Timothy Canessa

Contact

I am a doctoral candidate at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. Prior to commencing my PhD, I obtained a BA in Anthropology and Archaeology from Durham University (2018) and an MPhil in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge (2019). In between my MPhil degree and move to Vienna I primarily worked in non-profit organisations relevant to the environment and heritage. In my capacity as an archaeologist, I have worked on cultural heritage projects and excavated Palaeolithic sites in Austria (Grub-Kranawetberg II) and Gibraltar (Gorham’s Cave Complex), the latter of which I have been involved in for a decade.

Research interests: Palaeolithic Archaeology, Lithic Technology, Mobility and Settlement Organisation, Site Formation Processes, Archaeological Theory

Current research project: The Early Upper Palaeolithic of the Iberian Peninsula (working title)
My research project aims to understand the idiosyncratic pattern of modern human settlement in the Iberian Peninsula through the lithic artefact assemblages attributed to the Early Upper Palaeolithic. I am interested in the relationship between, on the one hand, mobility and lithic technological strategies and, on the other hand, the character and composition of these lithic artefact assemblages. I want to know whether this relationship can help us understand the archaeological signature of early modern human dispersals and settlement in this region. As a corollary of this, I am particularly interested in exploring whether expedient technology was a feature of human occupation during this time and if this has any bearing on the “indeterminate” nature of some Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages.

Publications:

(2021) Mobility and settlement strategies in southern Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum: Evaluating the region’s refugium status. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 37, p. 102966