Updates 2019

The Department of Archaeogenetics supported the Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Archäologie in Herne with the conception and realization of a large new special exhibition on the history of the plague and its worldwide effects. more

New study indicates Middle Palaeolithic people lived near the Indian Ocean coastline over 100,000 years ago, but shared common behaviours with inland populations. more

The Mississippi: An Anthropocene River initiative seeks to explore the ecological, historical, and social interactions between humans and the environment across the Mississippi River Basin. Scholars from both sides of the Atlantic are working directly with local and international scientists, social theorists, artists, and activists with interests and backgrounds spanning the biological and social sciences as well as the humanities and visual arts. more

The Institute will be hosting a variety of events from October 7-10 to bring awareness to these issues, organized by the Mental Health Awareness Week Committee. more

In the beginning of September, the Paleo-Science & History Independent Research Group held its third pre/post-doc workshop in interdisciplinary approaches to history – within just one year since the group’s foundation in the summer of 2018. more

Johannes Krause is one of the authors of the Jena Declaration by which evolutionary researchers and zoologists oppose seemingly scientific justifications for racism and argue that the concept of race lacks any biological basis. In zoology and anthropology, the authors concludes, "today and in the future, not using the term race should be part of scientific decency".
Photo: Jürgen Scheere/FSU more

Patrick Roberts and Robert Spengler of the Department of Archaeology discuss the role Jena played on the career and ideas of Alexander von Humboldt and the development of the disciplines of Ecology, Climate Science, and Evolutionary Biology. They highlight how this legacy can still be seen in new research in Jena focused on human interactions with the natural world and our planet's changing environments and species. Read the full article here: more

The highly competitive grants will allow the recipients to fund research groups on their projects "PANTROPOCENE: Finding a Pre-industrial, Pan-tropical 'Anthropocene'", "MICROSCOPE: Zooming into the Population History of Iron Age Europe with Rare Genetic Variants", and "FEDD: Fruits of Eurasia: Domestication and Dispersal". more

Oshan Wedage, a PhD researcher at the Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, has received one of the most prestigious scientific awards in his home country, Sri Lanka. more

The Department of Archaeology is proud to extend our congratulations to Dr. Jillian Swift who has recently started a position as Archaeologist at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai’i in the United States. more

Professor Michael Petraglia is a new affiliate of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.  As one of his first teaching assignments he gave a week-long course to one hundred Ph.D. and Master’s level students entitled: "Human Evolution and Climate Change". more

The Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) was established in 2013 by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. more

The Otto Hahn Medal is awarded annually by the Max Planck Society to approximately 30 young researchers for best PhD thesis. The prizes are awarded at the general meeting of the MPG each June and are among the most prestigious honors for PhD students in Germany. more

Article and radio interview (in German) on Deutschlandfunk on sustainability and the balance between humans and their environment, including Patrick Roberts of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. more

Dr Georgios Liakopoulos from the Palaeo-Science and History (PS&H) Independent Max Planck Research Group will give a Summer Course (22-26 July 2019) at FU Berlin. Registration and attendance are free, and registration is open until 30 June! more

The award, given annually to recognize the highest level of academic excellence among doctoral students, honors the late Tom L. Popejoy, former President of the University of New Mexico. more

Over the past decade, research on ancient pathogens has been greatly enhanced by advances in ancient genomics. Researchers have been using new methods to make important discoveries, while some challenges remain. more

Many thanks to all of the participants of the 2019 International Application of Archaeological Science Workshop for making this such a successful event! Watch the video at the link for a review of this year's training program. We look forward to next year! more

Dr. Patrick Roberts and Prof. Michael Petraglia of the Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History feature in this month’s issue of GEO for their work on Homo sapiens’ adaptations and migration routes out of Africa. more

The journey of our genes - A story about us and our ancestors
Where are we from? Who are we? What distinguishes us from others? These questions are more urgent today than ever before. Johannes Krause and Thomas Trappe go back to prehistory and tell us how Europeans became who they are today. more

Adam Izdebski, Independent Group Leader of PS&H, initiated and co-edited a new volume, the first of its kind for the history of the first millennium AD, written by scientists, historians and archaeologists. more

Researchers from four world-renowned institutions meet at the ancient city of Cahokia to discuss the factors that led to the Anthropocene. more

In a new video from Latest Thinking, Michael Petraglia describes his research, which includes the use of satellite imagery to identify ancient rivers and lakes in present-day desert regions, and demonstrates that modern humans emerged from Africa much earlier than previously thought. more

Prof. Dr. habil. Martine Robbeets has been awarded an honorary professorship at the University of Mainz. She will give her Inaugural Lecture titled "Building on Mainzer traditions in Transeurasian linguistics" on 15 February 2019. Congratulations!

The 3-part program by ZDF, Arte and Gruppe 5, featuring Russell Gray and Johannes Krause, has won the German Television Prize for Best Documentary of 2018! Congratulations! more

For a long time the tropical forest has been assumed to represent an environment inhospitable to humans. In a new video by Latest Thinking Patrick Roberts explains why he challenges this view. more

The joint project, which includes MPI-SHH researchers William Taylor and Nils Vanwezer, explores Mongolia’s earliest prehistory, from the Paleolithic through the first pastoral peoples of the Bronze Age. more

The Honorary Professorships were awarded in the School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Australia, with which the Department of Archaeology already enjoys close collaborative relationships. more