Startseite

Welcome to the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Dear visitors, as Germany continues to deal with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History is committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of its employees. In order to limit the spread of Covid-19, we have encouraged our employees to work from home. Our services and availability to the public during this time are limited. We thank you for your understanding.

We work in the field

We work in the lab

We work all over the world

We work in teams

We work in collaboration with our partners

Press Releases

Rare African Script Offers Clues to the Evolution of Writing

January 13, 2022

Project Investigating Human Impacts on Island Ecosystems Wins ERC Starting Grant

January 10, 2022

Ostrich Eggshell Beads Reveal 50,000-Year-old Social Network Across Africa

December 20, 2021

Molecular Analysis Reveals the Oldest Denisovan Fossils Yet

November 26, 2021

More Press Releases

Updates

Cancelled: DER KLANG VON JENA № 1: "Die Stille hören"

November 18, 2021

More information in German

Cold Comfort: Arctic Seabirds Find Refugia from a Warming Climate in Sea Ice Margins and Cold Fjords

November 17, 2021

A New Method for Reconstructing Cultural Evolution Applied to Electronic Music

October 25, 2021

Forgotten Extreme Weather

Environmental history points the way to the path of resilience. More information in German

More Updates

Videos and Audios

International Dog Day: "Having a Dog is Healthy"

Podcast

Biologist Juliane Bräuer researches dogs as head of the DogLab at the Max Planck Institute. Unlike many other animal species, the sympathy between humans and dogs is based on mutuality, the expert explains. (Audio in German)

The Genes of the Barbarians

Podcast

From Deutschlandfunk: July 27, 2021. Little is really known about the groups of people who roamed Europe, Asia and Africa between the 3rd and 8th centuries. Who were they? And what drove them? What we know and tell about them is based on a rather thin source material. DNA analysis could reveal some of their secrets. Audio in German.

Finding Rico - Recruitment Video

Video

Juliane Kaminski (Dog Cognition Centre, University of Portsmouth) and Juliane Bräuer (DogStudies, MPI for the Science of Human History, Jena) are looking for special dogs, that are able to distinguish objects by name.

Mtoto: The Sleeping Child

Video

The National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the National Museums of Kenya, co-leads a study on the oldest human burial in Africa, dating back to 78,000 years old

A genome sequence from a modern human skull over 45,000 years old from Zlatý kůň in Czechia

Video

Apr. 7, 2021

Evolution of Cultural Diversity in Vanuatu - Research Project

Video

March 2021

Events

January 2022

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Building and using dated phylogenies in the presence of bacterial recombination

from 14:00 to 15:00

Building and using dated phylogenies in the presence of bacterial recombination

18 January. 4pm CET.

Multiple topologies in biology and linguistics

November 23, 2pm CET

More Events

Latest Publications

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Perez Ramallo, P.; Lorenzo-Lizalde, J. I.; Staniewska, A.; Lopez, B.; Alexander, M.; Marzo, S.; Lucas, M.; Ilgner, J.; Chivall, D.; Grandal-d́Anglade, A. et al.; Roberts, P.: Stable isotope analysis and differences in diet and social status in northern Medieval Christian Spain (9th–13th centuries CE). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41, 103325 (2022)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Sorrentino, R.; Carlson, K. J.; Figus, C.; Pietrobelli, A.; Stephens, N. B.; DeMars, L. J. D.; Saers, J. P. P.; Armando, J.; Bettuzzi, M.; Guarnieri, T. et al.; Oxilia, G.; Vazzana, A.; Parr, W.; Turley, K.; Morigi, M. P.; Stock, J. T.; Ryan, T. M.; Benazzi, S.; Marchi, D.; Belcastro, M. G.: The talar morphology of a hypochondroplasic dwarf: A case study from the Italian Late Antique period. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 3078 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Shnaider, S.; Ashastina, K.; Alisher kyzy, S.; Sayfullaev , N.; Zakabluk, G.; Chernonosov, A.; Spengler III, R. N.; Zotkina, L.: The Results of the Complex Study of the Kurteke Site (Eastern Pamir). Theory and practice of archaeological research 33 (4), pp. 284 - 296 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

ZIP

Gayantha, K.; Roberts, P.; Routh, J.; Wedage, O.; Ott, F.; Frenzel, P.; Chandrajith, R.; Gleixner, G.: Mid-late Holocene sub-millennial scale inverse trends of South Asian summer and winter monsoons in Sri Lanka. Frontiers in Earth Science 9, 789291 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Miller, J. M.; Wang, Y.: Ostrich eggshell beads reveal 50,000-year-old social network in Africa. Nature, s41586-021-04227-2 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

pre-print

Groucutt, H. S.: The morphological variability of Maltese ‘cart ruts’ and its implications. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41, 103287, pp. 1 - 9 (2022)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Drake, N. A.; Candy, I.; Breeze, P.; Armitage, S.J.; Gasmi, N.; Schwenninger, J.L.; Peat, D.; Manning, K.: Sedimentary and geomorphic evidence of Saharan megalakes: a synthesis. Quaternary Science Reviews 276, 107318 (2022)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Parker, C. E.; Bos, K. I.; Haak, W.; Krause, J.: Optimized bone sampling protocols for the retrieval of ancient DNA from archaeological remains. Journal of Visualized Experiments 177, e63250 (2021)

All Publications