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Earth Science
Greece
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Earth Science

D-Index
49
Citations
8585
World Ranking
3619
National Ranking
4

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Earth Science in Greece Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Earth Science in Greece Leader Award
  • 2018 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2017 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Overview

Panagiotis Karkanas is affiliated with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in Greece. Their research spans various disciplines, primarily focusing on areas related to archaeology, paleontology, and environmental studies within ancient contexts.

The scientist's main fields of study include Earth and Planetary Sciences, Arts and Humanities, and Social Sciences. Within these fields, key subfields of expertise cover Archaeology, Paleontology, Anthropology, Atmospheric Science, and Genetics.

The central topics addressed in Panagiotis Karkanas's work include:

  • Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
  • Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
  • Forensic and Genetic Research
  • Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
  • Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History

They have published extensively in several journals, with frequent contributions to:

  • Quaternary Research
  • Science
  • Journal of Archaeological Science
  • Geoarchaeology
  • Quaternary

Notable recent papers include:

  • "The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe," 2022, Science
  • "A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia," 2022, Science
  • "Ancient DNA reveals admixture history and endogamy in the prehistoric Aegean," 2023, Nature Ecology & Evolution
  • "All about wood ash: Long term fire experiments reveal unknown aspects of the formation and preservation of ash with critical implications on the emergence and use of fire in the past," 2021, Journal of Archaeological Science
  • "Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia," 2022, Science

The scientist has also produced book publications, including a volume titled The Destruction of Cities in the Ancient Greek World published by Cambridge University Press in 2021.

Collaborative work features frequent coauthors such as:

  • Vangelis Tourloukis
  • Katerina Harvati
  • Eleni Panagopoulou
  • Anagnostis P. Agelarakis
  • Michael L. Galaty

Panagiotis Karkanas has been recognized with several awards, including election as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2018) and as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017).

Best Publications

  • Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene

    Curtis W. Marean;Miryam Bar-Matthews;Jocelyn Bernatchez;Erich Fisher

  • Evidence for habitual use of fire at the end of the Lower Paleolithic: site-formation processes at Qesem Cave, Israel.

    Panagiotis Karkanas;Ruth Shahack-Gross;Avner Ayalon;Mira Bar-Matthews

  • An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa

    Kyle S. Brown;Kyle S. Brown;Curtis W. Marean;Zenobia Jacobs;Benjamin J. Schoville

  • Diagenesis in Prehistoric Caves: the Use of Minerals that Form In Situ to Assess the Completeness of the Archaeological Record

    Panagiotis Karkanas;Ofer Bar-Yosef;Paul Goldberg;Steve Weiner

  • Apidima Cave fossils provide earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Eurasia

    K Harvati;C Roding;AM Bosman;FA Karakostis

  • Bat guano and preservation of archaeological remains in cave sites

    Ruth Shahack-Gross;Francesco Berna;Panagiotis Karkanas;Steve Weiner

  • A high resolution and continuous isotopic speleothem record of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment from 90 to 53 ka from Pinnacle Point on the south coast of South Africa

    Miryam Bar-Matthews;Curtis W. Marean;Zenobia Jacobs;Panagiotis Karkanas

  • Evidence for the repeated use of a central hearth at Middle Pleistocene (300 ky ago) Qesem Cave, Israel

    R. Shahack-Gross;F. Berna;P. Karkanas;C. Lemorini

  • Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards

    John Lowe;Nick Barton;Simon Blockley;Christopher Bronk Ramsey

  • Strontium isotope evidence of Neanderthal mobility at the site of Lakonis, Greece using laser-ablation PIMMS

    Michael P. Richards;Katerina Harvati;Vaughan Grimes;Colin I. Smith

  • Ash Bones and Guano: a Study of the Minerals and Phytoliths in the Sediments of Grotte XVI, Dordogne, France

    Panagiotis Karkanas;Jean-Philippe Rigaud;Jan F. Simek;Rosa Maria Albert

  • The chronology of the late Lower Paleolithic in the Levant based on U–Th ages of speleothems from Qesem Cave, Israel

    A. Gopher;A. Ayalon;M. Bar-Matthews;R. Barkai

  • Melting ice sheets 400,000 yr ago raised sea level by 13 m: Past analogue for future trends

    David L. Roberts;Panagiotis Karkanas;Zenobia Jacobs;Curtis W. Marean

  • Identification of lime plaster in prehistory using petrographic methods: A review and reconsideration of the data on the basis of experimental and case studies

    Panagiotis Karkanas

  • Mineral Assemblages in Theopetra, Greece: A Framework for Understanding Diagenesis in a Prehistoric Cave

    Panagiotis Karkanas;Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika;Ofer Bar-Yosef;Steve Weiner

  • Dating Palaeolithic sites in southwestern Crete, Greece

    Thomas F. Strasser;Curtis Runnels;Karl Wegmann;Eleni Panagopoulou

  • On the chronology of the Uluzzian.

    Katerina Douka;Thomas F.G. Higham;Rachel Wood;Rachel Wood;Paolo Boscato

  • The stratigraphy of the Middle Stone Age sediments at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa).

    Curtis W Marean;Miryam Bar-Matthews;Erich C Fisher;Paul Goldberg

  • First Neanderthal remains from Greece: the evidence from Lakonis.

    Katerina Harvati;Eleni Panagopoulou;Panagiotis Karkanas

  • Site Formation Processes in Theopetra Cave: A Record of Climatic Change during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in Thessaly, Greece

    Panagiotis Karkanas

  • Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago

    Eugene I Smith;Zenobia Jacobs;Racheal Johnsen;Minghua Ren

Frequent Co-Authors

Katerina Harvati
Katerina Harvati University of Tübingen
Curtis W. Marean
Curtis W. Marean Arizona State University
Zenobia Jacobs
Zenobia Jacobs University of Wollongong
Miryam Bar-Matthews
Miryam Bar-Matthews Geological Survey of Israel
Paul Goldberg
Paul Goldberg Boston University
Ran Barkai
Ran Barkai Tel Aviv University
Avi Gopher
Avi Gopher Tel Aviv University
Francesco Berna
Francesco Berna Simon Fraser University
Avner Ayalon
Avner Ayalon Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Andy I.R. Herries
Andy I.R. Herries La Trobe University

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