2025 News from the MPI of Geoanthropology

Dr. Verónica Zuccarelli Freire presents the poster of the Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene project at the SB62 Climate Conference

Members of the research team attend the 13th meeting of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform in Bonn more

Dr. Basira Mir Makhamad received the 2024 Otto Hahn Medal in a ceremony on 25  June 2025. Pictured from left to right: Prof. Asli Özyürek, Vice President Christian Doeller, Dr. Basira Mir Makhamad, Human Sciences Section Chair Arno Villringer

The Otto Hahn Medal is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements from the initial creative period of young scientists more

An African bush elephant between trees

Before the ‘Out of Africa’ migration that led humans into Eurasia and beyond, new research shows that humans expanded their niche to include African forests and deserts. The authors argue that human populations learning to adapt to new and challenging habitats was key to the long-term success of this dispersal.
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Locations estimated for the Transeurasian homelands in time and space. Distinction is made between ancestral languages spoken during Neolithic times (red) and those spoken in the Bronze Age and later (green)

New research traces the impact of climate change on language dispersal across Northeast Asia over the past 9,000 years more

Earliest Use of Psychoactive and Medicinal Plant ‘Harmal’ Identified in Iron Age Arabia

A new study uses metabolic profiling to uncover ancient knowledge systems behind therapeutic and psychoactive plant use in ancient Arabia. more

New Research Questions Role of Mobile Pastoralism in Wider Socioeconomic Connections in the Chalcolithic Lesser Caucasus

A recent study published in iScience presents new insights into herding and land-use practices in the Lesser Caucasus during the Copper Age. Focusing on the high-altitude site of Yeghegis-1 in southern Armenia, the research reevaluates the long-standing views that mobile pastoralism played a central role in technological developments, resource procurement and trans-regional interactions in the region. more

Adam Izdebski appointed to the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission

The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors provides independent scientific advice and policy recommendations to the European Commission, informing decision-making and impacting EU legislation more

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