Resume
Resume
2019 - 2024
Yale University, USA
PhD Anthropology
During my PhD, I worked in Dr. J.C. Thompson's Paleoarchaeology lab. I used a combination of zooarchaeological and geochemical methods to reconstruct precipitation seasonality, ungulate movement ecology, and human subsistence in Malawi since the Last Glacial Maximum.
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2015 - 2017
University of Tübingen, Germany
M.Sc. Archaeological Sciences
During my M.Sc., I worked in Dr. B.M. Starkovich's zooarchaeology lab and in Dr. H. Bocheren's biogeology lab. I investigated Neanderthal and H. sapiens subsistence at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Sirgenstein, SW Germany.
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2012 - 2015
University of Pisa, Italy
BA Cultural Heritage Studies
12. In revision - Bertacchi, A., Wostbrock, J., Ambrose, S., Kaliba, P., & Thompson, J.C. Enamel isotopic evidence for strong seasonality in Malawi during the Last Glacial Maximum.
11. In press - Cerezo-Román, J.I., Sawchuck, E., Schilt, F., Bertacchi, A., Chibisa, E., Kennett, D., Fahey, P., Hedman Falchenberg, S.G., Kaliba, P., Kennett, D., Mercader, J., Pargeter, P., Stock, J., Szymanski, R., Thompson, J.C. Earliest Evidence for Intentional Cremation of Human Remains in Africa. Science Advances.
10. 2025 - Bertacchi, A., Zipkin, A., Ambrose, S., Scaffidi, B., Asael, D., Benmamoun, Z., Gomani-Chindebvu, E., Davis, J., Farr, J., Fort, M., Giblin, J.,Johnson, T., Kaliba, P., Lundstrom, C., & Thompson, J.C. Biogeochemical evidence for targeted landscape use in ancient foragers of Malawi. Comunications Earth & Environment, 6, 818.
9. 2025 – Cerezo-Román, J.I., Sawchuck, E., Bertacchi, A., Hanson, A., Walsh, M., Veatch, E., Kaliba, P., Thompson, J.C. Detailed Recovery Methods Show the Complexity of Ancient Mortuary Practices in Later Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers of Southern-Central Africa. Bioarchaeology International.
8. 2025 - Bertacchi, A., Kaliba, P., & Thompson, J.C. Short-distance hunting strategies of Late Quaternary foragers in the miombo woodlands of Malawi. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 77, 101656.
7. 2024 – Hodgkins, J., Bertacchi, A., Knudson, K.J., Rasbury, T., Giblin, J.I., Gordon, G., Anbar, A., Turq, A., Sandgathe, D., Keller, H.M, Britton, K., McPherron, S.P. Late Pleistocene prey mobility and its implications for reconstructing Neandertal ranging behaviors. Quaternary Science Reviews, 331, 108610.
6. 2024 – Bertacchi, A., Zipkin, A.M., Giblin, J., Gordon, G., Goepfert, T., Asael, D., & Knudson, K.J. Trace element concentrations as proxies for diagenetic alteration in the African archaeofaunal record: implications for isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 53, 104403.
5. 2023 – Bertacchi, A., and Watts, D. The use of chimpanzee-modified faunal assemblages to investigate early hominin carnivory. Evolutionary Anthropology.
4. 2023 – Thompson, J.C., Bertacchi, A., Keller, H., Hallett, E.Y., & Pobiner, B. The Zooarchaeology of Pleistocene Africa. In Beyin, A., Wrigth, D.K., Wilkins, J., Bouzouggar, A., Olszewski, D.I. (Eds.), Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa: Hominin behavior, geography, and chronology. Springer.
3. 2022 - Lipson, M., Sawchuk, E.A., Thompson, J.C., Oppenheimer, J., Tryon, C.A., Ranhorn, K.L., de Luna, K.M., Sirak, K.A., Olalde, I., Ambrose, S.H., Arthur, J.W., Arthur, K.J.W., Ayodo, G., Bertacchi, A., Cerezo-Román, J.I., Culleton, B.J., Curtis, M.C., Davis, J., Gidna, O., Hanson, A., Kaliba, P., Katongo, M., Kwekason, A., Laird, M.F., Lewis, J., Mabulla, A.Z.P., Mapemba, F., Morris, A., Mudenda, G., Mwafulirwa, R., Mwangomba, D., Ndiema, E., Ogola, C., Schilt, F., Willoughby, P., Wright, D.K., Zipkin, A., Pinhasi, R., Kennett, D.J., Manthi, F.K., Rohland, N., Patterson, N., Reich, D., & Prendergast, M.E. Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers. Nature.
2. 2021 – Bertacchi, A., Starkovich, B.M., Conard, N.J. The zooarchaeology of Sirgenstein Cave, a Middle and Upper Paleolithic site in the Swabian Jura, SW Germany. Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, 4, 7.
1. 2021 – Bertacchi, A., Gasparyan, B., Gruwier, B., Rivals, F., & Kandel, A. W. Upper Paleolithic animal exploitation in the Armenian Highlands: The zooarchaeology of Aghitu-3 Cave. Quaternary International, 587–588: 400-414.