Prof. Dr. Gabriele Macho

ERC Advance Grant holder: PLIODIS : Pliocene Hominin Dispersal to southern Africa: Choice or Chance?

When and where did our own genus Homo first evolve? 

This question unpins my current research, funded by the European Commission ERC_101141770_PLIODIS. To decipher the triggers, processes and mechanisms that led to the evolution of modern human morphologies, including brain size and life history strategies, I currently pursue a multi- and interdisciplinary research program that brings together insights from geomorphology and its changes through time, palaeoclimatology, functional morphology and biomechanics, (zoo)archaeology and evolutionary theory.

Fieldwork

Plio-Pleistocene hominin sites in Africa, with specific focus on South African sites (e.g., Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Makapansgat) and Tanzania (Laetoli).

Short Biography

Trained as a biological anthropology at the University of Vienna, Austria, I held a number of research and faculty positions, notably at the University of Western Australia (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), the Ditsong Museum (South Africa), the University of Liverpool (UK), Roehampton University (UK), the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (Spain), the University of Oxford (UK) and the University of London (UK) before joining AMGC in September 2025.