Allgemein

Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia

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,…

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A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia.

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,…

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The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe

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,…

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Petra ŠIMKOVÁ

I am an evolutionary anthropologist and trained morphometrician. I obtained my PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna, where I specialized in the use of 3D virtual imaging techniques combined with geometric morphometrics to study modern human dental variation. My research interests include hominin evolution, dental and functional morphology, and paleopathology. Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna, continuing my research in dental anthropology. I focus on examining morphological variation within and between the dentitions of modern human populations, as well as those of prehistoric populations and other hominins.

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Members

Gabriele SCHARRER-LIŠKA

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.    

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Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs

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

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Monograph published by HEAS member Mathias Mehofer

  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…

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Ancient DNA reveals five streams of migration into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers

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

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The creative millennia: transition to the Neolithic in the central Zagros

»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…

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Population dynamics and genetic connectivity in recent chimpanzee history

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

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HEAS welcomes NHM as a Partner

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”      

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members

Maximilian PINIEL

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.    

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Members

Leslie QUADE

I am a bioarchaeologist and palaeopathologist, specialising in interdisciplinary analyses of stress and health from human skeletal remains. My research is focused on the ‘stress’ hormone cortisol in living and past populations, and the impact of cultural, sociopolitical and environmental disparities on child and adult health. I am further interested in trauma, health and living conditions in 18th-20th century military settings. I have a BA from Columbia University, an MSc and PhD from Durham University, and I completed a postdoc at Masaryk University in 2023. I have also worked as a contract osteologist in Austria, Czechia, France, Italy, the UK and USA. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the department of Prehistory and WANA Archaeology in the Austrian Archaeological Institute, where I am investigating stress markers and cortisol in teeth. This research is supported by a FWF & OeAW “Disruptive Innovation - Early Career Seed Money” grant. In early 2025, I will begin a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship also focusing on dental cortisol methods.  

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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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News

Podiumsdiskussion: Seit wann gibt es moderne Menschen und was treibt sie an?

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?    

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Northeastern Asian and Jomon-related genetic structure in the Three Kingdoms period of Gimhae, Korea

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

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Mike STOROZUM

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.

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HEAS team members from the Dept. of Evolutionary Anthropology have obtained the first ancient DNA data from the Korean Three Kingdoms period. Eight 1,700-year-old ancient Korean genomes have been sequenced.

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  

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News Video

HEAS Member featured in University of Vienna science magazine Rudolphina

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  

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A new article has been published by HEAS member Martin Kuhlwilm et al. on the genomic history of chimpanzees.

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

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HEAS Member wins Photography Prize

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.

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Publications

Ancient DNA refines taxonomic classification of Roman equids north of the Alps, elaborated with osteomorphology and geometric morphometrics

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

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Poster prize for HEAS member

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.

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Publication by HEAS member Günther Karl Kunst

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

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

José-Miguel TEJERO

José-Miguel Tejero is an archaeologist specialising in Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer societies and their osseous raw material exploitation. He is currently Ramón Y Cajal Program Senior Researcher at the University of Barcelona (Spain) and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology of the University of Vienna. His current research, funded by the FWF, focuses on bone and antler hunting weapons and their significance in adaptative environmental strategies of the first anatomically modern humans colonising Eurasia by combining archaeological, palaeogenetic, palaeoproteomics, and radiodating methods. His work also involves the bone equipment of the Western-European societies at the late Upper Palaeolithic (Magdalenian) and the last Levantine hunter-gatherer groups, beginning to practice the sedentarism (Natufian). He is the research leader of the interdisciplinary and international team for the study and publication of one of the most critical Near East Natufian sites: Einan–Ain-Mallaha (Jordan Valley, Israel), funded by the Shelby White and Leon Levy Foundation.

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New paper on fossils, fish and tropical forests

A new article has been published by HEAS member Katerina Douka et al. on fossils, fish and tropical forests : prehistoric human adaptations on the island frontiers of Oceania. Oceania is a key region for studying human dispersals, adaptations and interactions with other hominin populations. Although archaeological evidence now reveals occupation of the region by approximately 65–45 000 years ago, its human fossil record, which has the best potential to provide direct insights into ecological adaptations and population relationships, has remained much more elusive. Read full article      

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Applications open MCSA postdoctoral fellow programme

The groups for (paleo-)genomics/proteomics at the growing Department for Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna support applications to the MCSA postdoctoral fellow programme. We are searching for motivated candidates with project ideas related to our research interests, to be implemented at this high-level institution. We encourage you to get into contact with us if you are interested in working on the following topics: Ron Pinhasi: ancient DNA, human population history, sediment DNA (https://www.pinhasilab.at/) Verena Schünemann: ancient and historical pathogen genomics, historical RNA (https://www.iem.uzh.ch/en/people/abg/VerenaSchuenemann-.html) Katerina Douka: paleoproteomics, dating, ancient hominins (https://www.katerinadouka.com/) Martin Kuhlwilm: computational admixture genomics in humans and primates (https://admixture.univie.ac.at) More information on implementation and additional support here: https://forschungsservice.univie.ac.at/foerdermoeglichkeiten/msca-pf/ The University of Vienna is an equal-opportunity employer, supports applications from underrepresented groups and minorities and offers generous support for a 3rd year of employment to the 10 top-ranked MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowships (top 5 female and top 5 male) awarded to the University.

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