Archaeogenetic Insights into Athenian Society during the First Millennium BCE
Phillip Stockhammer
Professor, Prehistoric Archaeology - Eastern Mediterranean, Ludwig Maximilian University
Co-Director, Max Planck-Harvard Research Centre for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean
Honorary Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark.
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31 Washington Place
Jurow Lecture Hall (Room 101A)
New York, NY 10003
Our understanding of the development of Athenian society during the early first millennium BCE has long relied primarily on archaeological evidence, especially funerary remains, and on textual sources of mostly later date. Bioarchaeological data, by contrast, have remained scarce. Archaeological research has traditionally focused on the spatial organization of cemeteries, grave typologies, mortuary practices and rituals, as well as the style and iconography of grave markers. Yet fundamental questions about the social fabric of early Athenian kinship practices and human mobility remain unresolved. What social units did burial plots represent? To what extent did biological kinship shape the organization of cemeteries? How were individuals of different sex, age, origin etc. buried – within the same plot, across different plots, or in neighboring cemeteries?
Within the ongoing collaboration of the Ephorates of Athens and Attica and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, we have generated archaeogenetic data from more than 200 individuals recovered from cemeteries across Attica dating to the first millennium BCE, with a particular focus on the renowned cemetery of Phaleron. In my lecture, I present the current state of the project and explore how ancient DNA is transforming our understanding of social organization, kinship structures, mobility, and marital practices in Early Iron Age Attica.
PHILIPP W. STOCKHAMMER is Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology with a focus on the Eastern Mediterranean at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Co-Director of the Max Planck-Harvard Research Centre for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and Honorary Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. In 2008, he received his doctorate from Heidelberg University and subsequently several prestigious grants and prizes (ERC Starting Grant 2015, ERC Consolidator Grant 2020, ERC PERA Grant 2024). He leads collaborative research projects on the Bronze and Early Iron Ages from Central Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean. His research focuses on transcultural entanglements, social practices and the integration of archaeological and scientific data concerning identity, social belonging, mobility, nutrition and health. He is very committed to public outreach and is actively involved in the production of archaeological documentaries and video games.
If you have any questions or will require special accommodations, please contact archaeology@nyu.edu