I am an archaeologist interested in the evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology (2006) and a Master of Arts in Archaeology (2009) from the University of Padua (Italy), and I was conferred a Ph.D. in Archaeology (2014) from Tel Aviv University, where I carried out my dissertation in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). I was postdoctoral fellow (2014) at the National Museum Bloemfontein (South Africa), Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow (2015-2016) at the University of Tübingen (Germany), Junior Research Chair IdEx (2017-2021) at Bordeaux Montaigne University (France), and Ramón y Cajal Researcher (2023-2024) at the National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Burgos (Spain). My research focuses on the reconstruction of site formation processes and palaeoenvironments based on the study of the microscopic archaeological record to better understand human dispersal and adaptation strategies. I make extensive use of analytical methods such as infrared and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, sediment micromorphology, phytolith analysis, and radiocarbon dating to determine human-environment interactions and characterise prehistoric pyrotechnology. Currently, I am Directeur de recherche at Archéosciences Bordeaux UMR 6034 CNRS-Bordeaux Montaigne University (France), and I direct excavations at several prehistoric sites in the Free State province of South Africa spanning the last 300,000 years. I am Principal Investigator of the Starting Grant project "PalaeoEcology and OPen-LandscapE adaptations of Pleistocene humans in South Africa" (PEOPLE, n. 101039711), funded by the European Research Council.
Latest publications
Toffolo, M. B., 2025. Infrared Spectroscopy of Archaeological Sediments. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009387590
Santamaría Barragán, A., Parés, J. M., Colino García, S., Churruca Clemente, A., Fujioka, T., Serrano-Ramos, A., Toffolo, M. B., Alvaro Gallo, A., del Val, M., Iglesias-Cibanal, J., Jáimez, J., Miguens, L., Pla-Pueyo, S., Revilla Cob, J., Saiz, C., Solano García, J., Jiménez-Arenas, J. M., Viseras, C., Duval, M., 2024. High-resolution multi-technique analysis of a continuous sediment core of the Baza Formation at Barranco León (Guadix-Baza Basin, Granada) : First petrophysical results. Journal of Iberian Geology.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-024-00264-8
Toffolo, M. B., Richard, M., 2024. Infrared spectral library of tooth enamel from African ungulates for accurate electron spin resonance dating. Scientific Data 11, 890.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03725-y
Toffolo, M. B., 2024. Pleistocene archaeology and environments of the Free State, South Africa. Azania : Archaeological Research in Africa 59 (3), 317-351.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2024.2379724
Alonso-Eguiluz, M., Toffolo, M. B., White, C. E., Asouti, E., Boaretto, E., Nilsson Stutz, L., Stutz, A., Albert, R. M., 2024. The Early Upper paleolithic deposit of Mughr el-Hamamah (Jordan) : Archaeobotanical taphonomy and site formation processes. Journal of Archaeological Science : Reports 55, 104471.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104471
Richard, M., Pons-Branchu, E., Valladas, H., Toffolo, M. B., Dubernet, S., Dapoigny, A., Dumoulin, J.-P., Beauvais, P.-A., Monney, J., 2024. Chronology of Upper Paleolithic human activities recorded in a stalagmite at Points Cave (Aiguèze, Gard, France). Geoarchaeology : An International Journal 39 (5), 470-484.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.22001
Bousman, C. B., Codron, D., Gowlett, J., Herries, A. I. R., Rossouw, L., Toffolo, M., 2023. Cornelia-Uitzoek, South Africa. In Beyin, A., Wright, D. K., Wilkins, J., Bouzouggar, A., Olszewski, D. I. (eds.) : Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa : Hominin behavior, geography, and chronology. Springer, 1327-1347.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20290-2_86
Toffolo, M. B., Regev, L., Mintz, E., Dubernet, S., Berna, F., Chadwick, J. R., Maeir, A. M., Boaretto, E., 2023. Micro-contextual characterization of pyrogenic aragonite diagenesis in archaeological ash : Implications for radiocarbon dating of calcium carbonate in combustion features. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15, 177.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01874-6
Richard, M., Kaplan-Ashiri, I., Alonso, M.-J., Pons-Branchu, E., Dapoigny, A., Rossouw, L., Toffolo, M. B., 2023. New ESR dates from Lovedale, Free State, South Africa : implications for the study of tooth diagenesis. South African Archaeological Bulletin 78 (219), 95-103.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27303676
Toffolo, M. B., Tribolo, C., Horwitz, L. K., Rossouw, L., Bousman, C. B., Richard, M., Boaretto, E., Miller, C. E., 2023. Palaeoenvironments and chronology of the Damvlei Later Stone Age site, Free State, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 78 (219), 57-74.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27303673
Toffolo, M. B., Pinkas, I., Álvaro Gallo, A., Boaretto, E., 2023. Crystallinity assessment of anthropogenic calcites using Raman micro-spectroscopy. Scientific Reports 13, 12971.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39842-8
Goder-Goldberger, M., Gilead, I., Boaretto, E., Edeltin, L., Horwitz, L. K., Jacoby-Glass, Y., Lavi, R., Neumann, F. H., Porat, N., Toffolo, M. B., Van Aardt, A. C., Zilberman, T., Crouvi, O., 2023. Living in an ecotone : Late Middle Palaeolithic occupations in the lower Besor Basin, north-western Negev Desert, Israel. Antiquity 97 (394), e20.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.89
Maor, Y., Toffolo, M. B., Feldman, Y., Vardi, J., Khalaily, H., Asscher, Y., 2023. Dolomite in archaeological plaster : An FTIR study of the plaster floors at Neolithic Motza, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science : Reports 48, 103862.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103862
Wroth, K., Tribolo, C., Bousman, C. B., Horwitz, L. K., Rossouw, L., Miller, C. E., Toffolo, M. B., 2022. Human occupation of the semi-arid grasslands of South Africa during MIS 4 : New archaeological and paleoecological evidence from Lovedale, Free State. Quaternary Science Reviews 283, 107455.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107455
Richard, M., Pons-Branchu, E., Carmieli, R., Kaplan-Ashiri, I., Álvaro Gallo, A., Ricci, G., Caneve, L., Wroth, K., Dapoigny, A., Tribolo, C., Boaretto, E., Toffolo, M. B., 2022. Investigating the effect of diagenesis on ESR dating of Middle Stone Age tooth samples from the open-air site of Lovedale, Free State, South Africa. Quaternary Geochronology 69, 101269.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2022.101269
Ullman, M., Brailovsky, L., Abramov, J., Bar-Yosef Mayer, D. E., Boaretto, E., Caracuta, V., Schechter, H. C., Toffolo, M. B., Weiner, S., Weissbrod, L., Zuckerman-Cooper, R., Avrutis, V. W., Frumkin, A., 2022. The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry, Israel. Quaternary International 624, 148-167.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.019
