Carlos Lorenzo Merino

Professor of Prehistory at the Rovira i Virgili University of Tarragona, coordinator of the "Master in Quaternary Archaeology and Human Evolution" and the Doctoral Program in Quaternary and Prehistory. Associate Research of the Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). He has been part of the research team of the Sierra de Atapuerca sites since 1990 and since then he has participated continuously in the excavation and research work on these sites.
Doctor at Complutense University of Madrid and Degree in Geography and History from the University of Barcelona. He has been a collaborator of the Department of Palaeontology of the Complutense University, a CSIC research fellow, a scholarship of the "Residencia de Estudiantes" in Madrid and has carried out several research stays abroad, among others at the Cleveland Natural History Museum and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
His research focuses on the anatomical and evolutionary study of human fossils, mainly of the postcranial skeleton. In his doctoral thesis, supervised by Juan Luis Arsuaga, he studied the evolution of hand in the hominids, including the remains found in the Sierra de Atapuerca. Other research topics are the evolution of sexual dimorphism in hominids, their ethological and sociobiological implications, and the application of three-dimensional techniques for the study of human remains.

RESEARCH LINES:

Human evolution, paleoanthropology, evolution of the hand, the human fossils of the Sierra de Atapuerca, applied statistics and numerical methods of analysis, sexual dimorphism of hominids, application of 3D methodologies in the study of human fossils.                           

UNIVERSITY RESEARCH:

Author of more than 150 publications, including 80 articles in scientific journals with impact factor, both multicisciplinary as Nature, Science and PNAS, or more specific to the field of human evolution, such as Journal of Human Evolution and American Journal of Biological Anthropology. He has made more than 130 contributions to national and international conferences and 50 conferences. He received the Research Award ICREA Acadèmia in 2022. Guaranteed Researcher of the María de Maeztu Excellence Unit at the IPHES.

He taught courses in the field of Prehistory and Human Evolution in the master's degree in Quaternary Archaeology and Human Evolution and the degree in Anthropology and Human Evolution. Director of 7 doctoral theses and more than 35 Final Degree and Master's Degree Projects. He has participated in 3 projects of teaching innovation and principal investigator of a teaching research project related to the application of 3D printers to teaching.

Responsible of the Master's Degree in Quaternary Archaeology and Human Evolution (Erasmus Mundus) and the Doctoral Programme in Quaternary and Prehistory.

C.1. Publications

• Arlegi, M., Pablos, A. & Lorenzo, C. (2025). Deciphering the correlated evolutionary responses of the hands and feet in modern humans. Journal of Human Evolution 207: 103745.
• Buzi, C., Profico, A., Lorenzo, C. & Manzi, G. (2025). The first preserved nasal cavity in the human fossil record: The Neanderthal from Altamura. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122: e2426309122.
• Arlegi, M. & Lorenzo, C. (2024). Evolutionary selection and morphological integration in the hand of modern humans. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 185: e25024.
• Arsuaga, J.L., Martínez, I., Quam, R., Carretero, J.M., Lorenzo, C. & Editors, G. (2024). Special Issue: Human Fossils from the Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain). Forty Years of Discoveries and Research. The Anatomical Record 307: 2217-2707.
• Bucchi, A., Püschel, T.A. & Lorenzo, C. (2023). Modularity of the wrist in extant hominines. Anthropol Anz 80: 1-12.
• Bucchi, A., Püschel, T.A., Lorenzo, C. & Marcé-Nogué, J. (2020). Finite element analysis of the proximal phalanx of the thumb in Hominoidea during simulated stone tool use. Comptes Rendus Palevol 19: 26-39.
• Cabestrero-Rincón, M., Balzeau, A. & Lorenzo, C. (2018). Differential evolution of cerebral and cerebellar fossae in recent Homo: A new methodological approach. HOMO 69: 289-303.
• Conde-Valverde, M., Martínez, I., Quam, R.M., Bonmatí, A., Lorenzo, C., Velez, A.D., Martínez-Calvo, C. & Arsuaga, J.L. (2019). The cochlea of the Sima de los Huesos hominins (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): New insights into cochlear evolution in the genus Homo. Journal of Human Evolution 136: 102641.
• Conde-Valverde, M., Martínez, I., Quam, R.M., Rosa, M., Velez, A.D., Lorenzo, C., Jarabo, P., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Carbonell, E. & Arsuaga, J.L. (2021). Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had similar auditory and speech capacities. Nature Ecology & Evolution 5: 609-615.
• Del Bove, A., Menéndez, L., Manzi, G., Moggi-Cecchi, J., Lorenzo, C. & Profico, A. (2023). Mapping sexual dimorphism signal in the human cranium. Scientific Reports 13: 16847.
• Del Bove, A., Profico, A., Riga, A., Bucchi, A. & Lorenzo, C. (2020). A geometric morphometric approach to the study of sexual dimorphism in the modern human frontal bone. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 173: 643-654.
• Hershkovitz, I., Weber, G.W., Quam, R., Duval, M., Grün, R., Kinsley, L., Ayalon, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Valladas, H., Mercier, N., Arsuaga, J.L., Martinón-Torres, M., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Fornai, C., Martín-Francés, L., Sarig, R., May, H., Krenn, V.A., Slon, V., Rodríguez, L., García, R., Lorenzo, C., Carretero, J.M., Frumkin, A., Shahack-Gross, R., Bar-Yosef Mayer, D.E., Cui, Y., Wu, X., Peled, N., Groman-Yaroslavski, I., Weissbrod, L., Yeshurun, R., Tsatskin, A., Zaidner, Y. & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2018). The earliest modern humans outside Africa. Science 359: 456-459.
• Karakostis, F.A. & Lorenzo, C. (2016). Morphometric patterns among the 3D surface areas of human hand entheses. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 160: 694-707.
• Lorenzo, C. (2015). The hand of the Neandertals: dexterous or handicapped? Journal of Anthropological Sciences 93: 181-183.
• Lorenzo, C. (2022). Los homininos de Atapuerca: caracterización y genética. Desperta Ferro. Arqueología e Historia 45: 16-21.
• Lorenzo, C., Pablos, A., Carretero, J.M., Huguet, R., Valverdú, J., Martinón-Torres, M., Arsuaga, J.L., Carbonell, E. & Bermúdez de Castro, J.M. (2015). Early Pleistocene human hand phalanx from the Sima del Elefante (TE) cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain). Journal of Human Evolution 78: 114-121.
• Montiel, G. & Lorenzo, C. (2023). A New Virtual Reconstruction of the Ndutu Cranium. Heritage 6: 2822-2850.
• Quam, R., Lorenzo, C., Martínez, I., Gracia-Téllez, A. & Arsuaga, J.L. (2016). The bony labyrinth of the middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution 90: 1-15.
• Quam, R., Martínez, I., Rosa, M., Bonmatí, A., Lorenzo, C., de Ruiter, D.J., Moggi-Cecchi, J., Conde Valverde, M., Jarabo, P., Menter, C.G., Thackeray, J.F. & Arsuaga, J.L. (2015). Early hominin auditory capacities. Science Advances 1: 1-12.

C.2. Projects

• "AGR-Fundacion Privada Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social".  Unidades de excelencia María de Maeztu, Entidad financiadora: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigación. IPHES, desde 2025 a 2029. IP: Marina Mosquera.
• "Pleistoceno y Holoceno del complejo kárstico de Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo de la Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, España". Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, nº PID2024-156477NB-C33. Desde 2025 a 2028. IP: José Miguel Carretero, Ignacio Martínez.
• "Comportamiento ecosocial de los homínidos de la Sierra de Atapuerca durante el Cuaternario VI". Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, nº PID2024-156477NB-C31. Desde 2025 a 2028. IP: Marina Mosquera, Andreu Ollé.
• "AWAREness and management of natural and cultural HERITage challenges: a skill acquired during university studies (HERIT-AWARE)". KA220-HED Cooperation partnerships in higher education. Agence Erasmus+ France, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris) / Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Desde 2023 a 2026. IP: François Semah.
• "Evolució social, cultural i biològica al Plistocè". 2021 SGR 01239- Suport a Grups de Recerca, AGAUR. Desde 2022 a 2024. IP: A. Ollé.
• "Geología, geocronología y paleobiología de los yacimientos de la Sierra de Atapuerca VIII". : Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, nº PID2021-122355NB-C31. Desde 2022 a 2025. IP: Juan Luis Arsuaga, José Miguel Carretero. 
• "Comportamiento ecosocial de los homínidos de la Sierra de Atapuerca durante el Cuaternario VI" Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, nº PID2021-122355NB-C32. Desde 2022 a 2025. IP: Eudald Carbonell, Marina Mosquera.
• "R2STAIR Postdoctoral training in prehistory and human evolution". European Comission, Research Executive Agency (REA). EH2020-MSCA-COFUND-2020 Programme. IPHES, desde 2020 a 2024. IP: Robert Sala.
• "Geología, geocronología y paleobiología de los yacimientos de la Sierra de Atapuerca VII".  Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, nº PGC2018-093925-B-C33. Desde 2019 a 2022. IP: Juan Luis Arsuaga, Ignacio Martínez.
• "Comportamiento ecosocial de los homínidos de la Sierra de Atapuerca durante el Cuaternario V". Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, nº PGC2018-093925-B-C32. Desde 2019 a 2022. IP: Eudald Carbonell, Marina Mosquera.
• "Evolució social, cultural i biològica al Plistocè". 2017 SGR 1040 - Suport a Grups de Recerca, AGAUR. Desde 2017 a 2021. IP: A. Ollé.