Archaeologist
I am a Paleolithic archaeologist whose research focuses on zooarchaeology, taphonomy, forensic anthropology, and human cannibalism. My work examines past human behavior, with particular emphasis on the evolution of subsistence strategies and the tactics and techniques used by ancient foragers to hunt a wide range of prey. I also investigate broader human–animal interactions and the processes involved in the formation of faunal assemblages. I am currently a Ramón y Cajal Researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), based at the Institute of Archaeology of Mérida.
I was born in Mérida, Spain, the ancient capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. Growing up amid such extraordinary historical and archaeological heritage shaped my childhood in unexpected ways. At the age of eight, I read a remarkable book, The New History of Adam and Eve: The Origin and Development of Humankind, which explained human evolution through striking images of hominin fossils, evocative African landscapes, and bizarre explorers. That book captivated me completely, and from that moment on, I knew I wanted to devote my life to the study of human evolution.Several decades later, I am a Paleolithic archaeologist with research interests in taphonomy, zooarchaeology, and forensic anthropology. My primary focus is the Sierra de Atapuerca sites (Spain), where I have developed the core of my research. I also work in eastern Morocco (Ain Bni Mathar–Guefait Basin) and have conducted fieldwork and research at key international sites such as Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), Folsom site (USA) and Dmanisi (Georgia), as well as at outstanding Iberian localities including Maltravieso Cave and El Castillo Cave.I earned my Ph.D. from Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona, Spain) and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), where I focused on the faunal remains from Gran Dolina (Atapuerca). I further broadened my training through research stays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. My dissertation received two awards, one from my home university and another from the University of Tübingen (Germany). I later worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid (2017–2021), in the Department of Prehistory founded by Hugo Obermaier in 1922, and subsequently at IPHES-CERCA and the University of Seville. I now work at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), at its Institute of Archaeology in my hometown of Mérida, Spain.As an archaeologist, I have worked across an unusually broad chronological range, from 2-million-year-old contexts to the mass graves of the Spanish Civil War. I have collaborated with archaeological consultancy firms on major infrastructure projects and have served as a consultant for the Spanish government. Despite this diversity of experience, my focus remains the study of human evolution and the communication of scientific knowledge to the public.I currently serve as Associate Editor of the Journal of Human Evolution (Elsevier) and Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology (Frontiers), and as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the archeological book series Mytra: Trabajos y Memorias de Arqueología.
My projects are structured around two complementary themes: prehistory and zooarchaeology, which at times develop independently and at others intersect.
Visual traces of places, contexts, objects, and bones from past and present journeys.