Ani Margvelashvili

PhD student, Anthropological Institute, University of Zurich

I'm a Georgian PhD student at the Anthropological Institute and Museum of University of Zurich working on the project "Evolution of orthognatic dental occlusion and correlated changes in craniofacial and dental morphology".

About

The background of my studies consists of the medical education in the branch of stomatology, graduated at the Tbilisi State Medical University in 2004. In Parallel having two years of practice as Prof. Dr. Tinatin Mikadze’s assistant at the Orthodontic centre.

In 2004, I was granted with the Erasmus Mundus scholarship for accomplishing Master’s studies in “Quaternary and Pre-history” that took place in Portugal and Spain working with different scientists in many different scientific centers. I worked at CENIEH (Centro Nacional de Investigacion Sobre la Evolucion Humana) in Burgos, IPA (Instituto Português de Arqueologia) in Lisbon, University of Coimbra , CEIPHAR (Centro Europeu de Investigação da Pré-História do Alto Ribatejo) in Tomar and MNCN (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales) in Madrid. The subject of my research during the Master’s studies was the dental morphology of the early hominin remains found in Dmanisi, Georgia, dated back to 1.77 m.a. Except the laboratory and scientific work I participated in the archaeological excavations of Lower Paleolithic site of Dmanisi (Georgia) (2002-2007) and Atapuerca (Spain) (June 2006).

I'm also working at the Georgian National Museum as a researcher in the department of Paleoanthropology, am a member of Dmanisi excavation team and one of the coordinators of the Dmanisi Paleoanthropology Field School.

Research Interests

The main interests of my studies focuses on the evolution of dental occlusion, aging effect on the dentognathic system and its correlations with the craniofacial morphology. I am also examining the biomechanical properties and impact of food processing on the development of the masticatory system – exploring the dental attrition patterns.

Publications

see publication list

Master Thesis

Margvelashvili, A. (2006).
The Morphological Description of the Dental Remains from the Early Paleolithic Site of Dmanisi (Georgia)
. Instituto Politécnico de Tomar(IPT) at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD).