Cosimo Posth

Cosimo Posth is a Junior Professor for Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics at the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment. His research focuses on reconstructing human genetic history through ancient DNA analysis, particularly examining interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals, as well as post-Ice Age population dynamics in Europe. He holds a PhD from Eberhard Karls University (2016) and led the Human Paleogenomics group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (2019–2020).

Education:

• PhD in Archaeological Sciences (2016), University of Tübingen
• M.Sc. in Anthropological Sciences (2012), University of Florence
• Bachelor in Natural Sciences (2010), University of Florence
• Chemistry Diploma (2006), T.I.S. Tullio Buzzi

Research Interests: Genetic reconstruction of human dispersal, archaic hominin admixture, ancient population dynamics, and the integration of archaeological and genomic data. Notable contributions include demonstrating Neanderthal-modern human admixture >200,000 years ago and analyzing Ice Age European hunter-gatherer populations.

Publications: Recent work spans genomic studies of prehistoric populations in Colombia, Papua New Guinea, and the Caucasus, with a focus on migration patterns and genetic continuity. Key themes include methodological advancements in ancient DNA analysis and interdisciplinary approaches to human evolution.

Awards/Grants: No explicit awards listed, though his research has been supported by institutional affiliations and international collaborations.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Archaeo- and Paleogenetics group at Tübingen, collaborating with the Max Planck Institute and other international institutions on projects like the genomic history of the Andes and Mediterranean populations.