Kalliopi Efkleidou is a postdoctoral researcher at the research project SmartEye of the School of Spatial Planning and Development and a contract instructor at the School of History and Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She has completed her undergraduate studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, her MA studies at the Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati, OH, and her PhD research at the School of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.The title of her PhD dissertation was Landscape and Social Identities in the Mycenaean Argolid. Approaching the Organization of Space with the Use of Geographic Information Systems.

Her research interests include the archaeology of Bronze Age Aegean, landscape archaeology, funerary archaeology, the use of GIS in archaeology, Linear B studies. Since 2006 she has been a research associate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Excavation Project of Thessaloniki Toumba (directed by emer. Prof. S. Andreou and since 2020 by Assoc. Prof. S. Triantaphyllou) and she is responsible for the study and publication of the stratigraphy and architecture of a number of buildings at the site which date to the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. She has been a fellow of the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, of the Propontis Institute, of the A. S. Onassis Foundation, of the Leventis Foundation, of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Research committee) and the Mediterranean Archaeology Trust. She has participated in international conferences and workshops and been involved as a co-author in publications in collective volumes, conference proceedings and scientific journals.

Sotiria Kiorpe is a Ph.D candidate in Prehistoric Archaeology and Bioarchaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She has obtained a BA in History, Archaeology, and Art History at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2012), a MSc in Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology at the University of Leiden (2014) and a Master in Prehistoric Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2016). Since 2009, she has participated in a number of field projects throughout Greece, excavating in settlements and cemeteries dating from the Neolithic to Byzantine times, and for more than five years she has served as a field anthropologist in the excavation of burial deposits at the Minoan cemeteries of Petras and Koumasa. She has also worked as a contract archaeologist for the Greek Ministry of Culture. In addition to the excavation of funerary deposits, she has gained valuable laboratory experience in the study of human skeletal remains and, in particular, of commingled remains from collective tombs. The latter is evidenced in the study of skeletal material from seven Early and Middle Minoan House Tombs from the Petras cemetery in Siteia and is complemented by additional studies of human remains from Crete and from the mainland (Mochlos, Kentri {Ierapetra}, Azoria, Marathon Vranas).

Her PhD is supervised by the Associate Professor S. Triantaphyllou and examines mortuary practices and attitudes towards death during the Early and Middle Minoan period in East Crete taking as a case study the Petras cemetery in Siteia. Following advances in social bioarchaeology and archaeothanatology, the research focuses on the contextualization of bioarchaeological data together with archaeological and taphonomic information in order to reconstruct the stages and the form of the funerary ritual. Special attention is paid to the evidence of post burial manipulation of the dead and their social connotations. These are discussed through the lens of current topics in archaeological theory, such as identity, memory, ritualisation, landscape archaeology and the archaeology of the body, in an attempt to understand the use of the past and the role of the dead for the Petras community.  The research is kindly supported by the State Scholarships Foundation (I.K.Y.) through the operational programme for doctoral research «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020», Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Niki Papakonstantinou is a PhD candidate in Prehistoric Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Research Associate in the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens. She completed her undergraduate studies in Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2004) and she holds a MSc degree in Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology from the University of Sheffield (2009) and a MA degree in Prehistoric Archaeology from the University of Crete (2011). She specializes in the excavation of mortuary assemblages and the laboratory analysis of commingled and fragmentary human remains. Her research interests lie primarily in prehistoric mortuary practices, funerary taphonomy, archaeothanatology, modes of pre- and post-burial body manipulation and bone histology. She has participated in a number of excavations throughout Greece spanning from the Palaeolithic era until the Byzantine Period. She has been involved in several research projects on the study of prehistoric human skeletal remains from Crete and the Greek mainland. Key sites of her research include Kamilari tholos tombs, Apesokari tholos tomb A, Livari-Skiadi, Malia cemetery (e.g. Chryssolakkos, Charniers), Gavdos, Daras tholos tomb (Messenia), Deiras chamber tombs (Argolid). Prior to starting her doctoral studies she worked as a contract archaeologist/osteoarchaeologist for the Hellenic Ministry of Culture (33rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta, 2011-2015).

She has participated in international conferences and workshops and been involved as a co-author in publications in collective volumes, conference proceedings and scientific journals. Her PhD research project titled Mortuary Practices in Mycenaean Attica; Bioarchaeological and Taphonomic Analysis of the Human Skeletal Remains from the Chamber Tomb Cemetery at Kolikrepi-Spata, is funded by State Scholarship Foundation (I.K.Y) under the supervision of Associate Professor Sevasti Triantaphyllou and is part of a broader project for the publication of the largest unlooted excavated to date Mycenaean cemetery in Attica. Her PhD is focused on the thorough study of skeletal remains employing an integrated methodological approach that combines osteological evidence, macroscopic and microscopic taphonomic data and contextual mortuary information, in order to reconstruct the osteobiography of the people interred in the cemetery, to elucidate different formation mechanisms of skeletal assemblages and to make inferences for the funerary treatment and manipulation of the dead bodies.

Yannis Chatzikonstantinou is a PhD Candidate in Prehistoric Archeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specializing in Osteoarchaeology, and a Research Associate at the Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. He has been also an active member of the Experimental Archaeology Network (EXARC) since 2018. He completed his undergraduate studies in History, Archaeology, and Art History at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2016), while he continued his postgraduate studies in Prehistoric Archaeology (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 2016-2019), Osteology, Biological Anthropology, and Experimental Archaeology (University of Sheffield 2017-2018). During his studies, he has participated in a large number of excavations, field surveys, and research projects in Greece, in collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Culture, Greek and international universities, and research centers (indicative: Koumasa, Ammoudares Malia, Hersonissos Heraklion, Methoni Pieria, Petras Sitia, Thessaloniki Toumba, Mavropigi Kozani, Gaidourophas Lasithi, Anthemous Valley Chalkidiki). He specializes in the excavation of human remains, the macroscopic study, the publication of osteoarchaeological data, and the application of analytical methods to human bones. Particular emphasis is placed on archaeological data's holistic and interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeological, experimental, and ethnographic methods. His research interests are focused on analyzing burned human remains, investigating pyrotechnology, and deciphering cremation as a funerary practice in the prehistoric Aegean using macroscopic, spectroscopic, isotopic, and microscopic techniques.

He has participated in many Greek and international conferences with submitted publications in international volumes and journals during his studies. At the same time, he has a teaching experience in theoretical and laboratory issues of Prehistoric Archeology and Osteoarchaeology. He is particularly interested in communicating and disseminating archaeological data of research activity to the general public through collective actions, such as the Archaeozooms (2021) lecture series. His doctoral dissertation is focused on the study and publication of the human remains from the Tholos tomb B of Koumasa Asterousia with the application of macroscopic and analytical methods under the supervision of Associate Professor Sevasti Triantaphyllou. His dissertation is part of Koumasa Archaeological Project, under the direction of Professor Diamantis Panagiotopoulos, Institute of Classical Archaeology, University of Heidelberg, Germnay. Part of his research has previously been funded by the Andrew Sherratt Fund for Research Projects in Old World Prehistory, the Institute of Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), and the European Erasmus + program, while his dissertation has been funded by the ARISTEIA for PhD candidates in the Humanities awarded by the Research Committee of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2021) and by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation ELIDEK (2022-2024).

Nikos Valasiadis has completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Prehistoric Archeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has worked as an archaeologist in Greece and abroad, while for the last decades he is working as a freelancer designer for print and electronic media. He specializes on visual communication applications in archaeology and has collaborated with several excavation projects and museums in the country. His research interest is the Archaeology of War in 20th century Greece, with a special focus on the topography of World War II in Macedonia and Crete.

Vasiliki Papathanasiou is a PhD candidate in Prehistoric Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specializing in Osteoarchaeology. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Department of History and Archaeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2016), where she also, received her Master's degree in Prehistoric Archaeology (2020). She specialized in Osteology, Biological Anthropology and Funerary Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, UK (2018-2019). Her research interests focus on burial practices, the treatment of the dead body and contextual analysis of human skeletal remains. As an archaeologist she has participated in excavations, surface surveys and research projects in Macedonia and Crete and has carried out internships at King's College of London and the Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki. Her expertise lies in the study of human bones, and she has contributed to the examination of skeletal assemblages dating to the Bronze Age and Byzantine period from sites in Macedonia and Thessaly (Methone Pieria, Dimini Magnesia, Toumba Thessaloniki). As an osteoarchaeologist, she has also been part of excavations at the Prepalatial and Protopalatial cemetery in Sissi, Crete, and the Byzantine cemetery of Toumba, Thessaloniki. Part of her study on the skeletal remains of Methone cemetery (LBA), Pieria, has been published in a collective volume. In addition, she has participated in international and national conferences and workshops, and has experience in organizing conferences and educational programs, as well as in delivering laboratory courses in Osteoarchaeology.  

Her doctoral research entitled "The practice of cremation in central Macedonia during the Iron Age" is carried out under the supervision of Associate Professor Sevasti Triantafyllou of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the primary focus of the thesis is the systematic study of the burnt skeletal remains from the cemeteries of Polichni and Nea Philadelphia. Its aim is to investigate the practice of cremation through the application of macroscopic and analytical techniques to the burnt bones. Emphasis will be placed on the synthetic and contextual bioarchaeological analysis of the osteological data, which will contribute significantly to the reconstruction of the bio-anthropological characteristics of the individuals subjected to the cremation process, as well as to the determination of the technological and ritual aspects of the cremations. Her thesis is part of the research project "TEFRA: The technology and the bio-anthropology of the use of fire on human remains in the Aegean", which is funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation ELIDEK (2022-2025), with Sevasti Triantafyllou as principal investigator, while part of her research has received funding from ‘’The Andrew Sherratt Fund for Research Projects in Old World Prehistory’’ (2023) and the British School of Athens award for research at the Fitch Laboratory (2023-2024). 

Alexandra Prokova obtained her first degree from the School of History and Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She completed her studies in Classical Archeology (1988) with an overall grade at 8.96/10. During her studies, she participated in excavations in Vergina, in Fari at Thassos and in Amphipolis. As a graduate archaeologist, she worked as a scientific collaborator of Prof. P. Faklaris in the University excavation of Vergina (1989-1996). During the period 1994-1997, she continued her studies as a postgraduate student at the Archaeological Institute of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Cologne, Germany, with a scholarship of DAAD (German Foundation for Exchanges and Scholarships). She completed her doctoral dissertation at the same University on The Votive Clay Figurines of the Sanctuary of Parthenos in Ancient Neapolis (Kavala). Contribution to the History of a Northern Greek City  in 2014 (supervisor Prof. H. von Hesberg). During her stay in Germany (1994-2000), she worked in educational programs of the Deaconry Church giving lectures on ancient Greek history and archeology and museum tours. She also worked on translations of literary texts by Romiosini editions.

From August 2000 until today she holds a position as a Secondary School teacher, first in Florina and then in Thessaloniki -currently in the 2nd Lyceum of Kalamaria. In the academic years 2012/13, 2009/10, she has been employed as a tutor in the Department of Primary Education, University of Western Macedonia, Florina, in courses regarding the Didactics of History and the Greek Language. Meantime, she tries to follow the scientific debate in the field of archeology, especially in that of the figurines, and she keeps participating in relevant conferences with oral presentations and articles. As a teacher she seeks to connect the contents of her teaching objects with other cognitive fields and with extracurricular activities (eg. visits to theaters, museums, etc.). For the last two years she has been participating in two Erasmus programs ("Democracy in Schools" and "Values, Identity and Culture"). She is fluent in German and English, and she has a good knowledge of French and Italian.