Session: #135

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
5. Theories and methods in archaeology: interactions between disciplines
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
ArchaeoGenetics, the Real Meaning: Towards Synergies between Genetics and Archaeology
Content:
With the methodological advancements in ancient DNA research during the past decade, archaeologists and geneticists were equally confronted with overwhelming expectations from the respective other field. Both realized quickly that these expectations were not always met, mainly because of a discrepancy in the resolution of the data under study. In the last few decades, archaeology has turned to work mostly from a bottom-up perspective, while the majority of genetic studies have been working from the top down. As a consequence, the conclusions and models presented in genetic studies are often oversimplified and based on grouping together ancient people who may have never thought of themselves as a coherent entity. These different angles from which researchers are looking at human history resulted in major misunderstandings.
How can we reconcile those different scales? Where do these different levels of human history overlap, where do they not? How can genomic histories be correlated with the archaeological record? What issues do archaeologists face when they try to incorporate the ancient DNA results in their research? What respective expectations can really be met in the end?
We invite all researchers involved in genetics and archaeology who have a critical sense for interdisciplinary discussion of their results to present their research. Contributions can address, but are not limited to, the following questions and research topics:
- Large- and small-scale case studies combining both fields, genetics and archaeology (i. e. population genetics, analyses of social structure, kinship, site studies, human diseases, domestication),
- Methodologies to integrate the different kinds of data that geneticists and archaeologists are dealing with,
- Theoretical discussions about confrontation and integration of both fields,

The session’s objective is to find common ground on which both fields, archaeology and genetics, can really come together and do integrative research.
Keywords:
Archaeogenetics, Archaeology, ancient DNA, population genetics, integrative approach
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:

Organisers

Main organiser:
Anna Szecsenyi-Nagy (Hungary) 1
Co-organisers:
Alissa Mittnik (United States) 2,3
Maite Rivollat (Germany) 3,4
Stefanie Eisenmann (Germany) 3
Karina Gerdau (France) 5
Affiliations:
1. Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest, Hungary
2. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
3. Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
4. PACEA – UMR 5199, University of Bordeaux, France
5. University of Strasbourg