Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Tom HIGHAM

Head

  I am a Professor of Scientific Archaeology in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Prior to coming to Vienna in August 2021 I was the Director of the University of Oxford’s Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. My research focuses on developing and improving the radiocarbon method and applying it to the dating of archaeological sites, especially those dating to the Palaeolithic period.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Ron PINHASI

Deputy Head

Dr. Ron Pinhasi  is the Head of the Ancient DNA Lab. His research focuses on human evolution including fieldwork projects on the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Caucasus. He held an ERC Starting Grant project (2011-2015) that focused on human genetic history, migrations and admixture, and developed the widely-used ancient DNA optimisation method from the petrous bone.

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Team Leaders

Immo TRINKS

Deputy Head

I am a geophysicist interested in innovative research into efficient, high-resolution, geophysical prospection and digital documentation methods and their application to geosciences, archaeology and engineering problems. I am motivated by the potential of new techniques permitting the imaging of subsurface structures in unprecedented resolution, revealing hidden man-made and natural treasures. I enjoy sharing insights, findings and know-how with colleagues, students and the interested public.

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Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Team Leaders

Robin GOLSER

Management Board

Robin Golser is head of the Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA), a dedicated facility for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the University of Vienna. VERA is used for ultrasensitive radioisotope analysis including radiocarbon dating. Robin’s research interests lie in opening totally new avenues for AMS such as the world-wide unique Ion Laser Interaction Mass Spectrometry system and applications in Astrophysics.

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Department of Environmental Geosciences (EDGE) Team Leaders

Stephan M. KRAEMER

Management Board

Stephan Kraemer is the head of the Department of Environmental Geosciences at the University of Vienna and co-founder of the MINERVA (Mineralogical Preservation of the Human Biome) research platform. He is a low temperature geochemist interested in molecular scale bio-mineral interactions. A particular focus is the reactivity of biogenic molecules including ligands, reductants, enzymes and nucleic acids at mineral surfaces. His research interests include interactions of DNA with mineral phases in the context of long-term eDNA and aDNA preservation. He uses stable isotopes including strontium, mercury and other transition metals as process- and forensic tracers. His laboratory includes a MC-ICPMS isotope lab, trace metal analytics and spectroscopic facilities and methods for mineral characterization. After studying Earth Sciences at Ruhr Universität Bochum, he obtained his PhD in 1997 under the guidance of Prof. Janet Hering (CALTECH) and held positions at UC Berkeley and ETH-Zürich before moving to Vienna in 2006.

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Department of Palaeontology (PAL) Team Leaders

Doris NAGEL

Management Board

My research focuses on mammal evolution and ecological niche development especially in carnivorous animals. The different aspects include food preference (microwear methods), locomotion adaption and population development (in co-operation with Michael Hofreiter, DNA-lab, Univ. Potsdam and the Radiocarbon lab in Mannheim). Current projects focus on niche development of Miocene carnivores and climate adaptions of mammals in the Upper Pleistocene (Teufelslucke).

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Core Facility for Micro-Computed Tomography (Vienna Micro-CT Lab) Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Gerhard WEBER

Management Board

  I’m the head of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, the Vienna µCT Lab, and the research network “HEAS”. My interest is to get as much information as possible about functional morphology from fossils and osteological material. I contributed especially to the development of Virtual Anthropology and evolutionary research regarding modern humans and Neanderthals. Recently, I’m also concerned with applications in archaeology or orthodontics.

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Team Leaders

Birgit BÜHLER

Birgit Bühler was educated at the University of Vienna, Austria (Pre- & Protohistoric Archaeology: M.A. in 1998, PhD in 2002; Evolutionary Anthropology: MSc in 2020), specializing in Early Medieval Archaeology. Since 2000, she has been employed (part-time) at Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS), focusing on the technology of precious metalwork from prehistory to the Middle Ages.

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Team Leaders

Michael DONEUS

Michael Doneus is professor for landscape archaeology and Head of the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology of the University of Vienna. He is specialized in archaeological prospection with a focus on methodological development of remote sensing techniques and integrated data interpretation. He was director of the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (2012-2013) and deputy director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (2010-2017).

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Katerina DOUKA

I am an archaeological scientist interested in the development and application of analytical tools, in particularly chronometric and biomolecular methodologies, to archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations. I specialise in radiocarbon dating, and have extensive experience in sample collection, development of new protocols for decontaminating archaeological material, and the statistical interpretation of AMS results using Bayesian modelling. I am also interested in the application of biomolecular tools, such as collagen peptide fingerprinting (also known as ZooMS), to better understand the archaeological record.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Martin FIEDER

Main research areas: evolutionary demography and behavior genetics. Martin Fieder investigates how our evolutionary heritage influences modern-day demographics, focusing on mating, social status and reproduction, as well as on the demographic causes of contemporary migration flows. In the field of behavioral genetics, he works on genetic predisposition and evolution of in-group vs. out-group attitudes, social status as well as homogamy, with a special attention on the evolution of religions. He mainly uses public demographic data, twin data, Genome Wide Association Studies and the Poly Genic Risk Score.

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News

“HEAS Kick-off Meeting on 12th November 2021 in UBB”

The Kick-Off Meeting for Heas took place on Friday 12th November in Vienna. The members contributed to a planning session both online and in person which was hosted at the new UBB in the 3rd district. With over 500 years of collective experience in the room, the discussion included joint projects, funding, maintaining momentum, shared resources and strategic priorities for new infrastructure. There was also lively discussion about the planning of network activities for the coming year.

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Team Leaders

Irmgard HEIN

Deputy director of VIAS, Egyptologist.  Research interests: Ceramic analysis and material culture.  Late Bronze Age, chronology and cultural interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean. Development of archaeological methods. Ancient Egyptian Art. Fieldwork in Egypt (Tell el-Daba, Karnak North, and other sites). Principal investigator of the SFB SCIEM 2000, project Cyprus (1999-2011). Guest professor in Uppsala (Sweden) 2010-2013. Currently:  field work in Karnak/Egypt (cooperation IFAO).

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Team Leaders

Alexandra KRENN-LEEB

Since 1995 I have been teaching and researching as an archaeologist (assistant professor) at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna on the Neolithic Period, Copper and especially the Bronze Age with a focus on social, environmental and landscape archaeological issues. As director of studies, I am responsible for the curricula and all study matters. My main research interests are identity, mobility & tradition of Bronze Age populations, human ecology of the Copper Age, deposits in the context of space and ritual, ritual violence, conflict archaeology.    

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Department of Palaeontology (PAL) Team Leaders

Jürgen KRIWET

I am Professor of Palaeobiology and head of the Evolutionary Morphology Research Group at the Department of Palaeontology of the University of Vienna since September 2010. Prior to coming to Vienna I was curator at the Natural History Museum Berlin and State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (Germany). My research is at the interface of palaeobiology and evolutionary developmental biology of vertebrates. For this I integrate living and fossil organisms, knowledge of their evolutionary relationships and past diversity patterns, and developmental biology, to provide a holistic understanding of their evolutionary history.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Martin KUHLWILM

Martin Kuhlwilm is a biologist and obtained a PhD working on population genomics of Neandertals at the MPI-EVA in Leipzig. As a postdoctoral researcher in Barcelona, he studied admixture in great apes. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor at the University of Vienna, with funding from the WWTF. His research involves computational approaches to study population history, particularly admixture between populations.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Sylvia KIRCHENGAST

The main research focus is the evolution of human life history patterns, comprising studies concerning growth patterns in recent as well as historical populations, in particular the impact of endogenous und exogenous stress factors on body height and directional asymmetry patterns. On the other hand, female reproductive biology, in particular pregnancy, childbirth and menopause are focused on.

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Team Leaders

Günther Karl KUNST

Trained as a palaeontologist working on Ice-Age mammals, I made a change for the “younger stuff” with the founding of VIAS/IDEA in 1994. Since then, I have been involved in various excavation projects in Central Europe, Egypt and Turkey. I prefer excavation projects comprising  complicated archaeological situations, like multiphase buildings or settlements. Here, I like to collaborate with colleagues studying archaeological features and other find groups, especially pottery. I have been a lecturer for archaeozoology for almost three decades on various departments of the University of Vienna (Prehistory and Historic archaeology, Palaeontology, Anthropology). Special interests: taphonomy of buildings and complex settlements; butchery studies; relationships between animal bones and pottery remains

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Team Leaders

Mathias MEHOFER

Since the year 2000 I have been head of the archaeometallurgical laboratory at the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science/University Vienna.My research focus lies on the: Bronze Age Archaeology, Iron Age Archaeology, Medieval Ages, Experimental Archaeology, Mining Archaeology, metallurgy of copper, bronze and precious metals, metallurgy of iron, tool mark analyses, use wear analyses on bronze objects, analyses with the scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS)

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News

Georadar in search of the buried remains of Putbus Castle

In the framework of a scientific cooperation between the University of Vienna, Vienna, Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS), the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics and the new research centre for manor houses around the Baltic  at Greifswald University, the buried foundations of Putbus Castle on the German peninsula of Rügen have been mapped in great detail. Links:read more on www.zeit.de read more on www.ndr.de

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About

Partner Institutions

HEAS is comprised of seven research units across five faculties/centres of UNIVIE... Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) / Life Sciences / University of Vienna Core Facility for Micro-Computed Tomography (Vienna Micro-CT Lab) / Life Sciences / University of Vienna Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) / Historical and Cultural Studies / University of Vienna Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) / Historical and Cultural Studies / University of Vienna Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) / Physics / University of Vienna Department of Palaeontology (PAL) / Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy/ University of Vienna Department of Environmental Geosciences (EDGE) / Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science / University of Vienna   ...plus the Naturhistorisches Museum of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences as partners    

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Team Leaders

Philip R. NIGST

Philip R Nigst is a Palaeolithic archaeologist with an enthusiasm for fieldwork. His research covers the archaeology of human evolution and focuses currently on Neanderthal and modern human behaviour and adaptations in Central and Eastern Europe. Philip’s key research themes include the ecology of Neanderthal and modern human technological organisation, mobility, horizontal cultural transmission, lithic technology, chronostratigraphy, use of space and site formation processes at Neanderthal and modern human sites in western Eurasia. He is currently engaged in field projects focussing on Neanderthal and modern human adaptations in Central and Eastern Europe.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Katrin SCHÄFER

We are specifically interested in the biological causes of facial shape variation and in the resulting social perception (both in children and adults). We study biological processes such as allometric, androgenic (current, and prenatal via 2D:4D) on (facial) morphology, and integrate concepts from evolutionary psychology and aesthetics to test evolutionary hypothesis in relation to mating system, fluctuating asymmetry, perceived attractiveness, sex stereotypes, overgeneralization, etc.  

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Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Team Leaders

Peter STEIER  

Peter Steier is assistant professor at the Faculty of Physics and member of the research group Isotope Physics. Working with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) techniques he is interested in very heavy ions (actinides), time-of-flight detectors, energy loss and straggling, isobar identification, the 14C dating for archaeology, and application of Bayesian statistics to calibration.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Harald WILFING

A theoretical basis is of high importance in the fields of co-evolutionary theory and transition studies: Prof. Wilfing has gathered profound experience in epistemology, of which is mainly focused on theoretical biology. The main focus of the Work Group Human Ecology is currently on the topic: perspectives of sustainable development in industrialised societies and developing countries with special consideration of network research and the value action gap.

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Mission

Mission

The Reseach Network HEAS comprise seven research units across five faculties/centres of UNIVIE and additionally two external research units at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft.The first priority is to transform our current understanding of human biological and cultural evolution through the application of truly interdisciplinary research and to evolve state-of-the- art methodologies and the development of novel scientific methods.

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