Tracing Blood and Social Ties: Integrating aDNA, Isotope Analyses, and Kinship Studies in a Research on the Bronze Age Cemetery at Nižná Myšľa (Slovakia)
Project of Grant Agency NCN (Poland), OPUS 26, 2023/51/B/HS3/01381
Key words: aDNA analyses, isotope analyses, kinship, physical anthropology, Otomani-Füzesabony, Nižná Myšľa, burial ground, Early Bronze Age, Slovakia
Duration: 10/2024 – 9/2028
Project summary:
The project will advance our understanding of prehistoric societies across Europe through the comprehensive evaluation of the Nižná Myšľa cemetery in Slovakia. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, the research aims to uncover the social and biological dynamics of the local community. A large number of graves, a long time span, and distinctive spatial arrangement offer a unique opportunity to explore the microhistory of a local population within one of the critical regions within Early Bronze Age Europe. The biological kinship and social structures will be investigated based on the cemetery’s distinct burial arrangements, grave inventories, and burial customs. In addition, issues regarding diet and mobility patterns, including migrations, will be examined. The results of the project are expected to refine current models of Early Bronze Age societies and provide valuable data for further discussions.
Read more about the project here.
Scientific collaborators:
Institute of European Culture, Adam Mickiewicz University
prof. UAM dr hab. Mateusz Jaeger (principal investigator)
Institute of Archaeology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Mgr. Dominika Oravkinová, PhD.
Bc. Zuzana Hukeľová, M.Sc., PhD.
Mgr. Mária Krošláková, PhD.
Mgr. Štefan Olšav, PhD.
Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University
Dr. Anna Juras
Dr. Maciej Chyleński
The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Faculty of History, University of Gdańsk
Dr. Łukasz Pospieszny