Cycladic Talk
“Palaeolithic Greece (700,000–10,000 before present). Young scholars take us on a journey to the origins of human presence in the country.”

The Talk invites audiences on a journey deep into the past. Drawing on the latest discoveries and contemporary approaches to research, it seeks to shed light on the lives and world of the hunter-gatherers who inhabited the Greek region during the Paleolithic period. Who were these distant ancestors of humankind? How did they live and secure their survival? How did they move, communicate and adapt to their environment?

Through presentations and dialogue with researchers, a fascinating past is brought closer to us, helping us to gain a deeper understanding of the long human presence and journey in the Greek region.

The program will open with an introduction by the discussion moderator, Georgia Kourtessi-Philippakis, Professor Emerita of Prehistoric Archaeology (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), who will trace the development and evolution of research into Palaeolithic archaeology in Greece. This will be followed by presentations from four younger scholars specializing in Paleolithic archaeology and paleoanthropology, who will share the findings of their recent research and open up a lively discussion with the audience.

Vangelis Tourloukis, Assistant Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology (University of Ioannina), will take us back to the earliest evidence of human presence in the Greek region and explore the role Greece played in the peopling of Europe through successive human migrations. Paraskevi Elefanti, PhD in Paleolithic Archaeology (University of the Peloponnese and Open University of Cyprus), will examine how hunter-gatherers made use of the resources available in their environment, from stone and animal resources to plants, reconstructing aspects of the economy and everyday life of both Neanderthals and our own species, Homo sapiens.

Stefanos Ligkovanlis, PhD Archaeologist (Ephorate of Paleoanthropology–Speleology, Hellenic Ministry of Culture), will demonstrate how a stone tool can reveal far more than the techniques used to produce it. What can it tell us about the ways in which early humans thought? And what evidence can it contribute to discussions about their capacity to communicate through language?

Finally, Dr Alexandros Karakostis, Senior Researcher (Senckenberg Centre / University of Tübingen), will explore how human skeletal remains uncovered through archaeological excavations can help us reconstruct previously unknown aspects of everyday life among Palaeolithic populations: the activities they carried out, the physical stresses they experienced, and the strategies they developed in order to survive.

Georgia Kourtessi – Philippakis

Georgia Kourtessi-Philippakis is a Prehistoric Archaeologist, Professor Emeritus of the Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She did her postgraduate studies at the Sorbonne University (Paris I), where she taught Aegean and Balkan Prehistory (1981 – 2008). She was a Visiting Professor at the Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Aix-Marseille and Lille 3 universities.

Her research interests focus on Stone Age societies, prehistoric technology, the history of research and the concept of territory. She leads the project “Archaeological research in the Middle Kalamas Basin of Thesprotia” and actively participates in many scientific projects with international cooperation in Greece and the Balkans. With the establishment of the Paleolithic Seminar (2015), he aims to create a meeting place for Paleolithic archaeologists and to inform the wider public about modern research and results. He has participated in international scientific conferences and has written books and many articles in collective volumes and scientific journals. He is a member of scientific bord and committees in Greece and abroad.

Vangelis Tourloukis

Vangelis Tourloukis (PhD: Leiden University, Habilitation: University of Tübingen) is Assistant Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Ioannina, and Senior Researcher at the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen.

His research focuses on the archaeology of human evolution, population movements during the Stone Age, lithic technology, geoarchaeology, and the economic and social systems of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. He has participated in and directed excavations and field surveys at important Palaeolithic sites in Greece, including the Megalopolis Basin in Arcadia, Epirus, and Macedonia, as well as in Mani, where he currently co-directs the excavations at the Apidima Cave Complex in Laconia, while he has also participated in international research programmes in Europe and Africa. His publication record includes numerous articles in international peer-reviewed journals, addressing archaeological questions through the methodological integration of Earth Sciences (geoarchaeology, taphonomy) with approaches from the humanities and social sciences (prehistoric technology, palaeoanthropology, social anthropology). This interdisciplinary approach aims to interpret prehistoric societies within their broader palaeoenvironmental contexts.

Paraskevi Elefanti

Paraskevi Elefanti holds a PhD in Palaeolithic Archaeology from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, specialising in the study of chipped stone assemblages. Her research focuses on the Palaeolithic of Greece and on understanding the technological, economic, and social dimensions of the lifeways of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

She teaches Greek civilisation at the Open University of Cyprus and is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of History, Archaeology and Cultural Resources Management at the University of the Peloponnese. She has served as Principal Investigator of two long-term interdisciplinary research projects: “Prehistoric Stones of Greece: A Resource of Archaeological Surveys and Sites” at Royal Holloway, University of London, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and “From Hunter-Gatherers to Early Farmers in Greece” at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI).

In recent years, she has been Principal Investigator of the interdisciplinary research project “Neanderthal Island Colonisation in the Southern Ionian Archipelago”, funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation of the United States. The project investigates Neanderthal presence and adaptation to the island environments of the southern Ionian Islands, addressing questions of mobility, landscape use, technology, and subsistence during the Late Palaeolithic. She has served as the Greek representative on the Management Committee of the European COST Action CA19141, “Integrating Neandertal Legacy: From Past to Present” (iNEAl), and is a member of UISPP Commission 8 (“Upper Palaeolithic of Eurasia”).

Her research has been presented at international scientific conferences and published in numerous leading international scholarly publications. She is the author of one book and co-editor of three edited volumes. She also actively participates in public engagement and outreach activities, promoting archaeological research to wider audiences, with the aim of highlighting the significance of Palaeolithic heritage and fostering a better understanding of how archaeological research reconstructs the lives of people in the distant past.

Stefanos Ligkovanlis

Stefanos Ligκovanlis is an archaeologist and academic researcher. He received his PhD in Palaeolithic Archaeology from the University of Crete and currently serves at the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

His research focuses on Prehistoric Lithic Technology and Experimental Archaeology, as well as Cognitive Archaeology and Neuroarchaeology. He has been involved in numerous research projects concerning the Palaeolithic in Greece and has authored a substantial number of publications in international peer-reviewed journals.

Fotios Alexandros Karakostis

Dr. Fotios Alexandros Karakostis is a palaeoanthropologist and osteoarchaeologist, serving as Research Group Leader and Senior Researcher at the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP) and the University of Tübingen, Germany.

He leads a range of international research projects focused on the development, experimental validation, and application of innovative methods for reconstructing past human behaviour and investigating human-environment interactions (including the “V.E.R.A.” method). His research is interdisciplinary, integrating three-dimensional digital analysis of skeletal morphology, functional morphology, biomechanics, and experimental archaeological approaches. He has conducted research and taught at academic and research institutions in Germany, Switzerland, and Greece.