About Denis Pezhemsky

Denis Pezhemsky (born May 12, 1975) – Russian physical anthropologist and archaeologist, Ph.D. in Biology, Senior Researcher at the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University. He teaches the course "Physical Anthropology" at the Faculty of History, supervises the scientific work of students at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University. He is extensively engaged in science outreach activities in the form of popular lectures and interviews.

Director of the Paleoethnology Research Center (since 2018, in 2015–2018: Deputy Director), deputy head of the Amur Anthropological Expedition (since 2016), head of the Russian-Indian Anthropological Expedition (since 2018), head of the South American expedition (since 2019) of the Paleoethnology Research Center.

Scientific interests: morphology of the human skull and postcranial skeleton, anatomical variability of the skeletal system, human phenetics, morphology of the modern population of various regions of Eurasia and America, the genesis of ancient and modern populations, the theory and methodology of physical anthropology investigations, facial reconstruction on cranial base, the history of physical anthropology, funeral archeology.

What puts me off from in modern evolutionary anthropology is the tendency for the archaeological context to be ignored in a deluge of discoveries of fossil hominid remains, and for researchers to obsess over DNA-reconstructions and speculate endlessly instead of verifying existing hypotheses. The situation is only aggravated by an overly narrow specialization among those working in modern evolutionary anthropology. Given this it is clear that we will not learn the truth about human origins for a very long time!

Ph.D. thesis: “Variability of the longitudinal dimensions of the human tubular bones and the possibility of body built reconstructions” (2011).

The author of more than 100 scientific papers, including two monographs on physical anthropology. For more than 20 years he investigated the history and archeology of Novgorod the Great in connection with the anthropological studying of the North-West of Russia, led archaeological excavations (2004–2009).

One of the experts in the Case of the murder of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family (2016–2019).

Member of the European Anthropological Association (from 2002 to 2023), member of the Moscow Society of Naturalists (since 2005).

Member of the Indian Anthropological Society (since 2021)

The publications of Denis Pezhemsky can be found on his personal page in the systems "ISTINA MSU" and "ACADEMIA"