HEAS Members featured in the Austrian National Press
HEAS members Karina Grömer and Katharina Rebay-Salisbury recently had their work featured in the Austrian Newspaper Der Standard. Read full article (in German) here
HEAS members Karina Grömer and Katharina Rebay-Salisbury recently had their work featured in the Austrian Newspaper Der Standard. Read full article (in German) here
In August 2023, the Late Bronze Age gold finds from Ebreichsdorf, Austria, will be donated to the Natural History Museum Vienna by the Austrian Federal Railways. Within this framework, a conference on prehistoric gold finds will take place at the NHM on August 18-20, 2023. It would be nice to welcome you at this. Below you will find the program and the registration form for participation. Please send in the registrations by 15st June 2023 here Ahead of the symposium, the Federal Monuments Authority Austria hosts their annual expert round table on the topic "Finds – Reports – Treasures. Archaeological preservation of monuments in the pandemic years" at Mauerbach, Lower Austria, on Thursday, 17th August 2023. Contact for the expert talk Eva Steigberger With best regards from the Natural History Museum Vienna Karina Grömer Alexandra Krenn-Leeb Michaela Binder Einladung zum Internationalen Symposium The Gold Treasure of Ebreichsdorf Registration Save the date
Congratulations to HEAS member Pere Gelabert who was awarded the FWF Stand Alone grant titled " Social genomics in Late Antique and Early-Medieval societies" A Phd Position has been created due to this funding, for details see here
The recipients of the February 2023 HEAS Seed Grants are: Applicant Round Project Amount Granted Victoria Oberreiter and Florian Exler February 2023 Analyzing Altamira: The first aDNA analyses of the renowned cave paintings from northern Spain €3.000,00 Annette Oertle, Katerina Douka, Frank Zachos February 2023 Using museum collections for ZooMS marker development of New Guinea taxa €3.000,00 Dominik Hagmann, Sylvia Kirchengast February 2023 Undiscovered Ancient Deathscapes“: Archaeothanatological Analysis Of Roman and Early Medieval Inhumations from Cemeteries in the Southeastern Upper Danube River Basin (sUDRB) during the Roman Climate Optimum (RCO) and Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) €3.000,00 Olivia Cheronet, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Daniel Fernandes, Adrian Daly February 2023 Confirmation of the presence of Mucopolysaccharidosis in the Medieval population of Pottenbrunn (Lower Austria) €3.000,00 Richard Kimber, Susanna Sawyer,Florian Exler February 2023 A density separation approach for improved ancient DNA yields from sediments €3.000,00 Due to due to the positive development in terms of quality and available budget, we were able to grant 5 proposals in this round For more information about the HEAS Seed Grants please see here
Blog post by Eve Derenne and Karina Grömer On March 21, 2023, members of two partner institutions from the HEAS network — the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science and the Natural History Museum Vienna — co-organised a workshop titled ‘Interweaving Bell Beaker decorative motifs and textile patterns: Exploring technical and symbolic productions during the third millennium BCE in Europe’. The idea for this workshop emerged in September 2022, when Priv.-Doz. Dr. Karina Grömer (Head of the Prehistory Department at the NHM) and Dr. Eve Derenne (postdoctoral fellow, VIAS) met by chance in Hallstatt during a science communication event, the ‘Archäologie am Berg’ day. The conversation regarding the reconstruction of Bronze and Iron Age textiles shifted to the subject of Bell Beakers, a crucial component of SEASCAPES, the project currently occupying Eve's time in Vienna. The intricate motifs found on both Bell Beaker pottery and anthropomorphic stelae have often been compared to textile patterns, but few if any publications have really substantiated that claim. Several aspects of this topic have also remained unexplored, such as the weaving or fiber working methods used to produce these repeated geometric patterns, and whether these techniques were already established by the third millennium BCE. This lively discussion ultimately resulted in an agreement to hold a workshop that would bring together experts from both fields, with…
Ph.D. position at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology of the University of Vienna The position A 3-year Ph.D. position (FWF salary conditions) at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology of the University of Vienna in Peleogenomics. The Ph.D. candidate will work in the Paleogenomics lab directed by Ron Pinhasi, which has all the state-of-art facilities, in the FWF-funded project “ Social Genomics in Late Antique and Early-Medieval Societies” led by Pere Gelabert. Planned analyses for the Ph.D. candidate● Paleogenomics of ancient individuals● Sequencing and studying of pathogen DNA● Sequencing and studying of dental calculus (microbiome and food residues) For more information and application details please see the document below: Ph.D. position at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology
The new paper “Quantum Leaps in Human Biocultural Evolution and the Relationship to Cranial Capacity” published in Life 2023, 13 by HEAS Head Gerhard Weber bridges between the domains of biological anthropology and archaeology. The evolution of the genus Homo can only be understood by considering both of the inheritance systems that interact to shape human nature: biology and culture. While growing intellectual abilities are a key factor of human evolution, they are rarely contrasted with cultural progress. Cranial capacity data of 193 hominin fossils from the last seven million years and artefacts of increasing number and complexity in the archaeological record are used to demonstrate the concordant progression of brain-size increase and cultural development, starting approximately two million years ago. Our biocultural evolution shows a number of quantum leaps along the time axis applying to both domains. At first, humans left the canonical evolutionary pathway, which pertains to all other organisms, by enhancing their fitness using sophisticated tools and fire; secondly, they turned into a symbolic species; and finally, humanity now faces a new challenge: “intentional evolution”. Chronologically, these quantum leaps correspond to cranial capacity data used here as a proxy for cognitive performance. This contribution tries to demonstrate this parallel development and argues for a simple and generalized model of human biocultural evolution. An extrapolation of the model into the…
Dear Colleagues, It is our pleasure to invite you to submit your contributions to Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris (BMSAP; published by OpenEditions, Diamond Open Access = free for authors and readers). We wish to regroup in two special issues of the BMSAP to be published in 2024, under the format "note" (no more than 30,000 characters including spaces) in English or in French (see "author guidelines" in copy), contributions based on original data or reviews in the specific fields related to the two following topics (see below for more details): - "Invasive, micro-invasive and non-invasive analysis of anthropobiological remains. How and why?" - "Current views on women in past societies: social constructions, biocultural perspectives and archaeo-anthropological insights" If you are interested in participating to these special issues of the BMSAP, please let us know by April 30th, 2023. Feel free to circulate this call to colleagues who might be interested to participate to this special issue. All manuscripts will have to be submitted to: redacchef@sapweb.fr, preferentially before June 30th, 2023. Please specify in the subject of the submission message: "Note Session" + the topic. We thank you for your interest in this editorial project and remain at your disposal for any additional information. Yours sincerely, For the Editorial Committee of the BMSAP, Anne Le Maître…
The Rohlf Medal for Excellence in Morphometric Methods and Applications was established in 2006 by the family and friends of F. James Rohlf to mark his 70th birthday. He has been a longtime Stony Brook University faculty member and is currently Emeritus Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, and Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology. Recipients of the Rohlf Medal will be recognized for excellence in their sustained body of work on the development of new morphometric methods or for their applications in the biomedical sciences, including evolutionary biology, population biology, physical anthropology, and medicine. The term “morphometrics” is intended to include high-dimensional pattern analysis of biological form, especially those methods that analyze shape in a comprehensive way, or of covariation of shape with other variables. Additional details may be found on the Rohlf Medal website: https://tinyurl.com/RohlfMedalNom. Nominations may be made either by the nominee himself/herself or by a colleague. Nominations consist of a letter making the case for the nominee for the 2023 award. Nominees under full consideration by the committee may then be asked to provide additional materials as described on the website: https://tinyurl.com/RohlfMedalNom. Nominations must be submitted to that website by June 15, 2023. The successful candidate will receive the Rohlf Medal and a cash prize at Stony Brook University,…
Gerhard Weber's article on 'The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf ' is in the Top 100 Scientific Reports papers published in 2022. The almost 11 cm high figurine from Willendorf is one of the most important examples of early art in Europe. It is made of a rock called "oolite" which is not found in or around Willendorf. A research team led by the anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna and the two geologists Alexander Lukeneder and Mathias Harzhauser as well as the prehistorian Walpurga Antl-Weiser from the Natural History Museum Vienna have now found out with the help of high-resolution tomographic images that the material from which the Venus was carved likely comes from northern Italy. This sheds new light on the remarkable mobility of the first modern humans south and north of the Alps. Link to full article
The Austrian Archaeological Institute, Department for Prehistory & West Asian/Northeast African Archaeology (OeAI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Austria’s leading non-university research and science institution, is offering a POSTDOC POSITION (F/M/X) in Prehistoric Archaeology (full-time, 36h per week) The successful candidate will be part of Katharina Rebay-Salisbury’s research group “Prehistoric Identities”. The research group embarks on a new way of identity research that discusses contextual information on equal footing with bioarchaeological data. “Prehistoric Identities” emerge from the interaction between humans, animals, plants, material culture and landscapes. Current research topics are sex and gender, kinship, marriage patterns and genetic inheritance, as well as foodways, mobility, migration and the experience of being foreign. Case studies from Austria and neighbouring countries form the foundation of a contextualization of these themes within European prehistory. For more information, please click here
At the Institute for Prehistory and Historical Archeology, a position (Praedoc - assistant to Prof. Rebay-Salisbury) is being advertised in the research field of Bronze Age environments. The site is closely related to the research and teaching excavation as part of the Százhalombatta Archaeological Expedition. The praedoc assistant is expected to participate in the annual dig and develop a dissertation topic related to Százhalombatta. The application of bio- or geo-archaeological analysis methods is desirable. We offer the opportunity to work in an international and interdisciplinary team with a range of theoretical and methodological approaches and research traditions. For more information, please click here
Seascapes, a project being undertaken by HEAS Members Eve Derenne and Maria Ivanova-Bieg along with their colleague Lucy Cramp (University of Bristol), has been announced in the European Archaeologist's Newsletter. Seascapes: tracing the emergence and spread of maritime networks in the Mediterranean in the 3rd millennium bce was developed with the specific aim to refine the absolute chronological framework in the western Mediterranean and investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of the Bell Beaker complex from a maritime perspective. Seascapes received a 3-year grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Read full article here
The EVAN Toolbox (ET) is a software package developed by the European Virtual Anthropology Network – EVAN (www.evan.at) and the EVAN-Society to facilitate 3D form and shape analysis of objects featuring a complex geometry. It uses Geometric Morphometrics (GM) which includes methods such as General Procrustes Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Thin-Plate Spline Warping or Partial Least Squares Analysis. The software supports also data acquisition, particularly locating landmarks and sliding semilandmarks on curves and surfaces. The version ET 1.75 is now freely accessible for everybody https://www.evan-society.org/support/download-evan-toolbox/. Manuals explaining how to use ET Core and ET Templand as well as test data and predefined Visual Programming Networks (VPNs) can be downloaded under https://www.evan-society.org/support/et-open-space/. Please acknowledge the EVAN-Society if you use ET for your research. [video width="1864" height="1150" mp4="https://www.heas.at/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PC_Warp_Humans-1.mp4"][/video]
HEAS Member Mario Gavranovic has recently published a paper with Cambridge University Press on 'Kopilo: a newly discovered Late Bronze and Iron Age burial ground in Bosnia' Read full article here
HEAS Member Pamela Fragnoli and colleagues from OeAI-OeAW are co-editing a special issue on JAS: reports. For more information and submission details, please click here
Congratulations to HEAS member Verena Schünemann on being awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant for "Revealing evolutionary systems behind epidemic reservoirs of infectious, reemerging diseases'. More information here
HEAS Deputy Head Tom Higham was interviewed by the Austrian state broadcaster ORF about his recent Nature paper on 'A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania'. Read full article (in German) here Link to paper
Thomas Einwögerer, HEAS PI and leader of the The Quaternary archeology research group of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) of the Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), spoke to the Austrian newspaper Der Standard about the attempts to interpret Stone Age symbols in Cave Art. Read full article (In German) here
The Institute of Classical Archaeology are hosting two events with Oliver Harris in January 2023. 1. Conceptualising (More-Than-) Human Communities in Archaeology Workshop with Oliver Harris 9 January 2023, 13.15–14.45 | Institute of Classical Archaeology. Discussion OJT Harris_IKA Vienna 2023_poster 2. Evening panel discussion, Monday, January 9th, 2023 05:00–06:30 p.m. with Oliver Harris, Katharina Rebay-Salisbury and Uroš Matić. ! More information here <https://klass-archaeologie.univie.ac.at/news-events/einzelansicht/news/panel-discussion-what-is-the-future-of-archaeological-theory/?tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=93de03e957a4d495bc0bca2d1c4335f1>
Die archäologischen Institute der Universität Wien sind führend in verschiedenen Feldern der archäologischen Forschung und Praxis – ob nun bei der Erforschung der menschlichen Evolution oder der Untersuchung antiker Bildwerke, ob bei Methoden der archäologischen Prospektion oder der Digitalisierung historischer Sammlungen. Die „Pan-Archaeology Lecture“ soll diese Vielfalt der archäologischen Institute in Wien hochleben lassen. Wir laden Sie herzlich dazu ein, mit uns zu feiern! From investigating human evolution to discovering new works of ancient art, and from high-tech archaeological prospection to innovative work digitalising historic collections, the various archaeological institutes of the University of Vienna are at the cutting edge of archaeological research and practice. The Pan-Archaeology lecture celebrates the diversity of the University of Vienna’s archaeological institutes. We invite you to celebrate with us! Donnerstag, 26. Januar 2023 18:00–19:30 Uhr 1090 Wien, Oscar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, SkyLounge Archäologie und Übersetzen. Grenzen überqueren und Verbindungen herstellen Kerstin P. HOFMANN (Römisch-Germanische Kommission, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut) Archäologie setzt sich mit unterschiedlichen Arten von Grenzen und deren Überquerungen auseinander, dabei kann sie immer wieder Verbindungen aufzeigen oder auch herstellen. Sie profitiert von konstruktiver Zusammenarbeit und agiert auf vielerlei Gebieten als Übersetzerin. Anhand verschiedener aktueller Themen und Forschungen der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission zu sozio-kulturellen Interaktionen, sozial-ökologischen Prozessen sowie der digitalen Transformation sollen damit verknüpfte Fragen nach (Dis-)Konnektivitäten und (Dis-)Kontinuitäten aufgegriffen werden. Als Fallstudien dienen hierfür u. a.…
For decades, textile remains from archaeological contexts have come more and more into the focus of archaeological research. Recently, the book Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Approach: Humanities and Natural Sciences Interwoven for our Understanding of Textiles, edited by Agata Ulanowska, Karina Grömer, Ina Vanden Berghe and Magdalena Öhrmann was published in the Springer’s series “Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology” (2022). It derived from a session held at the European Archaeologists Association Conference in Bern 2019. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-92170-5 The motivation of the book is to improve the understanding of the role of textile production and textile products in the history of humankind. Embedding finds and their context information into socio-economical and cultural discourse contributes to a cultural anthropology of textile use. For the pre- and protohistory periods of Central Europe, it is a challenge that textiles are among those organic materials that are rarely preserved due to the prevailing climatic conditions. A wider goal was to present a comprehensive overview of the latest approaches and aims in archaeological textile research. In the last decades, standards have been set in studies on textile fibres, textile structures, dyes and textile tools. New methods for examining textile artefacts and tools have led to new ways of understanding textile craft in prehistoric and historic times – as well as their impact on economy, trade, social…
Tom Higham's inaugural lecture "Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens: How new science is changing our understanding of human evolution" took place on Monday, December 12, 2022, 5 p.m. in the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. A recording of the lecture is available on the University of Vienna Website here
Ran Barkai will be guest editing a special issue of the open access journal Quaternary entitled "Interdisciplinary Research into Cultural and Biological Transformations in the Paleolithic Period". Hewill be more than happy to advance bold, innovative and outside of the box analyses, hypothesis, data analysis and interpretations. However, any relevant perspective, thought, data presentation or model will be welcomed. All papers will be of course peer reviewed. In some cases he can assist in negotiating the costs of open access publishing, so please do not let that be a major obstacle. The incredibly long Paleolithic period is still considered by some as a stagnant phase in human cultural and biological evolution prior to the appearance of our direct ancestors. However, extensive interdisciplinary research in recent years has clearly demonstrated that this is not the case. Starting from the earliest stages of human presence on the planet some three million years ago, an impressive series of transformations, innovations, modifications and adaptations characterise our lineage. These changes in behaviour and culture took place alongside biological adaptations in human physical properties; faunal turnovers and extinctions as well as climatic fluctuations. This makes the Old Stone Age a hectic, dynamic and lively epoch worthy of investigation both in the diachronic and synchronic levels, in order to decipher the nature of transformations that characterize…
HEAS Members Magdalena Blanz and Doris Jetzinger have been awarded the BAG-Förderpreis, the promotional award of the Bioarchäologische Gesellschaft Österreich, for their PhD thesis and Master thesis, respectively. In the course of the award ceremony they will both give online talks about their thesis topics on Tuesday, December 13th, starting at 18:30. All information on the talks can be found on the BAG events homepage here
An interview with HEAS Head Gerhard Weber has been featured in numerous Austrian publications. Read full articles (in German) here https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/wissen/forschung/2165361-Forschungsverbund-der-Uni-Wien-widmet-sich-Evolutionsfragen.html https://www.studium.at/evolution-des-menschen-wie-wien-zum-forschungs-schwergewicht-wurde
HEAS Head Gerhard Weber was honored with the Niederösterreich Wissenschaftspreis (Science Prize from Lower Austria) for his research and in particular his research into the origin of the "Venus von Willendorf", a female fugure which was found in 1908 in Willendorf in the Wachau. Weber and his team examined the figurine's material and their research suggests that Venus may have come from a location near Lake Garda in Italy. The ceremony took place on the 18th October 2022. Read the press reports (in German) https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20221019_OTS0035/wissenschaftspreise-2022-hoehepunkt-im-forschungsherbst https://www.noen.at/niederoesterreich/wirtschaft/top-wissenschaft-aus-niederoesterreich-wurde-ausgezeichnet-niederoesterreich-redaktionsfeed-wissenschaftsgala-wissenschaft-johanna-mikl-leitner-redaktion-340206811 More about Gerhard Weber's research here: https://www.heas.at/research/publications/the-microstructure-and-the-origin-of-the-venus-from-willendorf/
HEAS Deputy Head Tom Higham's latest paper has been featured in the Guardian newspaper. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/oct/13/neanderthals-and-modern-humans-may-have-copied-each-others-tools Read the original paper here: Multi-isotopic study of the earliest mediaeval inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain) - HEAS
HEAS member Robin Golster has offered his congratulations to his colleague Prof. Anton Zeilinger upon the announcement of his Nobel Prize win. "The Faculty of Physics is very happy about this well-deserved award for Anton Zeilinger, who has significantly shaped our research and promotion of young talent since 1999 - as a top researcher, scientific mentor and also as Dean of our faculty. That in Austria as a whole there is a flourishing landscape for the Quantum research is also a great achievement of Anton Zeilinger. With his scientific curiosity and energy, he is an inspiration for all faculty members," congratulates Robin Golser, Dean of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Vienna. Read more here (in German): https://science.apa.at/power-search/3565881263135562463
Austria's national broadcaster covers the latest publication by HEAS Deputy Head Ron Pinhasi and HEAS members Olivia Cheronet and Daniel Fernandes et al. https://science.orf.at/stories/3215387/ Have a look at the article on our publications page: https://www.heas.at/research/publications/the-diverse-genetic-origins-of-a-classical-period-greek-army/
We at HEAS are cordially congratulating our dear colleague Svante Pääbo for this extraordinary recognition of his work which shines a light on the importance of human evolution research. Media: Kurier (paywalled) https://kurier.at/wissen/gesundheit/medizin-nobelpreis-die-hauptbotschaft-ist-wir-alle-sind-verwandt/402168681 Salzburger Nachrichten https://www.sn.at/panorama/wissen/medizin-nobelpreis-fuer-erforschung-von-neandertaler-erbgut-127838470 APA https://science.apa.at/power-search/5134024229287990666
The Open Day at the Early Bronze Age rampart at Ratzersdorf/Am Dachsgraben in Lower Austria, which took place on the 28th July 2022, was a great success. HEAS Member Alexandra Krenn-Leeb conducted a guided tour of the site. The Open Day was organised by the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology, University of Vienna Ratzersdorf_Flyer_2022_EN
This week, André Schmuck from BRUKER gave an intensive two day training course at VIAS on the use of the portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer. The Tracer 5 pXRF will be used for the archaeological analysis of ceramics, metals and geological samples.
BALKAN-ARCHÄOLOGIE IM FOKUS Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, das Österreichische Archäologische Institut der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften lädt Sie sehr herzlich ein zur: Ausstellungseröffnung Balkan-Archäologie im Fokus. Visualisierung neuer Forschungen« 13.Oktober 2022, um 15:00 Uhr Festsaal und Aula Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Wien Die Visualisierung des archäologischen Erbes auf dem Balkan stellt eine Region ins Rampenlicht, die für die Geschichte auf dem europäischen Kontinent in vielerlei Hinsicht grundlegend ist. Südosteuropa ist eine Schlüsselregion für die Menschheitsgeschichte, in der fundamentale kulturelle, soziale und technologische Entwicklungen erstmals auftreten und einen nachhaltigen Einfluss auf Europa und seine Gesellschaften haben. Damit zählt der Balkanraum zu einem der aufregendsten und auch herausforderndsten Gebiete für die archäologische Grundlagenforschung. Die Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften kann auf eine lange Forschungstradition in Südosteuropa zurückblicken, die das Österreichische Archäologische Institut in enger Zusammenarbeit mit Kooperationspartner*innen aus verschiedenen Ländern des Balkans fortführt. Daher freuen wir uns, Sie zur Ausstellungseröffnung gemeinsam mit dem Präsidenten der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Heinz Faßmann und diplomatischen Vertretungen begrüßen zu dürfen, welche den Beginn unserer archäologischen Wanderausstellung markiert. In diesem Rahmen wird auch die Premiere unseres 3D-Animationsfilms "Visualising the Unknown Balkans" stattfinden. Die Eröffnung beginnt um 15:00 Uhr mit anschließendem Empfang im Hauptgebäude der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Doktor-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Wien. Ein detailliertes Programm entnehmen Sie bitte dem Anhang. Um Antwort…
HEAS Deputy Head Ron Pinhasi has been nominated for the 'Die Presse Austrian of the Year Award' for his work with ancient DNA which 'shines a light on the prehistory of many regions of the world'. To vote for Ron click here: https://www.diepresse.com/wirtschaft/unternehmen/austriagala22
HEAS head Gerhard Weber's work was recently featured in the Austrian Scientific Magazine Profil Neanderthaler Profil
HEAS member Maria Ivanova-Bieg was appointed as a member of the EAA Scientific Advisory Committee. The European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) is the most important professional association of archaeologists in Europe with over 15.000 members from 60 countries worldwide, working in prehistory, classical, medieval and historical archaeology. The Scientific Advisory Committee serves as a think-tank, assisting the Executive Board and the Statutory Committees of the EAA in strategic decision-making.
Austria's Der Standard published an article on HEAS's own Mathias Mehofer's research on the metallurgy at the Cukurici Höyük. Full Story, in German, below: https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000138691196/das-grosse-netzwerk-der-metallurgen-vom-cukurici-hoeyuek Check out the original research in the Open Access book Çukuriçi Höyük 3 For general information on Mathias Mehofer´s work see: https://vias.univie.ac.at/en/research/archaeometallurgy-and-archaeometry/projects/
The Southern Arc and its lively genetic History Vast paleogenetic study reveals insights on migration patterns, the expansion of farming and language development from the Caucasus over western Asia and Southern Europe from the early Copper Age until the late middle ages In a trio of papers, published simultaneously in the journal Science, Ron Pinhasi from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS) at the University of Vienna and Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg from the University of Vienna and Harvard University, Iosif Lazaridis and David Reich at Harvard University—together with 202 co-authors—report a massive effort of genome-wide sequencing from 727 distinct ancient individuals with which it was possible to test longstanding archaeological, genetic and linguistic hypotheses. They present a systematic picture of the interlinked histories of peoples across the Southern Arc Region from the origins of agriculture, to late medieval times. Read in full here The Southern Arc and its lively genetic History Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia. A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia. The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe
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)