Aitor Calvo
Investigador Postdoctoral
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3753-8731
Email: aitor.calvo@ehu.eus
Short biography
PhD from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) since 2019, his research work has been carried out at this and at the universities of Rostock and Erlangen-Nuremberg, in the latter through a postdoctoral contract financed by the Basque Government. He is currently a “Margarita Salas” researcher affiliated to the SERP, the IAUB and the UPV/EHU. Since 2013 he has been part of the Consolidated Research Group on Prehistory of the Basque University System of the UPV/EHU. He has carried out research stays at the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Regional Archaeology Service and the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, both in France. He has participated in various national and international competitive projects financed by the CICYT, the MINECO, the MICIN, the FEDER or the CTP. All this has led him to study sites in various countries, such as Coimbre, Bolinkoba, Aitzbitarte III, Isturitz, La Ferrassie, Feldberg “Steinacker” or the Abri I im Dorf, among others.
Research interests
His main line of research is developed around the lithic industries of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic and, in particular, of the Gravettian, both in the Cantabrian and Pyrenean areas and in central Europe (middle Danube). In this sense, his work focuses on the comprehensive analysis of these remains, addressing their typological, technological and typometric aspects, placing special emphasis on the study of lithic raw materials (especially flint). Thus, this comprehensive approach to the lithic industries allows him to delve into issues such as the patterns of technological management of abiotic resources or the mobility patterns of human groups, among others. He is currently in the process of training around the petrological and geochemical characterisation of flint.
Selected publications
- Calvo, A. y Arrizabalaga, A. (2021): Lost in the quest for flint: a Gravettian hunting camp (Usategi, Basque Country). Oxford Journal of Archaeology 40(4): 1-17.
- Calvo, A. y Arrizabalaga, A. (2020): Piecing together a new mosaic: Gravettian lithic resources and economic territories in the Western Pyrenees. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12: 282-304.
- Calvo, A., Perales, U., García-Rojas, M., Normand, Ch. y Arrizabalaga, A. (2019): Just before sewing needles. A functional hypothesis for Gravettian Noailles-type burins from Isturitz cave (Basque Country, southwestern France). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 25: 420-432.
- Calvo, A., Bradtmöller, M., Martínez, L. & Arrizabalaga, A. (2016): Lithic cultural variability during the Gravettian in the Cantabrian Region and the western Pyrenees: State of the art. Quaternary International 406(A): 25-43.
- Arrizabalaga, A., Calvo, A., Elorrieta, I., Tapia, J. y Tarriño, A. (2014): Where to and What for? Mobility patterns and the management of lithic resources by Gravettian hunter-gatherers in the Western Pyrenees, Journal of Anthropological Research 70(2): 233-261.
Selected projects
- Territorio y movilidad durante el Paleolítico superior en la Encrucijada vasca (PALEOCROSS). Código: PID2021-126937NB-I00. Entidad Financiadora: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIN) y Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)
Fecha (Desde-Hasta): 01/09/2022. Investigador principal: Alvaro Arrizabalaga Valbuena y María José Iriarte Chiapusso (EHU/UPV).
- Territorio y movilidad entre los cazadores-recolectores del Paleolítico y Mesolítico peninsular. Rasgos culturales y factores paleoambientales (PATHFINDER)
Código: HAR2017-82483-C3-1-P. Entidad Financiadora: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) y Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).
Fecha (Desde-Hasta): 01/01/2018-31/12/2020. Investigador principal: Álvaro Arrizabalaga (EHU/UPV).
- La ruta occidental del poblamiento de la Península Ibérica, durante el Paleolítico medio y superior (PALEOGATE). Código: HAR2014-53536-P. Entidad Financiadora: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO). Fecha (Desde-Hasta): 01/01/2015-31/12/2017. Investigador principal: Álvaro Arrizabalaga (EHU/UPV) y Xabier Murelaga (EHU/UPV).
- Los Pirineos prehistóricos. Recursos económicos y territorios de los cazadores-recolectores del Paleolítico superior al Mesolítico (PREHISTOPYR). Código: CTP10-R03. Entidad Financiadora: Comunidad de Trabajo de los Pirineos. Fecha (Desde-Hasta): 01/01/2011-31/12/2012. Investigador principal: Xavier Mangado (UB).
- Historia cultural y paleoambiental de los últimos neandertales y los primeros humanos modernos en el norte de la Península Ibérica. Código: HAR2010-22013. Entidad Financiadora: Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT). Fecha (Desde-Hasta): 01/01/2010-31/12/2013. Investigador principal: Julía Maroto (UDG)