Biography
My dissertation at the University of Bern (Switzerland) with research collaborations at the Universities of Geneva (Switzerland) and Cambridge (UK) focused on Neolithic graves and burial practices in the Alps of Switzerland, France, and Italy. It addressed longstanding research gaps and provided new chronological insights, revealing crucial data about interactions of Alpine Neolithic communities.
Academic Education:
• PhD in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Bern and (Switzerland) visiting collaborations with the Universities of Geneva (Switzerland) and Cambridge (UK), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF, 2023
• MA in Prehistoric Archaeology (Major) and Business Administration (Minor), University of Bern (Switzerland) and Erasmus exchange at NTNU (Norway), 2018
• BA in Archaeology of the Roman Provinces (Major) and Business Administration (Minor), University of Bern (Switzerland), 2015
Research
My research focuses mainly on Neolithic burial practices and megalithic structures, employing innovative methods like Virtual Reality and bioarchaeological insights to uncover new perspectives on prehistoric rituals and community interactions in Alpine and Western European contexts.
Key Publications
Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Steuri, N., Sahli, O., Reich, J., Milella, M., Nyffeler, J., Doppler, T., Lösch, S., Hafner, A. Virtual Reality applications for visualization of 6000-year-old Neolithic graves from Lenzburg (Switzerland). Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.daach.2023.e00283
• Steuri, N., Milella, M., Martinet, F., Raiteri, L., Szidat, S., Lösch, S., Hafner, A. First radiocarbon dating of Neolithic stone cist graves from the Aosta Valley (Italy). Insights into the chronology and burial rites of the Western Alpine region. Radiocarbon (2023). https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2023.12
• Caspari, G., Schou, T.P., Steuri, N., Balz, T. Glacial Archaeology in Northern Norway - The Island of Seiland. Remote Sensing 15, 1336 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15051336
• Ramstein, M., Steuri, N., Brönnimann, D., Rentzel, P., Cornelissen, M., Schimmelpfennig, D., Anselmetti, F. S., Häberle, S., Vandrope, P., Siebke, I., Furtwängler, A., Szidat, S., Hafner, A., Krause, J., Lösch, S. The well-preserved Late Neolithic dolmen burial of Oberbipp, Switzerland. Construction, use, and post-depositional processes. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 42, 103397 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103397
• Furtwängler, A., Rohrlach, A. B., Lamnidis, T., Papac, L., Neumann, G., Siebke, I., Reiter, E., Steuri, N., Hald, J., Denaire, A., Schnitzler, B., Wahl, J., Ramstein, M., Schuemann, V., Stockhammer, P., Hafner, A., Lösch, S., Haak, W., Schiffels, S., Krause, J. Ancient genomes reveal social and genetic structure of Late Neolithic Switzerland. Nature Communications 11, 1915 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15560-x
• Siebke, I., Furtwängler, A., Steuri, N., Hafner, A., Ramstein, M., Krause, J., Lösch, S. Crops vs. Animals: regional differences in subsistence strategies of Swiss Neolithic farmers revealed by stable isotopes. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12, Article number 235 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01122-1
• Key, F. M., Posth, C., Esquivel Gomez, L. R., Hübler, R., Spyrou, M., Neumann, G., Furtwängler, A., Sabin, S., Burri, M., Wissgott, A., Lankapalli, A. K., Vågene, Å. J., Meyer, M., Nagel, S., Tukhbatova, R., Khokhlov, A., Chizhevsky, A., Hansen, S., Belinsky, A. B., Kalmykov, A., Kantorovich, A. R., Maslov, V. E., Vai, S., Zavattaro, M., Riga, A., Caramelli, D., Skeates, R., Beckett, J., Gradoli, M. G., Steuri, N., Hafner, A., Siebke, I., Lösch, S., Erdal, Y. S., Alikhan, N., Zhou, Z., Achtman, M., Bos, K., Reinhold, S., Haak, W., Kuehnert, D., Herbig, A., Krause, J. Emergence of human-adapted Salmonella enterica is linked to the Neolithization process. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4, 324-333 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1106-9
• Steuri, N., Siebke, I., Furtwängler, A., Szidat, S., Krause, J., Lösch, S., Hafner, A. Multiple radiocarbon dating of human remains: clarifying the chronology and sequences of burials in the late Neolithic dolmen of Oberbipp (Switzerland). Radiocarbon Volume 61, 1697-1709 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2019.96
• Siebke, I., Steuri, N., Furtwängler, A., Ramstein, M., Arenz, G., Hafner, A., Krause, J., Lösch, S. Who lived on the Swiss Plateau around 3300 BCE? Analyses of commingled human skeletal remains from the dolmen of Oberbipp. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology Volume 29, Issue 5, 786-796 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2791
• Furtwängler, A., Reiter, E., Neumann, G. U., Siebke, I., Steuri, N., Hafner, A., Lösch, S., Anthes, N., Schuenemann, V.J., Krause, J. Ratio of mitochondrial to nuclear DNA affects contamination estimates in ancient DNA analysis. Nature Scientific Reports 8, 14075 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32083-0
Contributions to books
• Steuri, N., Hostettler, M., Hafner, A. Das neolithische Steinkistengrab von Niederried am Brienzersee. Archäologie Bern, 148-155 (2023). 10.48350/184062
• Steuri, N., Hafner, A. Die neolithischen Steinkistengräber von Däniken/Studenweid. Archäologie und Denkmalpflege im Kanton Solothurn ADSO 27, 11-30 (2022). 10.48350/178151
• Lösch, S., Siebke, I., Furtwängler, A., Steuri, N., Hafner, A., Szidat, S., Krause, J. Bioarchäologische Untersuchungen der Knochen aus dem Dolmen von Oberbipp, Steingasse. Jahrbuch des Archäologischen Dienstes des Kantons Bern 2020, 202-231 (2020).
• Baerlocher, J., Cox, S., Grolimund, L., Steuri, N. Ausgrabungen in Kaiseraugst im Jahre 2018. Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst 40, 55-140 (2019).
Teaching and Supervisions
Certificate of advanced studies CAS in Higher Education, University of Bern (Switzerland), 2024
Previous teaching experience:
- Seminar on countering pseudo archaeological theories, University of Bern 2023
- Seminar on the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age in Northern Italy, University of Bern 2022.
Other Professional Activities
• Principal Investigator – ALANA: Arctic Landscape Archaeology in Northern Alaska, funded by the Swiss Polar Institute SPI
• Co-Investigator – BoNe: Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Inhumations in the Western Alpine Region (5000 - 3000 BCE). How are Changes in Burial Customs linked with the Social Structure of Populations?, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF
