Dr. Greta Brancaleoni is an early-career researcher at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. Her primary research interests focus on reconstructing site formation histories at archaeological sites in Central Asia and Central Europe, as well as exploring the interactions between humans and their surrounding environments.
As part of the GACT visiting research program, Greta is studying dung-rich deposits, including a fumier site known as Surungur rockshelter in Kyrgyzstan and a coprolite-rich deposit in Bisnik Cave, Poland. To reconstruct and understand the site formation histories, ecological dynamics, and interactions between humans, animals, and the environment, she employs micromorphology and microstratigraphy, alongside micro-analytical methods such as micro-XRF and micro-FTIR, and advanced molecular methodologies for ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis. Her research is conducted under the supervision of Dr. Susan M. Mentzer and Prof. Cosimo Posth.