The main goal of the retreat is to strengthen collaboration between different disciplines and to learn about each other’s research through presentations and discussions. We hope this retreat will lay a solid foundation for future joint interdisciplinary projects and scientific publications. The day plan includes short(-ish) talks, primarily by junior researchers and PhD students, as […]
ABSTRACT The diversification of the ancient Greek dialects has long posed a major challenge for Greek linguistics. Core questions—how the dialects are related, when they diverged, and how they were distributed in the second millennium BCE—remain the subject of sustained debate, in part because of the limits of traditional methods of historical inference. Over the […]
Discussion paper: Gretzinger, J., Biermann, F., Mager, H. et al. Ancient DNA connects large-scale migration with the spread of Slavs. Nature 646, 384–393 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09437-6 Abstract The second half of the first millennium CE in Central and Eastern Europe was accompanied by fundamental cultural and political transformations. This period of change is commonly associated with […]
Abstract The earliest archaeological dog remains in Melanesia found to date are from Babase Island, New Ireland, and are associated with the Early Lapita layers on the site, thus dating from ca. 3300-3000 BP (Summerhayes et al. 2019, see Manne et al. 2020 for an overview of dog remains in the area). The formation of […]
Abstract Did genetic relatedness matter in Scandinavian Stone Age societies? And if so, how? The increase in the number of individuals with available ancient DNA data, coupled with new tools for assessing relatedness from such data, now allows us to infer kinship patterns beyond broad-scale population structures. This talk will summarise some of the ongoing […]
Abstract Computational methods are increasingly used to reconstruct the deep history of language families, yet different models often produce strikingly different answers. This reflects a general challenge in the historical sciences: we must draw conclusions from fragmentary data shaped by complex processes that cannot be directly observed or experimentally repeated. In this talk, I summarise […]
The Higher Seminar in Baltic Languages with Signe Rirdance (SU) and Anthony Jakob (SCAS). The seminar is split into two sessions (with a coffee break in between): 14:00-15:30 – Signe Rirdance (SU): “Deciphering Getzel’s hand in early Latvian: AI and I” 16:00-17:30 – Anthony Jakob (SCAS): “Linguistic ghosts and zombies in modern Standard Lithuanian” Language: […]
Discussion paper: Yakov Pichkar and Nicole Creanza (2026). The Evolution of Language. Editor(s): Jason B. Wolf, Claudia Augusta De Moraes Russo, Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology (Second Edition), Academic Press, Pages 409-420, ISBN 9780443157516, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-15750-9.00030-6 Abstract The evolution of modern humans has led to the proliferation of traits that are learned from other individuals, instead of […]
Abstract Linguistic phylogenies are commonly inferred from abstract cognate classifications that encode relationships among lexemes. Although widespread, this practice has well-recognised limitations: it discards phylogenetic signal contained in segmental word forms, restricts the range of evolutionary questions that can be addressed, and treats cognacy judgments, which are hypotheses in their own right, as observed data. […]
Abstract (TBA) Łukasz Pospieszny is an archaeologist at the University of Gdańsk and an Honorary Research Associate, University of Bristol
Abstract – TBA Seminar speaker: Volker Heyd, Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki; Volker Heyd’s publications on Google Scholar
Title & abstract- TBA Kristian Kristiansen Kristian Kristiansen – an interdisciplinary researcher, professor of archaeology at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, and an affiliate professor at Globe Institute, Lundbeck Centre for Geogenetics, Copenhagen University.