Valentina LAAHA
I am a prehistoric archaeologist specialising in geoarchaeology and am currently working as a predoc at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (‘Prehistoric Identities’ Group) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where I am part of the ‘Mining and Dining’ and the ‘Alpine Interdependencies’ projects. My focus lies on soil and sediment archives and their assessment for archaeological questions and the reconstruction of human-environment relationships through the Holocene. I hold a Master´s degree in Prehistory and Historical Archaeology from the University of Vienna. In my research I work on the establishment and evaluation of a geoarchaeological and bioarchaeological toolboxes for (high) mountain areas, integrating archaeological science approaches with traditional archaeological data, material, and excavation to especially areas with sparse archaeological record. My main interest here are the complex interactions of ecosystems – including anthropogenic and ‘natural’ factors – over time, and how these shape the landscape and environment that we know today.