Marcello A. Mannino appointed Professor of Archaeological Science
Marcello A. Mannino will take up his position as Professor of Archaeological Science at Aarhus University on 1 September 2026. In his professorship, he will continue his research into the history of human diet and contribute to the further integration of scientific methods into archaeology.
What did people eat in the past, and what can their diets tell us about human history? These questions are central to Marcello A. Mannino’s research.
As Professor of Archaeological Science, he will continue his work on reconstructing the history of human diet, with a particular focus on the Holocene, the period following the last Ice Age. His research will also contribute to methodological developments in fields including palaeoecology, zooarchaeology and biomolecular archaeology.
The aim is to further integrate science into archaeology, both in southern Scandinavia and internationally.
– I see our evolution and history as a succession of dietary experiments that allowed us to become who we are. We only spread globally once we learnt to subsist on whatever was available locally, says Marcello A. Mannino.
From hunter-gatherers to the first farmers
Marcello A. Mannino’s interest in human diet and ways of life began when he was a student and continued during his PhD research. At the time, he was interested in understanding the lifeways of past hunter-gatherers.
His initial focus was on hunter-gatherer adaptations to coastal environments. In this context, he developed methods for studying the shells of marine molluscs discarded after human consumption. These analyses make it possible to reconstruct the seasons in which shellfish were collected, the mobility of hunter-gatherers and past sea surface temperatures.
– Humans have subsisted for most of their time on Earth by hunting and gathering. By investigating how people in prehistory obtained their food and survived, we can gain a deeper understanding of who we are as a species and of our world more generally
Marcello A. Mannino
Marcello A. Mannino later developed expertise in isotope analyses of bone collagen. This method can be used to reconstruct the diets of Europe’s last hunter-gatherers and first farmers. Such investigations can contribute to a better understanding of the transition to farming, which represents a key stage in human history.
The relevance of past diets today
According to Marcello A. Mannino, knowledge of past diets is relevant to wider society for several reasons. Developments in human dietary habits paralleled changes in past cultures and societies while also helping to shape them and the environments in which humans settled.
– Today, we are often environmentally disconnected from the food that is produced for us. We also tend to forget the cultural importance of diet and that food is not merely a means of obtaining essential nutrition. Knowing what our ancestors ate can inspire our understanding of what constitutes human food and inform our decisions as we seek environmentally and humanly sustainable solutions, says Marcello A. Mannino.
Following his initial employment at Aarhus University, Marcello A. Mannino established the Moesgaard Archaeo-Science Laboratory (https://cas.au.dk/en/archaeo-science). The laboratory is an all-purpose facility for processing and sorting archaeological finds and for preparing samples for various scientific analyses. Much of the work conducted in the laboratory has aimed to investigate the dietary history of Denmark, Scandinavia and beyond.
Inaugural lecture
Marcello A. Mannino will give his inaugural lecture on 9 October 2026 at 13:00 in the auditorium at Moesgaard Museum. The title of the lecture is Through the lens of diet: The archaeology of food as a key to unlock human history.
Contact
Marcello A. Mannino, professor
Department of Archeology and Heritage
School of Culture and Society
Aarhus University
Mail: marcello.mannino@cas.au.dk