Autor: Maeve Nic Samhradáin

Network Associates

Emese VÉGH

Emese Végh is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Palaeoproteomics and ZooMS on Katerina Douka’s ERC FINDER project at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, currently working on recovering, analysing, and identifying hominin remains from Pleistocene Eurasia. She is also an Early Career Researcher at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA), University of Oxford. She completed her DPhil (PhD) in scientific archaeology at the University of Oxford, which focused on the diagenesis and thermal stability of bioapatite, bone microbial bioerosion, molecular structure and composition, and biomechanical response of taphonomic bone. She is currently very interested in the environmental factors and age-induced degradation of both the organic and inorganic phases of bone and the interaction between the two fractions, especially in an evolutionary anthropological context. She particularly enjoys data analyses, multivariate statistics, and programming in Python to find new ways of solving archaeological research questions.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Sonja WINDHAGER

Sonja Windhager is a trained biologist and lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Her research focus is on geometric morphometric approaches to human facial shape and interpersonal perception. This includes an interest in modern imaging techniques to study human facial form in two and three dimensions. The emphasis is on the use of calibrated morphs in intra- and cross-cultural research. Furthermore, she investigates human social behavior in the context of biophilia and the urban environment.

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Lukas WALTENBERGER

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology and at the Department of Prehistory and WANA Archaeology, of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. I am a biological and forensic anthropologist with a research focus on cremated human remains, trauma analyses, and palaeopathology. I have a master's degree in Forensic Osteology (Bournemouth University, UK) and a PhD in Life Sciences (University of Vienna) performed in the framework of the ERC-project »VAMOS – The value of mothers to society« (ÖAW, PI: Katharina Rebay-Salisbury). Currently, I am spokesman of the working group »Palaeoanthropology and Prehistoric Anthropology« of the Anthropological Society (GfA).

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Thomas BEARD

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology as part of Mareike Stahlschmidt’s team. I received my Masters degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. For my MSc I worked at the site of Border Cave, South Africa, using the geoarchaeological techniques of fabric and facies analyses to understand the formation of the upper portion of the archaeological sequence. I am a geoarchaeologist, with a specific interest in investigating micro- to macroscale cave/rockshelter site formation processes and employing a multiproxy approach, using methods such as XRF, particle size analysis, and fabric analysis. I am also a multidisciplinary archaeologist and have a generalised knowledge of other archaeological fields. For my PhD I am pivoting into microarchaeology by using the technique of micromorphology to understand and contextualize the preservation of ancient DNA at the microscale at Upper Palaeolithic cave sites in Georgia.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Jeannette BECKER

I am a PhD student at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and especially interested in respiratory diseases in past populations, palaeopathology, evolutionary medicine and diseases in regard of the human life history. I received a BSc in Biology in 2017, followed by a MSc in 2021 from the University of Vienna. I completed my master’s degree in Anthropology where I investigated paranasal sinusitis and their relation to skeletal stress markers in human remains. In addition, I am currently studying medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, which I will complete in 2022.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members Allgemein

Arne BIELKE

After I started studying biology at Leibniz University Hannover, I developed an interest in population genetics, conservation genetics, and ecology. Driven this passion, I pursued my education in evolutionary systems biology at the University of Vienna. For my master's thesis, I focused on recurrent ecotype formation of an alpine plant. I conducted a comprehensive analysis of smRNA profiles from reciprocally transplanted individuals and those grown in a common garden. Currently, for my PhD, my research focuses on New Zealand feral horses. Through bioinformatic and comparative population genomics, my goal is to provide science- based insights for future conservation management plans. This endeavor aims to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand's European settlers through studying their horses, as human history has always shaped and been shaped by the history of our livestock’s.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Konstantina CHESHMEDZHIEVA

I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology Engineering from the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Driven by my interests in anthropology and genetics, I earned my MSc in Molecular Biology (Bioinformatics track) from the University of Padua in 2023. My master’s thesis centered on developing a novel method for estimating and detecting statistically significant levels of genetic assortative mating in contemporary European populations, utilizing large-scale data from the UK and Estonian biobanks.   Under the supervision of Katerina Douka and Martin Kuhlwilm, my current research focuses on identifying Denisovan presence in Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, generating ancient DNA data from the region and conducting bioinformatic analyses.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Tobias GÖLLNER

Tobias Göllner investigates the peopling of Asia via genetic ancestry, population structure, demography and selection. Currently he works together with the Maniq, a primary hunter-gatherer community of Southeast Asia to uncover their genetic history, admixture, and archaic introgression. Further topics of investigation will be selection and adaptation to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the rainforest. (PhD Supervisors: Martin Fieder and Helmut Schaschl)

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Michelle HÄMMERLE

I am a PhD student at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. After a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Medicine, I completed the master's program in Evolutionary Anthropology here in Vienna. My research interests focus on ancient host and pathogen DNA and I work with both great apes and humans. For my master’s thesis, I investigated DNA viruses in great apes, where I am still doing more research. My PhD project deals with social genomics in underprivileged individuals from Northern Italy, where I will incorporate different datasets, including archaeological and osteological data, to get an insight into the living conditions of the populations studied.

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members

Doris JETZINGER

I am a PhD student working as a University Assistant at the Department of Prehistory and Historical Archaeology. In 2021, I received my master’s degree from the University of Vienna, analysing two block-excavated child burials from the Middle Neolithic Lengyel Culture. Apart from human remains, my main research interests include landscape archaeology and geoarchaeology as well as human-landscape interactions. My PhD project focuses on modelling and reconstructing landscape change, erosion, and preservation conditions of and around Middle Neolithic sites from their construction until the present. I enjoy fieldwork and desktop-based work in equal measures and like to collaborate with colleagues from different (sub-)disciplines, which is a great way for continuously broadening my horizon.

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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Members

Nisa Iduna KIRCHENGAST

Nisa Kirchengast studied Classical Archaeology, Prehistory and Historical Archaeology, and Biology at the University of Vienna. Since 2017 she has been working freelance on zooarchaeological material in Austria and Italy. Since 2021 she is a PraeDoc assistant and fellow at the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna. Her PhD project is about Roman food supply and distribution systems of animal products in the Danubian provinces. Nisa's research focuses on butchery studies, taphonomy, animal husbandry practices, foodways, Human-Animal interactions, trade and supply networks.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Victoria OBERREITER

I have completed my master’s program in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna and I am currently a PhD student in Ron Pinhasi’s group. My research is part of the research platform MINERVA (Mineralogical Preservation of the Human Biome) which studies the interactions of ancient DNA (aDNA) with and protection by diverse mineral phases. I am currently specializing in extracting aDNA from archeological sediments with a specific focus on paleolithic cave sites. The obtained metagenomic data allow me to study human population history and occupations even at sites lacking human remains.  

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Emily PIGOTT

I am a PhD student at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, The Higham lab. My background is in Archaeological Sciences, which I obtained a bachelor’s degree at the University of Bradford, before being a commercial archaeologist for a few years in England, Ireland and Germany. My master’s degree is from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, in Paleobiology and Geobiology. My master’s thesis was concentrated on using microfossils and isotopes for further understanding the paleo-environment on Paleolithic sites in Lower Austria. My PhD with the Higham lab will involve using different dating techniques and methods to further understand hominins movements, interactions and extinctions in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic across Eurasia.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Aigerim RYMBEKOVA

I am a biologist and obtained a Master degree working on population genomics of multiple species including horses, dogs and date palms at University of Bologna. Currently, I am a PhD student in Computational Admixture Genomics group at the University of Vienna. My research interests involve computational approaches to study population history in humans and great apes, particularly admixture between populations.

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Department of Environmental Geosciences (EDGE) Members

Veer Vikram SINGH

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Environmental Geosciences (EDGE), University of Vienna. I completed my M.Sc. at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, where I studied clay chemistry and mineralogy to understand the formation of bole beds (clay-rich horizons) present in Deccan basaltic flows. My doctoral research is a part of the research platform MINERVA (Mineralogical Preservation of the Human Biome from the Depth of Time), a collaboration between EDGE and the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology of the University of Vienna. In my doctoral research, I am focusing on understanding the roles of environmentally relevant minerals such as clays, iron oxides, hydroxyapatite and calcite in preserving the DNA against the common degradational agents such as nucleases, reactive oxygen species and ionizing radiation. My work will help develop a better understanding of the role of minerals in the long-term preservation of the human genome in the environment.  

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Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) Members

Kayleigh SAUNDERSON

I am a textile archaeologist primarily conducting research at the Archaeological Textiles Lab at the Natural History Museum Vienna from a wide variety of periods and regions. My focus ranges from fibres to reconstructions, meaning that I investigate raw materials of fibres and using scanning electron microscopy as well as possible trace elements of mordants for dyes. By researching thousands of textiles up to now in the Lab, we have been able to create massive datasets on the technological data of textiles, which allow for relevant statistical analyses. Furthermore, I work with experimental and public archaeology, reconstructing textiles/clothing and presenting our research and our knowledge of past identities to the public, whereby communicating current topics of the textile industry with its environmental and social impacts are of importance.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members

Muhammad Bilal SHARIF

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna. My research interest includes genomic analysis of historical and ancient populations to understand their evolutionary and demographic history. Over the course of my Master's thesis at CIRAD Montpellier France, I specialized in analyzing genomic data using bioinformatical tools especially in estimating ploidy levels, signatures of selection, kinship, and demographic history using coalescent simulations. In my current project, I am working on Roman and Celtic Equids populations using a multidisciplinary approach that involves paleogenomics, standard morphology and geometric morphometrics.

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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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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Pere GELABERT

I am a Researcher in paleogenomics focusing on the study of genetic data from different sources. I am primarily interested in analyzing genomic data from past environments or populations that can be co-analyzed together with other disciplines to answer questions linked to cultural evolution and health status assessment of ancient populations. I am currently working on projects related to past microbiomes and populations as well on the analysis of ancient environmental genomic data of human-related environments

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Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) Team Leaders

Karina GRÖMER

I am the  head of the Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum Vienna. As an archaeologist, I study the material culture of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age in Central Europe, including theoretical aspects like identity, innovation and creativity, functional design theory, visual coding, design concepts, sociological and semiotic studies.  My focus research is on technological, economic and social aspects of  textiles with interdisciplinary research on artefacts from graves, settlements and saltmines, covering a timespan from 2500 BC till 1000 AD and a geographical area from Central Europe to Iran.. I have also the aim  to bridge gaps between research institutions (Universities, Academies) and cultural heritage institutions and am active in various dissemination activities.

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Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) Team Leaders

Mathias HARZHAUSER

I’m the head of the Geological-Paleontological Department of the Natural History Museum Vienna. My research deals with the paleogeography and the biotic development of the circum-Mediterranean Region and the early Indo-Pacific during the Cenozoic Era with strong focus on integrated stratigraphy. My main taxonomic tool to tackle these questions are marine and terrestrial molluscs. In addition, I’m very active in the popularization of science.  

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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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Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Team Leaders

Günther Karl KUNST

Trained as a palaeontologist working on Ice-Age mammals, I made a change for the “younger stuff” with the founding of VIAS/IDEA in 1994. Since then, I have been involved in various excavation projects in Central Europe, Egypt and Turkey. I prefer excavation projects comprising  complicated archaeological situations, like multiphase buildings or settlements. Here, I like to collaborate with colleagues studying archaeological features and other find groups, especially pottery. I have been a lecturer for archaeozoology for almost three decades on various departments of the University of Vienna (Prehistory and Historic archaeology, Palaeontology, Anthropology). Special interests: taphonomy of buildings and complex settlements; butchery studies; relationships between animal bones and pottery remains

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Kerstin KOWARIK

I am a prehistoric archaeologist and coordinator of the research group Prehistoric Identities at the Department of Prehistory & West Asian/Northeast African Archaeology at Austrian Archaeological Institute of the ÖAW. My research focuses on human-environment interaction, prehistoric dietary patterns, risk management and crisis and coping (natural hazards, physical stress), and Alpine archaeology. I enjoy working in interdisciplinary networks and am especially interested in and developing new innovative research frameworks using bioarchaeological and geoarchaeological approaches to gain new insights the living conditions of Europe’s Metal Ages communities.     Kerstin Kowarik Publications

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Team Leaders

Naoíse MAC SWEENEY

My research focuses on the ancient Greek world and Anatolia, and I am particularly interested in questions concerning migration, mobility, and cultural interaction. My current project (https://www.migmag-erc.eu/) investigates how multi-scalar mobilities contributed to the formation of ancient Greek communities in the first millennium BCE, comparing narrative of migration with evidence from landscape survey for population circulation and regional mobilities. I am working on a project to develop mew digital approaches to modelling regional mobilities using environmental, archaeological, and historical data. Since 2020 I have been a Professor of Classical Archaeology (Greek) at the University of Vienna.

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Philipp MITTEROECKER

I am a theoretical biologist, anthropologist, and biostatistician in the Department of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Vienna. I have studied the development and evolution of human and primate anatomy, with medical applications to orthodontics and gynecology. I am particularly interested in the interaction of developmental, environmental, and evolutionary processes. Another current research focus is on human childbirth: an evolutionary conundrum involving biological, environmental, and sociocultural dynamics. My methodological work comprises contributions to geometric morphometrics, multivariate biostatistics, and quantitative genetics.    

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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Team Leaders

Elmira MOHANDESAN

I am a principal investigator at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (University of Vienna). My research interests mainly cover the topics related to population and conservation genomics, phylogenetics and animal domestication. Particularly, in my research group, we generate and analyze non-human paleogenomic data to address various evolutionary, and socio-cultural questions, many of which cannot be well-addressed by ancient DNA studies of humans alone. I have been working on ancient specimens from various species, such as human, cave bear, chimpanzee, iconic New Zealand Tuatara, Arabian camels and horses. In my current project, we are researching on the Palaeogenomics of Roman Equids, using a multidisciplinary approach.

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The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Team Leaders

Alexandra S. RODLER-RØRBO

I am an archaeological scientist at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences with a PhD in Geosciences. My research focuses on the organization of ancient colorant networks in view of economic, political and technological changes, currently from late Bronze Age to late Antiquity in the Mediterranean, southwest Asia and Europe. This includes materials of various industries such as mineral pigments, glasses/glazes, metals, and earths, and includes geological fieldwork, experiments, and mineralogical/petrographic and geochemical analyses with a focus on mass spectrometry.  

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Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Team Leaders

Peter C. RAMSL

Peter C. Ramsl (Priv. Doz., Mag. Dr.) is university assistant specialising in the European Iron Age and is currently leading the FWF project ‘Celts Across The Alps’ (CATA). His research on the European Iron Ages focusses on the identities and social relationships of people, their mobility and possible migrations as well as dietary habits. This is achieved through a combination of interdisciplinary methodological approaches. Current research is also focussing on insights into social and biological gender and the effects of violence and war on societies. As part of the current FWF project, he and his research team are analysing the relationships between La Tène cemeteries from the Traisen valley in Lower Austria and those from northern Italy near Bologna and Mantova. Another interest is landscape archaeology, focussing on the use of the various landscapes of the Iron Age.  

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News

Last terrapins – first turkeys – humans out of place

500 years of building history mirrored by rubble layers, artefacts, bones and documents It started with a rescue excavation of a few weeks in 2004, when the centre of the Nationalpark Donauauen was established in one of the most unique of our Renaissance castles; 17 years later, and coordinated by Nikolaus Hofer from the  Federal Monuments Authority Austria, a team of historians, art historians, archaeologists, stratigraphers and osteologists together assemble a colourful picture, mutually benefitting from each others results; for the first time in Austria, the history of a monumental building could be traced over such a long period - inderdisciplinarity more than an out-dated phrase  

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