Center for the Human Past
People
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Homo sapiens-specific evolution unveiled by ancient southern African genomes, published in Nature
Read more →: Homo sapiens-specific evolution unveiled by ancient southern African genomes, published in NatureMattias Jakobsson and Carina Schlebusch are two co-authors of the study on ancient South Africans that was just published. Abstract Homo sapiens evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago in Africa, later spreading across the globe, but the early evolutionary process is debated. Here we present whole-genome sequencing data for 28 ancient southern African individuals, including…
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New vacancies at CHP
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Read more →: New vacancies at CHPWe are seeking not one, but three, new postdoctoral researchers to join our interdisciplinary team and dive deeper into the mysteries of the last 10,000 years of human history. Place of work: Uppsala University. Application deadline: 15 Dec 2025 For the full announcements and to apply, visit the Uppsala University website:
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Newly funded RJ program: Unexplored Linguistic Phenomena: Mapping and Documenting the Frontiers of Human Language Ability
Read more →: Newly funded RJ program: Unexplored Linguistic Phenomena: Mapping and Documenting the Frontiers of Human Language AbilityOne of the Center’s PIs, Harald Hammarström, starts a new project, funded by Riksbankensjubileumsfond. For the next 6 years, the team will dive headlong into the peripheries of human linguistic ability. It’s one of two RJ Programs funded this year. Big congratulations! Linguistic diversity: a manifestation of human capacities and a footprint of history Abstract…
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Meet Francesco Giannelli, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary genetics
Read more →: Meet Francesco Giannelli, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary geneticsFrancesco Giannelli defended his PhD on “The role of expansion dynamics in shaping genetic diversity and load accumulation: insights from two Lessepsian invaders” at the Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy, in May 2025. He investigated how expansion dynamics affect neutral and deleterious genetic diversity. In September, he joined the Centre and Carina Schlebusch’s Lab…
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Hugo Reyes Centeno and Anthony Jakob are the current Human Past SCAS Fellows
Read more →: Hugo Reyes Centeno and Anthony Jakob are the current Human Past SCAS FellowsWe are pleased to welcome Hugo Reyes Centeno, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky, USA and Anthony Jakob, a historical linguist with a PhD from Leiden University as our new fellows. During the fellowship, Hugo will work on the project Genomic and archaeological approaches toward resolving the Austronesian problem, while Anthony…
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Stories of horses, people & Indo-European language
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Read more →: Stories of horses, people & Indo-European languageIn summer, Jenny Larsson and Axel Palmér talked with Karin Bojs about the intertwined history of people and horses. The conversations contributed to the recorded podcast series, “Shortcuts with Karin Bojs”, available on Swedish Radio (in Swedish). Hästar och indoeuropeiska språk har parallell historia (4/8) Från Vedaskrifter till Staffan Stalledräng (5/8)
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Axel Palmér joins the Center in a new role
Read more →: Axel Palmér joins the Center in a new roleThe post of Associate Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, has been awarded to our Human Past Fellow, Axel Palmér. Axel’s enthusiasm, curiosity, and quest for learning, combined with his desire to teach, make him the ideal colleague to work with. Congratulations, Axel! More about…
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He traces the genetic history of modern humans
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Read more →: He traces the genetic history of modern humansThe Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation has just published an update on the research by Mattias Jakobsson, one of the KAW scholars. Mattias Jakobsson’s focus in his new Wallenberg Scholar project is to track the development that occurred between 300,000 and 600,000 years ago, following the genetic line that leads to modern humans. The material…
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A new SCAS podcast with Axel Palmér. Historical Linguistics: A Window into the Human Past
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Read more →: A new SCAS podcast with Axel Palmér. Historical Linguistics: A Window into the Human PastIn the new SCAS podcast episode (episode 65), Axel Palmér, a historical linguist specialising in Indo-European languages, discusses his research on agricultural vocabulary in the Rigveda. Axel examines whether the people who composed the Rigveda were pastoralists or agriculturalists by analysing the text’s descriptions of agriculture and comparing them to those found in other Indo-European…
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UppTalk podcast with Mattias Jakobsson
Read more →: UppTalk podcast with Mattias JakobssonIn June, Mattias Jakobsson was a guest on the podcast series UppTalk, run by the Science and Technology Domain at Uppsala University. The podcast episode, under a title: Vad kan forntida DNA avslöja om människans evolution? (What can ancient DNA reveal about human evolution?) is one of many recorded UppTalks available on the Uppsala University…