Academic positions and education
From 01/01/2027: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (Géosciences, Rennes, France)
Project LUMI-Cave: High-resolution luminescence chronologies of Neanderthal occupations in Belgian caves
Since 01/01/2026: Postdoc - Data curator (ROCEEH Team, Heidelberg Akademie Der Wissenschaften and University of Tübingen, Germany)
13/09/2021 – 13/10/2024: PhD contract in Physics – Luminescence Dating (Technical University of Denmark, DTU)
Thesis: Detailed quartz and feldspar chronologies of loessic Palaeolithic sites in Tajikistan.
Supervisor: Jan-Pieter Buylaert (DTU Physics)
Co-supervisor: Kristina J. Thomsen (DTU Physics)
PhD award: 11/02/2025
22/09/2020 – 14/06/2021: MSc in “Prehistory, geoarchaeology, archaeozoology” (University of Bordeaux)
11/01/2021 – 31/05/2021: MSc Internship in Ecological Niche Modelling.
Thesis: The ecosymbolic niche: a tool to study Palaeolithic symbolic systems. Pilot study on the Saiga antelope.
Supervisors: William Banks (UMR 5199, PACEA) and Francesco d'Errico (UMR 5199, PACEA)
Co-supervisor: Anaïs Vignoles (UMR 5199, PACEA)
24/09/2018 – 17/07/2020: MSc in “Archaeometry” (University Bordeaux Montaigne)
13/01/2020 – 31/06/2020: MSc Internship in Luminescence Dating.
Thesis: Chronological framework of the human settlements of the La-Roche-à-Pierrot site (Saint-Césaire, Charente-Maritime): contribution of optically stimulated luminescence dating.
Supervisor: Christelle Lahaye (UMR 5060, IRAMAT-CRP2A)
14/01/2019 – 13/05/2019: First Year MSc Thesis.
Thesis: The Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition: chronology of a multiple transition on a European scale.
Supervisor: Christelle Lahaye (UMR 5060, IRAMAT-CRP2A)
19/09/2016 – 28/05/2018: Bachelor’s Degree in Archaeological Sciences (University Bordeaux Montaigne)
07/09/2015 – 27/06/2016: First Year of a Bachelor’s Degree in History of Art and Archaeology (Louvre School, Paris)
Publications
Challier, A., Thomsen, K. J., Taratunina, N., Murray A. S., Guérin G., Sørensen A. L., Knudsen M. F., Kurbanov R., Sosin P., Meshcheryakova O., Karayev A., Buylaert J.P. (submitted). A comprehensive luminescence chronology for the Middle Palaeolithic Khonako III loess-palaeosol sequence in Southern Tajikistan
Sørensen, A., Anoikin, A., Kolobova, K., Khudjageldiev, T., Sosin, P., Khormali, F., Taratunina, N., Kulakova, E., Tokareva, O., Meshcheryakova, O., Chirakkal, A., Challier, A., Schneider, R., Pavlov, V., Karayev, A., Sharipov, A., Ashurmadov, I., Rybalko, A., Wright, D., Murray, A., Stevens, T., Ujvari, G., Birk, J., Olsen, J., Hansen, T., Kurbanov, R., Buylaert, J.-P., Knudsen, M.F., 2026. First absolute chronology of the Early Paleolithic in Central Asia. Nature Communications, accepted.
- Challier, A. (2024). Detailed quartz and feldspar luminescence chronologies of loessic Palaeolithic
sites in Tajikistan. PhD thesis. Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark. Available at
Detailed quartz and feldspar luminescence chronologies of loessic Palaeolithic sites in Tajikistan -
Welcome to DTU Research Database - Challier, A., Thomsen, K. J., Kurbanov, R., Sosin, P., Murray, A., Guérin, G., Meshcheryakova, O.,
Karayev, A., Khormali, F., Taratunina, N., Utnika, A., Buylaert, J. P. (2024). A detailed quartz and
feldspar luminescence chronology for the Khonako II loess section (Southern Tajikistan). Quaternary
Geochronology, 83, 101571. - Buylaert, J. P., Challier, A., Kulakova, E. P., Taratunina, N. A., Thomsen, K. J., Utkina, A. O., Sosin,
P. M., Tokareva, O. A., Anoikin, A. A., Khujageldiev, T. U., Karayev A., C., Ubaydulloev, N. K., Murray, A. S., Kurbanov, R. N. (2024). A luminescence dating study of the upper part of the loess-
palaeosol sequence at Kuldara, Khovaling Loess Plateau, Tajikistan. Quaternary Geochronology, 82, 101545. - Riis, M. H., Sander, L., Nielsen, L., Buylaert, J. P., Challier, A. J. M., Larsen, N. K. (2024). Middle
and Late Holocene relative sea level changes and coastal development at Rugård, Denmark. Boreas,
53(1), 56-70. - Újvári, G., Schneider, R., Stevens, T., Rinyu, L., Kiss, G. I., Buylaert, J. P., Murray, A. S., Challier, A.
J. M., Kurbanov, R., Khormali, F., Benedek, J., Temovski, M, Vargas, D., Palcsu, L. (2024). Absolute
230Th/U chronologies and Δ47 thermometry paleoclimate reconstruction from soil carbonates in
Central Asian loess over the past 1 million years. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.
Todisco, D., Mallol, C., Lahaye, C., Guérin, G., Bachellerie, F., Morin, E., Gravina, B., Challier, A.,
Beauval, C., Bordes, J.-G., Colange, C., Dayet, L., Flas, D., Lacrampe-Cuyaubère, F., Lebreton, L.,
Marot, J., Maureille, B., Michel, A., Muth, X., Nehme, C., Crevecoeur, I. (2023). A multiscalar and
multiproxy geoarchaeological approach to site formation processes at the Middle and Upper
Palaeolithic site of La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire, France. Quaternary Science Reviews, 315,
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