The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Barbara HOREJS

Deputy Head

I am Professor for Prehistory and Scientific Director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where I am heading the Department for Prehistory & WANA Archaeology. My research focuses on late Pleistocene to Holocene phenomena in Southeast Europe and West Asia with excavations and geoarchaeological surveys to produce, analyse and model new primary data of early communities and their environmental contexts. I enjoy working with interdisciplinary teams of students, ECR’s and experts to gain new insights into neolithization, intensification & centralisation.    

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Michael BRANDL

I am a Prehistoric archaeologist, geo-scientist and coordinator of the Archaeological Sciences at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the ÖAW. My research focusses on lithic raw material economy and questions relating to past human behaviour. For this task, I develop innovative protocols for provenance analyses of lithic raw materials and economic models. My geographical and chronological frame is broadly laid out to achieve a large comparative database and enable intercultural comparisons. Consequently, I am involved in extended international research networks and pursue the promotion of young scholars.   Publications Michael Brandl

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Laura DIETRICH

I am an archaeologist in the Department Prehistory and WANA Archaeology at the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and Associate Professor at the Free University of Berlin, Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology. I specialize in functional studies on stone tools and object biographies, with a focus on functional morphometric, use-wear and residue analyses, and experimental archaeology. My research focuses on Southwestern Asia to Central Europe, from Epipaleolithic to the Bronze Age, especially on the Neolithic and the process of the Neolithization.  

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News

Conceptualising (More-Than-) Human Communities in Archaeology with Oliver Harris

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>                                                

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News

Einladung: Pan-Archaeology Lecture: Kerstin P. Hofmann „Archäologie und Übersetzen. Grenzen überqueren und Verbindungen herstellen“

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.…

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Blog Posts

Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Approach: Humanities and Natural Sciences Interwoven for our Understanding of Textiles. By Karina Grömer

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…

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Members

Viola SCHMID

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.    

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Mario GAVRANOVIĆ

Mario Gavranović is a prehistoric archeologist with research focus on Metal Ages in Europe and the Balkans in particular. He is Deputy Scientific Director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Department for Prehistory & WANA Archaeology and leader of the research group “Urnfield Culture Networks”.  In his projects, he explores the interactions, resource managements and burial practices of prehistoric communities by applying the fieldwork and interdisciplinary analytic approach. He is currently running several projects on metallurgy of Bronze Ages and copper distribution networks, radiocarbon dating of urn cemeteries and mobility patterns pf prehistoric groups in southeastern Europe.     Publications Mario Gavranović

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Andreas G. HEISS

I am an archaeobotanist with a PhD in Biology from the University of Innsbruck. My research is dedicated to exploring the fascinating interactions between human cultures and plants, with a particular focus on the history of agriculture and food cultures. I am also interested in topics as diverse as mining, dyeing, wood use, and ritual practices. Over the years I have been actively involved in numerous research projects throughout Europe and the Aegean, which have helped me to develop my expertise in my field. During my academic career I have had the privilege of teaching at three institutions: the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), the University of Vienna, and the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. In 2012 I was honoured with the BOKU Teaching Award and in 2020 I received the Venia Docendi (habilitation) for Archaeobotany at the same university. As a founding member of the Bioarchaeological Society of Austria (BAG) in 2015, I am contributing to the development of zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, and biological anthropology in Austria, which has been a rewarding experience. In 2016, I was given the opportunity to establish the Archaeobotany Laboratory at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW-OeAI), which I have been leading since then. In 2021 I took over the leadership of the research group…

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