Karakostis, Alexandros-Fotios
Function: Junior Research Group Leader & Permanent Lecturer
Address:
Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen
Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Abt. Paläoanthropologie
Rümelinstr. 23
D-72070 Tübingen
Room 604, Hauptgebäude, 3. OG
+49-(0)7071-29-74070
alexandros.karakostis@uni-tuebingen.de
Consulting hours:
by arrangement
About
Dr. Alexandros Karakostis is a Paleoanthropologist specializing in biomechanics, functional morphology, the evolution of the human hand, and forensic anthropology. He has created and experimentally validated the novel "Validated Entheses-based Reconstruction of Activity" ("V.E.R.A.") method for reconstructing physical activity in the past. The recent application of his methods to the fossil record have provided new insights into the evolution of manual behavior and dexterity. Currently, he is the Leader of the Junior Research Group "Co-evolution of Tool Use and Language" (see website link below).
Academic and Professional Trajectory
2021 – 2025
Leader of the Junior Research Group “Co-evolution of Tool Use and Language”
DFG Center “Words, Bones, Genes, Tools”, University of Tübingen
Since 2021
Permanent Lecturer / Researcher
Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen
2021 – 2024
Regular Board Member of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (E.S.H.E.)
2018 – 2021
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment
2018
Ph.D. in Paleoanthropology
University of Tübingen
Selected recent publications
Validated Entheses-based Reconstruction of Activity (V.E.R.A):
Karakostis, F. A.*, Lorenzo, C. (2016). Morphometric patterns among the 3D surface areas of human hand entheses. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 160, 694–707.
Karakostis, F. A*. and Harvati, K.*. (2021). New horizons in reconstructing past human behavior: Introducing the “Tübingen University Validated Entheses‐based Reconstruction of Activity” method. Evolutionary Anthropology, 30, 185–198.
Karakostis, F. A.*, Hotz, G., Scherf, H., Wahl, J., Harvati, K. (2017). Occupational manual activity is reflected on the patterns among hand entheses. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 164, 30–40.
Karakostis, F. A.*, Jeffery, N. Harvati, K. (2019). Experimental proof that multivariate patterns among muscle attachments (entheses) can reflect repetitive muscle use. Scientific Reports, 9, 16577.
Karakostis, F. A., Hotz, G., Tourloukis, V., Harvati, K.* (2018). Evidence of precision grasping in Neandertal daily activities. Science Advances, 4, eaat2369.