Gayana Bexultanova
g.bexultanova.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Research title: Use of plants for food, medicine and technology during the Upper Palaeolithic in Siberia.
Research Summary
This project reconstructs vegetation in Siberia between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago to investigate the ecological availability of useful wild plants during the Upper Palaeolithic. Drawing on large-scale modern vegetation data, palaeoclimatic reconstructions, and ethnobotanical sources, it identifies where species with known nutritional, medicinal, or technological uses may have occurred under past environmental conditions. These reconstructions contribute to understanding the ecological context of human survival and behavioural adaptation across the Mammoth Steppe.
This research is part of the Powerful Plants – an interdisciplinary project investigating the role of plants in human evolution.
Research interests: Upper Palaeolithic, vegetation modelling, palaeoecology, community ecology, ethnobotany.
Supervisors
Additional Information
Education
MSc in Environmental Sciences - Global Change and Sustainability. 110/110 cum laude. Università Ca' Foscari (Venice, Italy).
BSc in Biological Sciences. Nazarbayev University (Astana, Kazakhstan).
