The behavior and adaptation of Neanderthals, the dispersal of modern humans into Eurasia and the possible interactions between the two, and the reasons for the Neanderthal extinction, have long fascinated paleoanthropologists and the public alike. Prof. Harvati will present recent breakthroughs in the study of the fossil record, including virtual anthropology methods, ancient DNA and other approaches, that have shed light on Neanderthal paleobiology and way of life, on the timing and route of dispersal of modern humans into Europe, and on the potential for biological and cultural exchange among the two.

Participants:
Katerina Harvati (Aikaterini Charvati), Head of Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Katerina Harvati is a Professor of Paleoanthropology at the University of Tübingen. She has pioneered the use of computer assisted methods, including 3‐D imaging and analytical methods known as ‘Geometric Morphometrics’ and ‘Virtual Anthropology’, to the study of the human fossil record. Her work focuses on the evolution, paleobiology and extinction of Neanderthals; the origins and dispersals of early modern humans; and the possible relationships between modern humans and our archaic relatives. Harvati is also strongly committed to field research, and has conducted fieldwork in both Africa and Europe. She earned her PhD from the City University of New York in 2001; was Assistant Professor at New York University from 2001‐2004, then moved to Germany as a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig. She became Professor of Paleoanthropology at the University of Tübingen in 2009.. Her co‐authored article on the early modern human cranium from Hofmeyr, South Africa, was recognized as one of the TIME magazine top ten scientific discoveries of 2007; she was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010; and received the Research Award (Landesforschungspreis) of the state of Baden‐Württemberg for basic research in 2014.
Prof. Havati’s talk in the ASF is supported by Goethe Institute”