Research
Here you can find information about the research done at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology.
Our workgroups cover topics in the field of human evolution from functional morphology, microarchaeology, paleogenomics, paleoproteomics, bioinformatics, isotopes, and radiocarbon dating to evolutionary demography, human life history, history of pathogenes, bioarchaeology, human behavioural biology, animal domestication, and human ecology.
Research Topics
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Ancient DNA Genomics
The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology also has multiple Ancient DNA projects and workgroups.
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Human Behaviour
Human Ethology is a field of biological research concerned with the analysis of human behavior from an evolutionary point of view — the application of the principles of evolutionary theory to the study of human behavioral diversity.
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Human Ecology
The Human Ecology Research Group at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology draws special attention to various forms of interactions between Humans and their environment.
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Human Evolution
Human evolution is a field of biolgical research concerned with the origin of humans. Homo sapiens and its ancestors are at the core but comparative analyses also include great apes, other primates, and mammals.
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Human Life History
Human Life History is interested in the biological characteristics defining Homo sapiens as a unique species - in the evolutionary origin, the processes, and the products of these features.
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Microarchaeology
Microarchaeology is concerned with the microscopic study of the sedimentary archaeological record.
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Palaeoproteomics
The research group investigates major questions linked to human evolution through the development and application of new biomolecular techniques.
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Evolutionary Genomics
Genomics approaches to human and primate biology are an integral part of evolutionary research. This field is investigated at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology.
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Radiocarbon dating
Chronology is key in archaeology. Our radiocarbon laboratory group develops methods to improve the dating of ancient bones, charcoal and other organic materials back to 50,000 years ago, focusing in particular on the period of the latest Neanderthals and earliest moden humans in Eurasia.
Facilities
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3D Surface Scanner
Head: Assoc.Prof. Dr. Katrin Schäfer
Surface scanning is a non-invasive method to capture the shape, texture and volume information of a three-dimensional object. In terms of accuracy, it can be as accurate as micro-tomography.
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Paleoenvironmental Genomics (PaGe)
The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology also houses an ancient DNA lab.
The ancient DNA facility uses state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to produce and sequence ancient DNA molecules from archaeological, environmental and forensic sources. It consists of several rooms and has been designed particularly for high volume bone/teeth/sediment optimization workflow for nuclear NGS data.
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Geo/DNA Microarchaeology laboratory
The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology houses a microarchaeology laboratory. The laboratory is equipped with an Olympus BX53-P polarizing microscope for archaeological soil micromorphology study of thin sections. We use plane and cross polarized light as well as oblique incident light. Documentation is performed with a microscope camera, cellSens software and a Wacom tablet. We scan thin section with an Epson Perfection V600 Photo scanner. We have a in-house reference collection with over 300 thin sections from over 20 archaeological sites. The collection encompasses various environments, riverine and lacustrine shore contexts, deserts, sandstone and limestone rock shelters and caves. Archaeologically, we house material from the Middle to Later Stone Age, Lower to Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and the Classic Period of Mesoamerica.
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Vienna micro CT Lab
The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology is responsible for Core Facility of Micro-Computed Tomography. This lab houses a custom made micro computer tomograph, capable of digitizing objects of different size. This machine is one of few in all of Austria.
The Viscom X8060 microCT is able to scan objects ranging from the size of a complete human skull down to a solitary tooth in variable resolution.
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Mass specrometry
The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology houses a MALDI-ToF mass spectrometer for collagen peptide mass sequencing which we use for ZooMS. We also have a stable isotope mass spectrometer for measuring carbon and nitrogen isotopes, useful in palaeodietary studies.
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Radiocarbon dating laboratory
The Department of Evolutionary Anthropologies radiocarbon laboratory group develops methods to improve the dating of ancient bones, charcoal and other organic materials back to 50,000 years ago, focusing in particular on the period of the latest Neanderthals and earliest moden humans in Eurasia.
Projects
Unveiling the Shadows: Illuminating Late Pleistocene Human-Carnivore Interactions in Europe (SHADOWS)
Human Evolution Beyond Collagen
Variation of the 3D shape and size of human teeth
Introgression in hybrid zones among chimpanzee subspecies
Genetic Diversity and Origin of Feral Horses in New Zealand
Social genomics in Late Antique and Early-Medieval societies
DENIsovan anCESTORs in Sahul: deciphering human evolution through molecular techniques
Reconstructing Paleolithic Population Dynamics Using Microstratified Paleogenomic Analysis
Publications
McGrath, K, Montes, TAKDS, Fossile, T, da Rocha Bandeira, D, Borba, FM, Cremer, MJ, van der Sluis, LG, Higham, T, Klahold Rosa, AP, Saña, M & Colonese, AC 2026, 'Molecular and zooarchaeological identification of 5000 year old whale-bone harpoons in coastal Brazil', Nature Communications, vol. 17, no. 1, 48. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67530-w
Waltenberger, L, Rebay-Salisbury, K, Desideri, J, Mitteroecker, P, Spannagl-Steiner, M & Pany-Kucera, D 2026, 'The invisible evidence of birth: evaluating the relationship between pelvic shape and parity with a pelvic pattern index', Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol. 18, no. 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-026-02533-2
Rymbekova, A, Gelabert, P, Llanos-Lizcano, A, Balakrishnan, K, Hämmerle, M, Han, S, Cheronet, O, Abdykanova, A, Kasymkulov, K, Hrivnyak, M, Eng, JT, Pinhasi, R & Kuhlwilm, M 2026, 'Genomic insights into the Iron Age Saka of Boz-Barmak, Kyrgyzstan', Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62891-8
Stanton, DWG, Bergström, A, Heintzman, PD, van der Valk, T, Carmagnini, A, Ersmark, E, Pawar, H, Sandoval-Velasco, M, Androsov, S, Fedorov, S, Kuhlwilm, M, Nagel, D, Plotnikov, V, Protopopov, A, Shapiro, B, Barnett, R, Sinding, MHS, Marques-Bonet, T, Yamaguchi, N, Gilbert, MTP, Götherström, A, Skoglund, P, Frantz, L & Dalén, L 2026, 'Paleogenomes reveal the evolutionary relationship between modern and cave lions', Cell, vol. 189, no. 14, pp. 4425-4436.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.05.007
Gallup, AC, Windhager, S & Eldakar, OT 2026, 'Faces reveal accurate information about overhand throwing ability in men', Animal Behaviour, vol. 237, 123621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123621
Nelson, E, White, D, Wheeler, L, Meng, S, Szymanek, M, Strahl, J, Hein, M, Alexandrowicz, WP, Urban, B, Greeves, S, Stahlschmidt, M, Kahlke, R-D, Lauer, T, Tanner, DC & Penkman, KEH 2026, 'Quaternary aminostratigraphies for the eastern North European Plain', Open Research Europe, vol. 5, 396. https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.21815.1
Hofmann-De Keijzer, R, Petznek, B, Radman-Livaja, I, Bogensperger, I & Heiss, AG 2026, 2nd-century AD lead tags from Carnuntum as witness for coloured textiles in Upper Pannonia. in G Kremer, E Pollhammer, R Linke & G Plattner (eds), Colours Revealed. Polychrome Monuments in the Roman Provinces — Detection, Interpretation, Visualisation. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), Wien, Sonderschriften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes, vol. 66, pp. 239–254.
Holzleithner, E & Fieder, M, Science Arena: Fakten auf den Tisch - Wie viele Geschlechter gibt es wirklich?, 2026, Television show, ORF ON Science, Wien.
Holzleithner, E & Fieder, M, Science Arena: Wie viele Geschlechter gibt es wirklich?, 2026, Radio show, ORF Ö1.
Holzleithner, E, Fieder, M & Haidinger, M, Science Arena: Wie viele Geschlechter gibt es wirklich? Fakten auf den Tisch! „Science Arena“-Kontroversen: Martin Fieder vs. Elisabeth Holzleithner, 2026, Radio show, ORF Radiothek, Wien.