Milestone for IDCHS: First Doctoral Candidate Successfully Completes PhD Examination

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The Institute for Digital Cultural Heritage Studies (IDCHS) is pleased to announce that Mirko De Tomassi successfully completed his doctoral defense on 19 May 2026. This marks a significant milestone for the Institute, as De Tomassi is the first doctoral candidate to complete the final PhD examination in IDCHS’s four-year history.

De Tomassi’s research brought together digital heritage, bioanthropology, and osteology in an innovative interdisciplinary study of ancient Maya funerary practices. His article-based dissertation, “Late Classic Maya Funerary Practices at Palenque, Mexico: Merging Mortuary Archaeology and Digital Archaeology to the Study of Burials from Group IV,” demonstrates the value of integrating digital methods with archaeological and osteological analysis.

The dissertation will soon be available through the LMU Library publication platform. We warmly congratulate Dr. De Tomassi on this important achievement and wish him every success in the next stage of his academic career. The Institute also gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the examination committee—Prof. Nicola Lercari (LMU), Prof. Andrew Scherer (Brown University), Prof. Philipp Stockhammer (LMU), and Dr. Anastasia Eleftheriadou (LMU)—whose dedication and scholarly guidance were instrumental in achieving this milestone for IDCHS.