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!


  • Diachronic reuse of Neolithic burial monuments by Bronze Age newcomers in Southwestern Britain

    Diachronic reuse of Neolithic burial monuments by Bronze Age newcomers in Southwestern Britain

    A new paper, co-authored by Nikola Vuković, Carolina Bernhardsson and Mattias Jakobsson, from the Human Evolution Program at Uppsala University, in close collaboration with British archaeologists, has recently been published in Scientific Reports:Vuković, N., Bernhardsson, C., Edlund, H., Delbarre, G., Smith, M., Darvill, T., … & Jakobsson, M. (2026). Diachronic reuse of Neolithic burial monuments…

  • Matte Sjölander’s STSM Experience in Utrecht 2026

    Matte Sjölander’s STSM Experience in Utrecht 2026

    In June 2026, Mattias Sjölander visited Utrecht University to host a brainstorming session on integrating subfossil insect and pollen data in future analyses. The visit, a so-called Short-Term Scientific Mission within Open Palaeoecological Data (PalaeOpen), was funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST). During my ongoing postdoctoral project at the Center for the Human…

  • The Tie That Binds Us?

    The Tie That Binds Us?

    A new article discussing ancient DNA, kinship studies and human connection across time, co-authored by one of our former Human Past SCAS Fellows, Mehmet Somel, has just been published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal. Moots, H. M., Tsosie, K. S., & Somel, M. (2026). The Tie That Binds Us? Challenging the Primacy of DNA in Kinship Studies…