UCL Institute of Archaeology

Joachim Burger (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany) will give the fourth seminar in the Term II Institute Research Seminar series on ancient DNA at the Institute on 18 February.  

The Term II Institute Research Seminar series looking at the field of ancient DNA is being organised by Mark Thomas (UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment) and coincides with the launch of a new ancient DNA Laboratory facility at the Institute. 

Joachim Burger is Professor of Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. He works on the population genetics of the interaction of early Neolithic farmers and late hunter-gatherers in Europe. He draws inferences from ancient and modern DNA data using next generation sequencing technology and biostatistical inference methods. He also works on the domestication process and the early population history of domestic animals in the Near East and Europe.

The seminar will be followed by a reception in the Institute's Staff Common Room (Room 609).

Any enquiries about the Ancient DNA seminar series may be directed to Mark Thomas.

Term II Institute Research Seminar Series Programme

• 14 January: A Brief History of Ancient DNA (Ian Barnes, Royal Holloway)
• 21 January: Giving ancient DNA a modern context: Migrating people, migrating diseases (François Balloux, UCL Genetics Institute)
• 4 February: Progress and prospects in archaeological DNA research (Michael Hofreiter, University of York)
• 18 February: The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Europe: A palaeopopulationgenetic view (Joachim Burger, JGU, Mainz)
• 25 February: Hunting our Molecular Past (Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen)
• 4 March: Towards a comprehension of early animal domestication through ancient DNA (Greger Larson, Durham University)
• 11 March: Ancient Pathogen Genomics: the evolution of infectious disease from the angle of historic pandemics (Johannes Krause, Eberhard Karls University)
• 18 March: Using archaeogenomic and computational approaches to unravel the history of local adaptation in crops (Robin Allaby, University of Warwick)