Center for the Human Past
interdisciplinary research
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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…
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A new book on Indo-European research
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Read more →: A new book on Indo-European researchOur colleague, Axel Palmér has just published a book Indo-Slavic Lexical Isoglosses and the Prehistoric Dispersal of Indo-Iranian. Axel I. Palmér, Ph.D. (2024, Leiden University), is currently a Human Past Junior Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) in Uppsala, Sweden. His research focuses on the origin and development of the Indo-European languages…
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Key components in research excellence
Read more →: Key components in research excellenceWhat does it take to achieve excellence in research? According to Anders Broström, associate professor of economics at KTH, one should “allow for more open, visionary projects and consider what you believe is possible in the discipline, and what the people involved can achieve, rather than require a fixed plan.” Jenny Larsson believes that “the…
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Human Past SCAS Fellows 2025-26 are…
Read more →: Human Past SCAS Fellows 2025-26 are…We’re excited to announce that the Human Past Fellows for academic year 2025-26 have been selected! The fellowship programme is an initiative by the Center for the Human Past, administered by the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies (SCAS). It is designed to foster a collaborative environment where early-stage and established scholars can converge across three…
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Fulani: new study unravels the genetic history of Africa’s largest pastoralist community
Read more →: Fulani: new study unravels the genetic history of Africa’s largest pastoralist communityA popular science feature on the recently published Fulani study (see our news item) is available in The Conversation – Africa. Carina Schlebusch and Cesar Fortes-Lima are two of three co-authors. African populations remain underrepresented in genomic studies. Only about 1.1% of genomic data being used for studies of the links between genes and diseases has come from…
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The Indo-European language puzzle can be solved
Read more →: The Indo-European language puzzle can be solvedIn response to the article The genetic origins of the Indo-Europeans, recently published in Nature, Jenny Larsson was one of the researchers interviewed by the popular science magazine Forskning & Framsteg. The text, Den Indoeuropeiska språkgåtan kan vara löst, based on the interviews, is available to the subscribers (in Swedish). Genetic researchers have cracked a…
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Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar: Human skeletal remains of Ilin Island, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines, speaker Tanya Uldin
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Read more →: Talks of the Past (ToP) Open Seminar: Human skeletal remains of Ilin Island, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines, speaker Tanya UldinAbstract 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…