Prof. (Melit) Dr Eleanor Scerri

Forschungsgruppenleiterin
Human Palaeosystems Forschungsgruppe
+49 3641 686-971
242

Forschungsinteressen

Ich bin eine archäologische Wissenschaftlerin, die daran interessiert ist, die Verbindung zwischen materieller Kultur, Genetik und Biogeographie zu erforschen, um theoretische, methodische und wissenschaftliche Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der menschlichen Evolution und Nischenexpansion zu erzielen. Nachdem ich mit meiner "Pan African Evolution Research Group" einen Platz im Lise-Meitner-Exzellenzprogramm gewonnen hatte, erhielt ich 2023 eine Festanstellung und übernahm die Leitung der neuen permanenten unabhängigen Max-Planck-Forschungsgruppe "Human Palaeosystems". Ich bin desweiteren als Dozentin am Institut für Prähistorische Archäologie der Universität zu Köln und Assoziierte Professorin am Institut für Klassische Philologie und Archäologie der Universität Malta tätig.

 

Die „Human Palaeosystems“ Gruppe erforscht die Beziehungen zwischen Mensch und Umwelt über lange Zeiträume hinweg, um die Dynamik der biokulturellen Entwicklung des Menschen und den Wandel der Ökosysteme von der Entstehung unserer Spezies bis zum Beginn der Landwirtschaft zu verstehen. Zu diesem Zweck konzentriert sich die Gruppe auf drei Schlüsselbereiche:

 

- Die Entstehung und Ausdehnung der „menschlichen Nische“, zusammen mit ihren technologisch-gesellschaftlichen und ökologischen Wechselwirkungen

- Ko-Evolution von Krankheiten und Kultur

- Besiedlung von Inseln, Widerstandsfähigkeit von Ökosystemen und gesellschaftliche Wechselwirkungen

 

Diese Bereiche werden durch die verschiedenen Forschungsprojekte der Gruppe abgedeckt, darunter das Projekt zur Koevolution von Krankheiten und Kulturen, das Projekt zur panafrikanischen Evolution (Pan-Ev) und das vom ERC finanzierte IslandLab-Projekt.

 

Zuvor war ich die erste Marie-Skłodowska-Curie-Stipendiatin am Max-Planck-Institut für die Erforschung der Menschheitsgeschichte, wo ich das aWARE-Projekt ins Leben rief und leitete, das sich mit der Rolle Westafrikas in der menschlichen Evolution befasst. Dieses Projekt wird im Rahmen der Feldforschung des Pan-Ev Projekts weitergeführt. Vor meinem Wechsel zum MPI-GEA war ich Fellow der British Academy in Archaeology an der School of Archaeology der Universität Oxford, wo ich auch als Junior Research Fellow am Jesus College tätig war. Auf diese Position folgte mein erstes, von der Fyssen-Stiftung finanziertes Postdoc-Stipendium, das ich an der Universität von Bordeaux innehatte. Meinen Doktortitel in Archäologie, finanziert durch das Royal Anthropological Institute und den Sutasoma Trust, erwarb ich an der Universität Southampton.

Vita

Veröffentlichungen

2023

Shipton, C., Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Petraglia, M.D. Uniformity and Diversity in Handaxe Shape at the End of the Acheulean in Southwest Asia. Lithic Technology (Link).

Scerri, E.M.L. One Species Many Roots? Nature Ecology and Evolution (Link)

Scerri, E.M.L., Will, M. The Revolution that still isn't: The orgin of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiensJournal of Human Evolution 179, 103358 (PDF).

Pargeter, J., Brooks, A., Douze, K., Eren, M., Groucutt, H.S., McNeil, J., Mackay, A., Ranhorn, K., Scerri, E.M.L., Shaw, M., Tryon, C., Will, M., Leplongeon, A. Replicability in lithic analysis. American Antiquity.

Cerasoni, J.N., Hallett, E.Y., Orijemie, E.A., Ashastina, K., Lucas, M., Farr, L., Hoehn, A., Kiahtipes, C.A., Blinkhorn, J., Roberts, P., Manica, A. Scerri, E.M.L. Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria. iScience 26, 106153 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106153

Guagnin, M., Haburaj, V., Groucutt, H.S., Hoelzmann, P., Gauci, R., Vella, N.C., Parisi, C., Cassar, M., Cassar, Y., Asciak, G., Scerri, E.M.L. Evaluating possible prehistoric cave art in the central Mediterranean: Analyses of pigment traces and identification of taphonomic processes at Għar Ħasan, Malta. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 47, 103815 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103815

 

2022

Cerasoni, J.N., Hallett, E.Y., Ben Arous, E., Beyer, R.M., Krapp, M., Manica, A., Scerri, E.M.L. Archaeological sites and palaeoenvironments of Pleistocene West Africa. Journal of Maps doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2022.2052767

Scerri, E.M.L., Roberts, P., Maezumi, S.Y., Malhi, Y. The Role of Tropical Forests in the Deep Human Past. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 377, 20200500. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0500

Blinkhorn, J., Grove, M., Timbrell, L., Scerri, E.M.L. Evaluating refugia in recent human evolution in Africa. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 377, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0485

Gosling, W.D., Scerri, E.M.L., Kaboth-Bahr, S. The climate and vegetation backdrop to human evolution in Africa. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 377, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0483

Groucutt, H.S., Carleton, W.C., Fenech, K., Gauċi, R., Grima, R., Scerri, E.M.L., Stewart, M., Vella, N.C. The 4.2. ka event and the of the Maltese ‘Temple Period’. Frontiers in Earth Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.771683

Blinkhorn, J., Zanolli, C., Compton, T., Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Crété, L., Stringer, C., Petraglia, M.D., Blockley, S. Reply to ‘No direct evidence for the presence of Nubian Levallois technology and its association with Neanderthals at Shukbah Cave’. Scientific Reports 12 (1208). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05049-6

 

2021

Hallett, E.Y., Marean, C.W., Steele, T.E., Alvarez-Fernández, E., Jacobs, Z., Cerasoni, J.N., Aldeias, V., Scerri, E.M.L., Olszewski, D.I., El Hajraoui, M.A., & Dibble, H.L. A worked bone assemblage from 120,000-90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco. iScience (in press) 16 September 2021. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102988.

Groucutt, H.S., White, T.S.,  Scerri, E.M.L.,  Andrieux, E., Clark-Wilson, R.,  Breeze, P.S.,  Armitage, S.J., Stewart, M., Drake, N.,  Louys, J., Price, G.J., Duval, M., Parton, A., Candy, I.,  Carleton, W.C., Shipton, C., Jennings, R.J., Zahir, M., Blinkhorn, J., Blockley, S., Al-Omari, A., Alsharekh, A.M., Petraglia, M.D. Multiple hominin dispersals into Southwest Asia over the past 400,000 years. Nature 597, 376-380 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03863-y

Kaboth-Bahr, S., Gosling, W.D., Vogelsang, R., Bahr, A., Scerri, E.M.L., Asrat, A., Cohen, A.S., Düsung, W,, Foerster, V.A., Lamb, H.F., Maslin, M.A., Roberts, H.M., Schäbitz, F., Trauth, M.H. Paleo-ENSO influence on African environments and early modern humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018277118 (PDF).

Blinkhorn, J., Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Petraglia, M.D., Blockley, S. Directional changes in Levallois core technologies between Eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5. Scientific Reports 11, 11465 (PDF).

Scerri, E.M.L., Frouin, M., Breeze, P.S., Armitage, S., Candy, I., Groucutt, H.S., Drake, N. Parton, A., White, T.S., Alsharekh, A.M., Petraglia. M.D. The expansion of Acheulean hominins into the Nefud Desert of Arabia. Scientific Reports 11, 10111 (PDF).

Schlebusch, C.M., Loog, L., Groucutt, H.S., King, T., Rutherford, A., Barbieri, C., Barbujani, G., Chikhi, L., Jakobsson, M., Eriksson, A., Manica, A., Tishkoff, S.A, Scerri, E.M.L., Scally, A., Brierly, C., Thomas, M.G. Human Origins in Southern African Palaeo-wetlands? Strong Claims from Weak Evidence. Journal of Archaeological Science 130, 105374 (PDF).

Bergström, A., Stringer, C., Hajdinak, A., Scerri, E.M.L., Skoglund, P. Origins of Modern Human Ancestry. Nature  590, 229–237. (PDF)

Blinkhorn, J., Zanolli, C., Compton, T., Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Crété, L., Stringer, C., Petraglia, M.D., Blockley, S. Nubian Levallois technology associated with southernmost Neanderthals. Scientific Reports 11, 2869. 

Scerri, E.M.L., Niang, K., Candy, I., Blinkhorn, J., Bateman, M.D., Mills, W., Cerasoni, J.N., Bateman, M.D., Crowther, A., Groucutt, H.S. Continuity of the Middle Stone Age into the Holocene. Scientific Reports 11, 70. (PDF).

 

2020

Scerri, E.M.L., Kühnert, D., Blinkhorn, J., Groucutt, H.S., Roberts, P., Nicoll, K., Zerboni, A., Orijemie, E.A., Barton, H., Candy, I., Goldstein, S., Hawks, J., Niang, K., N’Dah, D., Petraglia, M.D., Vella, N.S. Field-based sciences must transform in response to COVID-19. Nature Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01317-8 (PDF)

Stewart, M.,  Louys, J., Breeze, P.S.,  Clark-Wilson, R.,  Drake, N.A., Scerri, E.M.L., Zalmout, I.S., Al-Mufarreh, Y.A.S., Soubhi, S.A., Haptari, M.A., Alsharekh, A.M., Groucutt, H.S., Petraglia, M.D. A taxonomic and taphonomic study of Pleistocene fossil deposits from the western Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia. Quaternary Research 1-22.  doi:10.1017/qua.2020.6

 

2019

Scerri, E.M.L. Cultural Taxonomy for the European Upper Palaeolithic: A Wide Ranging Problem. Antiquity 93 (371), 1362-1364 (PDF).

Scerri, E.M.L., Chikhi, L., Thomas, M.G. Beyond Multiregional and Simple Out of Africa Models of Human Evolution. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3, 1370–1372. (PDF)

Scerri, E.M.L. & Spinapolice, E.E.A. Lithics of the North African Middle Stone Age. Journal of Anthropological Sciences 97, 1-36. (PDF)

Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Stringer, C., Petraglia, M.D. Skhul lithic technology and the dispersal of Homo sapiens into Southwest Asia. Quaternary International 515, 30-52.

Will, M., Tryon, C., Shaw, M., Scerri, E.M.L., Ranhorn, K., Pargeter, P., McNeil, J., Mackay, A., Leplongeon, A., Groucutt, H.S., Douza, A., Brooks, A. Comparative analysis of Middle Stone Age artifacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica). Evolutionary Anthropology 28, 57-59. (PDF)

Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Drake, N., Zahir, M., Louys, J., Armitage, S., Petraglia, M.D., Al-Omari, A., Al-Fageri, S., Al Murayyi, K.S.M., Alsharekh, A., and the SGS. Palaeodeserts Project Nefud Fieldwork report, 2016. Atlal: Journal of Saudi Arabian Archaeology 27, 115-140.

 

2018

Scerri, E.M.L., Shipton, C., Clark-Balzan, L., Frouin, M., Schwenninger, J.-L., Groucutt, H.S., Breeze, P.S., Parton, A., Blinkhorn, J., Drake, N.A., Jennings, R., Cuthbertson, P., Al Omari, A., Alsharekh, A.M., Petraglia, M.D. The expansion of later Acheulean hominins into the Arabian Peninsula. Scientific Reports 8, 17165.

Roberts, P., Stewart, M., Aziz, N., Breeze, P., Drake, N., Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Lee-Thorp, J., Louys, J., Zalmout, I., Zech, J., Boivin, N., Petraglia, M.D. Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2, 1871–1878.

Scerri, E.M.L., Guagnin, M., Groucutt, H.S., Armitage, A.J., Parker, L.E., Drake, N.A., Louys, J., Breeze, P., Zahir, M., Alsharekh, A., Petraglia, M.D. 2018. Neolithic pastoralism in extreme marginal environments during the mid-Holocene wet phase, northern Saudi Arabia. Antiquity 92 (365), 1180-1194.

Scerri, E.M.L., Thomas, M.G., Manica, A., Gunz, P., Stock, J., Stringer, C.B., Grove, M., Groucutt, H.S., Timmermann A., Rightmire, G.P., d’Errico, F., Tryon, C., Drake, N.A.,  Brooks, A., Dennell, R., Durbin, R., Henn, B., Lee-Thorpe, J., deMenocal, P., Petraglia, M.D., Thompson, J., A., Scally, A., Chikhi, L. Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter? Trends in Ecology & Evolution 33, 582-594.

Shipton, C., Blinkhorn, J., Breeze, P.S., Cuthbertson, P., Drake, N., Groucutt, H.S., Jennings, R.P., Parton, A., Scerri, E.M.L., Alsharekh, A., Petraglia, M.D. 2018. Acheulean technology and landscape use at Dawadmi, central Arabia. PLoS ONE 13(7): e0200497.

Groucutt, H.S., Grün, R., Zalmout, I.S.A., Drake, N.A., Armitage, S.J., Candy, I., Clark-Wilson, R., Louys, J., Breeze, P.S., Duval, M., Buck, L.T., Kivell, T., Pomeroy, E., Stephens, N., Stock, J.T., Stewart, M., Price, G.J., Kinsley, L., Sung, W.W., Alsharekh, A., Al-Omari, A., Zahir, M., Memesh, A.M., Abdulshakoor, A.J., Al-Masari, A.M., Bahameem, A.A., Al Murayyi, K.S.M., Zahrani, B., Scerri, E.M.L., Petraglia, M.D. 2018. Homo sapiens in Arabia 85 thousand years ago. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2, 800–809.

 

2017

Scerri, E.M.L. The West African Stone Age. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History.http://africanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-137

Scerri, E.M.L. The North African Middle Stone Age and its place in recent human evolution. Evolutionary Anthropology 26 (3), 119-135.

Scerri, E.M.L., Blinkhorn, J., Niang, K., Bateman, M., Groucutt, H.S. Persistence of Middle Stone Age technology to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition supports a complex hominin evolutionary scenario in West Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 11, 639-646.

Scerri, E.M.L. Le contexte démographique de la première dispersion des hommes modernes : une perspective de la Middle Stone Age de l’Afrique du Nord. Annales de la Fondation Fyssen 30161-171.

Scerri, E.M.L. Bridges and barriers: the Late Pleistocene demography of the Saharo-Arabian belt. In D. Agius, E. Khalil and E.M.L. Scerri (eds.), Proceedings of the Red Sea VI Conference. Brill Publishing: Leiden. pp. 69-88.

Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Amor, K., Shipton, C., Jennings, R.P, Parton, A., Clark-Balzan, L., Alsharekh, A., Petraglia, M.D. Middle Palaeolithic raw material procurement and early stage reduction at Jubbah, Saudi Arabia. Archaeological Research in Asia 9, 44-62.

Breeze, P.S.,  Groucutt, H.S.,  Drake, N.A.,  Louys, J.,  Scerri, E.M.L.,  Armitage, Zalmout, I.S.A., Memesh, A.M., Haptari, M.A., Soubhi, S.A., Matari, H.A.,  Zahir, M.,  Al-Omari, A., Alsharekh, A.M., Petraglia, M.D. Prehistory and palaeoenvironments of the western Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia. Archaeological Research in Asia 10, 1-16.

Campmas, E., Stoetzel, E., Oujaa, A., Scerri, E.M.L. Introduction to the special issue ‘The Role of North Africa in the Emergence and Development of Modern Behaviors: An Integrated Approach. ‘African Archaeological Review 34, 447–449.

 

2016

Scerri, E.M.L., Blinkhorn, J., Gravina, B., Delagnes, A. Can lithic attribute analyses identify discrete reduction trajectories? A quantitative study using refitted lithic constellations. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 23, 669–691.

Scerri, E.M.L., Blinkhorn, J., Groucutt, H.S., Niang, K. The Middle Stone Age of the Senegal River Valley. Quaternary International 408, 16–32.

Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Lewis, L., Clark-Balzan, L., Blinkhorn, J., Jennings, R.P., Parton, A., Petraglia, M.D. Stone tool assemblages and models for the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Quaternary International 382, 8-30. 

Stimpson, C.M., Lister, A., Parton, A., Clark-Balzan, L., Breeze, P.S., Drake, N.A., Groucutt, H.S., Jennings, R., Scerri, E.M.L., White, T.S., Zahir, M., Duval, M., Grün,  R., Al-Omari, A., Sultan, K., Al Murayyi, M., Zalmout, I.S., Mufarreh, Y.A., Memesh, A.M., Petraglia, M.D. Middle Pleistocene vertebrate fossils from the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia: implications for biogeography and palaeoecology. Quaternary Science Reviews 143, 13-36.

 

2015

Scerri, E.M.L., Breeze, P., Parton, A., Groucutt, H.S., Stimpson, C., White, T.S., Clarke-Balzan, L., Jennings, R., Petraglia, M.D. Middle to Late Pleistocene human habitation in the western Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia. Quaternary International 382, 200-214.

Groucutt, H.S, Shipton, C., Scerri, E.M.L., Alsharekh, A., Petraglia, M.D. Late Pleistocene lakeshore settlement in northern Arabia: Middle Palaeolithic technology from Jebel Katefeh, Jubbah. Quaternary International 382, 215-236.

Breeze, P.S., Drake, N.A., Groucutt, H.S., Parton, A., Jennings, R.P., White, T.S., Clark-Balzan, L., Shipton, S., Scerri, E.M.L., Stimpson, C.M., Crassard, R., Hilbert, Y., Alsharekh, A., Al-Omari, A., Petraglia, M.D. Remote sensing and GIS techniques for reconstructing Arabian palaeohydrology and identifying archaeological sites. Quaternary International 382, 98-119.

Stimpson, C.M., Breeze, P., Clarke-Balzan, L., Groucutt, H.S., Jennings, R.P, Parton, A., Scerri, E.M.L, White, T., Petraglia, M.D. Preliminary observations of stratified Pleistocene vertebrates with a new record of Panthera gombaszogensis (Kretzoi, 1938) from northern Saudi Arabia. Quaternary International 382, 169-180.

Groucutt, H.S , Petraglia, M.D, Bailey, G., Scerri, E.M.L., Thomas, M.G, Parton, A., Clark-Balzan, L., Jennings, R., Lewis, L., Blinkhorn, J., Drake, N.A., Breeze, P., Boivin, N., Inglis, R.H., Devèsc, M.H., Meredith-Williams, M., Scally, A. Rethinking the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Evolutionary Anthropology 24, 149-164. doi:10.1002/evan.21455

Groucutt, H. S., Clark-Balzan, L., Crassard, R., Shipton, C., Parton, S., Jennings, R., Parker, A.G., Breeze, P., Scerri, E.M.L., Alsharekh, A., Petraglia, M. D. Human occupation of the Arabian Empty Quarter during MIS 5: evidence from Mundafan al-Buhayrah, Saudi Arabia. Quaternary Science Reviews 119, 116-135.

 

2014

Scerri, E. M. L., Drake, N., Groucutt, H. S., Jennings, R. Earliest Evidence for the Structure of Homo sapiens Populations in Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews 101, 207-216

Scerri E.M.L., Groucutt H. S., Jennings, R., Petraglia, M. D. Unexpected technological heterogeneity in northern Arabia indicates complex Late Pleistocene demography at the gateway to Asia. Journal of Human Evolution 75, 125-142.

Groucutt, H.S., Scerri E.M.L. Lithics of the late Middle Palaeolithic: Post MIS 5 technological variability and its implications. Quaternary International 350, 1-6.

 

2013

Scerri, E. M. L. On the spatial and technological organisation of hafting modifications in the North African Middle Stone Age. Journal of Archaeological Science 40, 4234-4248.

Scerri, E. M. L. The Aterian and its place in the North African Middle Stone Age. Quaternary International 300, 111-130.

 

2012

Scerri, E. M. L. A New Stone Tool Assemblage Revisited: reconsidering the ‘Aterian’ in Arabia. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42, 357-370.

 

2000

2000 N.Vella, K. Borda, J.M. Briffa, K. Fenech, K. Grinde, E. Scerri, M. L. Sisk, H. Stoeger and M. E. Zammit. Preliminary Report of an Archaeological Survey at Għajn Klieb, Rabat (Malta). Malta Archaeological Review 4, 10-16.

 

Edited Volumes & Books

2022 Scerri, E.M.L., Malhi, Y., Roberts, P., Maezumi, Y. (Eds). The role of tropical rainforests in the deep human past. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

2017 Aġius, D., Khalil, E. and Scerri, E.M.L. (Eds.). Proceedings of the Red Sea IV Conference. Brill Publishing, Leiden.

2014 Campmas, E, Stoetzel, E., Oujaa, A., Scerri, E.M.L (Eds.). The role of North Africa in the emergence and development of modern behaviours: an integrated approach. African Archaeological Review 34.

2014 Groucutt, H.S. and Scerri, E.M.L. (Eds.). Lithics of the Late Middle Palaeolithic: Post MIS 5 Technological Variability and its Implications. Quaternary International 350.

 

Book Reviews

2019    Scerri, EM.L. Review of the book The Middle Stone Age of Nigeria in its West African context by Philip Allsworth-Jones. Oxford Archaeopress. Published in Azania doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2019.1676052

2010    Scerri, E.M.L. Review of the book La Grotte d’Ifri n’Ammar: le Paleolithique moyen by M. Nami and J. Moser. Forschungen zur Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen 9. Published in Antiquity 86, 933.

 

Science Communication

2021    Scerri, E.M.L. Archaeology in West Africa could rewrite the textbooks on human evolution. The Conversation April 11th, https://theconversation.com/archaeology-in-west-africa-could-rewrite-the-textbooks-on-human-evolution-157610

2018 Scerri, E.M.L. What happened at the end of the Achuelean? Behind the Paper: Nature Ecology and Evolution https://ecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/41452-what-happened-at-the-end-of-the-acheulean

2018    Scerri, E.M.L. Human evolution: secrets of early ancestors could be unlocked by African rainforests. The Conversation September 6th, https://theconversation.com/human-evolution-secrets-of-early-ancestors-could-be-unlocked-by-african-rainforests-101636

2018    Scerri, E. M. L. The origin of our species. New Scientist 238, 34-37.


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