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SUMMARY:To be or not to be an ancestor? Osteobiography meets funerary taph
 onomy in prehistoric Italy - Jess Emma Thompson (University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20250131T131500Z
DTEND:20250131T140000Z
UID:TALK227713@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Qin-Qin Lü
DESCRIPTION:This talk will present the conceptual and methodological under
 pinnings of the ERC-funded ‘Ancestors’ Project\, illustrating the rela
 tionship between deathways and politics in prehistory with some new result
 s from Neolithic\, Copper Age and Bronze Age burials in Italy. The\n‘Anc
 estors’ Project incorporates archaeological theory\, bioarchaeology\, ta
 phonomy\, isotopic\, proteomic and genomic analyses to connect traditional
 ly disparate domains of research. From this multi-stranded approach\, we e
 xtend by now well-used formula for building up life histories—or osteobi
 ographies—into post-mortem treatment\, looking at the range of ways the 
 dead were interacted with. Anthropological accounts remind us that cross-c
 ulturally the ancestors can provide a powerful force in everyday life. Whe
 re ancestors are socially active\, their remains are often handled\, modif
 ied\, displayed or passed around among the living. These actions leave tra
 ces in burial contexts\, and on the bodies and bones themselves. Incorpora
 ting analysis of isotopic origins\, diet\, health\, and genetic relationsh
 ips\, we can start to see which kinds of individuals were chosen for activ
 e ‘afterlives’. From this\, we ask who emerged as ancestors\, and how 
 the role of the ancestors changed throughout prehistory in\npeninsular Ita
 ly.\n\nBio\n\nJess is a bioarchaeologist working particularly on European 
 prehistoric contexts. She has been based at the dept since 2015 when she s
 tarted her PhD studying the largest collective burials on the Maltese arch
 ipelago\, as part of the ERC-funded FRAGSUS Project. Since 2020\, she has 
 been working on the Ancestors project (also funded by the ERC)\, carrying 
 out bioarchaeological analysis of prehistoric human remains in Italy and c
 ollaborating with the ancient DNA and isotopes teams. Over the past 10 yea
 rs\, she has fried her eyesight studying tens of thousands of small bone f
 ragments. So whilst it is somewhat bittersweet\, she is really excited to 
 be taking on a new job in the next two weeks\, as the osteoarchaeology cur
 ator at the National Museum of Scotland. No doubt\, the fragments will fol
 low her there\, though!\n\nPlease join us in-person in the McDonald Instit
 ute seminar room or join online.\n\nhttps://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-j
 oin/19%3ameeting_ZDc2MDk1ZGQtNmNkZC00M2U2LTliYjMtN2EyZWE0MDI5ZTAz%40thread
 .v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2249a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9%22%2c
 %22Oid%22%3a%227c42dde3-f200-49ed-9a81-5aa7e67f945e%22%7d
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research\, D
 owning Site
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