NATIONALITY: Italian
ORCID CODE: ORG/0000-0002-2406-3132
EMAIL: sahra.talamo@unibo.it
WEBSITES
https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/sahra.talamo/
https://site.unibo.it/resolution-erc/en
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH METRICS
Total of 143 articles in peer-reviewed journals:
H-index: 51 (GS 21.07.2025) Total number of citations: GS: 31,376
Total list of publications can be found at:
1) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sahra_Talamo
2) https://scholar.google.it/citations?hl=it&user=vsrgBP0AAAAJ
EDUCATION
Graduated in Natural Sciences at the University of Milan; Title: "Le datazioni 14C: Datazioni tradizionali e tecniche di wiggle-matching applicate a Settmenti preistorici dell'area Padana" Supervisors: Leone Fasani & Bernd Kromer in 2002.
PhD in Archaeology at Leiden University / MPI-EVA; Title: "Refining 14C dating of bone >30,000 BP: Establishing an accurate chronology for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in France" Supervisors: Mike Richards & Jean-Jacques Hublin in 2012.
ACADEMIC CAREER
After several years of contract research (from 2007 to 2019) for the Academy of Sciences in Heidelberg, Germany, to reconstruct the calibration curve up to 14,000 years BP, she becomes in 2012 Researcher at the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany. In June 2019 Full Professor at the University of Bologna in the Department of Chemistry G. CIAMICIAN.
TEACHING ACTIVITY
Since 2020 carries out with continuity teaching activity for the course of BIOLOGY FOR BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE Master Degree in Science for the conservation - restoration of cultural heritage
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY
In 2018, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant for the project RESOLUTION, which introduced the interdisciplinary framework known as Radiocarbon 3.0. This approach combines data from glacial subfossil trees, non-invasive Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR), and climate modeling to significantly improve the resolution of radiocarbon dates. The method has had a direct impact on our ability to chronologically constrain key events in human prehistory, such as the interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
She is currently Principal Investigator of the FARE project EURHOPE (2022–2025), which supports the use of portable NIR-imaging technology for on-site sample selection and the development of new methods to date very small collagen samples from fossil human remains. She is also Co-Principal Investigator of the PRIN project DYNASTY (2022–2025), which focuses on chronological modeling and paleoclimatic reconstructions of Neanderthal sites in Central Europe.
Talamo is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific publications. She has been a contributing member of the international INTCAL working group, helping to establish the IntCal04, IntCal09, and IntCal20 calibration curves—key references in radiocarbon science. She is considered one of Europe’s leading experts in bridging radiocarbon chronology with archaeological and paleoenvironmental datasets.
She regularly reviews grant proposals and scientific papers for international and national funding bodies and journals in the fields of radiometric dating, prehistoric archaeology, and human evolution. These include Nature, PNAS, Scientific Reports, Radiocarbon, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Human Evolution, Quaternary International, PLOS ONE, Heliyon, STAR, and Anthropologica et Praehistorica.
She supervised the doctoral research of H. Fewlass (2015–2019, MPI-EVA Leipzig), whose work on micro-sample bone dating using the MICADAS gas interface earned her the prestigious Otto-Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society. Since 2019, Talamo has supervised multiple PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Bologna, including Silvia Cercatillo (defended in 2023), Denisa Paleček (defended in 2024), and currently Nicole Casaccia, whose research focuses on non-invasive detection of collagen in archaeological bones and fossil wood.
In 2024, she published the popular science book Misurare la storia (Measuring History, Raffaello Cortina Editore), which narrates the scientific and personal journey behind the RESOLUTION project. The book was a finalist for the Italian “Science Book of the Year” award and has received wide attention from both the academic community and the general public.
INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Since 2021, she has been the Director of the BRAVHO Laboratory (Bologna Radiocarbon Laboratory for Human Evolution), based at the Department of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna.
Since 2020, she has been a member of the Academic Board of the PhD program FRONTIERS – The Future of the Earth, Climate Change and Social Challenges, at the University of Bologna.
She is also a member of the International Committee of the Department of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, where she contributes to the advancement of international scientific collaborations and interdisciplinary research initiatives.
MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES
She is an active member of the INTCAL international network for the calibration of radiocarbon curves.
She maintains long-term collaborations with numerous international research institutions, including ETH-Zurich, CNRS (France), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Germany), the University of Cambridge, the University of Vienna, and the University of Tübingen.
AWARDS/HONORS
In 2024, she was selected among the “70 Women of the Year” by Corriere della Sera, Italy’s most prominent newspaper, which each year highlights women who have made a significant impact in science, culture, society, and public life. The recognition celebrated her contributions to scientific research, interdisciplinary innovation, and public engagement through her ERC-funded work and outreach activities.
PARTICIPATION TO CONGRESSES
Participation in several International Congresses:
ESHE European Society for the study of Human Evolution, EGU European Geosciences Union; General Assembly, Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft, International Radiocarbon Conference, ESF (European Science Foundation), SCIEM 2000, Archaeology and radiocarbon conference, Radiocarbon and Diet, Paleoanthropology Society, SAA Society for American Archaeology, 1839èmes journées scientifiques de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology (ISBA)
INVITED LECTURES
2019 RESOLUTION: the drama between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. European Forum for Science, Research and Innovation, Dresden
2017 Did Neanderthals meet Anatomically Modern Human? The Sun and Radiocarbon will tell. Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen
2017 La datazione dei resti umani del Riparo Mezzena. Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona, Italy
2017 Neanderthal met Modern Human. The Radiocarbon prospective. The University of Tübingen, Germany
2016 Did Neanderthals meet Anatomically Modern Human? Radiocarbon vis-a-vis Rolex clock. ETH Zurich.
2016 The radiocarbon approach to Neanderthals in a carnivore den site. A well-defined chronology for Teixoneres cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain). IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.
2014 The integrity of the Grotte du Renne (Arcy-sur-Cure, France) Châtelperronian sequence. A radiometric perspective. Amphithéâtre de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris.
2012 Neanderthals Re-evaluation. Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University.
2012 Comparison of Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition sites in Central France. An accurate chronology. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
2011- Sampling missions for 14C dating around Europe at various archaeological sites.
2008-2009 Sampling missions for 14C dating and excavation at the Site of Le Cottés for my PhD thesis.
2004-2007 Sampling missions for 14C dating in France, Italy, Rumania, and Hungary during ESF Project of Euroclimate to extend the radiocarbon calibration by tree rings and to study climate event in the Late Glacial
2003 Sampling missions for 14C dating in Peru to establish a radiocarbon chronology of Nasca sites
1996-1998 1) Field work at Castellaro Lagusello, Verona, Italy: Director, Leone Fasani. 2) Field work at Grotte du Lazaret, Nice, France: Director, Henry De Lumley
