HEAS's own Tom Higham and Katerina Douka were recently interviewed for the Austrian state broadcaster ORF on their work on Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA and the gene varients which can be found in humans today. Read full story (in German)
HEAS member Martin Kuhlwilm is among 20 researchers awarded a grant in the FWF 1000 Ideas scheme. With this programme, the FWF funds high-risk research projects off the beaten track. In this project, Prof. Kuhlwilm will explore the potential preservation of RNA viruses in historical specimens of great apes. Since it is well-known that zoonotic transmissions of viruses had an impact on humans, studying virus evolution in the past can guide the understanding of the present. However, unlike DNA, RNA is very poorly preserved and more challenging to explore. Read more here (in German)
Archaeologist and HEAS member Maria Ivanova-Bieg was profiled in the University of Vienna magazine, 'Rudolphina' on her work using isotope analyzes to reconstruct the life of the first farmers in Europe. Full article with video (in German) below Read full article
I am an archaeometrist with a degree in Archaeological Sciences and a PhD in Archaeology. As ceramic specialist I am involved in various projects in the pre- and historical Mediterranean and South-Western Asia. My research focuses on the study of craft organization in relation to cultural, economic and political changes. As supervisor of early-career scientists I expanded my expertise to pigment, brick, mortar and glass analyses. Currently, I am head of the Research Group “Object Itineraries” and part of the core team of the Research Infrastructure “Heritage Sciences” at the OeAI as well as lecturer at the University of Vienna.
Alfred Galik originally studied paleontology at the Univ. of Vienna. Since 2003 he has collaborated as a research associate at the institute for Anatomy at the Vetmed Univ Vienna. From 2012 to 2016 he was university assistant at the institute for Anatomy, histology and embryology at the Vetmed Univ Vienna with cooperations in numerous historical and prehistoric archaeozoological projects. He was awarded with the habilitation with the venia legendi “archaeozoology in veterinary medicine” in 2016. Since 2016 Alfred Galik is member of the ÖAI as academy scientist. His prime-interest lies on Archaeozoology, including archaeomalacology and ichthyoarchaeology, besides animal anatomy and osteology, palaeopathology, domestication and evolution research, morphometry and environmental history.
Lazaridis, I., Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S., Acar, A., Açıkkol, A., Agelarakis, A., Aghikyan, L., Akyüz, U., Andreeva, D., Andrijašević, G., Antonović, D., Armit, I., Atmaca, A., Avetisyan, P., Aytek, A.İ., Bacvarov, K., Badalyan, R., Bakardzhiev, S., Balen, J., Bejko, L., Bernardos, R., Bertsatos, A., Biber, H., Bilir, A., Bodružić, M., Bonogofsky, M., Bonsall, C., Borić, D., Borovinić, N., Bravo Morante, G., Buttinger, K., Callan, K., Candilio, F., Carić, M., Cheronet, O., Chohadzhiev, S., Chovalopoulou, M.-E., Chryssoulaki, S., Ciobanu, I., Čondić, N., Constantinescu, M., Cristiani, E., Culleton, B.J., Curtis, E., Davis, J., Demcenco, T.I., Dergachev, V., Derin, Z., Deskaj, S., Devejyan, S., Djordjević, V., Duffett Carlson, K.S., Eccles, L.R., Elenski, N., Engin, A., Erdoğan, N., Erir-Pazarcı, S., Fernandes, D.M., Ferry, M., Freilich, S., Frînculeasa, A., Galaty, M.L., Gamarra, B., Gasparyan, B., Gaydarska, B., Genç, E., Gültekin, T., Gündüz, S., Hajdu, T., Heyd, V., Hobosyan, S., Hovhannisyan, N., Iliev, I., Iliev, L., Iliev, S., İvgin, İ., Janković, I., Jovanova, L., Karkanas, P., Kavaz-Kındığılı, B., Kaya, E.H., Keating, D., Kennett, D.J., Deniz Kesici, S., Khudaverdyan, A., Kiss, K., Kılıç, S., Klostermann, P., Kostak Boca Negra Valdes, S., Kovačević, S., Krenz-Niedbała, M., Krznarić Škrivanko, M., Kurti, R., Kuzman, P., Lawson, A.M., Lazar, C., Leshtakov, K., Levy, T.E., Liritzis, I., Lorentz, K.O., Łukasik, S., Mah, M., Mallick, S., Mandl, K., Martirosyan-Olshansky, K., Matthews, R., Matthews, W., McSweeney,…
Lazaridis, I., Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S., Acar, A., Açıkkol, A., Agelarakis, A., Aghikyan, L., Akyüz, U., Andreeva, D., Andrijašević, G., Antonović, D., Armit, I., Atmaca, A., Avetisyan, P., Aytek, A.İ., Bacvarov, K., Badalyan, R., Bakardzhiev, S., Balen, J., Bejko, L., Bernardos, R., Bertsatos, A., Biber, H., Bilir, A., Bodružić, M., Bonogofsky, M., Bonsall, C., Borić, D., Borovinić, N., Bravo Morante, G., Buttinger, K., Callan, K., Candilio, F., Carić, M., Cheronet, O., Chohadzhiev, S., Chovalopoulou, M.-E., Chryssoulaki, S., Ciobanu, I., Čondić, N., Constantinescu, M., Cristiani, E., Culleton, B.J., Curtis, E., Davis, J., Demcenco, T.I., Dergachev, V., Derin, Z., Deskaj, S., Devejyan, S., Djordjević, V., Duffett Carlson, K.S., Eccles, L.R., Elenski, N., Engin, A., Erdoğan, N., Erir-Pazarcı, S., Fernandes, D.M., Ferry, M., Freilich, S., Frînculeasa, A., Galaty, M.L., Gamarra, B., Gasparyan, B., Gaydarska, B., Genç, E., Gültekin, T., Gündüz, S., Hajdu, T., Heyd, V., Hobosyan, S., Hovhannisyan, N., Iliev, I., Iliev, L., Iliev, S., İvgin, İ., Janković, I., Jovanova, L., Karkanas, P., Kavaz-Kındığılı, B., Kaya, E.H., Keating, D., Kennett, D.J., Deniz Kesici, S., Khudaverdyan, A., Kiss, K., Kılıç, S., Klostermann, P., Kostak Boca Negra Valdes, S., Kovačević, S., Krenz-Niedbała, M., Krznarić Škrivanko, M., Kurti, R., Kuzman, P., Lawson, A.M., Lazar, C., Leshtakov, K., Levy, T.E., Liritzis, I., Lorentz, K.O., Łukasik, S., Mah, M., Mallick, S., Mandl, K., Martirosyan-Olshansky, K., Matthews, R., Matthews, W., McSweeney,…
Lazaridis, I., Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S., Acar, A., Açıkkol, A., Agelarakis, A., Aghikyan, L., Akyüz, U., Andreeva, D., Andrijašević, G., Antonović, D., Armit, I., Atmaca, A., Avetisyan, P., Aytek, A.İ., Bacvarov, K., Badalyan, R., Bakardzhiev, S., Balen, J., Bejko, L., Bernardos, R., Bertsatos, A., Biber, H., Bilir, A., Bodružić, M., Bonogofsky, M., Bonsall, C., Borić, D., Borovinić, N., Bravo Morante, G., Buttinger, K., Callan, K., Candilio, F., Carić, M., Cheronet, O., Chohadzhiev, S., Chovalopoulou, M.-E., Chryssoulaki, S., Ciobanu, I., Čondić, N., Constantinescu, M., Cristiani, E., Culleton, B.J., Curtis, E., Davis, J., Demcenco, T.I., Dergachev, V., Derin, Z., Deskaj, S., Devejyan, S., Djordjević, V., Duffett Carlson, K.S., Eccles, L.R., Elenski, N., Engin, A., Erdoğan, N., Erir-Pazarcı, S., Fernandes, D.M., Ferry, M., Freilich, S., Frînculeasa, A., Galaty, M.L., Gamarra, B., Gasparyan, B., Gaydarska, B., Genç, E., Gültekin, T., Gündüz, S., Hajdu, T., Heyd, V., Hobosyan, S., Hovhannisyan, N., Iliev, I., Iliev, L., Iliev, S., İvgin, İ., Janković, I., Jovanova, L., Karkanas, P., Kavaz-Kındığılı, B., Kaya, E.H., Keating, D., Kennett, D.J., Deniz Kesici, S., Khudaverdyan, A., Kiss, K., Kılıç, S., Klostermann, P., Kostak Boca Negra Valdes, S., Kovačević, S., Krenz-Niedbała, M., Krznarić Škrivanko, M., Kurti, R., Kuzman, P., Lawson, A.M., Lazar, C., Leshtakov, K., Levy, T.E., Liritzis, I., Lorentz, K.O., Łukasik, S., Mah, M., Mallick, S., Mandl, K., Martirosyan-Olshansky, K., Matthews, R., Matthews, W., McSweeney,…
Lazaridis, I., Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S., Acar, A., Açıkkol, A., Agelarakis, A., Aghikyan, L., Akyüz, U., Andreeva, D., Andrijašević, G., Antonović, D., Armit, I., Atmaca, A., Avetisyan, P., Aytek, A.İ., Bacvarov, K., Badalyan, R., Bakardzhiev, S., Balen, J., Bejko, L., Bernardos, R., Bertsatos, A., Biber, H., Bilir, A., Bodružić, M., Bonogofsky, M., Bonsall, C., Borić, D., Borovinić, N., Bravo Morante, G., Buttinger, K., Callan, K., Candilio, F., Carić, M., Cheronet, O., Chohadzhiev, S., Chovalopoulou, M.-E., Chryssoulaki, S., Ciobanu, I., Čondić, N., Constantinescu, M., Cristiani, E., Culleton, B.J., Curtis, E., Davis, J., Demcenco, T.I., Dergachev, V., Derin, Z., Deskaj, S., Devejyan, S., Djordjević, V., Duffett Carlson, K.S., Eccles, L.R., Elenski, N., Engin, A., Erdoğan, N., Erir-Pazarcı, S., Fernandes, D.M., Ferry, M., Freilich, S., Frînculeasa, A., Galaty, M.L., Gamarra, B., Gasparyan, B., Gaydarska, B., Genç, E., Gültekin, T., Gündüz, S., Hajdu, T., Heyd, V., Hobosyan, S., Hovhannisyan, N., Iliev, I., Iliev, L., Iliev, S., İvgin, İ., Janković, I., Jovanova, L., Karkanas, P., Kavaz-Kındığılı, B., Kaya, E.H., Keating, D., Kennett, D.J., Deniz Kesici, S., Khudaverdyan, A., Kiss, K., Kılıç, S., Klostermann, P., Kostak Boca Negra Valdes, S., Kovačević, S., Krenz-Niedbała, M., Krznarić Škrivanko, M., Kurti, R., Kuzman, P., Lawson, A.M., Lazar, C., Leshtakov, K., Levy, T.E., Liritzis, I., Lorentz, K.O., Łukasik, S., Mah, M., Mallick, S., Mandl, K., Martirosyan-Olshansky, K., Matthews, R., Matthews, W., McSweeney,…
Duffett Carlson, K.S., Mandl, K., McCall, A., Brönnimann, D., Teschler-Nicola, M., Weiss-Krejci, E., Metscher, B., 2022. 3D visualization of bioerosion in archaeological bone. Journal of Archaeological Science 145, 105646. read more
Susanna is a Lise Meitner Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. She completed her PhD under Svante Pääbo on genomic insights into Denisovans and Neandertals of Denisova Cave. She joined the department in 2018 and has focused on a wide range of ancient DNA questions. She is particularly interested in ancient epigenetics and the effect of maternal behavior on methylation signals during gestation in ancient human populations. In 2023 she will begin a new project on human ancient DNA analyses from sediments.
Schahbasi, A., Huber,S., Fieder, M., (2022). "Marriage in the Melting Pot: An Evolutionary Approach to European Ancestry, Homogamy, and Fertility in the United States." Frontiers in Psychology 13. read more
Gabriele Scharrer-Liška was educated at the University of Vienna (M.A. in 1994, PhD in 1999). Since 19959 she has been employed at the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Sciences (VIAS) focusing at social, economic and landscape archaeological issues of the Mediaeval Period in Central Europe.
Bergström, A., Stanton, D.W.G., Taron, U.H., Frantz, L., Sinding, M.-H.S., Ersmark, E., Pfrengle, S., Cassatt-Johnstone, M., Lebrasseur, O., Girdland-Flink, L., Fernandes, D.M., Ollivier, M., Speidel, L., Gopalakrishnan, S., Westbury, M.V., Ramos-Madrigal, J., Feuerborn, T.R., Reiter, E., Gretzinger, J., Münzel, S.C., Swali, P., Conard, N.J., Carøe, C., Haile, J., Linderholm, A., Androsov, S., Barnes, I., Baumann, C., Benecke, N., Bocherens, H., Brace, S., Carden, R.F., Drucker, D.G., Fedorov, S., Gasparik, M., Germonpré, M., Grigoriev, S., Groves, P., Hertwig, S.T., Ivanova, V.V., Janssens, L., Jennings, R.P., Kasparov, A.K., Kirillova, I.V., Kurmaniyazov, I., Kuzmin, Y.V., Kosintsev, P.A., Lázničková-Galetová, M., Leduc, C., Nikolskiy, P., Nussbaumer, M., O’Drisceoil, C., Orlando, L., Outram, A., Pavlova, E.Y., Perri, A.R., Pilot, M., Pitulko, V.V., Plotnikov, V.V., Protopopov, A.V., Rehazek, A., Sablin, M., Seguin-Orlando, A., Storå, J., Verjux, C., Zaibert, V.F., Zazula, G., Crombé, P., Hansen, A.J., Willerslev, E., Leonard, J.A., Götherström, A., Pinhasi, R., Schuenemann, V.J., Hofreiter, M., Gilbert, M.T.P., Shapiro, B., Larson, G., Krause, J., Dalén, L., Skoglund, P., 2022. Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs. Nature. read more
Monograph published by HEAS member Mathias Mehofer HEAS member Mathias Mehofer recently published his monograph “Çukuriçi Höyük 3, Ein frühbronzezeitliches Metallhandwerkerzentrum in Westanatolien, OREA 22, Vienna 2022” on EBA metallurgy found in Western Turkey. The site was investigated within several FWF, START and ERC grants under the direction of HEAS´ co-operationpartner Prof. Dr. Barbara Horejs Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Science. The book itself focuses on the interdisciplinary examination of the metallurgical remains from Çukuriçi Höyük (western Turkey), which date from the Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (c. 3300–2700 BC). The exceptionally rich ensemble includes almost all parts of the technological chain (chaîne opératoire), from tools, casting moulds, furnaces, ores, raw metal and ingots to finished products, tin bronzes and precious metals (Au, Ag). On the one hand, these remains were classified according to archaeological typological criteria, and on the other hand, they were analysed using various scientific methods (metallography, SEM-EDS, ED-XRF and lead isotope analysis). The arsenical copper production can be regarded as an outstanding result of the research; to date, there are only very few Bronze Age sites where evidence for this is present. The produced As-copper was fed into the East Aegean-West Anatolian networks. Precious metal and weapons additionally demonstrate that not only everyday objects but also prestige goods were produced. The fact that…
Liu, Y.-C., Hunter-Anderson, R., Cheronet, O., Eakin, J., Camacho, F., Pietrusewsky, M., Rohland, N., Ioannidis, A., Athens, J.S., Douglas, M.T., Ikehara-Quebral, R.M., Bernardos, R., Culleton, B.J., Mah, M., Adamski, N., Broomandkhoshbacht, N., Callan, K., Lawson, A.M., Mandl, K., Michel, M., Oppenheimer, J., Stewardson, K., Zalzala, F., Kidd, K., Kidd, J., Schurr, T.G., Auckland, K., Hill, A.V.S., Mentzer, A.J., Quinto-Cortés, C.D., Robson, K., Kennett, D.J., Patterson, N., Bustamante, C.D., Moreno-Estrada, A., Spriggs, M., Vilar, M., Lipson, M., Pinhasi, R., Reich, D., 2022. Ancient DNA reveals five streams of migration into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers. Science 377, 72-79. read more
»The creative millennia: transition to the Neolithic in the central Zagros« Hojjat Darabi | Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences; Department of Archaeology, Razi University The central Zagros received pioneering research on the emergence of early agricultural and village life by R. Braidwood in 1959-60. However, later shift of research toward the Levant put it in shadow for several decades until recent investigations have once again highlighted its key place in the Neolithization processes in west Asia. Unlike the Levant, where a protracted change from Epipaleolithic to Neolithic is seen, the border line between these two periods is evidently sharp in the central Zagros suggesting unprecedent features appeared in the first two millennia of the Holocene, a pivotal transitional time severely known in the region. Current evidence gained from the sites of Chogha Golan, Sheikhi Abad, Asiab, Ganj Dareh and a few others suggests that, following an environmental improvement at the end of the Younger Dryas, local communities engaged in short-term inhabitations, collective or communal ceremonies, and an increasing reliance on wild progenitors of early domestic plant and animal species. It is assumed that subsequent longer occupation towards sedentary life not only increased population numbers but also resulted in an environmental depression. This seems to have caused people to widen their diet toward low-level food production and subsequently agricultural village…
Andirkó, A., Moriano, J., Vitriolo, A., Kuhlwilm, M., Testa, G., Boeckx, C., 2022. Temporal mapping of derived high-frequency gene variants supports the mosaic nature of the evolution of Homo sapiens. Scientific Reports 12, 1-9. read more
Fontsere, C., Kuhlwilm, M., Morcillo-Suarez, C., Alvarez-Estape, M., Lester, J.D., Gratton, P., Schmidt, J.M., Dieguez, P., Aebischer, T., Álvarez-Varona, P., Agbor, A., Angedakin, S., Assumang, A.K., Ayimisin, E.A., Bailey, E., Barubiyo, D., Bessone, M., Carretero-Alonso, A., Chancellor, R., Cohen, H., Danquah, E., Deschner, T., Dunn, A., Dupain, J., Egbe, V.E., Feliu, O., Goedmakers, A., Granjon, A.-C., Head, J., Hedwig, D., Hermans, V., Hernandez-Aguilar, R.A., Imong, I., Jones, S., Junker, J., Kadam, P., Kaiser, M., Kambere, M., Kambale, M.V., Kalan, A.K., Kienast, I., Kujirakwinja, D., Langergraber, K., Lapuente, J., Larson, B., Laudisoit, A., Lee, K., Llana, M., Llorente, M., Marrocoli, S., Morgan, D., Mulindahabi, F., Murai, M., Neil, E., Nicholl, S., Nixon, S., Normand, E., Orbell, C., Ormsby, L.J., Pacheco, L., Piel, A., Riera, L., Robbins, M.M., Rundus, A., Sanz, C., Sciaky, L., Sommer, V., Stewart, F.A., Tagg, N., Tédonzong, L.R., Ton, E., van Schijndel, J., Vergnes, V., Wessling, E.G., Willie, J., Wittig, R.M., Yuh, Y.G., Yurkiw, K., Zuberbuehler, K., Hecht, J., Vigilant, L., Boesch, C., Andrés, A.M., Hughes, D.A., Kühl, H.S., Lizano, E., Arandjelovic, M., Marques-Bonet, T., 2022. Population dynamics and genetic connectivity in recent chimpanzee history. Cell Genomics 2, 100133. read more
Frouin, M., Douka, K., Dave, A.K., Schwenninger, J.-L., Mercier, N., Murray, A.S., Santaniello, F., Boschian, G., Grimaldi, S., Higham, T., 2022. A refined chronology for the Middle and early Upper Paleolithic sequence of Riparo Mochi (Liguria, Italy). Journal of Human Evolution 169, 103211. read more
HEAS is delighted to welcome the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHM) as a new partner in the research network. Gerhard Weber, head of HEAS said “This collaboration will mean that we broaden our expertise and extend our possibilities. We started to bridge between institutions in Vienna (University and Museum), to create an even more effective European hub for human evolution research”
Maximilian Piniel is a university assistant (Praedoc) at the University of Vienna. As a prehistorian and archaeobotanist, his research focuses on the material culture of the European metal ages and on the human-environment relationships of prehistoric societies. He completed his Bachelor and Master studies at the University of Vienna. In his doctorate, he is currently working on agriculture and plant-based diet during the Early and Middle Bronze Age on the Upper and Middle Danube.
Am 13. Juni 2022 nahm Gerhard Weber, Leiter des HEAS, an einer Podiumsdiskussion im Universitätshauptgebäude der Universität Wien teil. Unser Verhalten hat sich weiterentwickelt: als Mittel zum Überleben. Heute stehen wir kurz davor, mit unserem Verhalten das Überleben zukünftiger Generationen zu gefährden. An der Universität Wien diskutierten Experten aus den unterschiedlichsten Bereichen am Ende unserer aktuellen #SEMESTERFRAGE die Faktoren und Muster, die unser Handeln bestimmen. Podiumsdiskussion: Seit wann gibt es moderne Menschen und was treibt sie an?
Gelabert, P., Blazyte, A., Chang, Y., Fernandes, D.M., Jeon, S., Hong, J.G., Yoon, J., Ko, Y., Oberreiter, V., Cheronet, O., Özdoğan, K.T., Sawyer, S., Yang, S., Greytak, E.M., Choi, H., Kim, J., Kim, J.-I., Jeong, J., Bae, K., Bhak, J., Pinhasi, R., 2022. Northeastern Asian and Jomon-related genetic structure in the Three Kingdoms period of Gimhae, Korea. Current Biology read more
Wallner, M., Doneus, M., Kowatschek, I., Hinterleitner, A., Köstelbauer, F., Neubauer, W., 2022. Interdisciplinary Investigations of the Neolithic Circular Ditch Enclosure of Velm (Lower Austria). Remote Sensing 14, 2657. read more
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the research group Quaternary Archaeology at the Department of Prehistory & West Asian/Northeast African Archaeology of the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Since my master’s, I focus on lithic technological developments in the southern African Stone Age. In 2019, I finished my PhD on the C-A layers of Sibhudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) in the light of the MSA lithic technologies in MIS 5 with "magna cum laude" in a joint doctoral programme at the Universities of Tübingen and Paris Nanterre. I started my Hertha Firnberg project ‘Time of essential changes in human history (TECH)’ in October 2022. The project concerns the analysis of lithic assemblages from three quasi-synchronous sites, Sibhudu Cave, Bushman Rock Shelter, and Rose Cottage Cave, in different biomes of South Africa. My aim is to gain a better understanding of the lithic technology, innovativeness and connectedness of past societies in South Africa during Marine Isotope Stage 5.
Mitteroecker P & Schaefer, K. (2022, invited, cover feature) Thirty years of geometric morphometrics: Achievements, challenges, and the ongoing quest for biological meaningfulness. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 178(S74): 181–210. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24531 read more
An international team led by The University of Vienna and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration with the National Museum of Korea has successfully sequenced and studied the whole genome of eight 1.700-year-old individuals dated to the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (approx. 57 BC-668 AD). The Team was led by Pere Gelabert and Prof. Ron Pinhasi with Victoria Obbreiter of HEAS together with Prof. Jong Bhak and Asta Blazyte from the UNIST and Prof. Kidong Bae from the National Museum of Korea. These are the first published genomes from this period in Korea and bring key information for the understanding of Korean population history. Links: University of Vienna Website Full article
Traces of human life are not only found in fossils but also in sediments. In the video, doctoral candidate and HEAS member Victoria Oberreiter explains how she develops new methods to retrieve ancient DNA from "dirt" to get a better insight into our past. "Most people would probably associate sediments with the dirt underneath their feet. But what if I tell you that with my research, we are able to extract ancient human DNA from exactly that source?" Victoria Oberreiter, PhD candidate at the Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution, says. Her research focuses on extracting ancient DNA from mineralogical sources. VIDEO: Heas Member Victoria Oberreiter explains her research
Mandl, K., Carlson, K.S., Brönnimann, D., McCall, A., Grassberger, M., Teschler-Nicola, M., Weiss-Krejci E., Metscher., B. 2022 Substantiating microCT for diagnosing bioerosion in archaeological bone using a new Virtual Histological Index (VHI) Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences read more
In this paper, DNA data has been gathered from feces of hundreds of chimpanzee individuals living in Africa. Such genomic data from the wild provides a fine-grained picture of the history of our closest living relatives. During the past tens of thousands of years, differences between regions emerged, but there were also opportunities for gene flow and migration. The local genetic variation can now be used to track the geographic origin of captive and confiscated chimpanzees, which is important for the conservation of threatened species. Read full article
Congratulations to HEAS member Elmira Mohandesan on winning the first prize of the Photo Contest "Pictures of Life (Sciences)", featuring extraordinary and exciting snapshots of research at the Faculty of Life Sciences. Her photograph "Eat the Wind" (credit: Jan Maree Vodanovich) illustrates New Zealand feral Kaimanawa horses being mustered by helicopter, limiting the population size to protect the native ecosystem, in which several endangered species of plants live. The picture will be displayed in the Dean's office, and Elmira will be presented with a professional print of her photo.
Sharif, M., Mohaseb, A., Zimmermann, M., Trixl, S., Saliari, K, Kunst, G., Cucchi, T., Czeika, S., Mashkour,M., Orlando, L., Schaefer, K., Peters, J., Mohandesan, E. , 2022, Ancient DNA refines taxonomic classification of Roman equids north of the Alps, elaborated with osteomorphology and geometric morphometrics Journal of Archaeological Science read more
At the UK Archaeological Science conference 20-22 April 2022 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Dr Magdalena Blanz and colleagues won the Runnerup Poster Prize for early career researchers. The poster, titled "Ratios of strontium and barium to calcium as complementary palaeodietary indicators of seaweed consumption", it describes research done by Magdalena and colleagues during her doctoral studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland. This research is published now in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Bühler, B, Kirchengast, S., 2022. Horse-riding as a habitual activity among the early medieval Avar population of the cemetery of Csokorgasse (Vienna): Sex and chronological differences. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology read more
HEAS member Günther Karl Kunst co-authored a paper along with Silvia Radbauer from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Archaeological Institute et al. "Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history" which was published this week in Nature Communications. There is further discussion on the Max Planck website
Frémondière, P., Thollon, L., Marchal, F., Fornai, C., Webb, N.M., Haeusler, M., 2022. Dynamic finite-element simulations reveal early origin of complex human birth pattern. Communications Biology 5. read more
Gelabert, P., Schmidt, R.W., Fernandes, D.M., Karsten, J.K., Harper, T.K., Madden, G.D., Ledogar, S.H., Sokhatsky, M., Oota, H., Pinhasi, R., 2021. Genomes From Verteba Cave Suggest Diversity Within The Trypillians In Ukraine. Scientific Reports 12, 7242. read more
HEAS Member Cinzia Fornai has recently published articles on Centric relation: A matter of form and substance and Dynamic finite-element simulations reveal early origin of complex human birth pattern.
I received my Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, USA, in 2017 and since then I have held post-doctoral research fellowships at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, Fudan University, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Newcastle University. I am interested in questions related to human-environmental interactions, site formation processes, and climate change.
