Center for the Human Past
interdisciplinary research
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UU researcher profile: Harald Hammarström documents languages on the verge of extinction
Read more →: UU researcher profile: Harald Hammarström documents languages on the verge of extinctionA professor of linguistics with a Master’s in computer science and a PhD in computational linguistics, Harald goes an extra mile to document the languages that head towards extinction. “Throughout time, smaller languages have always been swallowed up by larger ones. But now, with globalisation, this is happening at an incredibly accelerated pace.” Language has…
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Carina Schlebusch’s current research—in a nutshell
Read more →: Carina Schlebusch’s current research—in a nutshellCarina Schlebusch is combining archaeology, genetics and biochemistry with the aim of discovering how human genes have adapted to changing lifestyles over thousands of years. Prehistoric DNA from skeletal remains in Africa can provide answers to questions about diet, disease and survival, and perhaps even offer clues about humanity’s future health. The goal now is…
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Mini-Seminar: An agenda for palaeosociolinguistics. Using ethnographic models to interpret patterns in historical linguistics, with Roger Blench
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Read more →: Mini-Seminar: An agenda for palaeosociolinguistics. Using ethnographic models to interpret patterns in historical linguistics, with Roger BlenchAbstract 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…
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Meet Lydia Furness, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary genetics
Read more →: Meet Lydia Furness, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary genetics“My research background lies at the intersection of archaeology, evolutionary anthropology, and biomolecular science. I trained initially as an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool, specialising in archaeological science and early human evolution, which provided a strong foundation in archaeological practice, material analysis, and the ethical dimensions of working with human remains and cultural heritage.”…
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“What does linguistics gain from interdisciplinary studies, and what do interdisciplinary studies gain from linguistics?”
Read more →: “What does linguistics gain from interdisciplinary studies, and what do interdisciplinary studies gain from linguistics?”Haral Hammarström was invited to talk about his interdisciplinary research within linguistics at the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Uppsala (KVSU). His presentation can be viewed online: Read more about the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Uppsala (KVSU)
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Meet Daniel Brown, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary archaeology
Read more →: Meet Daniel Brown, our new postdoctoral researcher in interdisciplinary archaeology“I am a multidisciplinary archaeologist with a background in archaeological science, database and collections management, and pedagogy. My PhD project enshrined many of these interdisciplinary principles. I utilised cutting-edge archaeological science techniques, alongside varied theoretical models, to uncover relationships between people, food, and pottery in the Early and Middle Neolithic period of the Outer Hebrides…
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Call for the Human Past SCAS Fellowships 2027-28 is open
Read more →: Call for the Human Past SCAS Fellowships 2027-28 is openThe Human Past SCAS Residential Fellowship Programme is an initiative by the Center for the Human Past, administered by the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS). The fellowships are designed to foster a collaborative environment where early-stage (postdoctoral-level) and established scholars can converge across a wide range of disciplines, such as archaeology, population genetics, and…
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Talks of the Past Open Seminar: Cultural Creolization in Ostrobothnia, Finland: An Interdisciplinary View on Burials, Exchange, and Social Identity, speaker Anna Wessman
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Read more →: Talks of the Past Open Seminar: Cultural Creolization in Ostrobothnia, Finland: An Interdisciplinary View on Burials, Exchange, and Social Identity, speaker Anna WessmanThe seminar was canceled due to unexpected events out of anyone’s control. We apologize for inconvenience. Abstract This talk explores a remarkable Iron Age burial from Pukkila in western Finland, dating to around AD 700, where a cremated individual was laid to rest in a boat alongside weapons, ritual objects, and artefacts from across Scandinavia,…
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Human Past Interdisciplinary Retreat – Impressions
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Read more →: Human Past Interdisciplinary Retreat – ImpressionsThe 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…
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Human Past Journal Club
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Read more →: Human Past Journal ClubDiscussion 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…