MIRA Lab

(Movement, Interaction, Resilience, Adaptation)

MIRA lab focuses on early human migrations and cultural interactions in two different areas of the world: Pleistocene Europe and the Holocene Caribbean. In both instances our research is informed by human evolutionary biology and life history theory, and benefits from an expertise in archaeological practice and hunter-gatherer studies. We conduct research in the Balkans, Portugal, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Jamaica with a large team of co-applicants and collaborators. Combining diverse lines of biological evidence with a strong background in regional archaeologies enables us to offer new perspectives and maximize the potential of the fragmentary and truncated paleontological and archaeological record to inform our understanding of past human behaviour.

 
 

Publications

Roksandic, M., Radović, P., Wu, X. J., & Bae, C. J. (2021). Resolving the “muddle in the middle”: The case for Homo bodoensis sp. nov. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews.

Lindal, J. A., Radović, P., Mihailović, D., & Roksandic, M. (2020). Postcranial hominin remains from the Late Pleistocene of Pešturina Cave (Serbia). Quaternary International.

Radović, P., Lindal, J., Mihailović, D., & Roksandic, M. (2019). The first Neanderthal specimen from Serbia: maxillary first molar from the Late Pleistocene of Pešturina Cave. Journal of human evolution, 131, 139-151.

Roksandic, M., Radović, P., & Lindal, J. (2018). Revising the hypodigm of Homo heidelbergensis: A view from the Eastern Mediterranean. Quaternary International, 466, 66-81.

Harvati, K., & Roksandic, M. (Eds.). (2017). Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human Evolution and Its Context. Springer.

Roksandic, M. (2016). The role of the Central Balkans in the peopling of Europe: Paleoanthropological evidence. In Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia (pp. 15-33). Springer, Dordrecht.

Skinner, M. M., de Vries, D., Gunz, P., Kupczik, K., Klassen, R. P., Hublin, J. J., & Roksandic, M. (2016). A dental perspective on the taxonomic affinity of the Balanica mandible (BH-1). Journal of human evolution, 93, 63-81.

Radović, P., Lindal, J. A., & Roksandic, M. (2014). A re-examination of the human fossil specimen from Bački Petrovac (Serbia). HOMO, 65(4), 281-295.

Roksandic, M., Radović, P., Alex, B. A., Pavić, S., Paunović, M., & Marković, Z. (2014). Looking for hominins in Museum drawers—possible Upper Pleistocene specimens from Serbia: morphological descriptions and radiocarbon dating. Palaeolithic and mesolithic research in the Central Balkans, 7.

Rink, W. J., Mercier, N., Mihailović, D., Morley, M. W., Thompson, J. W., & Roksandic, M. (2013). New radiometric ages for the BH-1 hominin from Balanica (Serbia): implications for understanding the role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene human evolution. PLoS One, 8(2), e54608.

Roksandic, M., Mihailović, D., Mercier, N., Dimitrijević, V., Morley, M. W., Rakočević, Z., ... & Babb, J. (2011). A human mandible (BH-1) from the Pleistocene deposits of Mala Balanica cave (Sićevo Gorge, Niš, Serbia). Journal of Human Evolution, 61(2), 186-196.

 

 
The first monkey fossils from Serbia - teeth of Paradolichopithecus from Ridjake
Reconstruction of the BH-1 hominid from Mala Balanica, Serbia
Heat maps showing enamel thickness in Neanderthal and modern human teeth