Talks of the Past (ToP) Öpet Seminarium av CHP: New linguistic and archaeogenomic perspectives on the origin and spread of the Germanic languages.

Date: 6 November 2024, 14:15–15:30
Location: Blåsenhus, seminar room 21:136
Type: Seminar
Lecturer: Guus Kroonen, Leiden University
Web page
Organiser: Center for the Human Past (CHP)
Contact person: Marzena Norling
Phone: 0184710000

Talks of the Past (ToP) seminars are open to students and academics interested in interdisciplinary research in the fields of palaeogenetics, archaeology, and linguistics. It is a series of seminars that take place on the first Wednesday of each month and are followed by a discussion and a “fika” (coffee break). The seminars are delivered in English.

Synopsis

The Germanic languages, including English, German and the Nordic languages, are widely assumed to have dispersed from Southern Scandinavia after the Pre-Roman Iron Age. However, the demographic processes behind their diversification are not yet fully understood. In addition, it is currently not known when and from where the Germanic language group arrived in Scandinavia.

To understand the prehistoric and historical distributions of the Germanic languages, Guus Kroonen contributed to a paleogenomic study analyzing 710 ancient genomes and 3,940 published genomes from western Eurasia. Results indicate a Late Neolithic cross-Baltic maritime migration and significant genetic shifts during the Migration Period, impacting populations across northern Europe.

This talk will highlight the challenges of interpreting archaeogenomic evidence at clarifying language origins and dispersals.