Alexandra Van Der Geer
Biographic Data
| ID | 4145940 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexandra Van Der Geer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Der Geer |
| SIGNATURE | VAN DER GEER A |
| AFFILIATIONS | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9588-4739 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 41 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Figural Art in the Paleolithic Aegean
The Asphendou Cave petroglyphs are located high in the Alpine zone of the White Mountains of Crete (Greece). The petroglyphs are carved into the speleothem of the cave’s floor. These petroglyphs are a series of superimposed representations dating from recent times to the Paleolithic. The Paleolithic dating for the bottom-most glyphs is based on the depiction of quadrupeds that went extinct before the end of the Late Pleistocene, namely the dwarf …
Quaternary Palaeontology and Archaeology of Sumatra
“The Indonesian island of Sumatra is part of a chain of islands making up Sunda and the Malay Archipelago. Sumatra is one of the largest islands in the world, housing unique and globally important tropical rainforests, a diverse array of rare plants and magnificent animals, and a population of 60 million who speak a range of Austronesian languages. As beautifully exemplified
Paradise lost
Palaeolithic cave art from Crete, Greece
The earliest figural art known from Greece is dated to the Neolithic period (ca. 8,5 to 5 thousand years ago). A recent study of the petroglyphs at Asphendou Cave on the island of Crete, however, suggests that such art has a much longer history in the Aegean basin. First published over forty years ago, the debate concerning the petroglyphs' age has lain dormant for decades. In light of technological advances in digital imaging and recent archaeol…
The origin of Homo floresiensis and its relation to evolutionary processes under isolation
Since its first description in 2004, Homo floresiensis has been attributed to a species of its own, a descendant of H. erectus or another early hominid, a pathological form of H. sapiens, or a dwarfed H. sapiens related to the Neolithic inhabitants of Flores. In this contribution, we apply a geometric morphometric analysis to the skull of H. floresiensis (LB1) and compare it with skulls of normal H. sapiens, insular H. sapiens (Minatogawa Man and…
Animals in Stone
Cervus unicolor, sambar deer
Sambars are related to red deer (Cervus elaphus) and are thus large, gregarious deer with deciduous antlers only in the males. The majority of sculptures of sambars and barasinghas forms part of early Buddhist narrative reliefs as evidenced by the stupa railings from Sanchi and Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh and the region of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. In one instance, a disagreement between textual source and depicted animal exists. This is the case wit…
Giraffa camelopardalis, the giraffe
The giraffe and its close relative the okapi are purely African mammals, and do not thrive elsewhere in the wild. The rare examples of giraffes in medieval Indian painting are copied from Arabian bestiaries. The even more rare stone depictions are, if not mythical, at their best interpretations of giraffe descriptions, in which only the typical long neck and steeping hindquarters survived. It is far more likely, however, that these strange giraff…
Gazella bennetti, the chinkara
Carvings of gazelles in stone are very rare, and practically limited to early Buddhist narrative reliefs, mainly from Andhra Pradesh and Greater Gandhara. Gazelles fall under the broader class of mriga, or game animals, and it is not always possible to determine the mriga with certainty. Straight, ungrooved and unbranched horns and a small body size are indicative for a gazelle. There is not much difference between the depicted gazelles: they are…
The effect of insularity on the Eastern Mediterranean early cervoid Hoplitomeryx
Animals in Stone
The art history of South Asia covers a time span of roughly four and a half thousand years. During this period, a vast number of animal stone sculptures has been produced, ranging from the pre-historic period till today and covering a great variety of motifs and imagery in different regions and religious traditions. Even so, the number of studies devoted to these animal sculptures has remained extremely limited. The present book aims at filling t…
Fossil Folklore from India
All over the world, from antiquity to the present, people have often explained fossil discoveries as proof of the historical truth of legends and myths, or used them as a basis for a new legend. Most often, large vertebrate fossils have been explained as bones and teeth of giant humans, dragons and monsters, saints and heroes. Smaller invertebrate fossils were often interpreted as sacred or curious relics based on their resemblance to familiar or…
The origin of Homo floresiensis and its relation to evolutionary processes under isolation
Since its first description in 2004, Homo floresiensis has been attributed to a species of its own, a descendant of H. erectus or another early hominid, a pathological form of H. sapiens, or a dwarfed H. sapiens related to the Neolithic inhabitants of Flores. In this contribution, we apply a geometric morphometric analysis to the skull of H. floresiensis (LB1) and compare it with skulls of normal H. sapiens, insular H. sapiens (Minatogawa Man and…
Fossil Folklore from India
All over the world, from antiquity to the present, people have often explained fossil discoveries as proof of the historical truth of legends and myths, or used them as a basis for a new legend. Most often, large vertebrate fossils have been explained as bones and teeth of giant humans, dragons and monsters, saints and heroes. Smaller invertebrate fossils were often interpreted as sacred or curious relics based on their resemblance to familiar or…
Palaeolithic cave art from Crete, Greece
The earliest figural art known from Greece is dated to the Neolithic period (ca. 8,5 to 5 thousand years ago). A recent study of the petroglyphs at Asphendou Cave on the island of Crete, however, suggests that such art has a much longer history in the Aegean basin. First published over forty years ago, the debate concerning the petroglyphs' age has lain dormant for decades. In light of technological advances in digital imaging and recent archaeol…
Animals in Stone
The art history of South Asia covers a time span of roughly four and a half thousand years. During this period, a vast number of animal stone sculptures has been produced, ranging from the pre-historic period till today and covering a great variety of motifs and imagery in different regions and religious traditions. Even so, the number of studies devoted to these animal sculptures has remained extremely limited. The present book aims at filling t…
Animals in Stone
Cervus unicolor, sambar deer
Sambars are related to red deer (Cervus elaphus) and are thus large, gregarious deer with deciduous antlers only in the males. The majority of sculptures of sambars and barasinghas forms part of early Buddhist narrative reliefs as evidenced by the stupa railings from Sanchi and Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh and the region of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. In one instance, a disagreement between textual source and depicted animal exists. This is the case wit…
Giraffa camelopardalis, the giraffe
The giraffe and its close relative the okapi are purely African mammals, and do not thrive elsewhere in the wild. The rare examples of giraffes in medieval Indian painting are copied from Arabian bestiaries. The even more rare stone depictions are, if not mythical, at their best interpretations of giraffe descriptions, in which only the typical long neck and steeping hindquarters survived. It is far more likely, however, that these strange giraff…
Gazella bennetti, the chinkara
Carvings of gazelles in stone are very rare, and practically limited to early Buddhist narrative reliefs, mainly from Andhra Pradesh and Greater Gandhara. Gazelles fall under the broader class of mriga, or game animals, and it is not always possible to determine the mriga with certainty. Straight, ungrooved and unbranched horns and a small body size are indicative for a gazelle. There is not much difference between the depicted gazelles: they are…
The effect of insularity on the Eastern Mediterranean early cervoid Hoplitomeryx
Animals in Stone
The art history of South Asia covers a time span of roughly four and a half thousand years. During this period, a vast number of animal stone sculptures has been produced, ranging from the pre-historic period till today and covering a great variety of motifs and imagery in different regions and religious traditions. Even so, the number of studies devoted to these animal sculptures has remained extremely limited. The present book aims at filling t…
Fossil Folklore from India
All over the world, from antiquity to the present, people have often explained fossil discoveries as proof of the historical truth of legends and myths, or used them as a basis for a new legend. Most often, large vertebrate fossils have been explained as bones and teeth of giant humans, dragons and monsters, saints and heroes. Smaller invertebrate fossils were often interpreted as sacred or curious relics based on their resemblance to familiar or…
The origin of Homo floresiensis and its relation to evolutionary processes under isolation
Since its first description in 2004, Homo floresiensis has been attributed to a species of its own, a descendant of H. erectus or another early hominid, a pathological form of H. sapiens, or a dwarfed H. sapiens related to the Neolithic inhabitants of Flores. In this contribution, we apply a geometric morphometric analysis to the skull of H. floresiensis (LB1) and compare it with skulls of normal H. sapiens, insular H. sapiens (Minatogawa Man and…
Palaeolithic cave art from Crete, Greece
The earliest figural art known from Greece is dated to the Neolithic period (ca. 8,5 to 5 thousand years ago). A recent study of the petroglyphs at Asphendou Cave on the island of Crete, however, suggests that such art has a much longer history in the Aegean basin. First published over forty years ago, the debate concerning the petroglyphs' age has lain dormant for decades. In light of technological advances in digital imaging and recent archaeol…
Paradise lost
Quaternary Palaeontology and Archaeology of Sumatra
“The Indonesian island of Sumatra is part of a chain of islands making up Sunda and the Malay Archipelago. Sumatra is one of the largest islands in the world, housing unique and globally important tropical rainforests, a diverse array of rare plants and magnificent animals, and a population of 60 million who speak a range of Austronesian languages. As beautifully exemplified
Figural Art in the Paleolithic Aegean
The Asphendou Cave petroglyphs are located high in the Alpine zone of the White Mountains of Crete (Greece). The petroglyphs are carved into the speleothem of the cave’s floor. These petroglyphs are a series of superimposed representations dating from recent times to the Paleolithic. The Paleolithic dating for the bottom-most glyphs is based on the depiction of quadrupeds that went extinct before the end of the Late Pleistocene, namely the dwarf …
Biology (6 works) · Geography (6 works) · Archaeology (5 works) · Evolution and Paleontology Studies (4 works) · History (4 works) · Pleistocene (4 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (4 works) · Zoology (4 works) · Cave (3 works) · History (3 works)