Summer School 2024
Bridging Archaeogenetics and Medieval Studies:
Using aDNA as a source for migration, demographics, kinship and pathology
23-27 September 2024
Venue: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Jägerstr. 22-23, 10117 Berlin (with a day trip to MPI EVA, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, on 25 September)
Conveners: Center for Medieval Studies at Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) & Department of Archaeogenetics at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig (MPI EVA)
Organizers: Dr. Jörg Feuchter (BBAW) and Dr. Stephan Schiffels (MPI EVA)
Application: Application is closed
Target group: M.A. students and junior PhD/doctoral students from History, Biology, Archaeology and other Natural Sciences and Humanities
Teaching Language: English
Public evening lecture by Patrick Geary (IAS Princeton), on Archäogenetik und Geschichte: Neue Antworten auf neue Fragen, 24 September, 6 pm, at Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Jägerstr. 22-23, 10117 Berlin
Concept: In the age of the „ancientDNA-revolution“, archaeogenetic research institutes are nowadays routinely analysing samples from all periods of the human past, not the least from medieval times. Sometimes the scientific objective of the analysis resides primarily in the realm of History/Archaeology; sometimes the questions asked are of a biological nature; in other instances there is a mix of both. A rapidly growing and highly promising field of more or less intertwined genetic, historical, and archaeological knowledge production is developing, and the Middle Ages have become relevant to Genetics, as well as vice versa. Yet, true interdisciplinary cooperation remains rare, and there is much mutual distrust, misunderstanding and lack of knowledge. The Interdisciplinary Summer School „Bridging Archaeogenetics and Medieval Studies“ will bring together students from History, Biology, Archaeology and other relevant disciplines in order to familiarize them with the use of a(ncient)DNA as a source for migration, demographics, kinship and pathology in the Middle Ages. The Summer School will provide a general introduction to the scientific methods, both in theory and practice. In addition, participants will be given the opportunity to learn about a particular ongoing research project, „Migration and Urban Demographics in the Berlin-Brandenburg Area during the High Middle Ages“, in which many among the teaching staff are involved. Participants will be able to learn how the methods are applied to a concrete case study, to discuss with scientists cooperating in an ongoing research project, and to participate in interdisciplinary exchanges around specific problems. This interaction will help to develop critical engagement with the sometimes fundamentally different general approaches of scientists and scholars in the humanities.
Speakers include:
Kirsten Bos (MPI EVA; https://www.eva.mpg.de/archaeogenetics/research-groups/molecular-palaeopathology/ )
Stefan Burmeister (Varusschlacht Kalkriese, https://www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de/ueber-uns/team.html )
Jörg Feuchter (BBAW, https://www.bbaw.de/die-akademie/mitarbeiterinnen-mitarbeiter/feuchter-joerg )
Patrick Geary (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton; https://www.ias.edu/scholars/geary )
Joscha Gretzinger (MPI EVA; https://www.eva.mpg.de/archaeogenetics/staff/ )
Alexander Herbig (MPI EVA; https://www.eva.mpg.de/archaeogenetics/research-groups/computational-pathogenomics/ )
Zuzana Hofmanová (MPI EVA; https://www.eva.mpg.de/archaeogenetics/staff/zuzana-hofmanova/ )
Claudia M. Melisch (Melisch Archäologie, Berlin; https://melisch-arch.de/ueber-mich )
Marion Nagy (Charité Berlin, Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Abt. Forensische Genetik, https://rechtsmedizin.charite.de/ueber_das_institut/team/team_der_forensischen_genetik/ )
Michael Nothnagel (University of Cologne; https://ccg.uni-koeln.de/research/statistical-genetics-and-bioinformatics-group/group-members/prof-dr-michael-nothnagel )
Harald Ringbauer (MPI EVA; https://www.eva.mpg.de/archaeogenetics/staff/harald-ringbauer )
Jessica Rothe (Charité Berlin, Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Abt. Forensische Genetik https://rechtsmedizin.charite.de/ueber_das_institut/team/team_der_forensischen_genetik/ )
Stephan Schiffels (MPI EVA; https://www.eva.mpg.de/archaeogenetics/staff/stephan-schiffels )
Fees: There is no fee. However, participants must cover their own accommodation and travel expenses for travelling to and from Berlin, as well as for the day trip to Leipzig. A number of inexpensive accommodations are available at the guesthouse of Humboldt University. They can be booked through the organizers.
Programme:
The topics to be taught at the Summer School are:
Introduction to Population Genomics and application to the Middle Ages
Medieval History and the Challenge of Archaeogenetics
The Archaeology of Migration and the Challenge of aDNA
aDNA based Paleopathology research
aDNA from early medieval burials associated with Slavic Culture
On Genetics and History
Migration and Urban Demographics in the Berlin-Brandenburg Area during the High Middle Ages
Forensic Genetics and Archaeology/Osteology: Practical and ethical aspects of working with medieval human remains
How to detect kinship and migration with aDNA
The Summer School will begin on 23 September, 9.30 a.m. and end on 27 September, 3 p.m.
Contact: medieval.summerschool@bbaw.de