“We can now use advanced computational tools to understand human prehistory, which seems to be far more complex than previously believed.”


As our inauguration day approaches, you can find out a little more about the Center for the Human Past in the news item on the Uppsala University website. It gives a reader a nice overview of what’s important to us, how it is possible and why the Center’s scientists do what they do.

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The Scientific Steering Group (SSG) of the Center for the Human Past (photograph: Marzena Norling).

  • Did Paleogermanic originate in Sweden?

    Did Paleogermanic originate in Sweden?

    Jenny Larsson, one of the Center for the Human Past’s leaders, was approached to comment on the two recent Nature publications by McColl and others (2026) . The co-authors suggest that genetic analyses paint a new picture of how languages spread. According to them, the language arrived during a cultural shift that brought new burial…

  • New VR grants for Mattias Jakobsson and Carina Schlebusch

    New VR grants for Mattias Jakobsson and Carina Schlebusch

    Searching for sapiens-specific evolution Mattias Jakobsson receives new funding from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, VR) to “develop a statistical, machine-learning–based framework that jointly analyses genomes from archaic humans, ancient southern Africans, and present-day populations.” In the next four years, the project expects to identify genomic regions and biological pathways that evolved rapidly during the…

  • RJ funds a new program, “From Milk to Mead – Indo-European Food Culture in Prehistory”, co-led by Jenny Larsson

    RJ funds a new program, “From Milk to Mead – Indo-European Food Culture in Prehistory”, co-led by Jenny Larsson

    Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) is an independent foundation that supports research in the humanities and social sciences essential to understanding and addressing society’s current challenges, both nationally and globally. Through its funding, the foundation aims to promote basic research of the highest scientific quality. It also responds to the need for long-term, stable research funding. This…