Prehistoric plant DNA and the agricultural history of the Canary Islands
- Date: 5 March 2025, 15:15–16:30
- Location: Blåsenhus, Blåsenhus/seminar room 13:028
- Type: Seminar
- Lecturer: Jenny Hagenblad
- Web page
- Organiser: Center for the Human Past (CHP)
- Contact person: Marzena Norling
- Phone: 0184710000
Talks of the Past (ToP) seminars are open to anyone 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.
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Abstract
The intimate relationship between humans and crop plants means traces of human cultural practices are embedded in the crop genome. Aspects of past cultures not documented in written records can consequently be studied with genetic analyses of archaeological crop remains. Such analyses, however, come with their own particular set of challenges, not the least in finding suitable material to study. Some of the best preserved, prehistoric crop remains in the world can be found in the mountains of Gran Canaria, and Jenny Hagenblad has used these to study the effects of societal upheavals.
Five hundred years ago, with the Hispanic conquest of the archipelago, the Canary Islands went through a rapid transition from neolithic isolation to a globalization hub, with dramatic consequences for the insular society. Jenny will give examples of how the genetic analysis of crops and crop remains have illuminated both the islands' early prehistory, the agrarian consequences of the Hispanic conquest, and an influence of Canarian agriculture reaching well beyond the archipelago.