mastodon 4.7.3Posts from the press office of MPI-GEA. Follow along for research news, career possibilities, and more information.
We are excited to host Dr Felicity McCormack of Monash University on 15 June for a Guest Lecture titled "Antarctica and sea level rise: future predictability and the anthropogenic footprint"
Follow the link to learn more. https://www.gea.mpg.de/227640/guest-lecture-antarctica-and-sea-level-rise-future-predictability-and-the-anthropogenic-footprint.html
The discovery that remote Mediterranean islands were colonized before the invention of agriculture has upended long-standing views about the maritime capabilities of Europe’s last hunter-gatherers. New evidence from Malta now shows that these hunter-gatherers were engaging in repeated long-distance sea journeys of at least 100 kilometers (km), likely between Sicily and Malta for at least a millennium. https://www.gea.mpg.de/235273/earliest-mediterranean-long-distance-sea-journeys-sustained-for-over-millennium
How can we make sure that the transitions required by the Anthropocene are just? We're excited to learn from Prof. Olaf Zenker of Uni Halle in a guest lecture titled "Planetary Justice and Contested Normativities: Processing In/Commensurability in the Anthropocene" on 19 June.
Learn more at the link https://www.gea.mpg.de/229584/guest-lecture
A new study in Science Advances helps resolve one of South American archaeology's longest-running debates: the role of maize in precolonial societies. Evidence reveals that large villages in central Brazil were supported by polyculture maize farming while neighboring societies maintained diversified food production strategies https://www.gea.mpg.de/234597/precolonial-villages-in-brazilian-cerrado-practiced-maize-polyculture
📸 : Aratu funerary urn with its lid. Excavation at Vale Verde site, Bahia Brazil. Credit: Luydy Fernandes
On 26 May at 15:00 CEST, join the Perspectives of the Global South on the Anthropocene research team for a meet-and-greet with the authors of the "Regenerative Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems" report presented at COP30, including scholars as well as members of local and Indigenous communities. More information, including a link to the live stream, available here: https://www.gea.mpg.de/225928/meet-the-authors
Rainforest foragers intensified plant use long before agriculture - New research in Nature Ecology & Evolution shows pre-agricultural intensification of plant use in Pleistocene Sri Lankan rainforests https://www.gea.mpg.de/225457/foragers-intensify-plant-use
The latest edition in our Working Papers series is available now: The Decision for the Anthropocene – Between Activism, Doubt and Responsibility for the Earth system.
In the article, researchers argue that the Anthropocene is best understood as a major co-evolutionary transition in Earth history—marked by reconfigured energy and material flows, new information and control structures, and path-dependent feedbacks between society and the Earth system. https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_3696343_7/component/file_3709057/content
Congratulations to Dr. Li Tang for receiving the 2025 Otto Hahn Medal! Tang’s research explores how past communities across different high-altitude ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau adapted to the novel agropastoral economies over time. Learn more at the link https://www.gea.mpg.de/232426/tang-otto-hahn-medal
Gibt es echte Genies? In einer neuen Folge der arte-Reihe „Stimmt es, dass…?“ spricht Jürgen Renn über den Begriff des Genies und darüber, ob Genies, wie wir sie uns vorstellen, tatsächlich existieren. https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/127454-005-A/gibt-es-echte-genies/
Malaria shaped the distribution of early human populations - A new study from researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Cambridge suggests that for the last 74,000 years, malaria shaped where early humans could live in Africa, fragmenting populations and influencing patterns of exchange long before recorded history. Learn more here https://www.gea.mpg.de/214097/malaria-shaped-distribution-of-early-human-populations
Congratulations to Dr. Barbara Huber, who received the Working Party Chemistry for Cultural Heritage 2026 Early-Stage Scientist award last week at a ceremony in Bled, Slovenia. Follow the link to learn more about the award and Dr. Huber's research https://www.gea.mpg.de/201965/huber-euchems-early-stage-scientist-award-2026?c=192964
Combining the General and the Specific for Urban Science and Policy - A new study published in Nature Cities highlights the need to connect research into the uniqueness of cities with research on their similarities https://www.gea.mpg.de/230206/combining-general-and-specific-urban-studies
On 22 and 23 June at the Jena Volkshaus, MPI GEA is bringing together interdisciplinary experts for an international symposium - Geoanthropology Biosphere: Integrated, long-term, global approaches to human-biosphere interactions
The symposium will focus on new visions for geoanthropological research in the context of the biosphere, an exploration of the institute’s core research themes, and potential collaborations.
Follow the link to learn more and register to attend https://www.gea.mpg.de/229365/symposium.html
Join the next session in the Human Palaeosystems Seminar Series - Ancient Antibodies and the Hidden History of Infection: Reconstructing Immune Responses in Past Human Populations - with Dr. Christiana Scheib of the University of Cambridge. 18 June at 2pm CET.
Follow the link to learn more and register https://www.gea.mpg.de/223280/human-paleosystems-in-focus
Snow Crystals, Ice Layers, and Microplastics: Researchers return from successful Antarctic fieldwork - Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology researchers Prof. Ricarda Winkelmann and Lena Nicola have concluded a successful field season in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, in cooperation with Monash University, Australia (SAEF) https://www.gea.mpg.de/205440/successful-antarctic-fieldwork
📸 : Steven Giordano
How can artificial intelligence be used in linguistic reconstruction? On 15 April, the Language and the Anthropocene research group will host a lecture from Stela Manova of MANOVA AI e.U on the topic "AI and Archaeolinguistics." Follow the link to learn more and register https://www.gea.mpg.de/197807/ai-and-archaeolinguistics.html
Congratulations to Dr. Bara Huber, recipient of the EuChemS Early-Stage Scientist Award 2026! The award will be formally presented during the ChemCH 2026 Conference in June, where Dr. Huber will deliver the Early-Stage Scientist Award Lecture. https://www.gea.mpg.de/201965/huber-euchems-early-stage-scientist-award-2026?c=192964
The new book "24 Hours in Shōgun’s Japan" by researcher Mark Hudson uses archaeological and historical information to portray the daily lives of individuals in 17th century Japan, around the time of first contact with European merchants and missionaries.
Find out more here: https://www.gea.mpg.de/201646/24-hours-in-shoguns-japan
