Julia Aramendi has a BA degree in Archaeology from the Complutense University of Madrid (2010-2014). She received a scholarship from La Caixa for postgraduate studies abroad to perform the MSc of Human Anatomy and Evolution (2014-2015) at the University of York (United Kingdom). Then, she received a FPU grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (2016-2021) to investigate the biomechanics of the long bones of some of the African hominin species through the use of three-dimensional models, and the application of geometric morphometrics and machine learning techniques. Since 2012, she has participated in the excavations carried out in Olduvai under the direction of TOPPP (The Olduvai Palaeoanthropology and Paleoecology Project), as well as in the subsequent study of the archaeological materials. She has collaborated in teaching in the Department of Prehistory of the Complutense University and the Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA). Since 2015, she has participated in a project aimed at the application of virtual reconstruction techniques and geometric morphometrics to the study of taphonomic marks. During her academic training she has made several research stays including a year of study in Mainz (Germany), and short stays in Toulouse, Poitiers (France) and York (United Kingdom). She has also participated in the archaeological campaigns of Pinilla del Valle (Madrid) and Cuesta de la Bajada (Teruel). She worked as a research assistant for the classification of the faunal material found at the Neanderthal site of Neukmard-Nord 2 during her stay in Germany. During the past years she has contributed to several Archaeology and Human Evolution conference sessions. Her research is reflected in several publications in high-impact journals.

Research interests:

• Taphonomy
• Human evolution
• Application of geometric morphometrics (GMM) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to the study of hominin biomechanics and behavioural patterns.