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Alejandra Sánchez-Polo Awarded Prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA)

Alexandra Sanchez Polo

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Alejandra Sánchez-Polo has been awarded a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA). Starting in early 2027, she will carry out her project under the joint supervision of two HEAS team leaders, Pamela Fragnoli (OEAI–OEAW) and Mareike Stahlschmidt (Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna).
Her project, “Architectures of Earth during the Transition to the Iron Age in Iberia (2nd–1st Millennium BC): Technologies, Traditions and Knowledge Transmission” (IBEARTH), investigates how earthen architecture—particularly mudbrick construction—both shaped and reflected social transformations between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (c. 1200–400 BC) in inland Iberia. Adopting an integrated approach that combines petrographic, micromorphological, microbotanical, and biomolecular analyses with ethnographic perspectives, the project examines the transmission of construction knowledge, the organisation of labour, and the social meanings embedded in building practices. In doing so, it offers new insights into often-overlooked dimensions of past societies, including gender roles and the diversity of labour contributions.

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