Dr Annapaola Fedato
Dr Annapaola Fedato completed her MSc in Natural Science at the University of Padua (Italy) in 2016, with a thesis on visuospatial integration and cognitive archaeology. She went on to pursue a PhD at the Spanish National Research Center for Human Evolution (CENIEH), where her research focused on the relationship between hand anatomy, stone tool technology, and the evolution of the human brain. She defended her PhD in October 2021.
Since 2015, she has participated in fieldwork at the renowned Archaeological Site of Atapuerca in Spain. Alongside her academic work, she has developed practical expertise in experimental archaeology, particularly in stone tool production and use. She also gained editorial experience working as an assistant editor for an open access academic journal.
Dr Annapaola Fedato’s research lies at the intersection of archaeology, anatomy, and cognitive science. She is especially interested in how ergonomic and biomechanical approaches can shed light on the evolution of human behaviour and cognition. Her work contributes to the emerging field of Paleolithic ergonomics, which explores how physical interactions with tools reflect and shape evolutionary processes. She is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, where she leads the project PaleoErgo: Exploring Hand–Stone Tool Interactions in Early Hominins. This interdisciplinary project integrates imaging technologies, motion analysis, and experimental archaeology to investigate how anatomical variation influences tool use efficiency and performance in the Lower Palaeolithic.
Select publications
- Fedato, A., Silva-Gago, M., Terradillos-Bernal, M., Alonso-Alcalde, R., & Bruner, E. (2024). The influence of hand dimension in phalanx flexion during Lower Paleolithic stone tool manipulation. Quaternary, 7 (3), 29.
- Fedato, A. & Bruner, E. (2023). Handling prehistory: tools, electrophysiology and haptics. In: Cognitive Archeology, Body Cognition, and the Evolution of Visuospatial Perception, pp. 241-262, Academic Press.
- Bruner, E., Silva‐Gago, M., Fedato, A., Martín-Loeches, M., Colom, R. (2023). Psychometrics, visuospatial capacity and cognitive archaeology. In: Cognitive Archeology, Body Cognition, and the Evolution of Visuospatial Perception, pp. 279-304, Academic Press.
- Silva-Gago, M., Fedato, A., Terradillos-Bernal, M., Alonso-Alcalde, R., Hodgson, T., Bruner, E. (2022). Does knowledge influence visual attention? A comparative analysis between archaeologists and naïve subjects during the exploration of Lower Palaeolithic tools. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14 (6), 114.
- Silva-Gago, M., Fedato, A., Hodgson, T. Terradillos-Bernal, M., Alonso-Alcalde, R. (2021). Visual attention reveals affordances during Lower Palaeolithic stone tool exploration. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 13, 145.
- Fedato, A., Silva-Gago, M., Terradillos-Bernal, M., Alonso-Alcalde, R., & Bruner, E. (2020). Hand grasping and finger flexion during Lower Paleolithic stone tool ergonomic exploration. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 12(11), 1-9.
- Fedato, A., Silva‐Gago, M., Terradillos‐Bernal, M., Alonso‐Alcalde, R., Martín‐Guerra, E., & Bruner, E. (2019). Electrodermal activity during Lower Paleolithic stone tool handling. American Journal of Human Biology, 31(5), e23279.
- Fedato, A., Silva‐Gago, M., Terradillos‐Bernal, M., Alonso‐Alcalde, R., Martín‐Guerra, E., & Bruner, E. (2019). Hand morphometrics, electrodermal activity, and stone tools haptic perception. American Journal of Human Biology, 32(3), e23370.
Further links
https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/staff/dr-annapaola-fedato