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!
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 One major problem for dating the origin and dispersal of language phyla, or indeed their individual branches, is that they do not diversify at a standard rate. Once the great hope for dating language families, and regularly invented with ‘new’ mathematical methods and improved algorithms, glottochronology continues to fail to convince all but small […]
Abstract Over the last few decades, increasing numbers of researchers who study the past have noticed their research being appropriated by bad-faith far-right actors. Selective archaeological motifs and data/interpretations from our papers are being spread across far-right online spaces to justify racist, misogynistic and homophobic views. This has become so prevalent that it is even […]