Loading…
TAG2019-UCL has ended
The UCL Institute of Archaeology is delighted to host the 41st annual Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference in December 2019. Founded in 1937, the Institute is one of the largest centres for world archaeology, archaeological sciences and heritage & museum studies in the UK, situated in the heart of the capital.

Venue: UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL
Back To Schedule
Monday, December 16 • 1:30pm - 5:00pm
TAG03 | Archaeology, ancestry, and human genomics – a panel debate

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

The incorporation of ancient DNA into the archaeological toolkit has been widely hailed as a “scientific revolution” in the understanding of the human past. It is also widely recognised that applying genomics to prehistory involves complexities at every level of interpretation, and has on many occasions become the basis for questionable (and often widely publicised) claims about past cultural identities. This panel creates a space where issues of method and theory can be openly debated by archaeologists, geneticists, and others interested in questions of population history and ancestry, including how scientific findings are presented and narrated to the wider public. A particular focus will be on the relationship between population histories inferred from genetic data and groupings based on material culture, especially the prehistoric entities once referred to as ‘culture areas,’ ‘archaeological horizons’ or ‘interaction spheres’. Should the archaeological discourse of biological relatedness, through genomics, present its findings in relation to these much older cultural classifications (also potentially breathing new life into their established narratives of population groupings and dispersals)? Or does the intersection between archaeology and human genomics require entirely new ways of conceptualising the relationship between demographic and cultural histories?

Organisers: David Wengrow; UCL • Brenna Hassett; UCL • Pontus Skoglund; Francis Crick Institute • Selina Brace; Natural History Museum

13:30 | Martin Furholt, University of Oslo; Alexandra Ion, Institute of Anthropology 'Francisc I.Rainer' of the Romanian Academy; Natasha Reynolds, University of Bordeaux; Rachel Pope, British Women Archaeologists (BWA) and University of Liverpool; Kenny Brophy, University of Glasgow; Pontus Skoglund, Francis Crick Institute; Tom Booth, Francis Crick Institute; Mark Thomas, UCL; Ian Barnes, Natural History Museum; Selina Brace, Natural History Museum; Susanne Hakenbeck, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Cambridge | Panel

15:00 | - | BREAK

15:30 | Martin Furholt, University of Oslo; Alexandra Ion, Institute of Anthropology 'Francisc I.Rainer' of the Romanian Academy; Natasha Reynolds, University of Bordeaux; Rachel Pope, British Women Archaeologists (BWA) and University of Liverpool; Kenny Brophy, University of Glasgow; Pontus Skoglund, Francis Crick Institute; Tom Booth, Francis Crick Institute; Mark Thomas, UCL; Ian Barnes, Natural History Museum; Selina Brace, Natural History Museum; Susanne Hakenbeck, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Cambridge | ...Continued

17:00 | - | END

Speakers
MF

Martin Furholt

University of Oslo
AI

Alexandra Ion

Institute of Anthropology 'Francisc I.Rainer' of the Romanian Academy
NR

Natasha Reynolds

University of Bordeaux
RP

Rachel Pope

British Women Archaeologists (BWA) and University of Liverpool
KB

Kenny Brophy

University of Glasgow
PS

Pontus Skoglund

Francis Crick Institute
TB

Tom Booth

Francis Crick Institute
IB

Ian Barnes

Natural History Museum
SB

Selina Brace

Natural History Museum
SH

Susanne Hakenbeck

Dept. of Archaeology, University of Cambridge


Monday December 16, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm GMT
Room 802/4 20 Bedford Way, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0AL