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Mariya Antonosyan

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanization
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    Main Focus

    Dr. Mariya Antonosyan is a researcher at the Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation MPI-GEA, in her research she is using traditional zooarchaeological methods combined with novel proteomics and stable isotope techniques to explore human-animal interactions, human subsistence economy and their dwelling environments during key transitional periods of deep history.

    She currently leads ‘TRANSECArmenia’ project, that aims to investigate human-environment interactions in some key transitional periods of human history: shift to settled lifestyle, rise of social hierarchies, growth of urban centers, emergence of states, and the expansion of empires in the territory of modern Armenia.

    Additionally, Dr. Antonosyan coordinates projects that focus on development of collagen peptide markers for a number of extant and extinct large mammals to significantly amplify the potential of collagen peptide mass fingerprinting also known as zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) in North and South American contexts. 



    Curriculum Vitae

    Mariya received a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and an M.Sc. in Zoology and Conservation from Yerevan State University, Armenia. In 2021 she completed her Ph.D. in molecular biology in the Institute of Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Her Ph.D. dissertation was the first study to apply bulk bone metabarcoding genetic method to reconstruct Middle to Upper Palaeolithic faunal diversity in the Caucasus region. 

    As part of doctoral research she gained wider experience of working at different lab facilities such as L. Hirszfeld Institute in Wroclaw, Poland (2018), and Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm (2019). Her research primarily focused on ancient and modern DNA research which also ignited her interest in diverse application of biomolecular proxies, particularly for answering critical question of human ecology and evolution.

    Since 2016, Mariya is actively involved in the organization of archaeological excavations of Palaeolithic Karin Tak cave and management of the fossil data collection. Since 2020 she is leading excavations in Chalcolithic Yeghegis-1 rock shelter in the frames of TRANSArmenia project.

    In 2019 Mariya was awarded a Best Young Scientist Youth Award by Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia and an excellence Fellowship for PhD research by the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology.

    Since 2022 Mariya is a Scientific staff representative of the MPI of Geoanthropology in the Human Sciences Section of the Max Planck Society.

    Selected Journal Articles

    Antonosyan, M., Paladugu, R., Michael M., Prestes Carneiro, G., … & Roberts, P. (2025). Peptide Mass Fingerprinting of South American Xenarthrans: A New Resource for Zooarcheology and Palaeontology. Journal of Proteome Research. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00636 

    Antonosyan, M., Maurer, G., Mkrtchyan, S., Boxleitner, K., Saribekyan, M., Hovhannisyan, A., ... & Yepiskoposyan, L. (2025). A biomolecular perspective on mobile pastoralism and its role in wider socioeconomic connections in the Chalcolithic South Caucasus. iScience, 28(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112544

    Antonosyan, M., Mkrtchyan, S., Amano, N., Davtyan, R., Yeranyan, N., Badalyan, M., ... & Yepiskoposyan, L. (2025). Species identification of osseous museum artefacts through peptide mass fingerprinting illustrated by a study on objects from Neolithic to Iron Age Armenia. npj Heritage Science, 13(1), 152. https://doi.org/10.1038/s40494-025-01763-2

    Hovhannisyan, A., Delser, P. M., Hakobyan, A., Jones, E. R., Schraiber, J. G., Antonosyan, M., ... & Manica, A. (2025). Demographic history and genetic variation of the Armenian population. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 112(1), 11-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.10.022

    Frahm, E., Saribekyan, M., Mkrtchyan, S., Furquim, L., Avagyan, A., Sahakyan, L., ... & Antonosyan, M. (2024). Increasing obsidian diversity during the Chalcolithic Period at Yeghegis-1 Rockshelter (Armenia) reveals shifts in land use and social networks. Scientific reports, 14(1), 9528. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59661-9 Here I am the last author, as I supervised the research

    Antonosyan, M., Roberts, P., Aspaturyan, N., Mkrtchyan, S., Lucas, M., Boxleitner, K., ... & Amano, N. (2024). Multiproxy evidence for environmental stability in the Lesser Caucasus during the Late Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 330, 108559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108559

    Antonosyan, M., Hill, E., Jodry, M., Amano, N., Brown, S., Rick, T., & Boivin, N. (2024). A new legacy: potential of zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry in the analysis of North American megafaunal remains. Frontiers in Mammal Science, 3, 1399358. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmamm.2024.1399358

    Antonosyan, M., Saribekyan, M., Mkrtchyan, S., Hovhannisyan, A., Frahm, E., Patrick, R., ... & Amano, N. (2024). Yeghegis-1 rockshelter site: new investigations into the late Chalcolithic of Armenia. Antiquity, 98(398), e8. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.201

    Wolf, A., Baker, J. L., Tjallingii, R., Cai, Y., Osinzev, A., Antonosyan, M., ... & Breitenbach, S. F. M. (2024). Western Caucasus regional hydroclimate controlled by cold-season temperature variability since the Last Glacial Maximum. Communications Earth & Environment, 5(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01328-4

    ECHOES, Zuccarelli Freire, V., Ziegler, M. J., Caetano-Andrade, V., Iminjili, V., Lellau, R., ... Antonosyan, M., … & Furquim, L. (2024). Addressing the Anthropocene from the Global South: integrating paleoecology, archaeology and traditional knowledge for COP engagement. Frontiers in Earth Science, 12, 1470577. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2024.1470577

    Roberts, P., Caetano-Andrade, V. L., Fisher, M., Hamilton, R., Rudd, R., Stokes, F., ... Antonosyan, M., … & Isendahl, C. (2024). Uncovering the Multibiome environmental and Earth system legacies of past human societies. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 49. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-101257

    Antonosyan, M., Seersholm, F. V., Grealy, A. C., Barham, M., Werndly, D., Margaryan, A., ... & Yepiskoposyan, L. (2019). Ancient DNA shows high faunal diversity in the Lesser Caucasus during the Late Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 219, 102-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.07.012

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