Jay Stock

My research is primarily focused on human adaptability and skeletal biology.  This involves bioarchaeology, the study of archaeological human remains; and human biology, which includes the study of skeletal variation in living humans.  A central theme of my research is understanding biomechanical and other influences on the structure of cortical and trabecular bone throughout the lifespan.  My bioarchaeological research is primarily focused on the skeletal variation, adaptation and habitual behaviour of hunter-gatherers, worldwide and major subsistence transitions in prehistory.  My research in human biology is focused on skeletal remodeling and adaptation in response to habitual loading among athletes.  Over the past decade, I have worked with a number of students and colleagues to develop research in the field of human athletic palaeobiology, where we study the biology and physiology of athletes to better understand the process and mechanisms of human adaptability.  I have also conducted research on the origins of human plasticity, the mechanisms underlying human adaptability in response to environmental extremes, and the impact of these mechanisms on our interpretation of the human fossil record.

Ward, D.L., Pomeroy, E., Schroeder, L., Viola, T.B., Silcox, M.T., Stock, J.T. (in press) Can Bony Labyrinth Dimensions Predict Biological Sex in Archaeological Samples?  Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 

Mulder, B., Stock, J.T., Saers, J.P.P., Inskip, S.A., Cessford, C.C., Robb, J.E. (in press) Trabecular architecture varies between groups within a single sedentary population. American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Betti, L., Beyer, R., Jones, E.R., Eriksson, A., Tassi, F., Siska, V., Leonardi, M., Maisano Delser, P., Nigst, P., Stock, J.T., Pinhasi, R., Manica, A. (2020) Climate shaped how Neolithic farmers and European hunter-gatherers interacted after a major slowdown from 6,100 BCE to 4,500 BCE. Nature: Human Behaviour. DOI:10.1038/s41562-020-0897-7

Pomeroy, E., Mushrif-Tripathy, V., Cole, T., Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2019) Ancient origins of low lean mass among South Asians and implications for modern type 2 diabetes susceptibility. Scientific Reports 9 (1), 10515. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46960-9

Saers, J.P.P., Ryan, T.M., Stock, J.T. (2019) Trabecular bone functional adaptation and sexual dimorphism in the human foot.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 168:154–169. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23732

Doershuk, L.J., Saers, J.P.P., Shaw, C.N., Jashashvili, T., Carlson, K.J., Stock, J.T., Ryan, T.M. (2019) Complex variation of trabecular bone structure in the proximal humerus and femur of five modern human populations.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology 168:104–118.  DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23725

Pomeroy, E., Mushrif-Tripathy, V., Cole, T., Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2019) Ancient origins of low lean mass among South Asians and implications for modern type 2 diabetes susceptibility. Scientific Reports 9 (1), 10515. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46960-9

Macintosh, A.A., Stock, J.T. (2019) Intensive terrestrial or marine locomotor strategies are associated with inter‐ and intra‐limb bone functional adaptation in living female athletes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 168(3):566-581. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23773

Saers, J.P.P., Ryan, T.M., Stock, J.T. (2019) Trabecular bone functional adaptation and sexual dimorphism in the human foot.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 168:154–169. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23732

Macintosh, A.A, Pinhasi, R., Stock, J.R.  (2017) Prehistoric women's manual labor exceeded that of athletes through the first 5500 years of farming in Central Europe. Science: Advances Vol. 3, no. 11, eaao3893. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao3893

Macintosh, A.A., Pinhasi, R., Stock, J.T. (2016) Early Life Conditions and Physiological Stress Following the Transition to Farming in Central/Southeast Europe: Skeletal Growth Impairment and 6000 Years of Gradual Recovery. PLoS ONE 11(2): e0148468. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148468

Stock, J.T., Macintosh, A.A., (2016) Lower limb biomechanics and habitual mobility among mid-Holocene populations of the Cis-Baikal. Quaternary International. 405(B):200-209. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.04.052

Macintosh, A.A., Pinhasi, R., Stock, J.T. (2014) Lower limb skeletal biomechanics track long-term decline in mobility across ~6150 years of agriculture in Central Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science 52:1-15. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.09.001

von Cramon-Taubadel, N., Stock, J.T., Pinhasi, R. (2013) Skull and limb morphology differentially track population history and environmental factors in the transition to agriculture in Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society B:  Biological Sciences vol. 280 no. 1767. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1337

Stock, J.T. (2013) The skeletal phenotype of 'Negritos' from the Andaman Islands and Philippines relative to global variation among hunter-gatherers. Human Biology 85(1):67–94. doi: 10.3378/027.085.0304

Stock, J.T., Shirley, M.K., Sarringhaus, L.A., Davies, T.G., Shaw, C.N. (2013) Skeletal evidence for variable patterns of handedness in chimpanzees, human hunter-gatherers, and recent British populations. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1288:86-99. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12067

Stock, J.T. (2012) Human Evolution after the Origin of our Species: Bridging the gap between Palaeoanthropology and Bioarchaeology.  Eds. P Mitchell and J Buckberry Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO). Oxford: Archaeopress.  pp. 3-15.

Maher, L., Richter, T., Stock, J.T. (2012) The Pre-Natufian Epipalaeolithic: Long-Term Behavioral Trends in the Levant. Evolutionary Anthropology 21(2):69-81.

Stock, J.T., Pinhasi, R. (2011) Changing paradigms in our understanding of the transition to agriculture: Human bioarchaeology, behaviour and adaptation. In Pinhasi, R., & Stock, J.T. eds. Human Bioarchaeology of the Transition to Agriculture.  Wiley-Blackwell., p. 1-15.

Pinhasi, R., & Stock, J.T. eds. (2011) Human Bioarchaeology of the Transition to Agriculture.  Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 504p.

Complete list of publications: Google Scholar

Macintosh, A., Stock, J.T. (2020) Muscle force interacts with stature to influence functionally-related polar second moments of area in the lower limb among adult women.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24097

Ricklan, S., Decrausaz, S.L., Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2020) Obstetric dimensions of the female pelvis are less integrated than locomotor dimensions: Implications for the obstetrical dilemma.  American Journal of Human Biology

Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2020) Life history transitions at the origins of agriculture: a model for understanding how niche construction impacts human growth, demography and health.  Frontiers in Endocrinology 11:325. DOI:10.3389/fendo.2020.00325

Longman, D., Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2020) Human athletic palaeobiology; contemporary sport as a model to investigate human evolutionary adaptation. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 171(S70):42-59.  DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23992

Saers, J.,Ryan, T.M., Stock, J.T, (2020). Baby steps towards linking calcaneal trabecular bone ontogeny and the development of bipedal human gait. Journal of Anatomy 236(3):474-492 DOI:10.1111/joa.13120

Longman, D.P., Macintosh, A., Roberts, R., Oakley, S., Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2019) Ultra-endurance athletic performance suggests that energetics drive human morphological thermal adaptation. Evolutionary Human Sciences 1, e16, 1-15 DOI:10.1017/ehs.2019.13

Macintosh, A.A., Stock, J.T. (2019) Intensive terrestrial or marine locomotor strategies are associated with inter‐ and intra‐limb bone functional adaptation in living female athletes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 168(3):566-581. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23773

Macintosh, A., Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2018) Maternal investment, maturational rate of the offspring and mechanical competence of the female skeleton. Evolution, Medicine and Public Health 1(1):167–179. DOI:10.1093/emph/eoy015

Payne, S., Kumar, B.C.R., Pomeroy, E., Macintosh, A., Stock, J.T. (2018) Thrifty phenotype vs cold adaptation: Trade-offs in upper limb proportions of Himalayan populations of Nepal.  Royal Society: Open Science. 5 172174; DOI: 10.1098/rsos.172174. Published 20 June 2018

Payne, S., Macintosh, A., Stock, J.T. (2018) Body size and body composition effects on heat loss from the hands during severe cold exposure. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 166:313–322. 

Longman, D., Prall, S.P., Shattuck, E.C., Stephen, I.D., Stock, J.T., Wells, J.C.K., M.P. Muehlenbein. (2018) Short-term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition.  American Journal of Human Biology 30(1):1-11. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23052

Longman, D., Stock, J.T., Wells, J.C.K. (2017) A trade-off between cognitive and physical performance, with relative preservation of brain function. Scientific Reports 7(13709) doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14186-2.

Pomeroy, E., Macintosh, A., Wells, J.C.K., Cole, T., Stock, J.T.  (2018) Relationship between lean mass, fat mass, and limb bone cross-sectional geometry: implications for estimating body mass and physique from the skeleton.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology doi:10.1002/ajpa.23398

Pomeroy E., Stock J.T., Stanojevic S., Miranda J.J., Cole T.J., Wells, J.C.K. (2012) Trade-Offs in Relative Limb Length among Peruvian Children: Extending the Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis to Limb Proportions. PLoS ONE 7(12): e51795.

Wells, J.C.K., DeSilva, J.M., Stock, J.T. (2012) The Obstetric Dilemma: An Ancient Game of Russian Roulette, or a Variable Dilemma Sensitive to Ecology? Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 50:40-71.

Wells, J.C.K., Stock, J.T. (2011) Re-examining heritability: genetics, life history and plasticity.  Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 22(10):421-428.

Complete list of publications: Google Scholar

Beyer, R., Singarayer, J., Stock, J., Manica, A. (2019) Did environmental conditions affect the diversification of the Bantu languages? Heliyon 5(10):E02630. DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02630

Buck, L.T., De Groote, I., Hamada, Y. Hassett, B.R., Ito, T., Stock, J.T. (2019) Evidence of different climatic adaptation strategies in humans and non-human primates. Scientific Reports 9 (1), 11025. DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-47202-8

Scerri, E.M.L., Thomas, M.G., Manica, A., Gunz, P., Stock, J., Stringer, C., Grove, M., Groucutt, H.S., Timmermann, A., Rightmire, G.P., d’Errico, F., Tryon, C., Drake, N., Brooks, A., Dennell, R., Durbin, R., Henn, B., Lee-Thorp, J., deMenocal, P., Petraglia, M.D., Thompson, J.C., Scally, A., Chikhi, L. (2018)  Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it matter? Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 33(8):583-594. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.05.005 

Buck, L.T., De Groote, I., Hamada, Y., Stock, J.T. (2018) Humans preserve non-human primate pattern of adaptation to climate.  Quaternary Science Reviews. Volume 192:149–166.  DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.05.032

Ryan, T.M., Carlson, K., Gordon, A.D., Jablonski, N., Shaw, C.N., Stock, J.T. (2018) Human-like bipedal gait in Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. Journal of Human Evolution.

Groucutt, H., Scerii, E., Alsharech, A., Armitage, S., Breeze, P., Buck., L., Candy, I., Drake, N., Duval, M., Grun, R., Kivell, T., Louys, J., Pomeroy, E., Stevens, N., Stock, J., Petraglia., M.  (2018) Homo sapiens in Arabia, 85,000 years ago.  Nature Ecology & Evolution. volume 2, pages 800–809. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0518-2

Will, M., Pablos, A., Stock, J.T. (2017) Long-term patterns of body mass and stature evolution within the hominin lineage.  Royal Society: Open Science 4 171339; DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171339.

Roberts, P., Boivin, N., Lee-Thorp. J., Petraglia, M., Stock, J.T. (2016) Tropical forests and human evolution. Evolutionary Anthropology 25(6):306-317. DOI: 10.1002/evan.21508

Will, M., Stock, J.T. (2015) Spatial and temporal variation of body size among early Homo. Journal of Human Evolution 82:15-33. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.02.009

Gómez-Olivencia, A., Been, E., Arsuaga, J.L., Stock, J.T. (2013) The Neandertal vertebral column. 1- The cervical spine. Journal of Human Evolution 64(6):608-30. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.02.008

Shaw, C.N., Stock, J.T. (2013) Extreme mobility in the Late Pleistocene? Comparing limb biomechanics among fossil Homo, varsity athletes and Holocene foragers. Journal of Human Evolution 64(4):242-249. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.004

Complete list of publications: Google Scholar

The effects of mobility and physical activity on human postcranial skeletal variation SBE-RCUK: Collaborative Research: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Principal Investigator (Cambridge, £302,069).  Co-Investigator with Tim Ryan (Penn State), Kristian Carlson (USC).

Adaptation, Dispersals and Phenotype: understanding the roles of climate, natural selection and energetics in shaping global hunter-gatherer adaptability. Principal Investigator. European Research Council – SH6 Human Past Panel  €1,910,000. 2014-2019. (ERC-2013-CoG Grant Number: 617627 – ADaPt).

Fragility and sustainability in restricted island environments: adaptation, cultural change and collapse in prehistory. Co-investigator (PI: Caroline Malone, Queens' University Belfast) European Research Council.  €2,410,000. 2013-2018.

Epipalaeolithic Foragers and Landscapes in the Azraq Basin, Jordan. Co-investigator, with L. Maher (Berkeley), T Richter (Copenhagen) funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, U.K., £414,478. 2007-2011. (AHRC Research Grant RG48007)

An ontogenetic and integrated analysis of skeletal robusticity. Principal Investigator, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, U.K., £37,084, 2003-2009. (Grant Number: NE/M/S/2003/00069)

In 2020-2021 I will be teaching these courses:

Anthropology 1022: Introduction to Biological Anthropology and Archaeology

Anthropology 3311G: Bioarchaeology: Practice and Theory

Anthropology 4493G (Graduate Course 9104A): Life History Approaches to Human Biology

Anthropology 9100B– Theory in Archaeology

While at the University of Cambridge, from 2002-2019, I supervised 23 PhD and 34 MPhil students. A partial list of my former PhD students can be found at the Academic Phylogeny of Biological Anthropology: https://www.bioanthtree.org/detail/Jay_Stock/.

At Western, I am currently supervising five graduate students, Aidan Attema, Madelyn Hertz, Rebecca Lahosky, Nicole Phillips and Isabelle Rutherford. I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students.

Recent MA graduates:

Atkinson, Hope (2022) The impact of energetic trade-offs on the developmental trajectory and life history strategy of Homo sapiens: The modern human female phenotype

Recent PhD graduates include:

Saers, Jaap (2017) Trabecular bone architecture and mechanical loading of the human lower limb. (Post-Doctoral Researcher, BBSRC Funded, University of Cambridge)

Cameron, Michelle (2017) Behavioural and morphological variability among late prehistoric foragers, herders, and agriculturalists from southern Africa (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto)

Macintosh, Alison (2015) Biomechanics and growth in Central Europe from the Palaeolithic to Neolithic. (Assistant Professor, University of Victoria)

Siew, Yun .S. (2015) The impacts of climate and the environment on human skeletal morphology during the Holocene in North China. (Adjunct Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University)

Longman, Daniel (2014) Trade-offs, signalling and athletic performance: life history perspectives and implications for human evolution (Post-Doctoral Resarcher, ERC Funded, ADaPt Project, University of Cambridge)

Davies, T. (2013) Morphological integration long bone diaphyseal morphology among modern humans. (Palaeobiology Research Group, University of Bristol)

Randall, T. (2012) Bioarchaeology of the prehistoric La Jollan hunter-gatherers of the Californian coast.   (Assistant Professor, San Diego City College)

Pomeroy, E. (2012) The Bioarchaeology of Adaptation to Andean Environments: A Combined Osteometric and Anthropometric Approach. (Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Liverpool John Moores University)