Center for the Human Past

Mini-Seminar: Using the dog to date Torricelli languages with linguistic paleontology, with Erik Elgh
2026-03-04 13:30 - 14:45 (Europe/Stockholm) | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
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 the Lapita culture in the Bismarck Archipelago is in turn associated with the influx of Austronesians, more specifically speakers of Proto-Oceanic (Bellwood 2007:234, Pawley 2007 echoes this view). Thus, the introduction of the dog to Melanesia is likely tied to the arrival of the Austronesians to the area.
In the rest of the world, the presence of domesticated dogs is ubiquitous in the time depths we can hope to reach by linguistic reconstruction. By contrast, in Melanesia and thus New Guinea, the late date of first appearance makes the dog amenable to inclusion in analyses of linguistic paleontology. Linguistic paleontology involves correlating terms reconstructed for proto languages with definable archaeological phenomena, thus saying something about the time and place these proto languages were spoken. The foremost example is probable the so called ‘wheel line’, used to delimit the time of non-Anatolian Indo-European to after the invention of wheeled vehicles (see e.g. Anthony & Ringe 2015). Using the same method, if a word for ‘dog’ can be reconstructed for a Melanesian proto language, it shows that this proto-language must have split after ca. 3300 BP when the dog was introduced.
In this talk, I reconstruct a word for ‘dog’ for a large subgroup of Torricelli languages. Furthermore, I investigate words for ‘dog’ in nine other language families in the Sepik-Ramu basin and surrounding area in order to exclude large scale borrowing waves giving rise to the pattern seen in the relevant Torricelli languages. Disproving such waves, I show that the most recent common ancestor of a big proportion of Torricelli languages must have split after 3300 BP, rejecting earlier proposals stating that the current distribution of the family must be ‘several millenia’ or ‘six to five thousand years’ old (Foley 2018:296 and Swadling 1990, respectively).
I also discuss issues pertaining to Oceanic words for ‘dog’ in relation to those of languages in the Sepik-Ramu basin. For instance, the words in some Torricelli and many non-Torricelli languages are similar to those of the Schouten Linkage Oceanic languages, while at least one Schouten Linkage language, Arop-Sissano, seems to have borrowed from Olo, a local Torricelli language (as noted already by Hudson 1989). Additionally, I propose a historical scenario accounting for the scatter of forms that bear similarity to Proto-Austronesian *asu1 ‘dog’ (as reconstructed by Blust et al. 2023), reflexes of which are deemed to be absent in Proto-Oceanic (see e.g. Lynch 1991 and Pawley 2007).
Erik Elgh is an affiliated researcher in general linguistics at Uppsala University, and currently participates in the Postgraduate Linguistics Program, Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University, Indonesia

Human Past Journal Club
2026-02-11 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
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 the appearance of the Slavs, a development supported by textual evidence and coinciding with the emergence of similar archaeological horizons. However, so far, there has been no consensus on whether this archaeological horizon spread through migration, Slavicisation, or a combination of both. Genetic data remain sparse, especially due to the widespread practice of cremation during the early phase of Slavic settlement. Here, we present genome-wide data from 555 ancient individuals, including 359 samples from Slavic contexts dating back to as early as the seventh century CE. Our data demonstrate large-scale population movement from Eastern Europe during the sixth to eighth centuries, replacing more than 80% of the local gene pool in Eastern Germany, Poland, and Croatia. Yet, we also show substantial regional heterogeneity as well as a lack of sex-biased admixture, indicating varying degrees of cultural assimilation of the autochthonous populations. Comparing archaeological and genetic evidence, we find that the change in ancestry in Eastern Germany coincided with a change in social organisation, characterised by an intensification of inter- and intra-site genetic relatedness and patrilocality. On the European scale, it appears plausible that the changes in material culture and language between the sixth and eighth centuries were connected to these large-scale population movements.

Moderator: Nikola Vuković (PhD candidate)

SCAS seminar with David Goldstein - A New Approach to the Diversification of Ancient Greek
2026-02-10 10:15 - 12:00 | Thunberg Hall, Linneanum, Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden
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 past two decades, however, Bayesian approaches have transformed the study of linguistic history, offering powerful new tools for addressing both longstanding problems and previously inaccessible questions. In this talk, I present Bayesian phylogenetic analyses based on a newly curated dataset of ancient Greek dialects. The results shed new light on the timing and pattern of dialect diversification, provide fresh evidence for dating their common ancestor, and contribute more broadly to ongoing discussions about methodological best practices in phylogenetic inference.
David Goldstein is the Human Past SCAS Senior Fellow 2025-26 (VT), A. Richard Diebold Jr. Professor of Indo-European Studies, Professor of Linguistics & Professor of Classics, University of California, Los Angeles
David Goldstein (photo: Mikael Wallerstedt)

Human Past Interdisciplinary Retreat
2025-12-10 00:00 - 23:59 | Sigtunastiftelsen Hotell & Conference, Sigtuna, Sweden
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 well as ample time for discussion in between.
Researchers and PhD students in genetics, archaeology, or linguistics are welcome to participate (registration is required).

Talks of the Past Open Seminar: Talking about food in prehistory: Linguistic evidence for dietary practices in Indo-European, speaker Julia Sturm
2025-12-03 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
Abstract
What did prehistoric peoples eat? This question can be approached through various scholarly disciplines, including historical linguistics. More specifically, historical linguistics methodologies are tools for addressing the question of what ancient peoples discussed when they spoke about food, including sourcing, preparing, consuming, and sacrificing it.
This talk will examine linguistic evidence for the shared foodways of the early Indo-European-speaking peoples (living approximately in the 4th millennium BCE in the Pontic-Caspian steppe). It has long been hypothesised, based on linguistic and philological data, that the early Indo-European speakers were a pastoralist culture, raising herds and consuming, at a minimum, dairy products and meat from domesticated animals. However, what else did they consume? The extent to which these peoples exploited plant material for food is a hotly debated question. Furthermore, the forms of food preparation used by these communities are difficult to trace. It is agreed that preserving meat with salt was a widely used technique in this area at this time, but what of other techniques of preparation and preservation, such as fermentation?
In this talk, Julia Sturm will introduce several open questions regarding early Indo-European foodways and discuss the linguistic evidence for various approaches to these questions. She will also, where applicable, point out correspondences (or non-correspondences!) between the conclusions drawn by linguistics researchers examining these questions and those drawn by scholars employing other methodologies (e.g., archaeological), and discuss future directions for the investigation of this aspect of the culture of early Indo-European speakers.

Julia Sturm is a researcher in ancient and classical Indo-European languages and literatures

Human Past Journal Club
2025-12-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
Discussion paper:
Antonosyan, M., Maurer, G., Mkrtchyan, S., Boxleitner, K., Saribekyan, M., Hovhannisyan, A., … Amano, N., … & Yepiskoposyan, L. (2025). A biomolecular perspective on mobile pastoralism and its role in wider socioeconomic connections in the Chalcolithic South Caucasus. iScience, 28(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112544

Abstract

Mobile pastoralism is widely evoked when discussing technological developments, resource procurement, trans-regional interactions, and exchange networks in the South Caucasus. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive multiproxy investigation of faunal and botanical remains from the Middle to Late Chalcolithic in southern Armenia, at the high altitude Yeghegis-1 site, to directly assess herd mobility and human subsistence practices.

Our findings indicate that, alongside intensified interregional connectivity, the inhabitants practiced a rather sedentary form of multi-resource pastoralism, while maintaining herds at the site year-round. These results complement and expand upon models of pastoral mobility and its perceived crucial role in sustaining inter- and intra-regional connectivity.

We argue that alternative models of increased intra-regional connectivity, focused on exchange between different specialized settled economies, need to be considered and further research is essential to unravel the complex interplay between subsistence, trade, and socio-economic dynamics. Discussion moderator: Noel Amano, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

Human Past Journal Club
2025-11-26 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
Discussion pre-print:

Delbrassine, H., Mezzavilla, M., Vallini, L. et al. Worldwide patterns in mythology echo the human expansion out of Africa, bioRxiv 2025.01.24.634692; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.24.634692

Abstract
Similarities between geographically distant mythological and folkloric traditions have been noted for a long time. With the elaboration of large banks of data describing the presence and absence of narrative motifs around the world, scholars have been able to statistically investigate their potential routes and mechanisms of diffusion. However, despite genetic data allowing for increasingly refined demographic movement inferences, few have integrated it into their models, and none at a global scale. In this work, we capitalise on the augmenting availability of modern and ancient genetic data and on Yuri E. Berezkin’s database of more than 2000 mythological motifs worldwide to investigate the mechanisms involved in generating their present-day distribution at a global scale. The direct combination of both kinds of evidence allows us to explore in more depth the respective influences of population movement and replacement versus cultural diffusion on motif transmission. Our results show that both processes have played important roles in shaping their present-day distribution. By leveraging available ancient DNA (aDNA) and deepening the temporal scale of the detected signals, we reveal that correlations between mythemes and genetic patterns can be traced back to population movements that pre-date the Last Glacial Maximum and go back to at least 38,000 years ago, and possibly even earlier to the human expansion out of Africa some 60,000 years ago. Our work shows the earliest evidence for the transmission of stories and storytelling in human history, and supports the joint use of cultural evolutionary theory and population genetics to illuminate the biocultural processes that shaped our species.

Moderators: Hugo Reyes Centeno & Jenny Larsson

Mini-Seminar: REAL game – Reimagining algorithmic futures: 63 cards for thinking differently about algorithmic systems, with Julia Velkova
2025-11-19 15:30 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
Abstract
REAL (REimagining ALgorithmic futures) is a card deck designed to inspire and provoke thinking about algorithmic systems and how they shape human lives, society and potential futures. The cards aim to stimulate thinking and conversations about the values embedded in algorithmic systems, as well as their social and technological implications. They advocate for a more inclusive dialogue concerning varied algorithmic futures.
Ideally, participants should have a specific case from their work that directly involves a digital or algorithmic system. This case might include planning or implementing digital or algorithmic systems, applying humanities methods in field research, or engaging with digital infrastructure. The case should be relevant to your professional context and serve as a basis for workshop activities.

Julia Velkova is a professor of Media and Culture, Linköping University, Pro Futura Scientia Fellow, SCAS and Research Affiliate, Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab, University of California, Santa Barbara.

SCAS seminar with Hugo Reyes Centeno: Genomic and Archaeological Insights on the Expansion of Austronesian Speakers into Island Southeast Asia
2025-11-18 10:15 - 12:00 | Thunberg Hall, Linneanum, Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden
Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study seminars

Open lecture: Jakten på ordens ursprung, with Jenny Larsson
2025-11-11 17:30 - 18:15 | Kulturhuset stadsteatern, Sergels Torg, Stockholm, 111 57, Sweden
Jakten på ordens ursprung

(lecture in Swedish)
Var kommer våra ord ifrån och vad kan de avslöja om människans förhistoria? Språkhistorikern Jenny Larsson tar oss med på en resa bakåt i tiden, där ord och språk fungerar som ledtrådar till hur människor levde, tänkte och rörde sig för tusentals år sedan. Genom att förena språkliga, arkeologiska och genetiska spår söker forskningen svar på hur våra språk uppstod, spreds och förändrades.
OBS! registration required.

Talks of the Past Open Seminar: Transdisciplinary approaches toward resolving the Austronesian problem, speaker Hugo Reyes Centeno
2025-11-05 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
Abstract
Despite consensus on the movement of peoples from mainland Asia to Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific over the past five thousand years, the mode of dispersal and biocultural change remains highly contested.
While some hypotheses posit Austronesian-speaking agriculturalists rapidly dispersing via Taiwan, other scenarios postulate, for example, additional dispersal routes, the gradual and uneven adoption of agricultural practices, and dynamic language borrowing.
This talk will introduce current debates on the Austronesian problem, critically synthesising models developed from linguistic, archaeological, and genetic lines of evidence. In addition, it will draw on original fieldwork harnessing archaeological data collected from the Philippines to draw attention to the uneven sampling problem still affecting transdisciplinary studies of the human past in Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Hugo Reyes Centeno is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Kentucky and the current Human Past SCAS Senior Fellow.

Mini-Seminar: Studying urban inequality in the past: lessons from Pompeii, with Samuli Simelius
2025-10-22 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
Abstract
The study of Roman social stratification has often focused on social and legal status within society. Other dimensions of inequality have been largely sidelined, although interest in economic inequality has grown recently. Yet, methodologies to study wealth inequality that rely on house size still require significant improvement to better capture the complexity of Roman society. Furthermore, aspects such as health disparities in Roman cities have received little attention.
In his talk, Samuli Simelius will present new approaches to studying both economic and health inequality. He will use Pompeii as a case study, but these methods can also be applied beyond this well-known Roman city to other archaeological and historical contexts.

Samuli Simelius is a grant-funded researcher specialising in Roman urbanism and domestic space. He is also a current SCAS-Nordic Fellow.
Samuli Simelius on Google Scholar

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar: Human skeletal remains of Ilin Island, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines, speaker Tanya Uldin
2025-10-01 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
Abstract
Ilin Island, located off the southern coast of Mindoro, possesses favourable geological features, such as numerous caves and rock shelters, that enhance the preservation of archaeological materials. Recent surveys and excavations have revealed a complex settlement history, highlighting the adaptive strategies of human populations in response to climatic and environmental fluctuations.
Evidence includes a flexed human burial from a southern rock shelter on the island, radiocarbon dated to approximately 5,000 cal BP, and a recently recovered modified human phalanx that may be contemporaneous.
This presentation explores these findings within their broader bio-cultural context, contributing to discussions on mortuary practices and body modification in prehistoric Island Southeast Asia.
Tanya Uldin is an associate professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. Tanya is a biological anthropologist with 20+ years of experience, trained in archaeology and forensics.

Human Past Journal CLub
2025-09-24 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
Discussion paper:
Zeng, T. C., Vyazov, L. A., Kim, A., Flegontov, P., Sirak, K., Maier, R., … & Reich, D. (2025). Ancient DNA reveals the prehistory of the Uralic and Yeniseian peoples. Nature, 1-11.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09189-3

Meet & Greet by CHP
2025-09-10 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
Informal CHP event with FlashTalks to allow the participants to get to know each other better and learn about their research projects.

UppTalk with Mattias Jakobsson
2025-06-03 12:00 - 12:30
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

Mini-Seminar: Graves & Grammar. Interdisciplinary approaches to changes in material culture, burial practice and language in Upper Dalarna 500-750 CE, with Joakim Wehlin and Yair Sapir
2025-05-21 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
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 from all directions, to a tradition that culturally points towards clearer contacts with the Mälardalen region. As the recently published A Grammar of Elfdalian points out, Elfdalian and adjacent varieties, spoken to date in Upper Dalarna, have preserved some phonological and lexical features, which were inherited from the Ancient Nordic language (i.e., before c. 750 CE) and which were lost elsewhere in the Nordic language area after c. 750. Ancient Nordic was probably not native to Upper Dalarna at that time, as the local population is known to have consisted of hunter-gatherers and not farmers, as the native speakers of Germanic languages.
Results from both studies hence confirm the thesis that both material and immaterial influence have probably reached Upper Dalarna from the Mälardalen region. However, we believe that targeted interdisciplinary studies by means of an interdisciplinary research project could deepen our knowledge about this topic and further confirm. Hence, we would like to invite our audience to a discussion about the topic, suggestions for new perspectives that could be studied, as well as suggestions for concrete research collaboration for a future research project, where other disciplines are involved.

SCAS SEMINAR - Genetic Insights into Social Organisation of Neolithic Societies in Anatolia: Kinship and Gender Roles, speaker Mehmet Somel
2025-05-20 10:15 - 12:00 | Thunberg Hall, Linneanum, Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden
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.

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 7th May, 2025: Discussing mobility and cultural change in the context of Aegean Neolithization, speaker Mehmet Somel
2025-05-07 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
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 and tools to burial types and pottery styles. The dataset revealed that the westward expansion of the Neolithic was much more diverse in its dynamics than usually assumed.
By 10,000 years ago, in West Anatolia, they found cultural adoption of Neolithic elements, but without genetic evidence for mobility. By 8,500 years ago, they found mobility from Neolithic core areas in the east, where the incomers mixed with local foraging groups in West Anatolia. Later, the descendants of this genetically mixed population expanded into Europe to establish the Neolithic there.
Secondly, Mehmet’s group performed a quantitative comparison of material culture similarities among settlements with their genetic and spatial proximities. This showed that genetic history had no explanatory impact on material culture similarities after controlling for spatial similarity. This supports the notion that material culture similarity patterns are shaped by background mobility rather than migration processes.
Related article (pre-press):
Koptekin, D., Aydoğan, A., Karamurat, C., Altınışık, N. E., Vural, K. B., Kazancı, D. D., … & Somel, M. (2024). Out-of-Anatolia: cultural and genetic interactions during the Neolithic expansion in the Aegean. bioRxiv, 2024-06. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.06.23.599747v1.full

Mehmet Somel is a professor of biology at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and the Human Past Senior Fellow 2024-25. He will deliver the ToP seminar on his current research project.
You can read about the fellowships and other research projects here.

Human Past Journal Club
2025-04-23 15:15 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
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 Levant. Nature 618, 550–556. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06166-6
Carina Schlebusch and Luciana Simões will present the articles.
PS
Two pieces of additional reading related to the discussion topic:
Lipson, M., Ringbauer, H., Lucarini, G. et al. High continuity of forager ancestry in the Neolithic period of the eastern Maghreb. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08699-4
Salem, N., van de Loosdrecht, M.S., Sümer, A.P. et al. Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08793-7

Biomolecular Humanities Practical Workshop & JC Discussion
2025-04-09 14:00 - 16:30 | Villa Lugnet, von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 75236, Sweden
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 towards answering some of the pressing questions arising from developing biomolecular approaches within the humanities. Everyone is welcome to contribute and participate in what will be a generative and productive meeting! Building on the work that we began together at our initial meeting last year the workshop looks to develop ways of rethinking and reworking our approaches to new data and techniques. Our leading contributors are drawn from Archaeology, Biology, English Literature, Archaeochemistry, and Cultural Genomics, and together we will outline some of the new thinking in our fields and the challenges (and rewards) of working in multidisciplinary ways.
Some initial thoughts on Biomolecular Humanities are outlined in the following paper: Oras, E., de Groot, J., & Björkstén, U. (2025). The ‘Biomolecular Humanities’? New challenges and perspectives. iScience. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224029067
The workshop will be followed by a discussion.

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 2nd Apr 2025: Uralic spread, Seima-Turbino and flower pots, speaker Outi Vesakoski
2025-04-02 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
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 Uralic languages ​​were used as lingua franca. The key hypothesis in the Sejma-Turbino scenario is that the trade network would have consisted of representatives of different Eurasian cultural groups for whom a common language would have been necessary. Timing of Proto-Uralic disintegration would have occurred during the ST, which was an intensive but short-lasting period about 4200-3800 years ago.
In her presentation, Outi Vesakoski will summarize the assumptions this hypothesis poses and discuss them in light of new genetic and psycholinguistic studies. The talk is based on a forthcoming paper on Uralic archaeolinguistics (Vesakoski, Elina Salmela & Henny Piezonka) in the Oxford Handbook of Archaeology and Language, edited by Martine Robbeets and Mark Hudson.

Map of Uralic language speaker areas at beginning of 20th century (drawn by BEDLAN member Timo Rantanen).
Related reading:
Grünthal, R., Heyd, V., Holopainen, S. et al. (2022). Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread, Diachronica 39/4: 490–524.
Vesakoski, O., Salmela, E. & Piezonka, H. (2025). Uralic Archaeolinguistics. In M. Robbeets & M. Hudson (eds) Oxford Handbook of Archaeology and Language. (Forthcoming)

Outi Vesakoski is an associate professor of Finnish, Finno-Ugric, and Scandinavian languages at the University of Turku, Finland.
She is also a vice-director of the Human Diversity Consortium.
Areas of expertise:
BEDLAN, Evolutionary ecology, Environmental (cultural) adaptations, Language evolution, Cultural evolution, Genetic evolution, Human past studies, Human diversity, Finnish dialects, Lauri Kettunen, Uralic language speaker area, UraLex – Uralic basic vocabulary, UraTyp – Uralic typological database, Uralic Areal Typology, URHIA Uralic Historical Atlas, Digitized Database of Finnish Archaeological Artefacts, Quantitative methods, Spatial methods, Invasive species, Marine biology

HEAS seminar with Mehmet Somel: Social dynamics in neolithic Anatolia. Paleogenomic insights.
2025-03-17 10:30 - 12:00 | online

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 5th Mar, 2025: Prehistoric plant DNA and the agricultural history of the Canary Islands, speaker Jenny Hagenblad
2025-03-05 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
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 least in finding suitable material to study. Some of the best preserved prehistoric crop remains in the world can be found in the mountains of Gran Canaria, and Jenny Hagenblad has used these to study the effects of societal upheavals.
Five hundred years ago, with the Hispanic conquest of the archipelago, the Canary Islands went through a rapid transition from neolithic isolation to a globalization hub, with dramatic consequences for the insular society. Jenny will give examples of how the genetic analysis of crops and crop remains have illuminated both the islands early prehistory, the agrarian consequences of the Hispanic conquest, and an influence of Canarian agriculture reaching well beyond the archipelago.

Composite image: Jenny Hagenblad.

Jenny Hagenblad is an associate senior professor at the Linköping University.
Her main scientific interest lies in analysing genetic data with evolutionary and population genetic methods to learn more about the evolutionary history of species.
As the study system, Jenny uses crop plants, which are not only of the utmost
importance to human sustenance but have also experienced very rapid evolution since their domestication.

Journal Club discussion
2025-02-26 00:00 - 23:59
Article: “The genetic origin of the Indo-Europeans“

SCAS SEMINAR - Pastoralists and Agriculturalists in the Rigveda and Beyond, speaker: Axel Palmér
2025-02-25 10:15 - 12:00 | Thunberg Hall, Linneanum, Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden
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!

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 5th Feb, 2025: 6000 years of ancient foodways in NE Baltics: biomolecular methods and social implications, speaker Ester Oras
2025-02-05 15:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 13:028 (plan 1)
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 the benefits and possibilities of multi-proxy and -analyte biomolecular approaches, particularly put into use for creating long-term overviews of major dietary changes. I will use case studies from Estonia and build on the results of recently finished research project creating a 6000-years of regional foodways in NE Baltics.
Whilst doing so I will explain the main principles and analytical approaches of biomolecular dietary analysis from different archaeological materials, but also reflect on the importance of thorough archaeological and socio-cultural contextualisation when it comes to interpreting biomolecular results.

Photographs: Ester Oras and Tõnno Jonuks.

CHP Event (by invitation only)
2024-12-11 00:00

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, Dec 4th, 2024: The Language Families of the World: Current State and Future Perspectives, speaker Harald Hammarström
2024-12-04 14:15 - 16:30 | Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 21:136, von Kraemers allé 1, Uppsala, 752 37, Sweden
Abstract
The approximately 7,000 languages of the world is currently divided into no less than 422 lineages (= families + isolates) by the orthodox evidential criteria of Glottolog (glottolog.org).
Should we believe this number? To what extent is it subjective, consistent in meta-properties and dependent on the amount of research and documentation? The time-depth of the families so far established do not reach more than 10,000 years back in time whereas human language arguably goes back at least 300,000 years (probably further).
The inherent rate of linguistic change puts a limit on how deep linguistic data alone can probe, but are there combinations using evidence from other disciplines and general geospatial considerations that may take us further?

Mini-Seminar (by invitation only): Baltic kinship terms in Finno-Ugric, Indo-European kinship terms and their family structure
2024-11-27 00:00
