Human Past Interdisciplinary Retreat – Impressions


The primary purpose of the retreat was to strengthen collaboration between geneticists, archaeologists and linguists in exploring the last 10,000 years of human history. The retreat, networking and team-building event at Sigtuna Stiftelsen offered an opportunity to learn about each other’s research through presentations and discussions and to lay the groundwork for future joint projects.
The day plan included short talks, ample time for discussion in between, and group work on designing joint interdisciplinary projects.

The registered participants were tasked to deliver research questions they were interested in but could not answer without input from other disciplines. These questions provided a starting point for the discussions and group work.

Thank you all for attending!


  • Did Paleogermanic originate in Sweden?

    Did Paleogermanic originate in Sweden?

    Jenny Larsson, one of the Center for the Human Past’s leaders, was approached to comment on the two recent Nature publications by McColl and others (2026) . The co-authors suggest that genetic analyses paint a new picture of how languages spread. According to them, the language arrived during a cultural shift that brought new burial…

  • New VR grants for Mattias Jakobsson and Carina Schlebusch

    New VR grants for Mattias Jakobsson and Carina Schlebusch

    Searching for sapiens-specific evolution Mattias Jakobsson receives new funding from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, VR) to “develop a statistical, machine-learning–based framework that jointly analyses genomes from archaic humans, ancient southern Africans, and present-day populations.” In the next four years, the project expects to identify genomic regions and biological pathways that evolved rapidly during the…

  • RJ funds a new program, “From Milk to Mead – Indo-European Food Culture in Prehistory”, co-led by Jenny Larsson

    RJ funds a new program, “From Milk to Mead – Indo-European Food Culture in Prehistory”, co-led by Jenny Larsson

    Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) is an independent foundation that supports research in the humanities and social sciences essential to understanding and addressing society’s current challenges, both nationally and globally. Through its funding, the foundation aims to promote basic research of the highest scientific quality. It also responds to the need for long-term, stable research funding. This…