Alex Bertacchi

I combine stable and radiogenic isotope analysis with zooarchaeology to investigate human-environment interactions in the deep past. My PhD research investigates the behavioral ecology of foragers in Malawi, with a focus on the effects of precipitation seasonality on resource availability. Outside of Malawi, I investigated human-environment interactions in Germany, Armenia, South Africa and France, and have active projects in Italy and Zambia. 

Publications:

Accepted – 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.

In review – 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.

2023 – Bertacchi, A., and Watts, D. The use of chimpanzee-modified faunal assemblages to investigate early hominin carnivory. Evolutionary Anthropology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/evan.22006

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. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-20290-2_126

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 603 (7900), 290-296. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04430-9

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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-021-00075-8

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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.04.029