Research

Winfried Henke contributed as physical anthropologist with numerous important papers and monographs from prehistoric anthropology and palaeoanthropology to the re-orientation of the subject, commenced with his PhD thesis submitted at the University of Kiel 1971 which dealt with the multivariate analysis of a historical population based on morphometrical data up to extensive research on the variability and diversity of the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic populations of  Europe and the Mediterranean Basin which was subject of many papers and his habilitation thesis at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz Johannes (1990). There he is currently apl. Professor (senior lecturer). During the last two decennia his primary research focused on the analysis of the fossil record and its integration with primatology and evolutionary theory. His research objective is the theory-oriented evolutionary adjustment of palaeoanthropology. Beside his comparative morphological and taxonomical contributions (e.g. phylogenetic systematics) there are especially to mention standard textbooks (together with Hartmut Rothe) as well as the three volumes Handbook of Paleoanthropology (edited with Ian Tattersall), the first comprehensive and authoritative handbook in this field. Henke has done further research in demography, sociobiology, and scientific history.