Autor: Maeve Nic Samhradáin

News

HEAS member Mathias Mehofer awarded a 3-year project grant on medieval metallurgy

Congratulations to VIAS-HEAS Member Mathias MEHOFER on being awarded a standalone project titled “Bronze metallurgy during the Babenberg period, A – Medieval bronze casting in a Natural Science Context”. Within this 3-year research project, an international, transdisciplinary team investigates the famous seven-branched medieval “Agnes” candelabrum from Klosterneuburg Abbey, donated around 1130 AD by Duke Leopold III of Babenberg and his wife Agnes. Standing 4.3 m high and composed of 57 decorated copper-alloy elements, the candelabrum is studied to reconstruct its object biography, including production techniques, material provenance, later modifications, and use within its ecclesiastical context. Combining humanities-based research with scientific methods such as pXRF, SEM-EDS, photogrammetry, X-ray tomography and isotope studies, the project examines alloy compositions, identifies modern restorations, and explores medieval exchange networks. Archival studies and comparative analyses with related objects further contextualize this exceptional work of medieval bronze art. Funding: The project is funded by the Province of Lower Austria (Land NÖ). Project Homepage: Medieval Bronzes Project -          MMag. W. C. Huber, Custos, Klosterneuburg Abbey, Austria –        M. Haltrich, Forschungsstelle, Klosterneuburg Abbey, Austria –        Dipl.-Restaurator C. Tinzl, DI Dr. techn. R. Linke, Dept. of conservation and restoration, Federal Monuments Authority Austria –        Prof. Dr. E. Pernicka, Curt Engelhorn Centre f. Archaeometry Mannheim –        PD Dr. Andreas Zajic, IMAFO, Austrian Academy of…

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members

Hannah SKERJANZ

I am a prehistoric archaeologist and PhD candidate at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna, where I am currently also involved in teaching as Katharina Rebay-Salisbury's University Assistant. I am affiliated with the Prehistoric Identities group at the Austrian Archaeological Institute, where I have been involved in past projects and have gained laboratory experience in osteological analysis, peptide-based analysis, and strontium isotope analysis. My research focuses on funerary archaeology, material culture and chronology of the Central European Metal Ages. In the framework of my dissertation project “In the midst of change” I investigate the transformation from inhumation to cremation and changes in funerary behaviour during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600-1300/1200 BCE) in Upper and Lower Austria. I follow an interdisciplinary approach by combining archaeological and bioarchaeological data in order to gain insights into past communities and their lives.

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Publications

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA.

Guellil, M., van Dorp, L., Saag, L., Beneker, O., Bonucci, B., Sasso, S., Saupe, T., Solnik, A., Kabral, H., Allmäe, R., Bates, J., Dittmar, J.M., Ge, X.J., Inskip, S., Jonuks, T., Karmanov, V.N., Khartanovich, V.I., Larmuseau, M.H.D., Aneli, S., Cessford, C., Kriiska, A., Mägi, M., Malve, M., De Winter, N., Metspalu, M., Pagani, L., Robb, J.E., Kivisild, T., Houldcroft, C.J., Scheib, C.L., Tambets, K., 2026. Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA. Science Advances 12, eadx5460. read more

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members

Domnika VERDIANU

I am a bioarchaeologist and currently a university assistant (predoctoral researcher) in the Department of Prehistory and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. Since 2021, I have also been part of the “Prehistoric Identities” research group, led by Katharina Rebay-Salisbury at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (Austrian Academy of Sciences). I hold a Master's degree in Prehistory and Historical Archaeology from the University of Vienna. My research focuses on mortuary practices during the Bronze Age in Central Europe, as well as osteology, palaeopathology, and archaeothanatology. My PhD project investigates the bioarchaeology of children and adolescents, with a particular emphasis on sex-specific burial practices during the Early Bronze Age.  

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News

New FWF Podcast ‚Was Wir Wissen‘ Launched

  Interest in science is high, as evidenced by well-attended children's universities, dedicated citizen scientists, and science fiction bestsellers. But how is new knowledge created, what are researchers working on, and why are diverse perspectives on unresolved questions more important today than ever before? The new podcast "What We Know" from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) takes listeners into the world of science. It contextualizes new knowledge, previously overlooked connections, and background information. Each season focuses on a major scientific topic. The very first season of the FWF podcast, which premieres on November 12, tackles a truly significant subject. It's about nothing less than us: humanity. What do we know about being human? A good question – and not so easy to answer. Therefore, in six episodes, hosts Francesca Grandolfo and Thomas Zauner visit researchers at their workplaces and gather as much knowledge as possible. The episodes span from the origin of life four billion years ago, through the history of civilization and the development of language and cognition, to artificial intelligence and the impact of humans on the environment in the Anthropocene. Speaking of the Anthropocene – does it even exist? Making science tangible In laboratories, institutes, and in the field, journalists Francesca and Thomas speak with researchers throughout Austria about their current work, about basic research, curiosity, and…

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HEAS Members Awarded FWF Grant for a Project on “Beyond the Burial”

HEAS Team Leader Mario Gavranović was recently awarded an FWF grant for his project on Beyond the Burial where he will work with other HEAS Team Leaders Ron Pinhasi and Mathias Mehofer.   Beyond the burial: Contextualizing the first Late Bronze and Iron Age graves in central Bosnia Research context This project focuses on the intensive evaluation of the recently uncovered inhumation graves in a mountain region of the Balkans in the central part of Bosnia. In contrast to investigated settlements that indicate a dense occupation in the Late Bronze and Iron Age (1200–200 BC), intact burials were never documented in the area. Hence, our knowledge was based on sporadic, destroyed finds with no information about interred individuals, mortuary practices or graves. The situation fundamentally changed with our work in the Zenica Basin of the Bosna River and, in particular, with the excavation of the Kopilo cemetery that offers data for this interdisciplinary project. Research questions For the first time, there is an exceptional opportunity to gain a profound insight into the funerary customs of the prehistoric population in this part of the Balkans. Particularly, the fact that the local communities did not practice prevailing cremation at that time in Europe raises questions about their role in the framework of the transition from the Bronze to Iron Age between Central…

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HEAS Team Leader Contruibute Chapter to Book Exploring the History of Turkey Management and Domestication

HEAS Team Leader  Günther Karl Kunst  et al. contributed a chapter to the recent publication 'Exploring the History of Turkey Management and Domestication'. The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is an iconic bird, widely associated with festive dishes in Europe, North America, and Central America, and extensively raised worldwide. Yet, its long-term interactions with human societies remain poorly synthesized, with significant regional imbalances in research. The role of turkeys in North America has been extensively studied, while their post-colonial dispersal and evolving cultural significance globally have received far less attention. This volume brings together specialists to explore the paleontology of Meleagris, the early stages of turkey management and domestication in North America, and its subsequent global expansion. Following a chronological structure, the first part examines turkey-human interactions in the Americas before European contact (~500 years ago), with chapters on well-studied regions (Southwestern USA, Northern Mexico, and Mesoamerica) alongside lesser-known areas (Southern Central America and Eastern USA). The second part traces the last 500 years of turkey history, exploring artistic depictions, historical accounts, and archaeozoological evidence from multiple European countries, spanning Western Europe to the Baltic and Central Europe. It also examines the global spread of domestic turkeys, their reintroduction to the Americas through the colonial economy, and their further dispersal across the Pacific. Blending comprehensive syntheses with original case studies, this volume…

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Press

New Publication on the massive, pit structure surrounding Durrington Walls henge, Wiltshire

A new article has been published on the massive, neolithic pit structure recently discovered during geophysical survey around the Durrington Walls Henge, Wiltshire.  Following their original discovery of what may be the largest Neolithic structure in Britain,  archaeologists have since returned to confirm the details of the pit circle and to provide new dating and environmental information. This work has confirmed that Durrington Walls henge, itself one of the largest prehistoric enclosures in Britain, was ringed by a large structure of at least 16 massive pits, many of which measured 10 m in diameter and up to 5 m in depth.  None of the very large features investigated, have yet to provide evidence that they were formed naturally by chalk solution. Recent work confirms that these features were likely dug  and filled during the later Neolithic, with optically stimulated luminescence studies indicating a date of c. 2480 BC.  The application of new sedimentary DNA studies has also provided new evidence for the plants and animals associated with the chalk landscape surrounding these features.  Even within a landscape as exceptional as that surrounding nearby Stonehenge, the results of this work emphasis that these pits are a cohesive structure, which represent an elaboration of the Durrington Walls monument complex at a massive, and completely unexpected, scale.   Research on the pits at…

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HEAS Deputy Head Immo Trinks and HEAS Team Leader Wolfgang Neubauer Contribute to Paper on Durrington Walls Henge

  A new article has been published on the massive, neolithic pit structure recently discovered during geophysical survey around the Durrington Walls Henge, Wiltshire.  Following their original discovery of what may be the largest Neolithic structure in Britain,  archaeologists have since returned to confirm the details of the pit circle and to provide new dating and environmental information. This work has confirmed that Durrington Walls henge, itself one of the largest prehistoric enclosures in Britain, was ringed by a large structure of at least 16 massive pits, many of which measured 10 m in diameter and up to 5 m in depth.  None of the very large features investigated, have yet to provide evidence that they were formed naturally by chalk solution. Recent work confirms that these features were likely dug  and filled during the later Neolithic, with optically stimulated luminescence studies indicating a date of c. 2480 BC.  The application of new sedimentary DNA studies has also provided new evidence for the plants and animals associated with the chalk landscape surrounding these features.  Even within a landscape as exceptional as that surrounding nearby Stonehenge, the results of this work emphasis that these pits are a cohesive structure, which represent an elaboration of the Durrington Walls monument complex at a massive, and completely unexpected, scale. Research on the pits at…

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HEAS Deputy Head Publishes New Book on The Svinjarička Čuka Archaeological Site in Southern Serbia

The Svinjarička Čuka archaeological site, situated on a flat river terrace in southern Serbia, has been under investigation by an international research team since 2018 as part of an interdisciplinary Austrian-Serbian collaborative project. The prehistoric settlement history of the terrace dates back to the early Neolithic period and extends through the Copper and Bronze Ages to the Iron Age. The most important scientific findings on the Neolithic process in Serbia and a representative selection of the most significant finds from the first excavation campaigns are presented for the first time in this bilingual (English and Serbian) companion volume to the permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Leskovac. Evidence of permanent, fixed architecture of the Neolithic Starčevo culture from around 6000 BC and the rich array of finds provide insights into the material culture of the first agricultural, sedentary societies in a region that, along major river corridors, connects the cultures of the Mediterranean with those of the Danube region. The individual chapters not only provide an overview of the excavation results and finds, but also of the Leskovac plain and the discovery of the site using systematic surveys and geophysical prospection methods. Furthermore, they offer insights into the diverse application of multidisciplinary methods in the analysis of the finds (such as microarchaeology, wear and tear and residue analysis, and…

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Publications

The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago.

De Martino, M., De Cupere, B., Rovelli, V., Serventi, P., Mouraud, B., Baldoni, M., Di Corcia, T., Geiger, S., Alhaique, F., Alves, P.C., Buitenhuis, H., Ceccaroni, E., Cerilli, E., De Grossi Mazzorin, J., Detry, C., Dowd, M., Fiore, I., Gourichon, L., Grau-Sologestoa, I., Küchelmann, H.C., Kunst, G.K., McCarthy, M., Miccichè, R., Minniti, C., Moreno, M., Mrđić, N., Onar, V., Oueslati, T., Parrag, M., Pino Uria, B., Romagnoli, G., Rugge, M., Salari, L., Saliari, K., Santos, A.B., Schmölcke, U., Sforzi, A., Soranna, G., Spassov, N., Tagliacozzo, A., Tinè, V., Trixl, S., Vuković, S., Wierer, U., Wilkens, B., Doherty, S., Sykes, N., Frantz, L., Mattucci, F., Caniglia, R., Larson, G., Peters, J., Van Neer, W., Ottoni, C., 2025. The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago. Science 390, eadt2642. read more

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Members

Caroline PARTIOT

I am a biological anthropologist and archaeo-anthropologist, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. I hold a PhD in Biological Anthropology from the University of Bordeaux (France), as well as a Master’s degree in Biological Anthropology from the University of Bordeaux and a Master’s degree in Egyptology from Sorbonne University (Paris IV). My research focuses particularly on the life course (vitality at birth, paleopathology, stress) and the social status of children in the past through osteobiographical analysis, as well as on the study of burial practices through archaeothanatology. I work on a wide range of chrono-cultural contexts, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Modern period, both in the laboratory and in the field. This includes the Byzantine period in Ephesos (Turkey), Late Antiquity in Carinthia, Punic Carthage, the medieval period in southwestern France, pre-contact Amerindian Caribbean populations in Guadeloupe, and the Kerma period in Sudan. I am the founder of the ARTHA network, which focuses on developing archaeothanatology in Central Europe.    

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Members

Stefan KROJER

Stefan Krojer is a research associate and PhD candidate at the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) at the University of Vienna. His research and teaching focus on the application of geophysical and imaging techniques for the investigation of underwater archaeological sites in Austria and internationally. As part of the FWF-WEAVE project “Drowned Villages of the Scheldt. A Geoarchaeological Study,” he investigates submerged historical settlements in the Scheldt Delta (Netherlands) using high-resolution sonar technologies. In parallel, he is involved in several projects concerning the documentation of underwater archaeological sites in Austrian lakes – among others in close collaboration with and on behalf of the Kuratorium Pfahlbauten (Board of Pile Dwellings), within the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps.” Krojer is a certified scientific diver with decades of experience in technical diving. He also works as an instructor and examiner for diving instructors and technical divers, combining this practical expertise with academic research and teaching. He is the founder of a specialized company for underwater archaeological prospection and currently teaches at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna in the field of underwater archaeological surveying. His methodological focus lies in high-resolution, large-scale and minimally invasive prospection using sonar technology (including side-scan, multibeam, and sub-bottom systems) and underwater photogrammetry. In…

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Josef HACKL

I am currently a PhD student in the Computational Admixture Genomics group at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Among others, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Genetics and Developmental Biology at the University of Vienna. My PhD project primarily deals with the application of Machine Learning techniques in population genetics, focusing on Deep Learning Architectures for detecting Ghost Admixture and Adaptive Introgression.    

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News

HEAS Publication Covered in PsyPost

A recent publication by HEAS member Berhard Fink et al. on 'Perceptions of female age, health and attractiveness vary with systematic hair manipulations' was covered in PsyPost.   https://www.psypost.org/hair-shine-linked-to-perceptions-of-youth-and-health-in-women/    https://www.heas.at/research/publications/perceptions-of-female-age-health-and-attractiveness-vary-with-systematic-hair-manipulations/    

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Mining and Dining: Prehistoric Diets in the Salt Mines of Hallstatt

by HEAS Team Leader Kerstin Kowarik   The FWF-funded project Mining and Dining investigates the dietary habits of Bronze and Iron Age miners through the analysis of exceptionally well-preserved human excrement recovered from the prehistoric salt mines of Hallstatt, Austria. The aim is to produce high-resolution, individual dietary profiles, offering new insights into nutrition, health, and everyday life in the Metal Ages. By combining archaeobotanical, parasitological, genetic, and proteomic analyses, the project examines 50 individual palaeofaeces to explore: • the diversity and complexity of prehistoric miners' diets, • long-term dietary patterns via gut microbiome composition, • the consumption of fermented and dairy products, • and possible correlations between diet and biological sex. This integrated, multi-method approach opens up a new perspective on prehistoric food culture – from cooking and consumption practices to health and social structures – and highlights the unique scientific potential of salt-preserved palaeofaeces. Project Details Mining and Dining is funded by the FWF Joint Projects Programme (Austria–South Tyrol) and carried out under the joint leadership of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI, Austrian Academy of Sciences) and the Institute for Mummy Studies (Eurac Research, Bolzano). Research partners include: • Natural History Museum Vienna • Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna • Geosphere Austria • Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle (USA) • MedUni Vienna • University of Trento…

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Publications

A new late Neanderthal from Crimea reveals long-distance connections across Eurasia

Pigott, E.M., Cheshmedzhieva, K., Zeller, E., van der Sluis, L.G., Pal Chowdhury, M., Gianni, M., Végh, E., Uthmeier, T., Chabai, V., Patou-Mathis, M., Šimková, P.G., Voglmayr, J.N., Weber, G.W., Pinhasi, R., Timmermann, A., Kuhlwilm, M., Douka, K., Higham, T., 2025. A new late Neanderthal from Crimea reveals long-distance connections across Eurasia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122, e2518974122. read more

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Long shared haplotypes identify the southern Urals as a primary source for the 10th-century Hungarians.

Gyuris, B., Vyazov, L., Türk, A., Flegontov, P., Szeifert, B., Langó, P., Mende, B.G., Csáky, V., Chizhevskiy, A.A., Gazimzyanov, I.R., Khokhlov, A.A., Kolonskikh, A.G., Matveeva, N.P., Ruslanova, R.R., Rykun, M.P., Sitdikov, A., Volkova, E.V., Botalov, S.G., Bugrov, D.G., Grudochko, I.V., Komar, O., Krasnoperov, A.A., Poshekhonova, O.E., Chikunova, I., Sungatov, F., Stashenkov, D.A., Zubov, S., Zelenkov, A.S., Ringbauer, H., Cheronet, O., Pinhasi, R., Akbari, A., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Reich, D., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., 2025. Long shared haplotypes identify the southern Urals as a primary source for the 10th-century Hungarians. Cell 188, 6064-6078.e6011. read more

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Carla GÓMEZ MONTES

I am a PhD candidate jointly enrolled in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna and the History and Geography PhD program at the University of Cantabria. My supervisors are Pere Gelabert (University of Vienna) and Ana B. Marín Arroyo (University of Cantabria). I hold a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s degree in Prehistory and Archaeology, both from the University of Cantabria. My master’s thesis aimed to try refine the chronology of the Gravettian occupation at Altamira and to investigate the subsistence strategies of the earliest human groups in the site through the study of bioarchaeological remains. I am currently part of the BEAM Lab and the ERC project SHADOWS. Specifically, my field of research during the development of this project will be archaeozoology, a discipline in which I will focus mainly on two aspects: the taphonomic study of bone remains and the application of the ZooMS technique for proteomic analysis in bioarchaeological materials from sites in northern Spain and South-East France. I am also part of the EvoAdapta research group at the University of Cantabria. By combining proteomic approaches (ZooMS) with archaeozoological and taphonomic analyses, the project improves taxonomic identification of non-diagnostic faunal remains. This integrative framework enables a refined reconstruction of human-animal relationship seeking to widen the knowledge about human–carnivore dynamics, offering new…

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Blog Posts

HEAS Members Travel to See the Lucy Skeleton – In Europe for the First Time

by Prof. Tom Higham, head of HEAS.   The visit of the world-famous Lucy skeleton to Prague in October 2025 led to the idea of a HEAS fieldtrip to the Czech Republic.   “Lucy” is the remarkably complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton discovered in 1974 at Hadar, Ethiopia, and dated to about 3.2 million years ago. Her partial skeleton, 25% preserved, provided clear evidence of habitual bipedalism—walking upright long before the evolution of large brains. She is a cornerstone discovery in understanding human evolution. In October, her remains were loaned to the National Museum in Prague; the first time she has been to Europe. In addition, the remains of the famous Dikika child “Selam” were also loaned. These are the remains of another A. afarensis hominin, this time a 3 year old child, slightly older than Lucy.   Twenty-one HEAS members made the trip. We divided into two groups; the first went for the day to see Lucy and the National Museum. The second group went for two days, to visit the scientific laboratories at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (NPI), where the Czech Radiocarbon Lab is based, and then the National Museum the following day.   The science labs are located outside Prague on a very picturesque site along the river Vitava. It was a…

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News

HEAS Member Michael Doneus Receives Award For Contribution to Archaeology

HEAS member Michael Doneus received an award from the municipality of Mazara del Vallo in Sicily in recognition of his many years of archaeological research, which began in 2003. His former colleagues, Dr Erich Draganits (University of Vienna), Dr Christopher Severa (Newcastle University) and Cipriano Frazzetta (MA), were also honoured, as was Prof. Sebastiano Tusa, the former Sicilian Councillor for Cultural Heritage, posthumously. Links to some research results: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2020.1734898   https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-017-9348-9  

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Corentin DEPPE

I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. My academic background is in Ecology and Evolution, with a focus on palaeoecology. For my master’s thesis, I applied ancient DNA approaches to study population genomics in mussels. As a member of Pere Gelabert’s team within the ERC project, SHADOWS, which investigates human-carnivore interactions during the Upper Palaeolithic in several sites across Cantabria. My research focuses on the paleogenomics of the last megafaunal carnivore populations of the region, aiming to better understand their genetic diversity, evolutionary history, and relationship with humans.

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News

Call for Papers: Calling all Palaeolithic and prehistoric researchers using GIS!

Calling all Palaeolithic and prehistoric researchers using GIS! The Call for Papers for Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) 2026 in Vienna is now open, with an October 26th deadline. We are running the second iteration of our Palaeo-GIS session (Session 39). The Palaeo-GIS session is intended to encourage contributions from authors applying GIS in Palaeolithic or later prehistoric contexts and research topics. We particularly encourage authors to submit papers that reflect on the unique characteristics and challenges of their prehistoric research context, and engage reflectively with those challenges. You can read the full session abstract here: https://2026.caaconference.org/conference-sessions/  

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News Allgemein

HEAS Members Publish a Cambridge Elements booklet on Ceramic Analysis : Laboratory Methods

HEAS Team leaders Michaela Schauer and Irmgard Hein et al. have recently published a Cambridge Elements booklet on Ceramic Analysis: Laboratory Methods. Link to the publication is here. This Element, authored by a team of specialist researchers, provides an overview of the various analytical techniques employed in the laboratory for the examination of archaeological ceramic materials. Pottery represents one of the earliest technical materials used by humans and is arguably the most frequently encountered object in archaeological sites. The original plastic raw material, which is solidified by firing, exhibits a wide range of variations in terms of production methods, material, form, decoration, and function. This frequently presents significant challenges for archaeologists. In modern laboratories, a variety of archaeometric measurement methods are available for addressing a wide range of archaeological questions. Examples of these include determining the composition of archaeological materials, elucidating the processes involved in manufacturing and decoration, estimating the age of archaeological material, and much more. The sections present available methods for analysing pottery, along with an exploration of their potential application.

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HEAS Seminar Series Speakers Announced

The Team at HEAS are delighted to announce the speakers for the 2025-2026 Seminar Series. Covering Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic, Ancient Genomics, and Archaeological Science the series weclomes from speakers from all over Europe, the US and Canada, and South America. All talks are hybrid while some will be online only. Registration is now open here. To look back on previous seminars, have a look at our YouTube channel for recording from the talks and podcast interviews with the speakers.  

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Publications

Sediment talks, or: what interdisciplinary archaeological prospection of the Kreuttal microregion’s sediment archive can tell us about the landscape history

Jetzinger, D., Gallistl, J., Kinnaird, T., Truntschnig, T., Kasemann, S., Schwaiger, A., Salisbury, R.B., Doneus, M., Kucera, M., Stahlschmidt, M., Fera, M., Neubauer, W., 2025. Sediment talks, or: what interdisciplinary archaeological prospection of the Kreuttal microregion’s sediment archive can tell us about the landscape history. ArcheoSciences n° 49-1, 359-362. read more

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Publications

Accessible, realistic genome simulation with selection using stdpopsim

Gower, G., Pope, N.S., Rodrigues, M.F., Tittes, S., Tran, L.N., Alam, O., Cavassim, M.I.A., Fields, P.D., Haller, B.C., Huang, X., Jeffrey, B., Korfmann, K., Kyriazis, C.C., Min, J., Rebollo, I., Rehmann, C.T., Small, S.T., Smith, C.C.R., Tsambos, G., Wong, Y., Zhang, Y., Huber, C.D., Gorjanc, G., Ragsdale, A.P., Gronau, I., Gutenkunst, R.N., Kelleher, J., Lohmueller, K.E., Schrider, D.R., Ralph, P.L., Kern, A.D., 2025. Accessible, realistic genome simulation with selection using stdpopsim. Molecular Biology and Evolution. read more

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Ginevra DI BERNARDO

I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, with an interest in the study of human remains through Virtual Anthropology and Geometric Morphometrics. Presently, my research focuses in particular on dental anthropology, combining 3D virtual imaging techniques with geometric morphometrics. I hold a Master’s degree in Archaeology, Art and Landscape Heritage from the University of Bologna and I am currently completing an MSc in Geoarchaeological, Anthropological and Forensic Sciences at the University of Ferrara.

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News

HEAS Member awarded FWF grant for project “Residential Mobility in Upper Palaeolithic Europe”

HEAS Team Leader Philip R. Nigst has been awarded an FWF Principal Investigator grant for his project REMO (Residential Mobility in Upper Palaeolithic Europe) along with collaborators Marjolein D. Bosch, Andrea Manica, Andrew Kandel, Paloma de la Peña, Cristina Cordoş and Michael Brandl. They will investigate the degree of residential mobility and landscape use strategies in Upper Palaeolithic Europe through an analysis of lithic and faunal datasets. REMO's approach is routed in human behavioural ecology and quantifies variation in lithic and faunal datasets as indicators for mobility to compare with environmental and climatic proxies.   More information: https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/research-radar/10.55776/PAT4701725    

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HEAS Member Marjolein Bosch Announces New ERC Funded Project: COPE

The project is called COPE. Full title: "The role of climate change on past human living conditions: Resource acquisition strategies and landscape use in eastern Central Europe from the Gravettian Golden Age to the Last Glacial Maximum”. COPE investigates the influence of climatic changes on human behaviour at the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (30.000-25.000 years ago). This period was marked by extreme climate fluctuations in Europe. Nevertheless, people lived near glaciers and adapted their behaviour to the harsh living conditions. COPE explores the challenges faced by Ice Age hunter-gatherer groups. For example, which animals and plants humans used when resources became more and more scarce and what strategies they developed to survive in such an extreme climate. Artwork credits: COPE project, artist: Tansy Branscombe Picture credits: Philip Nigst ; Marjolein Bosch https://www.heas.at/press/what-impact-did-extreme-climate-change-have-on-life-during-the-last-ice-age/  

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Press

What impact did extreme climate change have on life during the last Ice Age?

We warmly congratulate our colleague Marjolein D. Bosch on her newly acquired ERC Starting Grant. Her COPE project will investigate the influence of climatic changes on human behaviour during the last Ice Age. The onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 30–25,000 years ago was marked by extreme climate fluctuations in Europe. Nevertheless, people lived near glaciers and adapted their behaviour to the harsh living conditions. As part of the ERC Starting Grant project entitled »The role of climate change on past human living conditions: Resource acquisition strategies and landscape use in eastern Central Europe from the Gravettian Golden Age to the Last Glacial Maximum« (COPE), Marjolein D. Bosch will now investigate the challenges faced by Ice Age hunter-gatherer groups. For example, which animals and plants humans used when resources became more and more scarce and what strategies they developed to survive in such an extreme climate. Material for the planned analyses comes from the Grub-Kranawetberg I and II sites in Lower Austria. These sites offer exceptionally well-preserved organic remains from the period leading up to the Last Glacial Maximum. Using the latest methods in the fields of sediment biomarkers, stable isotope analysis and palaeogenetics, COPE will reconstruct the local environmental conditions in terms of palaeotemperatures, plant vegetation and prey availability in the landscape. A new focus is on water…

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Blog Posts

You, Robot: Experiencing Robotics First-Hand at General Laser

By: Dominik Hagmann As part of the University of Vienna's course “AI and Interdisciplinary Research” held at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology in the summer term of 2025, students from diverse academic fields participated in a hands-on robotics workshop and explored cutting-edge robotics at General Laser in Vienna. From humanoid robotic agents to agile robot dogs, the hands-on workshop illustrated vividly how artificial intelligence (AI) and automation shape both tomorrow’s industry and future research. Setting the Scene: From Myth to Machine Long before AI emerged as a formal scientific discipline, the idea of creating artificial beings fascinated the human imagination. For instance, Greek mythology introduced automata—self-moving devices—already during the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. According to some myths, the smithing god Hephaistos, for example, provided King Alcinoos with “robotic watchdogs” crafted from gold and silver. Furthermore, the deity created Talos, a humanoid “lethal autonomous weapon system” made from bronze, for King Midas to guard the island of Crete. Aside from several further examples, these two cases already comprehensively illustrate how deeply rooted complex visions of intelligent, artificial beings are in human thought. The term robot itself originates from the Czech word robota ("forced labor"), first coined in Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), foreseeing a world where artificial workers ultimately rise against their human creators. Today,…

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