Academic Positions and Education
Effective January 1, 2027: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship ( Geosciences, Rennes, France)
Project LUMI-Cave: High-resolution luminescence chronologies of Neanderthal occupations in Belgian caves
Since January 1, 2026: Postdoc - Data Curator ( ROCEEH Team, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and University of Tübingen, Germany)
September 13, 2021 – October 13, 2024: PhD position in Physics – Luminescence Dating (Technical University of Denmark, DTU)
Thesis: Detailed quartz and feldspar chronologies of loessic Paleolithic sites in Tajikistan.
Advisor: Jan-Pieter Buylaert (DTU Physics)
Co-supervisor: Kristina J. Thomsen (DTU Physics)
PhD award: February 11, 2025
September 22, 2020 – June 14, 2021: MSc in “Prehistory, Geoarchaeology, and Archaeozoology”(University of Bordeaux)
January 11, 2021 – May 31, 2021: MSc Internship in Ecological Niche Modeling.
Thesis: The Ecosymbolic Niche: A Tool for Studying Paleolithic Symbolic Systems. A Pilot Study on the Saiga Antelope.
Advisors: William Banks (UMR 5199, PACEA) and Francesco d'Errico (UMR 5199, PACEA)
Co-supervisor: Anaïs Vignoles (UMR 5199, PACEA)
September 24, 2018 – July 17, 2020: MSc in “Archaeometry” (University of Bordeaux Montaigne)
January 13, 2020 – June 30, 2020: MSc Internship in Luminescence Dating.
Thesis: Chronological Framework of Human Settlements at the La-Roche-à-Pierrot Site (Saint-Césaire, Charente-Maritime): Contribution of Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating.
Advisor: Christelle Lahaye (UMR 5060, IRAMAT-CRP2A)
January 14, 2019 – May 13, 2019: First-Year MSc Thesis.
Thesis: The Transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic: Chronology of a Multiple Transition on a European Scale.
Advisor: Christelle Lahaye (UMR 5060, IRAMAT-CRP2A)
September 19, 2016 – May 28, 2018: Bachelor’s Degree in Archaeological Sciences (University of Bordeaux Montaigne)
September 7, 2015 – June 27, 2016: First year of a bachelor’s degree in art history 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 Paleolithic Khonako III loess-paleosol 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 Paleolithic
sites in Tajikistan. PhD thesis. Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark. Available at
Detailed quartz and feldspar luminescence chronologies of loessic Paleolithic sites in Tajikistan -
Welcome to the 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 f
-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-
paleosol 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
Paleolithic site of La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire, France. Quaternary Science Reviews, 315,
108218