Mario Alinei
Linguist (Emeritus, University of Utrecht)

Honorary member (and former President) of the International Society for Dialectology and Geolinguistics; President of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (1989); founding member of the Società Linguistica Italiana; co-founder and President (from 1982) of the Atlas Linguarum Europae (UNESCO sponsored project); founder and Emeritus Editor of the international journal "Quaderni di Semantica"; senior member of the Royal Academy Gustaf Adolf, Uppsala (Sweden); member of the Accademia Peloritana, Messina.
Books on the PCP: Dal totemismo al cristianesimo popolare. Sviluppi semantici nei dialetti italiani ed europei, Alessandria 1984; Origini delle lingue d'Europa, 2 vols., Bologna 1996-2000; Etrusco: una forma arcaica di ungherese, Bologna 2003; Alguns aspectos da Teoria da Continuidade Paleolítica aplicada à região gallega (with Francesco Benozzo), Lisboa 2008; Origens célticas e atlânticas do megalitismo europeu (with Francesco Benozzo), Lisboa 2009; L’origine delle parole, Roma 2009.
Other books: La struttura del lessico, Bologna 1974; Lingua e dialetti: struttura, storia e geografia, Bologna 1984; Il sorriso della Gioconda, Bologna 2006.

Xaverio Ballester
Linguist (University of Valencia)

Professor of Latin Philology. Ph.D. in Classical Philology (University of Barcelona, 1987); Profesor titular of Latin Philology in the University of Zaragoza (1989); Professor of Latin Philology in the University of Valencia (1997); Professor of Latin Philology in the University of La Laguna (1997, resign); co-editor of the journal "Liburna".
Books on the PCP: Las Primeras Palabras de la Humanidad, Valencia 2002; Zoónimos ancestrales, Valencia 2007; Linguística Indo-Europeia Tradicional e Paradigma da Continuidade Paleolítica cara a cara, Lisboa 2009.
Other books: A Catulo usque ad Catullum. Studia neoterica, Barcelona 1988; Fonemática del latín clásico. Consonantismo, Zaragoza 1996; Los Mejores Títulos y los Peores Versos de la Literatura Latina, Barcelona 1998.

Francesco Benozzo
Philologist (University of Bologna)

Research fellow in Ethnophilology. Ph.D. in Celtic Philology (University of Wales, 2002); Ph.D. in Romance Philology (University of Bologna, 1999); founder and general editor of the international journal "Studi Celtici"; General Editor of the international journal "Quaderni di Semantica"; membro asesor of the Associacion de Onomastica Galega; member of the Editorial Boards of "Quaderni Indo-Mediterranei", "Quaderni di Filologia Romanza", "Liburna", "Rivista Italiana di Dialettologia"; Italian delegate for the World Archaeological Association; Italian Representative for the Instituto de Estudios Celtas (Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid); co-editor of the philological series "Tir" (Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique, Université de Rennes).
Books on the PCP: Dizionario del dialetto di San Cesario sul Panaro, 3 vols., Bologna 2006-2008; La tradizione smarrita. Le origini non scritte delle letterature romanze, Roma 2007; Alguns aspectos da Teoria da Continuidade Paleolítica aplicada à região gallega (with Mario Alinei), Lisboa 2008; Cartografie occitaniche. Approssimazione alla poesia dei trovatori, Napoli 2008; Origens célticas e atlânticas do megalitismo europeu (with Mario Alinei), Lisboa 2009; Etnofilologia: un’introduzione, Napoli 2010.
Other books: Poeti della marea. testi bardici gallesi dal VI al X secolo, Bologna 1998; Il Gododdin, poema eroico antico-gallese, Milano-Trento 2001; Alfred Bassermann: orme di Dante in Italia, Bologna 2006.

Guido Borghi
Linguist (University of Genova)

10.7.1993 M.A. at Milan University, Faculty of Humanities (Degree Thesis in Indo-European Linguistics on Continental Celtic lexicon). 1997 PhD in Classical and Comparative Philology at Milan and Verona Universities (Doctoral Dissertation in Indo-European Linguistics on Ancient Celtic compound place and tribal names). 1997-1999 Post-Doctoral course in Anatolian Linguistics at Pavia University. Since 1.11.1999 Research Fellow for Comparative Linguistics at Genoa University, Faculty of Mediaeval and Modern Philologies. Lifetime Member of the Society for Indo-European Studies (since 1996) and Friends and Alumni of Indo-European Studies - University of California at Los Angeles (since 2003). Founding Member of the Austrian Society for Name Studies (1997) and of the Genoa Association for Vedic and Pāṇini Studies (2001). Member of: International Institute for Ligurian Studies (1997), Milan Linguistic Circle (1998), Institute of Alpine Lombard Dialectology and Ethnography (2002), European Society for Celtic Studies (2009). Research focus: Indo-European Homeland debate; geographical distribution, territorial institutions and name inventory of mainly non-classical peoples and tribes in ancient Europe and Mediterranean basin, Near and Middle East, Central and South Asia since Indo-European origins to early Imperialism. Publication focus: Indo-European etymologies with special emphasis on Celtic words and names. Provisional results: reconstruction of a possible Proto-Germanic source of Tacitus’ Germany (2007); exploitation of Romance place-names of Celtic origin as proof of the presence of Proto-Indo-European dialects in Cisalpine Gaul (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009); Indo-European, Celtic etymologies of Old Ligurian names (2006, 2009); Indo-European affiliation of the ‘Mediterranean’ lexical layer (2006, 2008, 2009).

Franco Cavazza
Linguist (University of Bologna)

Lecturer in Latin, Faculty of Education, University of Bologna (1972-1975); Researcher in Latin language and literature, University of Bologna (since 1980); Lecturer in Linguistic, Municipality of Bologna, University of Perugia, and Accademia delle Scienze of Lucca (since 1988); Professor of History of Linguistic, University of Bologna (since 1993); Editor coordinator of Aullo Gellio’s Opera omnia, Bologna 1985-1999.
Books on the PCP: Lezioni di Indoeuropeistica, con particolare riguardo alle lingue classiche (sanscrito, greco, latino e gotico), vol. I, Pisa, 2001; Lezioni di Indoeuropeistica, con particolare riguardo alle lingue classiche (sanscrito, greco, latino e gotico), vol. II, Pisa 2004.
Other books: Studio su Varrone etimologo e grammatico. La lingua latina come modello di struttura linguistica, Firenze 1981; Prolegomena et commentaria in "Concilium Tridentinum. Diariorum, actorum, epistularum, tractatuum nova collectio", tomus tertius, diariorum pars tertia, volumen secundum, Friburgi Brisgoviae 1985; Questioni di ortoepia e ortografia latina: un caso di neutralizzazione fonematica in latino, Pisa 1999.

Jean Chiorboli
Linguist (University of Corsica)

Professor of Linguistics. Ph.D. in Linguistics (University of Rouen, 1991); Director of the program "Intertestu" (Programme d'initiative Communautaire Européenne); Director of the workgroup "Gruppulingua" (Centre de Recherche Corse); Vice-Président of the Université de Corse chargé du CEVU (Conseil des Etudes et de la vie Universitaire) (1998-2002); representative of the Présidence de l'Université de Corse for the Réseau de Coopération Interuniversitaire sur les Méthodes d'Evaluation (since 1998); Director of the research group Sociolinguistique corse (URA CNRS SUDLA) (since 1993); member of the International Commission of the Association Internationale pour la Défense des Langues et des Cultures menacées (since 1975).
Books on the PCP: Langue corse et noms de lieux. La grammaire des toponymes, Albiana 2008.
Other books: Les langues polynomiques, Corte 1991; La langue des Corses. Notes linguistiques et glottopolitiques, Bastia 1993; Parcours interculturels (langues, littératures, sociocultures), Corte 2008.

Gaetano Forni
Anthropologist; Historian of Agricolture (University of Milano)

Director of the Museo Lombardo di Storia dell’Agricoltura; director of the Centro Studi e Ricerche di Museologia Agraria (University of Milano); director of the "Acta Museorum Italicorum Agriculturae"; member of the Accademia dei Georgofili (Firenze); coordinator of the Storia dell’Agricoltura Italiana (History of Italian Agricolture); co-founder of the Istituto Nazionale di Storia dell’Agricoltura; co-founder of the International Association for the Study of Prehistoric and Ethnological Religions; co-founder of the Società Italiana per la Museografia e i Beni demo-etno-antropologici; co-founder of the Associazione Italiana per l’Etno-archeologia; honorary member of the Association Internationale des Musées d’Agriculture (UNESCO); honorary member of the Organisation Internationale du Vin (Paris); Adam Smith Golden Medal for the History of Economy.
Books on the PCP: Gli albori dell'agricoltura. Origine ed evoluzione fino agli etruschi ed italici, Roma 1990.
Other books: Rivista archeologica dell’antica provincia e diocesi di Como [with A. Pozzi and M. Reali], Como 1994; Guida ai musei etnografici italiani. Agricoltura, pesca, alimentazione e artigianato [with R. Togni and F. Pisani], Firenze 1997.

Fernanda Frazão
Editor; Historian

MA in History at the University of Lisboa; her many publications concern in particular Portuguese legends, folktales and ethnotexts.
Books on the PCP: Portugal, Mundo dos Mortos e das Mouras Encantadas (with Gabriela Morais), 3 vols., Lisboa 2009-2010.
Other books: Lendas Portuguesas, 6 vols., [Lisboa] s.d. [1981]; Viagens do Diabo em Portugal (coord.), Lisboa 2000; No Tempo em que Jogar às Cartas Era Proibido. Séculos XV e XVI em Portugal, Lisboa 2003; Lendas Portuguesas da Terra e do Mar (coord.), Lisboa 2004; Os Primeiros Fabricantes de Cartas de Jogar em Portugal. The First Playing Cards Manufacturers in Portugal, Lisboa 2005; Passinhos de Nossa Senhora. Lendário Mariano (coord.), Lisboa 2006; Jornada Real Vista por Cartas Jogadas, Lisboa 2006; Lourenço Solésio, Primeiro Mestre da Real Fábrica de Cartas de Lisboa, Lisboa 2008; Cartas de Jogar e Outros Jogos na Tradição Popular (coord.), Lisboa 2009.

Paolo Galloni
Historian

Editorial responsible of the Publishing House Viella (Rome).
Books on the PCP: Le ombre della preistoria, metamorfosi storiche dei Signori degli animali, Alessandria 2007.
Other books: He's the author of the three best-selling books Il cervo e il lupo. Caccia e cultura nobiliare nel medioevo, Roma-Bari 1993; Il sacro artefice. Mitologie degli artigiani medievali, Roma-Bari 1998; Storia e cultura della caccia, Roma-Bari 2000. Other books: Il cuore della colomba, Rimini 2002; Parole, cose, guarigioni. Cura del corpo e dell’anima tra mitologia ed esperienza nel Medioevo (e oltre), Milano 2005; Il segreto del poeta, Rimini 2008.

Maria Goudi
Linguist (University Stendhal-Grenoble3)

PhD student at the Université Stendhal-Grenoble3 (GIPSA-lab, Département Parole et Cognition); Mémoire de Maîtrise in Language Sciences (University of Nice, 2002-2003); D.E.A. in Language Sciences (University Stendhal-Grenoble3, 2003-2004). Authors of several articles on Iconomastics and lexical motivation, with special regards to the problem of zoonyms in Greek dialects; speaker at International Congresses (among the others: 7th and 8th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, University of York, 2005 and University of Ioannina, September 2009; 5th International Congres of Dialectology and Geolinguistics, Universidade do Minho, Braga, September 2006; 4th International Conference on Language Variation in Europe, University of Cyprus, June 2007).

Alessandro Grossato
Indologist, Historian of Religions (University of Padova)

Professor of History of Indian Islam and Indonesian. Former lecturer in History of Institution of Southern Asia at the University of Trieste-Gorizia (1998-2002). Member of the Italian Archaeological Expedition in Nepal. Member of the Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (Is.I.A.O.); member of the Associazione Italiana per gli Studi Cinesi (A.I.S.C.). Associate editor of the international journal "Viridarium" (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice); associate editor of the international journal "Quaderni di Studi Indo-Mediterranei".
Books: Navigatori e Viaggiatori Veneti in India. Da Marco Polo ad Angelo Legrenzi, Firenze 1994; Il libro dei simboli. Metamorfosi dell'umano tra Oriente e Occidente, Milano 1999 (translated into French and Spanish); Il mito della Fenice in Oriente e in Occidente, Venezia 2004.

Henry Harpending
Anthropologist (University of Utah)

Professor of Anthropology. Ph.D. in Anthropology (Harvard University, 1972); Associate Editor of the following journals: "Human Biology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology" (1976–1978); "American Journal of Human Biology" (1988–1993); "American Journal of Physical Anthropology" (1993–1998). Fieldworks: eighteen months in Botswana (1967-1968); six months in Botswana (1975); fourteen months in Botswana and Namibia (1987-1988); two months in Botswana (1990); three months in Botswana (1992).
Books: The Structure of an African Pastoralist Community: Demography, History and Ecology of the Ngamiland Herero (with R. Pennington), Oxford 1993; The Aging Experience (with J. Keith, C.L. Fry, A.P. Glascock, C. Ikels, J. Dickerson Putnam), Sage publications 1994.

Alfio Lanaia
Linguist (University of Catania)

Lecturer in Historical Linguistics at the University of Catania (since 2003); lecturer in Ethnolinguistics at the University of Catania; member of the Centro di Studi filologici e linguistici siciliani of Palermo; editorial consultant of the Vocabolario Siciliano (Edited by Giovanni Tropea and Salvatore C. Trovato).
Books: Dialetto e cultura materiale a Biancavilla. Saggi e materiali, Biancavilla 1997, Ornitonimia etnea. Saggio onomasiologico, Palermo 2003.

Jean Le Dû
Linguist (Emeritus, University of Brest)

Professor of Celtic Languages at the University of Brest (since 1980); Ph.D. in Celtic Studies (University of Brest, 1978); coeditor (with Yves Le Berre) of the journal "La Bretagne Linguistique"; member of the Editorial Board of "Etudes celtiques", "Géolinguistique"; "Dialectologia et Geolinguistica"; member of the International Society for Dialectology and Geolinguistics (Celtic Languages and Breton); member of the advisory board of the Atlas Linguistique Roman; coordinator of the research group Atlas Linguistique des Petites Antilles et de la Guyane (ALPAG) (Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, GEREC).
Books: Nouvel Atlas Linguistique de la Basse-Bretagne, Brest 2001.

Matteo Meschiari
Anthropologist (University of Palermo)

Research fellow in Anthropology. Ph.D. in Romance Languages (University of Lille, France, 2006); Visiting Professor in Italian Literature, University of Lille, Department of Italian (since 2008); Adjunct, full time, University of Lille, Department of Italian (since 2006); Adjunct, University of Milan, Department of Architercture (since 2006); Editorial manager at Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici, Valcamonica, Italy (2001-2002); member of the Editorial Board of "Archivio antropologico mediterraneo"; co-founder of the cultural association Paesaggi Connessi.
Books on the PCP: "Terra Sapiens". Antropologie del paesaggio, Palermo 2010.
Other books: Sistemi selvaggi. Antropologia del paesaggio scritto, Palermo 1998; Dino Campana. Formazione del paesaggio, Napoli 2008; Nati dalle colline. Percorsi di etnoecologia, Napoli 2010.

Gabriela Morais
Historian

General Editor of the series "Ofiúsa" (subject-matters of the history of Portugal) at Editora Apenas Livros (since 2000); research on historical frameworks and creation of texts for theater plays (1973-2003); by invitation of the IELT (Instituto de Estudos de Literatura Tradicional), lectures to masters students and students of course curriculum Literatura Tradicional da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (2003).
Books on the PCP: A Genética e a Teoria da Continuidade Paleolítica aplicadas à Lenda da Fundação de Portugal, Irlanda e Escócia, Lisboa 2007; Portugal, Mundo dos Mortos e das Mouras Encantadas (with Fernanda Frazão), 3 vols., Lisboa 2009-2010.
Other books: O Santuário Alentejano de São Miguel da Mota (Vestígios de um culto à Grande Deusa), Lisboa 2002; A Lenda da Fundação de Portugal, Irlanda e Escócia, Lisboa 2005; Roteiro Megalítico de Évora, Lisboa 2006; A Senhora de Ofiúsa, Lisboa, 2007.

Marcel Otte
Prehistorian (University of Liège)

Professor of Prehistory (Université de Liège, Belgium). Vice-president of the UISPP Commission for the Upper Paleolithic. His many publications concern in particular the origins of modern humans in Eurasia, their cultural traditions, aesthetic activity and spiritual functioning. The relationship between thought and religion as a mechanism peculiar to the human species is considered from an evolutionary perspective.
Books on the PCP: Recherches sur le Paléolithique Supérieur, Oxford 2003; Três Estudos sobre a Pré-História dos Indo-Europeus, Lisboa 2010.
Other books: Les Pointes à Retouches Plates du Paléolithique Supérieur Initial de Belgique, Liège 1974; Le Paléolithique Supérieur Ancien en Belgique, Brussels 1979; Le Gravettien en Europe Centrale, Brugge 1981; Préhistoire des Religions, Paris 1993; Le Paléolithique Inférieur et Moyen en Europe, Paris 1996; La Préhistoire (with Denis Vialou and Patrick Plumet), Paris 1999; Approches du Comportement au Mousterien, Oxford 2000; Les Origines de la Pensée, Mardaga 2001.

Cesare Poppi
Anthropologist (University of Bologna)

Former Lecturer in the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; his many research projects concern in particular ethnicity and constructions of identity, masks and initiation, secret societies and the 'political' use of knowledge; he conducted field research in Northwestern Ghana, studying the cult of the masks and the related initiation society spread among the Gur-Grushi speaking populations. He is currently working on the anthropology of maritime communities.
Books: Santi, Spiriti e Re: mascherate invernali nel Trentino fra tradizione, declino e riscoperta (with R. Morelli), Trento 2001; Museo Ladin de Fascia: Cultura materiale, religiosità e tradizioni in Val Di Fassa (with F. Gioana and F. Giovanazzi), Vigo 2005; Demoni pastori e fantasmi contadini: le mascherate invernali dalle Alpi orientali ai Balcani (with G. Kezich), Civezzano 2006.
Among his many other publications: Sigma! The Pilgrim's Progress and the Logic of Secrecy, in M.H. Nooter, Secrecy: African Art that Reveals and Conceals, New York 1993; The Other Within: Masks and Masquerades in Europe, in J. Mack (ed.), Masks: the Art of Expression, London 1994; Flowers and Bones: Approaches to the Dead in Anglo-American and Italian Cemeteries, in Comparative Studies in Society and History London 1994; Wider Horizons with Larger Details: Subjectivity, Ethnicity and Globalization, in A. Scott (ed.), The Limits of Globalization, London 1997; Persona, Masca, Larva: Masks, Identity and Cognition in the Cultures of Europe, in S.C. Malik, Pratirupa: Mind, Man and Mask, New Delhi 2002.
He released an award-winning series of documentary films produced by the Italian State TV.

Rosa Ronzitti
Linguist and philologist (Università per Stranieri di Siena)

Research fellow in Glottology and Linguistics. Ph.D. in Glottology and Philology (Università Statale di Milano, 1999). Since fifteen years she has been concerned with historical linguistics, Proto-Indo-European reconstruction and Vedic philology. Recently she has devoted herself to the study of animal names in Vedic texts and its relationship to Romance linguistics. She has published nearly 25 articles on national and international journals and three monographs.
Books: Campi figurali della creazione nel Rgveda, Alessandria 2001; I nomi in -ma- della lingua vedica, Samhita e Brahmana: forme e funzioni, Milano 2005; I derivati in *-mo- della lingua vedica (Samhita e Brahmana), Perugia 2006.

Dario Seglie
Archaeologist (Polytechnic University of Torino)

Professor of Archaeology. Director of the CeSMAP (Study Centre and Museum of Prehistoric Art, Municipal Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of Pinerolo, since 1972); Visiting Professor at the Tomar University, Portugal (European Course of Prehistoric Art); co-founder of the IFRAO, (International Federation of Rock Art Organisations - Darwin, Australia, 1988); IFRAO-UNESCO Liaison Officer. Director, since 1985, of “Survey”, an international scientific journal of archaeology and rock art (official organ of IFRAO, edited from CeSMAP); Director and co-responsible, from 1964, of campaigns of studies and prehistoric archaeological surveys in the Western Alps and in Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Macedonia), in the Americas (Arizona, Wisconsin, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil), in Africa (Namibia, Morocco), in Asia (China, India, Siberia), in Australia (Northern Territory); Director, since 2002, of the Governmental Italian-Moroccan Archaeological and Rock Art Mission for the Project of the global Jbel Sarhro National Park, from Atlas to Sahara Desert, South-East Morocco, Africa.
Main books: Introduzione all'archeologia e all'antropologia: le Alpi Occidentali, Torino 1982; Arte Rupestre nelle Alpi Occidentali, Torino 1987; NEWS 95, IFRAO International Rock Art Congress Proceedings, Turin 1995, Pinerolo 1999; Siberian Rock Art, Archaeology, Interpretation and Conservation, Kemerovo & Pinerolo 1999; De Petroglyphis Gallaeciae, Santiago de Compostela & Pinerolo 2000; Prehistoric Art: Guide to Good Practice, Inventory, Contextualization, Preservation and Accessibility, European Commission, UE - Pinerolo 2001; Proceedings of the International Rock Art Congress “Save Rock Art” for the 40th Anniversary of the CeSMAP, Pinerolo 2004; CeSMAP-NEWS, Pinerolo 2008-2009; Rock Art World Main Problems, Special issue, Man in India, International Journal of Anthropology, New Delhi 2008; Rock Art and Museum, UISPP-UNESCO, Lisbon 2009 (with George Dimitriadis and Guillermo Munoz).