For the present postdoctoral position, we are looking for a specialist who has a demonstrated experience in the study of bone fracturation (and if possible butchery marks), who masters the principles of experimental archeology, and can contribute via their research to better understand the tipping point leading to apex predator hominids during the Pleistocene in Africa. The postdoc will be in charge of carrying out experiments (percussion, butchery) on large mammal carcasses to build new reference data sets of anthropogenic modifications (blunt force traumas, cut marks, hack marks). Resulting modifications will be digitized using microCT scan and confocal microscopy and subjected to detailed morphometric characterizations and comparisons to modifications observed on fossil specimens. Within PACEA, the postdoc will interact with members of the AFRIQUE and EVODIBIO teams and SURF-ACE3 working group. The postdoc position also involves external collaborations with a large national and international network of taphonomy specialists (already structured by the postdoc supervisor).

Principal supervisor: Antoine SOURON (Assistant Professor, PACEA UMR 5199)

Starting date: September 1, 2024

Duration of the internship: 13 months, potentially extendable to 15 months

Location: PACEA UMR 5199, B2, Pessac, France

Main funding: GPR Human Past – WP2 Action 2

Application: Please send letter of motivation (2 pages max., specifically focusing on defending the profile required for this position) and a CV (including list of publications, if applicable), to Antoine Souron, and to Melina Abdou, Bruno Maureille, and Yann Heuzé.

Deadline: May 31, 2024 - 11:59pm

Quartz procurement and selection: deciphering early hominin strategies in the Lower Omo Valley
The postdoctoral research aims at sourcing the quartz raw materials exploited by the Oldowan groups in the Lower Omo Valley (Shungura Formation, southern Ethiopia), between 2.32 and 2.0 Ma, and exploring the adaptive strategies they developed in terms of selection and transport. The research will include field surveys and laboratory analyses both in Ethiopia (EHA - National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Abeba) and in France. The surveys will consist of geoferencing and sampling of quartz sources in primary, sub-primary, close secondary and distant secondary positions in the Hamar Range. This work will be coupled with a review of regional geological features in the field and from the literature. The analyses will include: 1. quartz characterization based on a classical morphometric and petrographic approach, combined with quartz exoscopy by SEM; 2. comparison with the quartz archaeological artefacts and manuports, with the double aim of identifying the geographical origin of the archaeological raw materials and testing the presence (or absence) of selective procurement by Oldowan groups. The research will be hosted at PACEA (university of Bordeaux) under the supervision of Anne Delagnes and will involve a collaboration with Archeosciences Bordeaux (Université Bordeaux Montaigne) for all aspects related to SEM analyses. Field work in Ethiopia will be carried out within the framework of the OGRE (Omo Group Research Expedition) programme.

Principal supervisor: Anne Delagnes (Research Director, PACEA UMR 5199)

Starting date: October 1, 2024

Duration of the internship: 15 months

Location: PACEA UMR 5199, B2, Pessac, France

Main funding: GPR Human Past – WP2 Action 2

Application: Please send letter of motivation (2 pages max., specifically focusing on defending the profile required for this position) and a CV (including list of publications, if applicable), to Anne Delagnes, and to Melina Abdou, Bruno Maureille, and Yann Heuzé.

Deadline: May 31, 2024 - 11:59pm

This 5-month research engineer post is being offered as part of the GPR’s work package 3, “How and why do new cultural traits appear, spread and disappear", and more specifically in action 6, which examines the urban phenomenon and the way in which the emergence of cities has changed human societies. The researchers involved are working on periods ranging from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The post holder will be responsible for developing and filling in a geo-referenced database (PostgreSQL/PostGIS) combining pre-existing databases of various types (QGIS and ArcGIS projects, AutoCAD projects, Excel spreadsheets, raster maps and textual data). The assignment also includes creating tools (SQL queries) for extracting from the database. The work carried out by the post-holder should make it easier to cross-reference the many and varied data held by the members of the group.
The post-holder should be in regular contact with the Action leader (N. Trippé) and the post-doctoral researcher in charge of modelling (D. Kiosak), and should take part in meetings held as part of the Cities Action.

Principal supervisors:

Dmytro Kiosak (Post-doc GPR Human Past, Ausonius UMR 5607)

Natacha Trippé (Assistant professor, Ausonius UMR 5607)

Starting date: September 15, 2024

Duration of the internship: 5 months

Location: Ausonius, UMR 5607, 8 esplanade des Antilles, 33600 Pessac, France

Application: Please send letter of motivation (2 pages max., specifically focusing on defending the profile required for this position) and a CV (including list of publications, if applicable), to Dmytro Kiosak and Natacha Trippé, and to Melina Abdou, Bruno Maureille, and Yann Heuzé.

Deadline: May 31, 2024 - 11:59pm