Vangelis TourloukisUniversity of Ioannina | UOI · Department of History and Archaeology
Vangelis Tourloukis
Priv.-Doz. PhD
Email:
vtourloukis@uoi.gr
About
83
Publications
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Introduction
Assistant Professor in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Ioannina.
Senior Researcher, Paleoanthropology Working Group, Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen. Research interests: Prehistoric archaeology; human evolution; social dimensions of prehistoric technology; lithic and bone artifact analysis; social anthropology; ethnoarchaeology; geoarchaeology; evolution of the human social niche: social complexity, cooperation and reciprocity.
Additional affiliations
January 2017 - present
Position
- Senior Researcher
Description
- I work as a senior researcher in the ERC-funded Project "Human Evolution at the Crossroads" (PI: K. Harvati). Email: vangelis.tourloukis@ifu.uni-tuebingen.de Lecturer for: "Introduction to Human Evolution" "Evolution of Human Biology and Behavior" "Experimental archaeology workshop"
Education
September 2003 - September 2004
Publications
Publications (83)
By applying a fieldwork-based, geoarchaeological approach, Tourloukis examines in this study the evidence from Greece within the framework of the earliest occupation of Europe. Although the Greek Peninsula lies within a core area of early hominin movements between Africa and Europe but also within Eurasia itself, the Lower Palaeolithic record of Gr...
The red-bed site of Kokkinopilos is an emblematic and yet also most enigmatic open-air Palaeolithic site in Greece, stimulating controversy ever since its discovery in 1962. While early research raised claims for stratigraphically in situ artifacts, later scholars considered the material reworked and of low archaeological value, a theory that was s...
The technological systems and subsistence strategies of Middle Pleistocene hominins in South-East Europe are insufficiently understood due to the scarcity of well-preserved, excavated assemblages. In this paper, we present first results from the study of the lithic and bone artifacts unearthed at the Lower Palaeolithic site Marathousa 1 (MAR-1), Me...
Systematic tool production and use is one of humanity’s defining characteristics, possibly originating as early as >3 million years ago. Although heightened manual dexterity is considered to be intrinsically intertwined with tool use and manufacture, and critical for human evolution, its role in the emergence of early culture remains unclear. Most...
Recent investigations in the upper Lower–Middle Pleistocene deposits of the Megalopolis Basin (Greece) led to the discovery of several sites/findspots with abundant faunal material. Here, we provide an updated overview including new results on the micro- and macro-mammal fauna. Important new discoveries comprise partial hippopotamus skeletons from...
An intensive, target-oriented surface survey conducted in the Megalopolis basin during 2012-2013 led to the discovery of several Palaeolithic sites and findspots with lithics and faunal remains, including Marathousa-1, a Lower Palaeolithic open-air elephant-butchering site, dated to ca. 400-500 ka BP. This study presents the results from the techno...
The Balkans are considered a major glacial refugium where flora and fauna survived glacial periods and repopulated the rest of Europe during interglacials. While it is also thought to have harboured Pleistocene human populations, evidence linking human activity, paleoenvironmental indicators and a secure temporal placement to glacial periods is sca...
Megalopolis basin hosted during the late Early–Middle Pleistocene (~900–150 ka) a large and shallow lake, which resulted in a stratigraphic sequence composed mainly of lacustrine sediments intercalated by lignite seams. During the last decade (2012–2022) we conducted systematic and multidisciplinary field investigations in
the basin, which led to t...
In this article we present the new open-air Middle Pleistocene locality Marathousa 2, which was discovered during a double intensive and targeted field survey in the lignite mines of the Megalopolis Basin (Greece). The locality is situated just below the Lignite Seam III of the Marathousa Member (Choremi Formation), and its similar stratigraphic po...
Small flake industries are a commonly identified component of Lower Paleolithic archaeological assemblages in Eurasia. Utilized as blanks for tools, at many sites, their functions are often poorly understood. Here we present a preliminary traceological analysis of lithics from Marathousa 1 (MAR-1; Megalopolis, Greece). MAR-1 dates to ca. 400-500 ka...
Systematic tool use is a central component of the human niche. However, the timing and mode of its evolution remain poorly understood. A newly developed method for the analysis of muscle recruitment patterns (Validated Entheses-based Reconstruction of Activity-V.E.R.A.) has recently been experimentally shown to provide clear and reliable evidence o...
A partial proboscidean skeleton has been recovered during the systematic excavations at the Middle Pleistocene open-air site Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) in the Megalopolis basin (Peloponnese, Greece). The remains of the individual, an adult male of the European straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, display human-induced cut marks, which, togeth...
European Lower Palaeolithic assemblages are characterized by a wide range of diversity (bifaces, flakes industries, pebbles, small tools…). This variability is accepted but still misunderstood, which constitutes an obstacle to identify the socio-economic behaviors of human groups in this period. Differences in assemblage composition are often expla...
In the published manuscript, the study presents diverse geochronological and biochronological data providing age constraints on the site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia basin, Greece). One of the methods presented is based on burial ages from cosmogenic radionuclides. Table 2 of this study reports cosmogenic simple burial ages of 1.88 ± 0.16 Myr, 2.10...
In contrast to a relatively long history of Palaeolithic investigations in western Europe, research on the Palaeolithic period in Greece has lagged behind considerably. This article reviews the last decade of Palaeolithic research in Greece, with the aim of highlighting key aspects of recent developments in the field. Newly discovered Lower Palaeol...
The lithic industries of Lower Palaeolithic Europe are characterized by a wide range of diversity. Biface assemblages stand alongside small tool assemblages and core-and-flake industries. This variability is still poorly understood, hindering the assessment of hominin techno-economical choices. Recent studies on lithic variability of the Middle Ple...
In recent years, a significant number of Pleistocene localities with evidence of proboscidean exploitation by humans has been discovered, substantially enriching our knowledge on Homo subsistence strategies and megafauna acquisition. In this study, we provide a synthesis of the evidence for Proboscidea-Homo interactions in Early and Middle Pleistoc...
In recent decades, a significant number of Pleistocene (ca. 2.6 million years–10,000 years ago) open-air and cave sites yielding elephant or mammoth bones in direct association with hominin remains and/or lithic artifacts have been discovered in Eurasia, Africa and America. Many of them show strong evidence of acquisition and processing of probosci...
The site of Apidima, in southern Greece, is one of the most important Paleolithic sites in Greece and southeast Europe. One of the caves belonging to this cave complex, Cave A, has yielded human fossil crania Apidima 1 and 2, showing the presence of an early Homo sapiens population followed by a Neanderthal one in the Middle Pleistocene. Less known...
Lithics and cut-marked mammal bones, excavated from the paleo-lake Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) sediments in the Megalopolis Basin, southern Greece, indicate traces of hominin activity occurring along a paleo-shoreline ca. 444,000 years (444 ka) ago. However, the local environment and climatic conditions promoting hominin activity in the area during the MI...
This article presents a pilot experiment conducted to better understand how Middle Pleistocene hominins might have processed and exploited elephants using simple stone and bone tools. The experiment was conducted in three phases: (1) production of small, flake-based stone tools, (2) butchery of the lower hind-leg of an Indian elephant, and (3) manu...
Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic corre...
Report on the 2014 excavation campaign at the Lower Palaeolithic site Marathousa 1 (Megalopolis Basin, Greece).
Archaic humans (early Homo) and carnivores inhabited the Early and Middle Pleistocene landscapes of Europe, and shared ecosystems for more than 1 million years. Indeed, many archaeo-palaeontological sites evidence the coexistence of humans and carnivores, and demonstrate a certain degree of human-carnivore competition for acquisition and exploitati...
In recent years, a significant number of Pleistocene localities with evidence of proboscidean exploitation by humans have been discovered, substantially enriching our knowledge on Homo subsistence strategies and interactions with megaherbivores. However, the human engagement in proboscidean assemblages, as well as the degree of interaction is not a...
Following the discovery and excavation of the Lower Palaeolithic butchering locality Marathousa 1 (MAR-1; Megalopolis Basin, Peloponnesus, Greece), conducted by the Ephoreia of Paleoanthropology and Speleology, Greek Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, led to the discovery of a new open-air...
Recent paleoanthropological surveys conducted in the Lower Awash basin (Afar Rift) have led to the discovery of new localities. Here we announce and describe the latest addition to the roster of hominid-bearing research areas in this basin. Located east of the modern Awash River and west of the Megenta mountain ridge, localities in the new research...
By applying advanced spatial statistical methods, spatial taphonomy complements the traditional taphonomic approach and enhances our understanding of biostratinomic and diagenetic processes. In this study, we elaborate on a specific aspect – spatial anisotropy – of taphonomic processes. We aim to unravel the taphonomic history of the Early Pleistoc...
In this article, we present the first results on the large mammal fauna from the new open-air Lower Palaeolithic locality Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) (Megalopolis Basin, Peloponnesus, Greece). MAR-1 belongs to the Marathousa Member of the Choremi Formation and its large mammal faunal list (collection 2013–2016) includes the castorid Castor fiber, the must...
Recent excavations at the Middle Pleistocene open-air site of Marathousa 1 have unearthed in one of the two investigated areas (Area A) a partial skeleton of a single individual of Palaeoloxodon antiquus and other faunal remains in spatial and stratigraphic association with lithic artefacts. In Area B, a much higher number of lithic artefacts was c...
The European continent is perhaps the best-documented region in
the study of human evolution. The first recognized human fossil, the
type specimen of Homo neanderthalensis, was discovered in Germany in 1856, and the investigation of Paleolithic sites and fossil human remains has flourished here since the 19th century. Nevertheless, despite the inte...
At 37° 24′ N 22° 8′ E, the Megalopolis Basin lies in the central Peloponnese Peninsula, southwestern Greece. In the Megalopolis Basin at ~ 350 m amsl, the Paleolithic site, Marathousa 1, sits within a palustrine/lacustrine clastic package between Lignite Seams III and II, that both likely correlate with interglacial periods. At Marathousa 1, immedi...
Neandertal manual activities, as previously reconstructed from their robust hand skeletons, are thought to involve systematic power grasping rather than precise hand movements. However, this interpretation is at odds with increasing archeological evidence for sophisticated cultural behavior. We reevaluate the manipulative behaviors of Neandertals a...
Exposures of Middle Pleistocene lacustrine sediments at the margins of an open-cast lignite mine at Marathousa near Megalopolis, western Arcadia, Greece yielded the partial remains of a Palaeoloxodon antiquus skeleton which exhibited signs of being butchered. Sedimentation occurred between ca. 400 and 480 ka. Lithic artefacts were found in close sp...
The mining activities in the Middle Pleistocene lacustrine basin of Megalopolis (Peloponnesus, Greece) have exposed expanded sections of lacustrine sediments. In particular, the northernmost mine of Kyparíssia has yielded numerous vertebrate fossils, recovered during field surveys and small-scale rescue excavations. The stratified specimens indicat...
Post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) measurements are reported for multiple aliquots of potassium-rich feldspar grains from sedimentary deposits at Marathousa 1 and Choremi Mine in the Megalopolis Basin in southern Greece. Ages were obtained for 9 samples from the deposits that over- and underlie as well as include the archaeologi...
Marathousa 1 is a Lower Palaeolithic open-air site located in the Megalopolis basin, an area in Southern Greece known for its fossiliferous sediments. Mining activities in the basin uncovered a thick sequence of Middle Pleistocene lacustrine deposits representing the environment of a palaeolake. Marathousa 1 was discovered in 2013 during a targeted...
We investigated the magnetostratigraphy of the Megalopolis basin in central Peloponnese, Greece, which encompasses a record of Pleistocene lacustrine and lignite-bearing sedimentation, where lithic tools stratigraphically associated with remnants of an almost complete skeleton of Palaeoloxodon antiquus were recently found at the Marathousa 1 site....
The PaGE Project survey of the Megalopolis Basin (Arcadia, Greece), conducted in 2012–2013 over a period of two field seasons, was an intensive, target-oriented surface survey of Pleistocene sediments. Implementing a modified version of field methods applied in our survey of cave systems and Pleistocene cave sediments, the main goal of this systema...
Recent excavations at the Middle Pleistocene open-air site of Marathousa 1 have unearthed in one of the two investigated areas (Area A) a partial skeleton of a single individual of Palaeoloxodon antiquus and other faunal remains in spatial and stratigraphic association with lithic artefacts. In Area B, a much higher number of lithic artefacts was c...
The Middle Pleistocene open-air site of Marathousa 1, Megalopolis Basin, Greece has been systematically excavated since 2013 by a joint team from the Ephoreia of Palaeanthropology-Speleology (Greek Ministry of Culture) and the University of Tübingen. The site is located at the edge of an active lignite quarry, in lacustrine clay, silt and sand beds...
The Megalopolis Basin (Peloponnesus, Greece) has long been known for its Middle Pleistocene mammal fossils (see [1] and references therein). In 2013 a palaeolithic/palaeoanthropological survey, conducted by a joint team from the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology Speleology of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the University of Tübingen, led to the dis...
The Palaeolithic record of Greece remains highly fragmented and discontinuous in both space and time. Nevertheless, new surveys and excavations, along with the revisiting of known sites or old collections, and the conduction of lithic and faunal laboratory analyses, have altogether enriched the Greek Palaeolithic dataset with important new evidence...
The technological sophistication and behavior of early hominins in South-East Europe is poorly understood due to the scarcity of well preserved, excavated assemblages. In this paper we present preliminary results from the study of the cultural material unearthed at the Lower Paleolithic site of Marathousa 1 (MAR-1), Megalopolis, Greece. The MAR-1 l...
Epirus has the largest Palaeolithic database in Greece. Besides important caves and rockshelters, the greatest part of the Epirote Palaeolithic record comprises of material from open-air sites, most and/or the most important of which relate to terra rossa deposits that have yielded tens of thousands of lithic artifacts. Already since the 1960s, the...
Abstract of oral presentation
The Pleistocene vertebrate localities of the Mygdonia Basin (Macedonia, Greece) are known since the end of the 1970s. Numerous fieldwork campaigns, carried out by the Laboratory of Geology and Palaeontology of the University of Thessaloniki, led to the discovery of several fossiliferous sites from which a great amount of fossils has been unearthed...
The Megalopolis Basin (Peloponnesus, Greece) has long been known for its Middle Pleistocene mammal fossils (see Melentis, 1961). In 2013 a palaeolithic/palaeoanthropological survey, conducted by a joint team of the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology-Speleology of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the University of Tübingen in the frame of the ERC proje...
Three environmental proxies have been analysed in order to shed some light on our understanding of the vegetaon and climate during the past human visits in Marathousa 1 site. Phytoliths, a terrestrial proxy as well as diatoms and sponges, both wet body proxies, were extracted from the sediments following the same methodology as all of them belong t...
The Pleistocene vertebrate localities of Mygdonia Basin (Greece) are known since
the end of the 1970s. Numerous fieldwork campaigns, carried out by the University of
Thessaloniki, led to the discovery of several fossiliferous sites from which a great
amount of fossils has been unearthed and studied. During a survey expedition
conducted by the Unive...
We here report the first results from a systematic research project in Mani (Southern Greece), which includes survey and test excavations. Forty-six caves, rockshelters and open-air sites in lowland settings were surveyed. Geomorphological data were collected in order to assess how geological processes affect the preservation of sites and bias site...
Lower Paleolithic evidence from the Mediterranean region holds a prominent position in discussions about the earliest peopling of Europe. Most studies examining patterns of human occupation focus on purported behavioral capacity, habitat preference, and environmental tolerance of different hominins. This chapter employs a geoarchaeological perspect...