research and researcher through contextualisation of the science with personal experience and historical reflection.