human past

Name: Mini-Seminar: Studying urban inequality in the past: lessons from Pompeii, with Samuli Simelius
Start: 2025-10-22T15:15:00+02:00
End: 2025-10-22T16:30:00+02:00
Location: Villa Lugnet

December 2024
December 4, 2024 @ 14:15 – 16:30

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, Dec 4th, 2024: The Language Families of the World: Current State and Future Perspectives, speaker Harald Hammarström

Blåsenhus, UU, lärosal 21:136 von Kraemers allé 1, Uppsala, 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 […]
February 2025
February 5 @ 15:15 – 16:30

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

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 […]
February 25 @ 10:15 – 12:00

SCAS SEMINAR – Pastoralists and Agriculturalists in the Rigveda and Beyond, speaker: Axel Palmér

Thunberg Hall, Linneanum Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala, 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!
March 2025
March 5 @ 15:15 – 16:30

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 5th Mar, 2025: Prehistoric plant DNA and the agricultural history of the Canary Islands, speaker Jenny Hagenblad

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 […]
April 2025
April 2 @ 15:15 – 16:30

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 2nd Apr 2025: Uralic spread, Seima-Turbino and flower pots, speaker Outi Vesakoski

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 […]
May 2025
May 7 @ 15:15 – 16:30

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar, 7th May, 2025: Discussing mobility and cultural change in the context of Aegean Neolithization, speaker Mehmet Somel

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 […]
May 20 @ 10:15 – 12:00

SCAS SEMINAR – Genetic Insights into Social Organisation of Neolithic Societies in Anatolia: Kinship and Gender Roles, speaker Mehmet Somel

Thunberg Hall, Linneanum Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala, 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.
May 21 @ 15:15 – 16:30

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

Villa Lugnet von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 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 […]
June 2025
June 3 @ 12:00 – 12:30

UppTalk with Mattias Jakobsson

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
September 2025
September 24 @ 15:15 – 16:30

Human Past Journal CLub

Villa Lugnet von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 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
October 2025
October 1 @ 15:15 – 16:30

Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar: Human skeletal remains of Ilin Island, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines, speaker Tanya Uldin

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 […]
October 22 @ 15:15 – 16:30

Mini-Seminar: Studying urban inequality in the past: lessons from Pompeii, with Samuli Simelius

Villa Lugnet von Kraemers allé 8, Uppsala, Sweden, 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. […]