Autor: Maeve Nic Samhradáin

Blog Posts

The MicroStratDNA Group visits the ESRF

By Thomas Beard   What is the ESRF?: The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a circular particle accelerator that is capable of a varied range of radiation-based analyses, which in the ESRF’s own words makes it a “giant microscope”. A famous example of a synchrotron-like particle accelerator is that of the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. The ESRF works on the same principles as CERN but it is only speeding up the particles not trying to collide them. All synchrotrons use electromagnetic fields to propel ions to very high speeds with recent renovations at the ESRF giving it the brightest beam of any synchrotron facility in the world. Researchers based at a university in a country contributing to the ESRF project can use the facility for free, if their grant proposal is successful. If you are interested, I would suggest checking out the ESRF’s website, which has a lot of useful information and you can even see if your research would be possible at the facility. Who and Why?: One of the main aims of the MicroStratDNA group is to understand how ancient DNA (aDNA) preserves in archaeological cave sediments. Within current literature there are many theories about what the source of the aDNA could be including; bones, faecal matter or even DNA bound to minerals found…

Research Areas:
Read More
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Larissa BARTSCH

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. In my current project, I use ancient DNA from sediments to investigate human and animal presence beyond the visible (zoo-)archaeological record. In particular, I am interested in applying biomolecular methods to archaeological and evolutionary questions. By combining sedaDNA with microarchaeological data, I look for patterns of co-occupation and interaction between humans and other animals, such as large carnivores. I hold a BSc in Biomedicine and an MSc in Evolutionary Anthropology and am currently co-supervised by Pere Gelabert and Mareike Stahlschmidt, with affiliations to the BEAM lab and the Microarchaeology group.  

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
Blog Posts

Lange Nacht der Forschung 2026

By Dr Emese Végh As a postdoc at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, I usually spend my days in relatively quiet labs or in front of the computer trying to decipher questions in human evolution and archaeological science. But last Friday, I traded my lab coat for a microphone (or rather a voice recorder on my phone) and headed out into the vibrant chaos of the Lange Nacht der Forschung (Long Night of Research) in Vienna. There were many stations representing researchers and themes from HEAS, and I wanted to see what type of outreach and attention they get. From the modern halls of the University Biology Building (UBB), to the historic buildings of the Academy of Sciences and the University Main Building, I caught up with colleagues who were busy translating complex science into hands-on puzzles, and explanations for thousands of curious visitors.   My first stop was visiting Dr Nicole Grunstra’s station at the UBB. Her research tackles a classic ‘human’ problem: why is birth so difficult for us? The traditional view is that humans are uniquely cursed with difficult births because of our big brains and narrow pelvises. But Nicole’s station, complete with 3D-printed pelvises and tiny animal skulls, tells a different story. Many precocial species (i.e., animals whose young stand up shortly after birth, like cows,…

Research Areas:
Read More
News

LEGION Project Led by HEAS Member Dominik Hagmann Approved Within the Heritage Science Austria 2.0 Programme

The project LEGION – machine LEarninG-enabled Identification of archaeological Objects in the middle daNube river basin, led by HEAS member Dominik Hagmann as a researcher at the OeAI/OeAW in collaboration with colleagues from the TU Wien Computer Vision Lab, has been recently approved within the Heritage Science Austria 2.0 programme. The project integrates machine learning and archaeological expertise to establish a unified, AI-supported typochronology for Roman common ware from the ancient metropolis of Carnuntum (Austria). Based on a corpus of c. 70,000 digitized profile drawings, LEGION develops a scalable and reproducible framework for the classification, dating, and interpretation of archaeological mass finds, combining eXplainable AI (XAI) and human-in-the-loop (HITL) approaches. By linking morphological and contextual data, the project generates new insights into production, distribution, and settlement dynamics along the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Danube Limes,” while providing an open, FAIR- and CARE-compliant digital research infrastructure for future applications in Heritage Science.   Funding   ÖAW – Heritage Science Austria 2.0 (Heritage_2024-12_LEGION): https://www.oeaw.ac.at/foerderungen/foerderprogramme/heritage-science-austria   Project webpage: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/oeai/research/historical-archaeology/archaeology-of-the-roman-provinces-in-the-latin-west/legion

Research Areas:
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More
News

HEAS Member awarded Spanish Consolidator Research Grant for project “PHUMA”

HEAS Network Associate José-Miguel Tejero is the Principal Investigator of the Spanish Consolidator Research Grant PHUMA (First Human Population of the Peruvian Andean Plateau), developed under the scientific co-direction of Leslye Valenzuela (French National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS, and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, PUCP). The project brings together several HEAS members, including Pere Gelabert, Olivia Cheronet, Tom Higham, Katerina Douka, and Mareike C. Stahlschmidt, alongside researchers from partner institutions: Xavier Mangado, Julien Le Guirriec, and Santiago Riera (University of Barcelona), Dagmara Socha (University of Warsaw), Ximena Suárez (University of São Paulo), Alessandra Caballero and Gerardo Vega Toscano (PUCP, Peru), Nick Taylor (Stony Brook University), and Lola Larssonneur (Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne University).   PHUMA is a pioneering project combining archaeological and biomolecular approaches, including ancient DNA (aDNA), sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), and paleoproteomics, to investigate the cultural and biological adaptations of the first human populations to settle permanently on the Peruvian Andean Plateau at altitudes exceeding 3,500 metres above sea level. The project addresses the formidable environmental pressures these populations faced, including hypoxia, extreme cold, intense solar radiation, and scarce food resources, during the transition between the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene. PHUMA will generate extensive genomic and archaeological datasets from some of the oldest known Pleistocene sites in the region, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding…

Research Areas:
Read More
News

HEAS Members Interviewed for Nature

HEAS Team Leaders Pere Gelabert and Benjamin Vernot were recently interviewed for Nature Magazine for their work in sediment DNA. The two researchers are pushing the boundaries of what we can learn from ancient dirt. Benjamin Vernot built a 1.6‑million‑probe capture panel to enrich for nuclear DNA in sediments - targeting Neanderthals, Denisovans, early modern humans, and even unknown archaic lineages. Such sediments typically contain very small amounts of human DNA, and lots of DNA from other species, and so Vernot also devised new computational methods to handle these challenges. He has applied these methods to sediments at caves like Galería de las Estatuas, where Neandertals lived for nearly 50,000 years. In this work, Vernot identified two distinct Neanderthal populationsm, with one replacing the other about 100,000 years ago. On the other side, Pere Gelabert showed you can brute‑force nuclear DNA from cave dirt with shotgun sequencing, and analyzed human, bison and wolf DNA from a single 25,000 year old sediment sample from Satsurblia cave. As Gelabert puts it, without sediment DNA, many of these human‑history clues would be impossible to uncover. Read Full Article  

Research Areas:
Read More
News

HEAS Workshop on „The Long History of Inequality: Resources, Control, and Social Power“, to be held in Vienna on 7–8 May.

Within the Initiative Future Archaeology, the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI–OeAW) is pleased to announce the workshop "The Long History of Inequality: Resources, Control, and Social Power", to be held in Vienna on 7–8 May. The event brings together international scholars to explore how access to resources—its extraction, circulation, and control—has shaped social and economic inequalities from the Neolithic to the present.   Organisers: Pamela Fragnoli, Michael Brandl, and Mario Gavranović. Invitation_WORKSHOP-The Long History of Inequality_Zukunftarchäologie_Fragnoli-Jung-Brandl-Gavranovic_7-8 May 2026 Program_WORKSHOP-The Long History of Inequality_Zukunftarchäologie_Fragnoli-Jung-Brandl-Gavranovic_7-8 May 2026

Research Areas:
Read More
Read More
News

HEAS Congratulates Dr Emily Pigott

Congratulations to PhD Emily Pigott, who defended her doctoral thesis on Monday 30th March. Emily published two papers during her PhD research and has two more in review/submission. Her main paper was in PNAS and was about a small Neanderthal bone that she found using ZooMS from a site in the Crimea called Starosele. Her other paper was in the Journal of Palaeolithic Archaeology. She worked incredibly hard to finish in just under 3 years. An hour after the defence she found that she had been successful in her application for a 2 year post doc position working in Tubingen, Germany on Palaeolithic sites in Armenia. Congrats Dr Emily Pigott from everyone in HEAS!  

Research Areas:
Read More
Allgemein Publications

Dip Your Finger in the Sea… Geoarchaeological View on Coastal Setting and Maritime Accessibility of the Coastal Town of Osor, Northern Adriatic.

Miko, S., Doneus, N., Brunović, D., Hasan, O., Doneus, M., Kinnaird, T., Hus, P., Šegović, F., Ilijanić, N., Miko, M.Š., 2025. Dip Your Finger in the Sea... Geoarchaeological View on Coastal Setting and Maritime Accessibility of the Coastal Town of Osor, Northern Adriatic. Studia universitatis hereditati 13, 13-40.   read more

Research Areas:
Read More
News

HEAS Seed Grants for February 2026 Announced.

We are delighted to announce the results of the HEAS Seed Grants February 2026 round. The following projects by HEAS members will be funded:   Applicant Project Amount Granted Mario Gavranović, Olivia Cheronet, Gábor Sánta Ágnes Somogyvári Genetic and Isotope Tests of a Tumulus Culture Population in Southern Hungary: Newcomers or Locals? 4400 Doralice Klainscek, Pamela Fragnoli ,Johannes H. Sterba Looking at the Ground Raw Material Suitability in the Desert Landscape of NW Arabia 4920 Mareike Stahlschmidt, Laura van der Sluis, Peter Steier, Lyndelle Webster Radiocarbon dating of bones and charcoal preserved in resin impregnated sediment blocks 5000 Carla Gómez-Montes and Timothy Canessa Clarifying the Nature of Human-Animal Occupations in Chufín Cave with Chronological and Paleoproteomic Data 5000     https://www.heas.at/research/seed-grants/

Research Areas:
Read More
News

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

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.

Research Areas:
Read More
News

A study by HEAS member Timo Canessa has just been published in the open access journal PLOS One.

The Early Upper Palaeolithic of Iberia remains an actively debated record of human occupation, yet quantitative approaches to lithic assemblage variability are still lacking, especially among large-scale datasets that span the entire period and region. In this study, we utilised a newly compiled dataset of Aurignacian assemblages to explore techno-typological variability and test its spatial and temporal dimensions. Our work has been able to show that variability has a spatial – rather than temporal – character to the effect that assemblage dissimilarities increase with spatial distance. Our findings thus challenge the application of the classic Aquitaine model of techno-typological change and suggest that temporal change in the Aurignacian may be more unstructured than otherwise deemed. This has wider implications for the detection and characterisation of the technocomplex at large, corroborating previous claims of mosaicism and an inconsistent representation of diagnostic traits.   https://www.heas.at/research/publications/unpacking-lithic-assemblage-variability-in-the-early-upper-palaeolithic-a-multivariate-approach-to-the-structure-of-the-iberian-aurignacian/

Research Areas:
Read More
Read More
News

FWF funding for open-access publication Methodological Innovations in pXRF Studies

HEAS member Michaela Schauer has received FWF funding for the open-access publication Methodological Innovations in pXRF Studies. Supported through the FWF programme Buchpublikation with 14,000 euros, the volume grows out of the 2024 Vienna conference on portable X-ray fluorescence "Methodological Innovations in pXRF Studies" and brings together international research on methodological standards, data quality, and reproducibility in pXRF studies. The publication is the result of collaboration between the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, the CNRS International Research Network pXRF Ceramic Users Network, and additional partners including the Natural History Museum Vienna and the Institute for Prehistoric and Historic Archaeology at the University of Vienna. It will be published in the Études Alexandrines series by the Centre d’Études Alexandrines (CEAlex) and is intended as a practical reference work for researchers, students, and professionals in archaeological and heritage science. Link to funding

Research Areas:
Read More
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Members

Darko STOJANOVSKI

  I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Austrian Archaeological Institute, director of the excavations at the Amzabegovo Neolithic settlement, and coordinator of the associated “Birth of Europe” field school program. I am also an Assistant Professor in Prehistory at the Goce Delchev University in Shtip (N. Macedonia). My current focus is on the neolithization process between the Aegean and Central Europe – detecting and timing the discreet mechanisms behind the transition from a Mediterranean towards a Continental environment. In the past I have done research on Neolithic pottery, organic residue and past diet, as well as investigations on the Middle Palaeolithic of the South-Central Balkans.    

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
Read More
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Nicolás GONZÁLEZ RAPOSO

I am a psychologist, a PhD candidate in Social Complexity Sciences at Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile), and a Visiting PhD Candidate at the Vienna Doctoral School of Cognition, Behavior and Neuroscience (VDS CoBeNe) – Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna. My research focuses on the behavioral foundations of interpersonal conflict, integrating evolutionary game theory, causal inference, and computational social science methods. My PhD dissertation consists of two empirical articles. Drawing on sexual selection theory, the first examines how sex differences and socially aversive personality traits (the Dark Triad) shape aggressive dispositions, using latent variable models to analyze how individual differences relate to conflict escalation. The second examines how interpersonal conflict is dynamically inferred and regulated during real-time bargaining interactions, focusing on how emergent patterns of emotional coordination—such as affiliative signaling and mimicry—influence perceptions of conflict and negotiation outcomes.    

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Chen DUAN

I am a PhD student in paleogenomics focusing on the study of medical genetics and ancient genomic data. I am primarily interested in analyzing pathogenic variants from past populations to answer questions linked to health status assessment and the evolutionary history of cancer predisposition. I am currently working on projects related to ancient oncogenetics, specifically the identification of both germline and somatic mutations and investigating how population dynamics shaped the oncogenetic landscape in antiquity.  

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Audrey LIN

I am an APART-USA Fellow in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. My research utilizes recovering ancient biomolecules from archaeological and museum specimens and objects to answer diverse questions on human-mediated evolutionary processes, including domestication, extinction, and mechanisms of zoonoses. My multidisciplinary approach integrates tools and theories from the life sciences (palaeogenomics, biology, zoology), the humanities (history), and social sciences (archaeology and cultural anthropology).    

Research Areas: , , ,
Personal Website
Read More
News

HEAS Members Publish GENOVIS: a Python package for the visualization of population genetic analyses

We are proud to announce that our HEAS member Dr. Elmira Mohandesan and her postDoc (Siavash Salek Ardestani) have published a new open-access paper in BMC Genomics introducing GENOVIS, a user-friendly Python tool for population genomics visualization.GENOVIS integrates six key analysis modules into one flexible framework, available via both command-line and graphical interfaces.Developed at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and the University of Vienna, it enables fast, reproducible, publication-ready figures for researchers worldwide.   https://www.heas.at/research/publications/genovis-a-python-package-for-the-visualization-of-population-genetic-analyses/

Research Areas:
Read More
Read More
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Members

Sabina CVEČEK

I am a socio-cultural anthropologist and archaeologist, currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellow jointly appointed at the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna). I hold a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna. My research explores kinship, households, and social organization in the eastern Mediterranean and southeastern Europe, with a particular focus on the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Bridging socio-cultural anthropology, archaeology, bioarchaeology, and ancient DNA research, my work critically examines how social relations were constituted beyond biological relatedness, including practices of care, co-residence, commensality, and non-biological kin-making. Through comparative and theoretically informed approaches, I seek to challenge genetic determinism in archaeogenetic interpretations and to foreground everyday practices as central to understanding past social worlds.  

Research Areas: , , ,
Project Website
Publications
Read More
Read More
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Francesc MARGINEDAS MIRÓ

I am an anthropologist and archaeologist specialising in the study of human remains from archaeological contexts. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna, in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology. I hold a PhD in Quaternary and Prehistory from Rovira and Virgili University (Tarragona, Spain), as well as a Master’s degree in Quaternary Archaeology jointly awarded by the same institution and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, France). My research focuses on mortuary practices involving the manipulation of human remains, alongside evidence for interpersonal violence and cannibalism in past societies. I work across a broad range of chrono-cultural contexts, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age. This includes the analysis of human bone assemblages from sites such as Maszycka Cave (Kraków, Poland), Txispiri Cave (Gipuzkoa, Spain) and El Mirador Cave (Atapuerca, Spain), among others. I am also an active member of the Atapuerca Project, contributing both in the field and in the laboratory. My work combines a range of taphonomic and analytical approaches, including classical osteological methods, residue analysis, and detailed studies of bone surface modifications.  

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
Publications

Wind(ow) of change: The end of the Middle Stone Age and the beginning of the Later Stone Age at Umhlatuzana rockshelter showcasing concurrent technological and techno-economic shifts.

Schmid, V.C., Sifogeorgaki, I., Abruzzese, T., Blik, S., Huang, L., Dusseldorp, G.L., 2026. Wind(ow) of change: The end of the Middle Stone Age and the beginning of the Later Stone Age at Umhlatuzana rockshelter showcasing concurrent technological and techno-economic shifts. Quaternary Science Reviews 377, 109806. read more

Research Areas:
Read More
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Benjamin VERNOT

I am a population geneticist who specializes in the study of ancient human DNA, using this DNA to reconstruct the lives of people in the past. My current focus is on ancient DNA extracted from sediments, and we use these sediments to trace the presence of ancient people where they lived and worked, and in the absence of skeletal remains. My group is also heavily involved in the development of computational methods for the analysis of challenging aDNA datasets.  

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
News Allgemein

Annual HEAS Gräzlfest takes place at the Natural History Museum Vienna.

On the 12th December 2025 the 2nd Annual HEAS Gräzlfest: The Annual Meeting took place at the HEAS Partner Institute the Natural History Museum, Vienna.   The focus for this year was on the early career researchers within the network and on HEAS Seed Grant recipients. Overall we had ten tables showcasing some of the research being conducted within HEAS. Kayleigh Saunderson  Archaeological textiles  Manasij Pal Chowdhury and Emese Végh  Paleoproteomics Analysis and FWF grant 'HUMEVCOL’ Ginevra Di Bernardo, Petra Šimková and  Emily Rajchl  Virtual Anthropology and Morphology Stefan Krojer and Immo Trinks  High-resolution underwater archaeological photogrammetric 3D documentation of the entire UNESCO World Heritage site Station See, Lake Mondse Maximilian Piniel and Valentina Laaha From Pasturing to Dining - Interdisciplinary Approaches in the Alps Arne Bielke and Meriam Guellil Ancient Pathogen Genomics and Horses Laura van der Sluis and Maddalena Gianni  radiocarbon group/lab Thomas Beard and Larissa Bartsch  Microarchaeology station Susanna Sawyer and Olivia Cheronet Non-destructive aDNA methods Michaela Schauer and Tabea Truntschnig ESPRIT Project During the afternoon we also had a photo competition, a stamp card with science questions and refreshments.     [gallery ids="5575,5574,5572,5570,5568,5579,5580,5581,5582"]

Research Areas:
Read More
News

Michelle Hämmerle wins Annual HEAS Photo Competition

HEAS Member Michelle Hämmerle, a PhD candidate in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, won the Annual HEAS Photo competition for her picture of louse nits from the species Pediculus humanus americanus on the head of a 500-year old Inca mummy. Michelle was presented with a €100 book voucher at the Gräzlfest, the HEAS Annual Meeting, by the Head of HEAS, Tom Higham. Other pictures from the competition can be seen in the gallery below.         [gallery ids="5552,5553,5554,5555,5556,5557,5558,5559,5560,5561,5562,5563,5564"]

Research Areas:
Read More
News

 Paleoenvironmental DNA and Human Evolution Symposium

In November 2025, Pere Gelabert, Mareike Stahlschmidt, and Benjamin Vernot from the DEA, organized a symposium on integrating the new field of Paleoenvironmental DNA within Human Evolution studies, bringing together leading international researchers to exchange perspectives on current challenges and future directions in sedaDNA. [caption id="attachment_5544" align="alignnone" width="300"] Photo Credit Carla Gomez[/caption] You can see a talk from one of the speakers, Karina Sand, on the HEAS YouTube channel. [yotuwp type="videos" id="PX49CBUIQF4" ]

Research Areas:
Read More
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members

Sofie-Kristin SCHENDZIELORZ

I am a bioarchaeologist and a PhD candidate in the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. I hold a master’s degree in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Dundee (UK). My research focuses on advanced imaging methods and biomechanical musculoskeletal modelling, as well as the study of commingled remains and ossuary archaeology. I am currently employed as a predoctoral researcher at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (Austrian Academy of Sciences) and am part of the “Prehistoric Identities” research group, led by Katharina Rebay-Salisbury. Within the framework of my dissertation project, “Muscle Synergies and Sexual Division of Labour in the Early Central European Bronze Age: A Multivariate Analysis of Body and Technology,” I investigate the health, lifestyle, and activities of individuals from Early Bronze Age cemeteries in Lower Austria. I apply innovative 3D surface modelling techniques for entheseal analysis to reconstruct sex-specific divisions of labour, as well as body–artifact relationships.    

Research Areas: , , ,
Read More
News

Recent publication – the Edited volume „Weaving and Wearing Identity – Personal Adornment in Past Societies. Springer-Series Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer: Cham 2025“ (edited by Gabriella Longhitano, Karina Grömer, Alistair Dickey, Giulia Muti, Sarah Hitchens).

  The book with contributions from many HEAS members examines questions about body adornments and its link to identity in archaeology, looking at theoretical and interpretive frameworks that are relevant to the study of different categories of personal ornaments. Identity is a crucial topic in archaeology where its concept is investigated through the study of many categories of material culture. As self-representation, identity constitutes a choice through which an individual or a group want to be seen by others. The volume covers a wide geographical and chronological frame from the Upper Paleolithic era to Medieval times, examining North, Central, and Southern Europe as well as regions in Southwest Asia and North Africa.   Contributions by Marjolein Bosch, Karina Grömer, Birgit Bühler, Mathias Harzhauser, Philip Nigst, Kayleigh Saunderson

Research Areas:
Read More
Publications

Tracing social mechanisms and interregional connections in Early Bronze Age Societies in Lower Austria

Furtwängler, A., Rebay-Salisbury, K., Neumann, G.U., Kanz, F., Ringbauer, H., Bianco, R.A., Schmidt, T., Semerau, L., Radzevičiūtė, R., Barquera, R., Rohland, N., Stewardson, K., Workman, J.N., Curtis, E., Zalzala, F., Callan, K., Iliev, L., Qiu, L., Cheronet, O., Wagner, A., Bravo Morante, G., Spannagel, M., Teschler-Nicola, M., Novotny, F., Verdianu, D., Pinhasi, R., Reich, D., Krause, J., Stockhammer, P.W., Mittnik, A., 2025. Tracing social mechanisms and interregional connections in Early Bronze Age Societies in Lower Austria. Nature Communications 17, 131. read more

Research Areas:
Read More
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…

Research Areas:
Read More