Abstract Biomolecular archaeology has taken a leading role in ancient dietary reconstructions. The molecular- and isotopic-level information gained from ancient skeletal remains and pottery can reveal a more cohesive but also nuanced picture of past foodways, thanks to its higher-resolution analytical capacities in terms of both obtained information and context-specific interpretations. This talk will exemplify […]
Our Human Past Fellow Axel Palmér will deliver a talk on his current research project at one of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) seminars. Welcome!
Article: “The genetic origin of the Indo-Europeans”
Abstract The intimate relationship between humans and crop plants means that traces of human cultural practices become embedded in the crop genome. Aspects of past cultures not documented in written records can consequently be studied with genetic analyses of archaeological crop remains. Such analyses, however, come with their own particular set of challenges, not the […]
Abstract The seminal paper by Grünthal et al. (2022) advances a new scenario of Proto-Uralic disintegration and spread. They suggest a rapid spread of Uralic languages through Common Uralic, a dialect continuum whose breakup formed the Finno-Ugric language families. They suggest that the vector for Uralic spread was the Seima-Turbino trading network (ST), within which […]
The workshop, led by Jerome de Groot, Ester Oras, Jess Thompson, Christopher Vardy, and Matthew Williams, follows up on the discussions from last year. This interactive workshop will begin to explore collaboration and possible Biomolecular Humanities approaches. Through a consideration of approach and disciplinary practice, we will begin to establish ways that we might work […]
Cesar A. Fortes-Lima, Mame Y. Diallo, Václav Janoušek, Viktor Černý, Carina M. Schlebusch. (2025). Population history and admixture of the Fulani people from the Sahel, The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 112, Issue 2, 2025, Pages 261-275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.12.015 Simões, L.G., Günther, T., Martínez-Sánchez, R.M. et al. (2023). Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia and […]
Abstract Mehmet Somel will present some recent results on the first steps of the Neolithic expansion westward, “out-of-Anatolia”. For this study, his group generated 30 new paleogenomes from six settlements in West and Central Anatolia dating to c.10,000-8,000 years ago. The researchers further compiled a digitalized material culture dataset comprising 58 cultural elements, from architecture […]
Mehmet Somel is a professor of biology at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and the Human Past Senior Fellow 2024-25. The abstract will follow.
Speakers: Yair Sapir, PhD of Scandinavian Languages, Senior Lecturer of Swedish, Kristianstad University Joakim Wehlin, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Archaeology, Uppsala University Summary Recent archaeological studies demonstrate changes in the material culture and burial practice in Upper Dalarna around 500-750 CE. The material culture and burial practice go from a previously locally distinctive tradition with influences […]
Mattias Jakobsson is the guest at the next episode of the Uppsala University podcast series, UppTalk. Link to listen (Zoom): Vad kan forntida DNA avslöja om människans evolution? Mark your calendar! For more information, go to UppTalk: Mattias Jakobsson on the Uppsala University website