Małgorzata Kot

Professor Małgorzata Kot is an archaeologist at the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, specialising in Palaeolithic archaeology, stone tool technologies, and early human migration. In 2024, she was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant for her project INASIA, which investigates the Initial Upper Palaeolithic in West Central Asia. Her research focuses on cave sites in the Western Tian Shan and Pamir-Alay mountains—regions critical to understanding human dispersal.

Her interdisciplinary approach combines fieldwork in high-altitude caves with advanced lab analyses, including sediment DNA, to identify whether modern humans, Neanderthals, or Denisovans left the archaeological traces. She is fascinated by Neanderthals and their knapping technologies. She has conducted fieldwork at multiple sites in Poland, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean, aiming to gain a better understanding of Neandertals, Early Modern Humans, and their knapping technologies. She currently leads an international team, collaborating with institutions in Uzbekistan, Spain, Great Britain, Germany and Poland, contributing to major advancements in human evolutionary studies.