Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

Giorgio MANZI
Paleoanthropologist, morphologist, science writer

S.s.d. (Italy) - Bio/08, Antropologia
S. conc. (Italy) - 05/B1, Zoologia e Antropologia
ERC panel - LS8_9, Macroevolution and paleobiology
- LS8_4, Population biology, population dynamics, population genetics
- SH6_4, Prehistory, palaeoanthropology, palaeodemography, protohistory, bioarchaeology

SAPIENZA University of Rome
Department of Evolutionary Biology
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma. Italy

Phone
(39) 06 4991 2271 (office)
(39) 06 4991 2690 (lab)

giorgio.manzi@uniroma1.it
https://sites.google.com/a/uniroma1.it/giorgio-manzi

# Personal data

Born in Rome on February 9th, 1958
Italian nationality

# Training

Classical high diploma in 1976, Liceo-ginnasio T. Tasso (Rome)
Degree with honors in Biological Sciences in A.A. 1980-1981, with thesis in Comparative Anatomy (supervisor prof. Alberto Stefanelli), Sapienza University of Rome

# Current position

Full professor of Anthropology (BIO/08) at the Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Mathematical Physical and Natural Sciences, Department of Evolutionary Biology

# University career (Sapienza University of Rome)

1984, technical agent (v level) at the Institute of Anthropology, the same year merged into the Department of Animal and Human Biology
1989, museum curator (viii level) at the Department of Animal and Human Biology
1992, university researcher at the Department of Animal and Human Biology
2001, associate professor at the Department of Animal and Human Biology and then in the new Department of Environmental Biology
2017, full professor at the Department of Environmental Biology

# Current assignments

Coordinator of the PhD Course in Enivronmental and Evolutionary Biology, Sapienza University of Rome
Vicepresident of the Associazione Antropologica Italiana (A.A.I.)
Director of the Italian paleoanthropological mission in Tanzania entitled Study and valorisation of Plio-Pleistocene paleoanthropological sites of northern Tanzania (Olduvai and Laetoli) , accredited by the Italian Foreign Ministry (M.A.E.C.I.)
Member of the Scientific Council of the School of Paleoanthropology in Perugia (Italy)
Consultant (paleoanthropology) for National Geographic Italia
Columnist for Le Scienze (Italian edition of Scientific American)

# Previous main positions

2004-2021, Director of the Museo di Antropologia 'Giuseppe Sergi', Sapienza University of Rome
2015-2018, Director of the Polo museale Sapienza (i.e., the University Museum System of the Sapienza University of Rome), second assignment
2012-2015, Director of the Polo museale Sapienza (i.e., the University Museum System of the Sapienza University of Rome), first assignment
2012-2019, Associate Editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology
1999-2006, General Secretary of the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana (Is.I.P.U.)
1991-2003, Vicesegretary of the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia (Is.It.A.) and Assistant editor of the Rivista di Antropologia (now Journal of Anthropological Sciences)

# Funding and awards

Various funding for research awarded by Sapienza University of Rome, Ministry of Education University and Research, Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Research Council.
National fellow of the Accademia delle Scienze detta dei XL, since 2013.
Capo d Orlando prize for Multimedia Communication, awarded in 2023 by the Discepolo Founfation.
Corresponding fellow of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, since 2018.
'Alfonso Susca' prize for the Diffusion of Science, awarded in 2018 by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
P.I. of a grant 'Awards' assigned by the Sapienza University of Rome in 2013 - prot. C26H13A45J.
P.I. of the project (PRIN 2015 call) 'Rediscovering Altamura: Advanced multidisciplinar investigation on the skeleton from the Lamalunga cave, Italy. The KARST project (Knowing the Altamura man Through Science and Technology) ', assigned by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) as a PRIN - prot. 2015WPHSCJ, 2017-2020.
'Lucio Colletti' prize for Scientific Journalism, awarded in 2016 by the Lucio Colletti Study Center.
Consultant for Paleoanthropology of the exhibition Homo sapiens: the great history of human diversity', Palazzo delle Esposizioni of Rome (November 2011 - April 2012) and subsequent itineraries
Member of the Commission for the study of the Neanderthal fossil frontal bone (nicknamed «Paus»), Archaeological Superintendence of Lombardy (since 2011).
Member of the committee of experts for the study and enhancement of the «Altamura Man» and the prehistoric site of Lamalunga (Altamura, Bari), Regional Directorate for Cultural and Landscape Heritage of Puglia - Superintendence ABAP for the c.m. of Bari (since 2008).
'Fabio Frassetto' prize for Physical Anthropology, awarded in 2006 by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

# Current bibliometric data (source Scopus, 2023_04)

h-index - 31
documents - 101
citations - 2.665 (by 1.747 documents)

# Research and field activities

The main research interests concern the evolution of the genus Homo (with special reference to the Middle Pleistocene) as well as the skeletal biology of ancient human populations, or bioarcheology.
Particularly, he has studied human fossil specimens between the lower Paleolithic and the Neolithic, paying attention to the earliest population of Europe in the Middle Pleistocene (particularly through the study of the fossil cranium from Ceprano), to the evolution of the Neanderthals (mainly examining fossils from Saccopastore and Monte Circeo as well as the skeleton from Altamura) and the transition from archaic to anatomically modern humans. He has also analyzed skeletal series from late prehistory and historical times, focusing on the transition from hunting-gathering strategies to food production in central Sahara (Fezzan, Libya) and to the transition from the Roman to the Early Middle Ages in Italy, dealing with both micro-evolutionary and adaptive aspects of the populations.
The methodologies he has routinely used include traditional morphological and morphometric approaches, the processing of digital data and images (e.g., by computed tomography) and geometric morphometrics; he also analyzed discrete data of phenetic and/or epigenetic interest, on the basis of an original inferential procedures (hypostotic score) aimed at an evo-devo approach.
He also has interests in the natural history of primates, in dental anthropology and in the history of physical anthropology, human paleontology and evolutionary biology.
Field activities in various sites in Italy, Libya, Spain, Jordan, South Africa, Ethiopia and Tanzania. From 2001 to 2010 he was co-director of the geo-paleontological and archaeological-prehistoric excavations in lower Paleolithic sites in the Ceprano basin (Frosinone, Italy), by concession of the Archaeological Superintendence of Lazio. Since 2016 he is the Director of the Italian paleoanthropological mission in Tanzania.
As part of this mission, he participated in the study of a new track of footprints of bipedal hominids dating back to 3.65 million years ago (Australopithecus afarensis), brought to light in 2015 at the site of Laetoli, in Tanzania: the discovery gave rise to a publication of great international impact, in which relevant considerations were also proposed on sexual dimorphism, as well as on the social structure in Australopithecus. In this context, further field activities and research projects are currently planned in agreement with the Tanzanian authorities.
Currently, he is also the leader of a new cycle of research in the karst system of Lamalunga (Altamura, Bari) and on the so-called "Altamura Man"; this research started with a first sampling of a bone fragment of the well-known Neanderthal skeleton in 2009 and the further developed of both in situ and laboratory analyses with contextual, morphological, paleogenetic and chronometric analyzes that are still in progress.
His research activity is documented by scientific papers, many of which have been published on indexed international journals, which include the following: American Journal of Human Biology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Current Anthropology, Evolutionary Anthropology, Journal of Human Evolution, Nature Communications, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Scientific Reports, The Anatomical Record, etc. It must be added than, particularly during the first decade of his scientific activity, he has published dozens of papers in non-indexed, despite peer-reviewed Italian journals (frequently in Italian). Cumulatively, therefore, his scientific production amounts to over 200 publications.
He has participated in hundreds of national and international congresses, also as invited speaker or chairperson (Johannesburg, Gibraltar, Zagreb, Tempe, Paris etc.). He organized or was member of scientific/organizing committees of congresses and symposia, including in particular Humans in the focus of our evolution (16-19 March 2005, Rome-Pofi-Ceprano, Italy); Nostro fratello Neanderthal: when we were not alone (20-22 October 2006, Circeo National Park, Sabaudia, Italy).
Furthermore, he regularly holds seminars and conferences in Italy and abroad.

# Editorial consultant/editor and reviewer

Assistant Editor della Rivista di Antropologia (Journal of Anthropological Sciences); from 1991 to 2003.
Member of the Editorial Board of the series Arid Zone Archaeology, Monographs (AZA); since 1999.
Member of the Comité de Lecture del Bulletin et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris; since 2001.
Member of the Editorial Board of the Italian Journal of Cognitive Sciences (Reti, Saperi, Linguaggi; since 2012.
Associate Editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology; from 2012 to 2019.
Member of the Editorial Board of the Rendiconti Lincei - Scienze Fisiche e Naturali (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei); since 2014.
Reviewer for various scientific journals, including: American Journal of Human Biology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Bulletin and Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris, Comptes Rendus Palevol, Current Anthropology, Journal of Anthropological Sciences (già Rivista di Antropologia), Journal of Archaeological Sciences, Journal of Human Evolution, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, etc.

# Teaching and dissemination of science

Teaching activity at the Sapienza University of Rome for over twenty years, with current courses for students of the Faculty of Mathematical Physical and Natural Sciences: Human evolution (paleoanthropology), Human ecology and natural history of the primates, Museology; for the Faculty of Medicine: Anthropology; for the Specialization School in Archaeology: Human paleontology. Member of the Teaching Staff for the PhD program in Animal Biology (1999-2010) and in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology (since 2011), of which he is currently the coordinator (since 2021), at the Sapienza University of Rome.
Tutorial assistance of countless theses in MA, MSc, PhD. Member of the Scientific Committee and lecturer for the School of Paleoanthropology at the University of Perugia, Italy (since 2011).
Author of dozens of dissemination papers (in newspapers, magazines, websites etc.); participant/curator in/of TV as well as radio programs. Guest-editor of special issues of newspapers and magazines. Several conferences and seminars in Italy; also in Spain, France, and Switzerland.
Author of popular books, published by: A) Il Mulino (Bologna) Homo sapiens (2006), L evoluzione umana (2007), Uomini e ambienti (2009, co-authored with A. Vienna), Scimmie (2011, co-authored with J. Rizzo), Il grande racconto dell evoluzione umana (2013, 2018) Ultime notizie sull evoluzione umana (2017), translated in Spanish as Últimas noticias sobre la evolución humana (Alianza Ed., 2019), L ultimo Neanderthal racconta: storie prima della Storia (2021); B) Laterza (Rome-Bari) La scienza delle nostre origini (2013, coauthored with C. Tuniz and D. Caramelli), translated in English as The Science of Human Origins (Routledge, USA, 2014); C) Espera (Monte Compatri, Rome) Sulle tracce dei nostri antenati in Italia (2017, co-authored with F. Salomone and L. Bellucci), Qualcosa di molto speciale: come e quando siamo diventati umani (2018, co-authored with F. Di Vincenzo).

# Museology e museography

Since 1982, he has been active with different roles (volunteer in 1982-1984, technician from 1984, curator from 1989, assistant of the Director from 1992, Director from 2004) within the Museum of Anthropology 'Giuseppe Sergi' of the Sapienza University of Rome.
From 2012 to 2018 (two terms) he was also the Director of the Polo museale Sapienza (the University Museum System of the Sapienza University of Rome, which includes about twenty museums).
He has also contributed to varying degrees to various exhibitions. Among the most recent are worth of mention: i) the collaboration to the concept, planning and realization of "La scimmia nuda" at the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali (April 2007 - January 2008), with following transfers; ii) the role of consultant for Paleoanthropology at the exhibition "Homo sapiens: la grande storia della diversità umana" at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome (November 2011 - April 2012), with its following transfers and the illustrated catalog (Codice, 2011); iii) the conception, the scientific consulting and the direction in setting up the exhibition "Qualcosa di molto speciale: come e quando siamo diventati umani" (in collaboration with Fabio Di Vincenzo and Rosaria Olevano), held at the Naturalistic Museum of Capranica Prenestina, Rome ( May 2018 - January 2019), with its illustrated catalog (Espera, 2018).

# Scientific publications
20 most cited papers (source: SCOPUS 3/2023)

Ascenzi, A., Mallegni, F., Manzi, G., Segre, A.G., Segre Naldini, E. (2000). A re-appraisal of Ceprano calvaria affinities with Homo erectus, after the new reconstruction. Journal of Human Evolution, 39 (4), pp. 443-450.
DOI: 10.1006/jhev.2000.0425
Citations: 66

Bastir, M., Rosas, A., Gunz, P., Peña-Melian, A., Manzi, G., Harvati, K., Kruszynski, R., Stringer, C., Hublin, J.-J. (2011). Evolution of the base of the brain in highly encephalized human species. Nature Communications, 2 (1), art. no. 588, pp. 1-8.
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1593
Citations: 105

Bruner, E., Manzi, G. (2005). CT-based description and phyletic evaluation of the archaic human calvarium from Ceprano, Italy. Anatomical Record - Part A Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology, 285 (1), pp. 643-657.
DOI: 10.1002/ar.a.20205
Citations: 44

Bruner, E., Manzi, G., Arsuaga, J.L. (2003). Encephalization and allometric trajectories in the genus Homo: Evidence from the Neandertal and modern lineages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 100 (26), pp. 15335-15340.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2536671100
Citations = 229

Bruner, E., Saracino, B., Ricci, F., Tafuri, M., Passarello, P., Manzi, G. (2004). Midsagittal cranial shape variation in the genus Homo by geometric morphometrics. Collegium Antropologicum, 28 (1), pp. 99-112.
UCD: 572.72:572.087:514
Citations: 44

Gunz, P., Tilot, A.K., Wittfeld, K., Teumer, A., Shapland, C.Y., van Erp, T.G.M., Dannemann, M., Vernot, B., Neubauer, S., Guadalupe, T., Fernández, G., Brunner, H.G., Enard, W., Fallon, J., Hosten, N., Völker, U., Profico, A., Di Vincenzo, F., Manzi, G., Kelso, J., St. Pourcain, B., Hublin, J.-J., Franke, B., Pääbo, S., Macciardi, F., Grabe, H.J., Fisher, S.E. (2019). Neandertal Introgression Sheds Light on Modern Human Endocranial Globularity. Current Biology, 29 (1), pp. 120-127.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.065
Citations: 65

Manzi, G. (2004). Human Evolution at the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary. Evolutionary Anthropology, 13 (1), pp. 11-24.
DOI: 10.1002/evan.10127
Citations: 74

Manzi, G. (2016). Humans of the Middle Pleistocene: The controversial calvarium from Ceprano (Italy) and its significance for the origin and variability of Homo heidelbergensis. Quaternary International, 411, pp. 254-261.
DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.047
Citations: 51

Manzi, G., Magri, D., Milli, S., Palombo, M.R., Margari, V., Celiberti, V., Barbieri, M., Barbieri, M., Melis, R.T., Rubini, M., Ruffo, M., Saracino, B., Tzedakis, P.C., Zarattini, A., Biddittu, I. (2010). The new chronology of the Ceprano calvarium (Italy). Journal of Human Evolution, 59 (5), pp. 580-585.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.06.010
Citations: 69

Manzi, G., Magri, D., Palombo, M.R. (2011). Early-Middle Pleistocene environmental changes and human evolution in the Italian peninsula. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30 (11-12), pp. 1420-1438.
DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.05.034
Citations: 72

Manzi, G., Mallegni, F., Ascenzi, A. (2001). A cranium for the earliest Europeans: Phylogenetic position of the hominid from Ceprano, Italy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 98 (17), pp. 10011-10016.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.151259998
Citations: 104

Manzi, G., Salvadei, L., Vienna, A., Passarello, P. (1999). Discontinuity of life conditions at the transition from the roman imperial age to the early middle ages: Example from central Italy evaluated by pathological dento-alveolar lesions. American Journal of Human Biology, 11 (3), pp. 327-341.
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6300(1999)11:33.0.CO;2-M
Citations: 67

Martinón-Torres, M., Bermúdez De Castro, J.M., Gómez-Robles, A., Arsuaga, J.L., Carbonell, E., Lordkipanidze, D., Manzi, G., Margvelashvili, A. (2007). Dental evidence on the hominin dispersals during the Pleistocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 104 (33), pp. 13279-13282.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0706152104
Citations: 173

Masao, F.T., Ichumbaki, E.B., Cherin, M., Barili, A., Boschian, G., Iurino, D.A., Menconero, S., Moggi-Cecchi, J., Manzi, G. (2016). New footprints from laetoli (Tanzania) provide evidence for marked body size variation in early hominins. eLife, 5 (Dec. 2016), art. no. e19568, pp. 1-29.
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.19568
Citations: 76

Mounier, A., Condemi, S., Manzi, G. (2011). The stem species of our species: A place for the archaic human cranium from ceprano, Italy. PLoS ONE, 6 (4), art. no. e18821, pp. 1-11.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018821
Citations: 40

Muttoni, G., Scardia, G., Kent, D.V., Swisher, C.C., Manzi, G. (2009). Pleistocene magnetochronology of early hominin sites at Ceprano and Fontana Ranuccio, Italy. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 286 (1-2), pp. 255-268.
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.06.032
Citations: 76

Peretto, C., Arnaud, J., Moggi-Cecchi, J., Manzi, G., Nomade, S., Pereira, A., Falguères, C., Bahain, J.-J., Grimaud-Hervé, D., Berto, C., Sala, B., Lembo, G., Muttillo, B., Gallotti, R., Hohenstein, U.T., Vaccaro, C., Coltorti, M., Arzarello, M. (2015). A human deciduous tooth and new 40Ar/39Ar dating results from the Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Isernia La pineta, southern Italy. PLoS ONE, 10 (10), art. no. e0140091, pp. 1-19.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140091
Citations: 53

Salvadei, L., Ricci, F., Manzi, G. (2001). Porotic hyperostosis as a marker of health and nutritional conditions during childhood: Studies at the transition between imperial Rome and the early middle ages. American Journal of Human Biology, 13 (6), pp. 709-717.
DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.1115
Citations: 61

Schlager, S., Profico, A., Vincenzo, F.D., Manzi, G. (2018). Retrodeformation of fossil specimens based on 3D bilateral semi-landmarks: Implementation in the R package Morpho . PLoS ONE, 13 (3), art. no. e0194073, pp. 1-19.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194073
Citations: 42

Tafuri, M.A., Bentley, R.A., Manzi, G., di Lernia, S. (2006). Mobility and kinship in the prehistoric Sahara: Strontium isotope analysis of Holocene human skeletons from the Acacus Mts. (southwestern Libya). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 25 (3), pp. 390-402.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2006.01.002
Citations: 85