S Familiensysteme im prähistorischen Europa
Instructors: Dr. Maxime BramiShortname: 07.012.24_310
Course No.: 07.012.24_310
Course Type: Seminar
Recommended reading list
Brück, J. (2021). Ancient DNA, kinship and relational identities in Bronze Age Britain. Antiquity, 95(379), 228–237.Ensor, B. E. (2013). The Archaeology of Kinship: Advancing Interpretation and Contributions to Theory. University of Arizona Press.
Ensor, B. E. (2021). The not very patrilocal European Neolithic: Strontium, aDNA, and archaeological kinship analyses. The Not Very Patrilocal European Neolithic. https://www.torrossa.com/it/resources/an/5054888
Ensor, B. E., Irish, J. D., & Keegan, W. F. (2017). The Bioarchaeology of Kinship: Proposed Revisions to Assumptions Guiding Interpretation. Current Anthropology, 58(6), 739–761
Frieman, C. J., & Brück, J. (2021). Making kin: the archaeology and genetics of human relationships. TATuP-Zeitschrift Für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie Und Praxis/Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice, 30(2), 47–52.
Contents
The evolution of family systems in prehistoric Europe has invited much interest and speculation since the 19th century. Changes in kinship patterns and family organization have been traditionally discussed in the context of major shifts in subsistence and production activities, such as the emergence of agricultural economies in the Neolithic, and the development of pastoral elites in the Bronze Age. Only recently have reliable scientific approaches emerged to assess the validity of these narratives in light of prehistoric data, considering the three dimensions of kinship: descent, marriage and residence. Ancient DNA now provides the opportunity to reconstruct multigenerational ‘pedigrees’ (resembling modern ‘family trees’), linking dozens of individuals from the same archaeological site. In this seminar, we will review the different approaches used by archaeologists, anthropologists and palaeogeneticists to infer kinship and their limitations. Questions are set to include: what were descent, marriage and residence practices like in agricultural and steppe societies? Who was buried with whom, why? Did changes in subsistence strategy coincide with shifts in the rules of descent, or did these transitions happen independently? Can the origins of modern European family systems be traced back all the way to prehistory?
Dates
| Date (Day of the week) | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 04/14/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 04/21/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 04/28/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 05/05/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 05/12/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 05/19/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 05/26/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 06/02/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 06/09/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 06/16/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 06/23/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 06/30/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
| 07/07/2026 (Tuesday) | 16:15 - 17:45 | 03 308 Besprechungs… 9133 - Aareon-Gebäude |
