Sahra Talamo

I am Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of Bologna and Director of BRAVHO, the Bologna Radiocarbon Laboratory devoted to Human Evolution. My book Misurare la storia. La nuova linea del tempo dell’evoluzione umana, published by Raffaello Cortina Editore, brings to a wider audience the story of how radiocarbon, ancient bones, glacial trees and new technologies allow us to reconstruct the deep history of humanity with increasing precision. My research combines chemistry, archaeology, climatology and dendrochronology to understand key events in human evolution, from the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe to the disappearance of the Neanderthals. I was PI of the ERC RESOLUTION project, which led to the Radiocarbon 3.0 approach, and I now lead the FIS 3 STRONG project, aimed at improving the radiocarbon calibration curve through glacial trees, isotopes and climate records. To me, time is not just a measurement, it is a thread that connects us all.