Publications

1. Peer-reviewed publications

        1. Psonis, N., Tabakaki, E., Vassou, D. Papadantonakis S., Souleles A., Nafplioti A., Kousis Tsampazis G., Papadopoulou A., Xanthopoulos K., Panailidis P., Georgiadou A., Papakosta D., Koursioti S., Evangelinou M., Papadopoulou V.,Evaggeloglou P., Korka E., Christidis I., Ioannou M., Kontogianni Th., Arkoumanis A., Stamatakis A., Poulakakis N., Papageorgopoulou C. & Pavlidis P. Genetic affinities between the ancient Greek colony of Amvrakia and its metropolis. Genome Biol 27, 96 (2026), https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-026-03968-5 (get paper here)

        2. Philippidis A., Mamali A., Pinon V., Vassou D., Nafplioti A.,Tabakaki E., Poulakakis N., Stamatakis A., Pavlidis P., Psonis N., Anglos D., In situ microRaman spectroscopy as a screening tool for assessing human DNA preservation in ancient dental remains,Microchemical Journal, Volume 224, 2026,117446,ISSN 0026-265X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2026.117446  (get paper here)

        3. Katherine Hearne, Diāna Spurīte, Alexander Hübner, Biancamaria Bonucci, Yuejiao Huang, Bjørn Peare Bartholdy, Piotr Rozwalak, Lorena Becerra-Valdivia, Maxime Borry, Davide Bozzi, Anastasia Brativnyk, Jodie Brunt, Nihan D. Dagtas, Toni de-Dios, Cameron Ferguson, Jasmin Frangenberg, Benjamin Guinet, Magdalena Haller-Caskie, Reed Harder, Iseult Jackson, Chenyu Jin, Marcel Keller, Arthur Kocher, Ian Light-Maka, Maria Lopopolo, Frederik Lutz, Megan Michel, Denis Jorge Nunes Yamunaque, Kadir Özdogan, Zoé Pochon, Darío A. Ramirez, Maximilian L. Schumacher, Gabriel Yaxal Ponce-Soto, Nikolaos Psonis, Tom Richtermeier, Lennart Schreiber, Pooja Swali, Cathy Ngọc Hân Trần, Irina M. Velsko, Christina Warinner, Anna E. White, Giulia Zampirolo, James A. Fellows Yates, Aida Andrades Valtueña, AncientMetagenomeDir dating metadataset highlights need for standardised radiocarbon reporting in ancient DNA,bioRxiv 2026.02.06.704039; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.06.704039  (get paper here)

        4. Korábek O., Vardinoyannis K., Örstan A., Psonis N. Finding the relatives of a critically endangered island endemic reveals a heterogeneous evolution of land snail mitogenomes (Gastropoda: Helicidae). Pre-print available in bioRxiv (03.2025)

        5. Bettisworth B, Psonis N, Poulakakis N, Pavlidis P, Stamatakis A. Read Length Dominates Phylogenetic Placement Accuracy of Ancient DNA Reads. Mol Biol Evol. 2025 Jan 17:msaf006, (get paper here)

        6. Psonis Nikolaos, Vassou Despoina, Nafplioti Argyro, Tabakaki Eugenia, Pavlidis Pavlos, Stamatakis Alexandros and Poulakakis Nikos, "Identification of the 18 World War II executed citizens of Adele, Rethymnon, Crete using an ancient DNA approach and low coverage genomes", Forensic Science International: Genetics,71(2024):103060, (get paper here)

        7. Nafplioti, A. "Eating like the Elite at Neo-Palatial Knosos", Oxford Journal of Archaeology. Volume 43, Issue 3, (2024): 278-291 (get paper here)

        8. Koptekin D., Yüncü E., Rodríguez-Varela R., Altınışık N.E., Psonis N., Kashuba N., Yorulmaz S., George R., Kazancı D.D., Kaptan D., Gürün K., Vural K.B., Gemici H.C., Vassou D., Daskalaki E., Karamurat C, Lagerholm V.K., Erdal Ö.D., Kırdök E., Marangoni A., Schachner A., Üstündağ H., Shengelia R., Bitadze L., Elashvili M., Stravopodi E., Özbaşaran M., Duru G., Nafplioti A., Rose C.B., Gencer T., Darbyshire G., Gavashelishvili A., Pitskhelauri K., Çevik Ö., Vuruşkan O., Kyparissi-Apostolika N., Büyükkarakaya A.M., Oğuzhanoğlu U., Günel S., Tabakaki E., Aliev A., Ibrahimov A., Shadlinski V., Sampson A., Kılınç G.M., Atakuman Ç., Stamatakis A., Poulakakis N., Erdal Y.S., Pavlidis P., Storå J., Özer F., Götherström A., & Somel M., "Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in human mobility patterns in Holocene Southwest Asia and the East Mediterranean", Current Biology, 33:1 (2023): 41-57 (get paper here)

        9. Psonis N., Vardinoyannis K., & Poulakakis N. "High-throughput degraded DNA sequencing of subfossil shells of a critically endangered stenoendemic land snail in the Aegean", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 175 (2022) 107561 (get paper here)

        10. Psonis N., Vassou D., Nicolaou L., Roussiakis S., Iliopoulos G., Poulakakis N., & Sfenthourakis S., "Mitochondrial sequences of the extinct Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus confirm its phylogenetic placement", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, (published online 2021), 3:196 (2022): 979-989 (get paper here)

        11. Nafplioti Α., "Μoving forward: Strodium isotope mobility research in the Aegean", Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 21:2 (2021): 165-179, (get paper here)

        12. Staikou V., Sianis D.P., Vassou D., Psonis N., Allentoft M., & Iliopoulos G., "Middle Helladic Tombs at Nydri Plain, Lefkas Island. An Archaeological and Paleoanthropological Study", Journal of Greek Archaeology, 6 (2021): 43–59, (get paper here)

        13. Psonis N., Vassou D. &  Kafetzopoulos D., "Testing a series of modifications on genomic library preparation methods for ancient or degraded DNA", Analytical Biochemistry, 623 (2021) 114193 (get paper here)

        14. Psonis Ν., de Carvalho C.N., Figueiredo S., Tabakaki E., Vassou D., Poulakakis N. & Kafetzopoulos D., "Molecular identification and geographic origin of a post-Medieval elephant finding from southwestern Portugal using high-throughput sequencing", Scientific Reports, 10 (2020) 19252 (get paper here)


2. Conference presentations

      1. N. Psonis, S. Koursioti, D. Vassou, S. Baleka, H. Poinar, N. Poulakakis "Mitochondrial Genome Capture Reveals Evolutionary Relationships of Pleistocene Elephantidae and Cevidae in The Eastern Mediterranean" Poster Presentation, International Conference of Palaeogenomics (ICP), Stockholm, Sweden, 23-26 June 2026

      2. Choupa, M.N., Vassou, D., Koursioti, S. et al. "From Grave to Genome: Archaeogenomic Perspectives on the Post-Byzantine Population of Poros, Heraklion, Crete" Poster Presentation, International Conference of Palaeogenomics (ICP), Stockholm, Sweden, 23-26 June 2026

      3. Nikos Psonis "Paleogenomics of Pleistocene Insular Cervids from Crete and Karpathos" Oral Presentation, Symposium Archaeogenetic research in the Aegean, central FORTH building Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 9 June, 2026

      4. Pavlos Pavlidis "The origin of the Cretan wild goat" Oral Presentation, Symposium Archaeogenetic research in the Aegean, central FORTH building Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 9 June, 2026

      5. Nefeli Choupa "From Grave to Genome: Archaeogenomic Perspectives on the Post-Byzantine Assemblage of Poros, Heraklion, Crete" Oral Presentation, Symposium Archaeogenetic research in the Aegean, central FORTH building Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 9 June, 2026

      6. Eugenia Tabakaki "Human Remains: Thoughts on Ethical and Bioethical Approaches" Oral Presentation, Symposium Archaeogenetic research in the Aegean, central FORTH building Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 9 June, 2026

      7. Argyro Nafplioti "Moving Forward: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges in Isotope Research on Provenance and Mobility" Oral Presentation,, Symposium Archaeogenetic research in the Aegean, central FORTH building Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 10 June, 2026

      8. Stefanos Papadadonakis "Fine-scale population structure and demographic history of Crete" Oral Presentation, Symposium Archaeogenetic research in the Aegean, central FORTH building Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 8 June, 2026

      9. Konstantopoulou M.V., Pappa I., Staikou V., Psonis N., Vassou D., Tabakaki E., Poulakakis N., Iliopoulos G. “Bones, Grave Goods, and Mortuary Practices: A Multidisciplinary Osteoarchaeological Study of a Hellenistic Infant Burial in Lefkada”. 9th Symposium of the Hellenic Archaeometric Society, Patra, Greece 05-09 November 2025

      10. Ioannidis P., Papadadonakis S., Vassou D., Tabakaki E., Koursioti S., Gonidakis G., Stamatakis A., Poulakakis N., Psonis N., Pavlidis P. “High quality human genome assemblies from the island of Crete (Greece) form the foundation for downstream genomics studies”. International Conference on Human Genetics, Rome, Italy, October 16-17, 2025

      11. Papadadonakis S., Ioannidis P., Psonis N., Vassou D., Koursioti S., Gonidakis G., Tabakaki E., Stamatakis A., Poulakakis N., Pavlidis P. “The genomic landscape of the Cretan population”. International Conference on Human Genetics, Rome, Italy, October 16-17, 2025.

      12. Kiamos N., Bitzilekis E., Stratakis M., Kolendrianou M., Vasilaki E., Chanioti C., Bintirinis A., Psonis N., Lymberakis P., Poulakakis N. “Cretan Shrew: Modern answers, newer questions.” 12th Conference of the Hellenic Ecological Society, Patra, Greece, 01-04 October 2025 (oral presentation)

      13. Stavridou E., Gkatzogia E. Mavromati A. Psonis N., Vassou D., Poulakakis N., Madesis P., Sbonias K., Athanasiou K. “Tracing plant diversity at the prehistoric settlement of Koimisis in Therasia - An interdisciplinary approach”. 31th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), Belgrade, Virtual on 02 - 06 September 2025 (presentation here)

      14. Koursioti S., Psonis N., Vassou D., Xirouchakis S., Probonas M., Stamatakis A., Pavlidis P., Poulakakis N. “Move, Adapt, or Die: The genomic diversity of Gypaetus barbatus and the impacts of climate change”. 16th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions, Athens, Greece, 03-06 July 2025 (poster)

      15. Papadopoulou A., Psonis N., Vassou D., Tabakaki E., Koptekin D., Neuenschwander S., Rodríguez-Varela R., Anchieri L., Hübner L., Papadantonakis S., Nafplioti A., Koursioti S., Stravopodi E., Kontaxi C., Aravantinos L.V., Kyparissi-Apostolika N., Yılmaz Y. , Yorulmaz S., Daskalaki E., Allentoft M., Götherström A., Özer F., Somel M., Pavlidis P., Stamatakis A., Malaspinas A.S., Poulakakis N. “The genetic history of Neolithic to Bronze Age Aegean at the crossroad between Anatolia and Europe”. Annual meeting for the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE), Symposium 'Paleogenomics and human evolutionary history: new insights and novel methods', Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 07-11 July 2024 (abstract ).

      16. Papadopoulou A., Psonis N., Vassou D., Tabakaki E., Koptekin D., Neuenschwander S., Rodríguez-Varela R., Anchieri L., Hübner L., Papadantonakis S., Nafplioti A., Koursioti S.,Stravopodi E., Kontaxi C., Aravantinos L.V., Kyparissi-Apostolika N., Yılmaz Y. , Yorulmaz S., Daskalaki E., Allentoft M., Götherström A., Özer F., Somel M., Pavlidis P., Stamatakis A., Malaspinas A.S., Poulakakis N. “The genetic history of Neolithic to Bronze Age Aegean at the crossroad between Anatolia and Europe”. EMBL Symposium - Reconstructing the human past: using ancient and modern genomics, Heidelberg, Germany, 17-20 September2024 (abstract ).

      17. A. Philippidis, A. Mamali, N. Psonis, D. Vassou, A. Nafplioti, E.Tabakaki, P. Pavlidis, A. Stamatakis, N. Poulakakis, D. Anglos, «Investigation of spectral markers appropriate for optimized archaeogenetic analysis of ancient teeth and bones based on Raman scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques». 8th Symposium of Archaeometry, Hellenic Society for Archaeometry October 17 – 20, 2023, Athens

      18. A. Mamali, A. Philippidis, N. Psonis, D. Vassou, E. Tabakaki, A.Nafplioti, N. Poulakakis, D. Anglos, «Investigation of spectral markers appropriate for optimized archaeogenetic analysis of ancient dental remains based on Raman scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques». 13th International Conference on Instrumental Methods of Analysis: Modern Trends and Applications 17 - 20 September 2023, Chania, Crete

      19. Demetrios Anglos, Angelina Mamali, Aggelos Philippidis, Despoina Vassou, Eugenia Tabakaki, Argyro Nafplioti, Nikolaos Psonis, Nikos Poulakakis, "Raman spectra facilitate screening of ancient teeth indicating their relative content in endogenous genetic material", RAA2023-11th International Conference on the Application of Raman Spectroscopy in Art and Archaeology, Conference, RAA2023 6-9 September 2023, Athens (abstract)

      20. Argyro Nafplioti, T. Rowan McLaughlin, Caroline Malone, Tamsin O’Connell, Simon Stoddart, "Early settlers on the Maltese islands: An isotopic investigation of diet, provenance and residential mobility", 29th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), Belfast, Ireland on 30 August – 2 September 2023 (oral presentation)

      21. Argyro Nafplioti,"Isotopic mobility research: Let us pause and reflect", 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA),Budapest, 31 August – 3 September 2023 (oral presentation)

      22. Argyro Nafplioti , Dimitra Michael, Linda Fibiger, Barry Molloy, "Population biological distance, connectivity and interaction in Bronze Age and Protogeometric Crete: integrated biological and material culture approaches", 13th International Congress of Cretan Studies, 5-9/10/2022 (oral presentation)

      23. Vassou D., Psonis N., Tabakaki E., Koursioti S., Papakosta D., Xanthopoulos K., Papadopoulou V.N., Tsetsos F., Galanis A., Papagerogopoulou C., Nafplioti A., Pavlidis P., Stamatakis A., & Poulakakis N. "Human genomes from Ancient Amvrakia, Epirus, north-western Greece". 15th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions, Mytilini, Greece, 12-15 October 2022.

      24. Psonis N., Vassou D., Kontaxi C., Stravopodi E., Tabakaki E., Nafplioti A., Pavlidis P., Stamatakis A., & Poulakakis N. "Ancient DNA confirms the presence of aurochs (Bos primigenius) in Neolithic Greece". 15th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions, Μυτιλήνη, Ελλάδα, 12-15 Οκτωβρίου 2022.

      25. Mavridou D., Τsafaras S, Karyati E., Vassou D., Tabakaki E., Psonis N., Papageorgopoulou C., Xatnthopoulos K., Georgiadou A., Aidonis A., Papadopoulou V., Vasios A., Papakosta D., Korka E., Evaggeloglou P., Christidis I., Ioannou M., & Panailidis P., "Museum Archaeo-Bio Open Lab experience using new technologies and interactive multimedia applications". 26th ICOM General Conference, Πράγα, Τσεχία, 20-28 Αυγούστου 2022.

      26. Theodoridou M., Vassou D., Felicetti A., Tabakaki E., Psonis N., & Kafetzopoulos D., "Forth to the past: Modeling Complex Scientific Ancient DNA Protocols", 27th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists - Widening Horizons (Virtual Conference), Kiel, Germany, 06-11 September 2021 (oral presentation).

      27. Molloy B., Fibiger L., Michael D., & Nafplioti A,. "Taking The Pulse Of Biomolecular And Bioarchaeological Insights Into Mobility And Change Ca. 1200 BC In Southeastern Europe". 27th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists - Widening Horizons (Virtual Conference), Kiel, Germany, 06-11 September 2021 (oral presentation)

      28. Argyro Nafplioti, "Life and Death at Early Neolithic Katsambas on Crete", Τhe 8th Conference in Aegean Archaeology, Warsaw,23-25/06 2021 (oral presentation)

      29. Psonis N., Vassou D., Tabakaki E., Stravopodi E., & Kafetzopoulos D., "Early Bronze Age Aegean Genomes From Perachora Cave, Corinth, Greece". 27th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists - Widening Horizons (Virtual Conference), Kiel, Germany, 06-11 September 2021 (poster presentation).

      30. Psonis N., Vassou D., Nicolaou L., Poulakakis N., Roussiakis S., Iliopoulos G., Sfenthourakis S. & Kafetzopoulos D., "Mitogenomics of the extinct Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus. Ancient Biomolecules of Plants, Animals, and Microbes" (Virtual Conference), Wellcome Genome Campus, UK, 29-31 March 2021.

      31. Patramanis I., Tabakaki E., Vassou D., Psonis N., Papadopoulou V., Pavlidis P. & Kafetzopoulos D., "Dynamic demographic models for the study of the second Greek colonization (8th - 6th century BCE)", Conference "Reconstructing the Human Past - Using Ancient and Modern Genomics", EMBL Heidelberg, Germany, 31 Mar - 3 Apr 2019.

 

 

3. Conference proceedings

        1. Stavridou E., Psonis N., Vassou D., Poulakakis N., Madesis P., Sbonias K. The prehistoric and modern flora of Thirasia – A multi-level approach: Preliminary findings (In Greek). In Athanasiou K (Editor) Selected presentations from the workshop Τhirassia: a diachronic approach to rural architecture, abandoned residential sites, and plant biodiversity (2025) (Get pdf here)

        2. Tabakaki E., &  Kafetzopoulos D., “Heritage considerations and challenges from ancient DNA analysis: a preliminary approach expanding from the Greek legal and ethical network”, in Proceedings IMaTTe 2017 International conference on the values of tangible heritage, Lisbon, May 29-30, 2017. LNEC: Lisboa. ISBN 9789724922959 

 

 

4. Book Chapters

        1. Theodoridou M., Vassou D., Felicetti A., Tabakaki E., Psonis N. & Kafetzopoulos D. Forth to the Past: Modeling complex scientific aDNA protocols. Accepted for publication in Volume: Big Data in Anthropology and Archaeology, Book Series: Quantitative Archaeology and Archaeological Modelling. 

 

5. Theses

        1. Catherine Chanioti, "Population genomics analysis of humans from the Post-Medieval cemetery of Poros (Heraklion, Crete) based on archaeogenomics data”, Bachelor’s Thesis, University of Crete, Department of Biology, June 2025
        2. Sevasti Koursioti,"Ancient DNA analysis in human remains of the early bronze age in Greece", Master’s Thesis, University of Crete, Department of Biology, March 2023  
        3. Ioannis Patramanis,"Simulating and predicting ancient population demographics using computational and machine learning methods", Master’s Thesis, University of Crete, Medical School, December 2019 
        4. Evaggelia-Niki Pentari, "Construction of RNA baits for the human gene MC1R for use in capture experiments", Bachelor’s Thesis, University of Crete, Department of Biology,  July 2020
        5. Dimitra Baharidou, "Development and study of methodologies for ancient biopolymers isolation", Bachelor’s Thesis, University of Crete, Department of Chemistry, June 2018 
        6. Alexandros Liratzakis,"Evaluation of interactions between DNA and solid matrices",  Bachelor’s Thesis, University of Crete, Department of Chemistry, October 2018 
        7. Mylopotamitaki Dora,“Optimizing methods for the recovery of ancient DNA sequence data” Master’s Thesis, University of Crete, Department of Chemistry, July 2019 
Back to top