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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

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We work in collaboration with our partners

Press Releases

Incidence Estimation from SARS-CoV-2 Genomes

October 14, 2021

Ten Millennia of Hepatitis B Virus Evolution

October 07, 2021

Late Persistence of Human Ancestors at the Margins of the Monsoon in India

October 05, 2021

Deep Roots of the ‘Anthropocene’ Can Be Found in Tropical Forests

September 27, 2021

More Press Releases

Updates

Forgotten Extreme Weather

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

A New Approach for Accurately Dating Archaeological Sites Using Marine Mollusc Shells

September 29, 2021

The Impacts of Early Rice Agriculture on Tropical Forests in Southeastern Asia

September 27, 2021

Beyond ‘Wilderness’ - Biodiversity Conservation Approaches Need Indigenous and Local Peoples

September 27, 2021

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

October 2021

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A Bayesian phylogenetic model with horizontal transfer for language evolution

from 14:00 to 15:00

Darwin Comes to Town - How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution

from 16:00 to 19:00

Darwin Comes to Town - How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution

21 October. 4pm CET.

MINT-Festival Jena: Exploring the past with "invisible" traces

September 15, 9am CEST

More Events

Latest Publications

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Schünemann, B.; Keller, J.; Rakoczy, H.; Behne, T.; Bräuer, J.: Dogs distinguish human intentional and unintentional action. Scientific Reports 11 (1), 14967 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

supplementary-material

Papac, L.; Ernée, M.; Dobeš, M.; Langová, M.; Rohrlach, A. B.; Aron, F.; Neumann, G. U.; Spyrou, M. A.; Rohland, N.; Velemínský, P. et al.; Kuna, M.; Brzobohatá, H.; Culleton, B.; Daněček, D.; Danielisová, A.; Dobisíková, M.; Hložek, J.; Kennett, D. J.; Klementová, J.; Kostka, M.; Krištuf, P.; Kuchařík, M.; Hlavová, J. K.; Limburský, P.; Malyková, D.; Mattiello, L.; Pecinovská, M.; Petriščáková, K.; Průchová, E.; Stránská, P.; Smejtek, L.; Špaček, J.; Šumberová, R.; Švejcar, O.; Trefný, M.; Vávra, M.; Kolář, J.; Heyd, V.; Krause, J.; Pinhasi, R.; Reich, D.; Schiffels, S.; Haak, W.: Dynamic changes in genomic and social structures in third millennium BCE central Europe. Science Advances 7 (35), eabi6941 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

pre-print

Coelho, M. T. P.; Haynie, H. J.; Bowern, C.; Colwell, R. K.; Greenhill, S. J.; Kirby, K.; Rangel, T. F.; Gavin, M. C.: Demographic shifts, inter-group contact, and environmental conditions drive language extinction and diversification. (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Carlhoff, S.; Duli, A.; Nägele, K.; Nur, M.; Skov, L.; Sumantri, I.; Oktaviana, A. A.; Hakim, B.; Burhan, B.; Syahdar, F. A. et al.; McGahan, D. P.; Bulbeck, D.; Perston, Y. L.; Newman, K.; Saiful, A. M.; Ririmasse, M.; Chia, S.; Hasanuddin; Pulubuhu, D. A. T.; Suryatman; Supriadi; Jeong, C.; Peter, B. M.; Prüfer, K.; Powell, A.; Krause, J.; Posth, C.; Brumm, A.: Genome of a middle Holocene hunter-gatherer from Wallacea. Nature 596, pp. 543 - 547 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Goldstein, S. T.; Crowther, A.; Henry, E. R.; Janzen, A.; Katongo, M.; Brown, S.; Farr, J.; Le Moyne, C.; Picin, A.; Richter, K. K. et al.; Boivin, N. L.: Revisiting Kalundu Mound, Zambia: implications for the timing of social and subsistence transitions in Iron Age Southern Africa. African Archaeological Review, s10437-021-09440-y (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Robinson, M.; Morcote-Rios, G.; Aceituno, F. J.; Roberts, P.; Berrío, J. C.; Iriarte, J.: ‘Moving South’: Late Pleistocene plant exploitation and the importance of palm in the Colombian Amazon. Quaternary 4 (3), 26, pp. 1 - 21 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

publisher-version

Faulkner, P.; Miller, J. M.; Morales Quintana, E. M.; Crowther, A.; Shipton, C.; Ndiema, E.; Boivin, N.; Petraglia, M. D.: 67,000 years of coastal engagement at Panga ya Saidi, eastern Africa. PLoS One 16 (8), e0256761 (2021)

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Sołtysiak, A.; Fernandes, R.: Much ado about nothing: assessing the impact of the 4.2 kya event on human subsistence patterns in northern Mesopotamia using stable isotope analysis. Antiquity, 117 (2021)

All Publications