In the last few years, new technology, using automated equipment to rapidly test millions of samples for biological activity, has yielded complete genomes of human and animal finds and has revolutionised our understanding of many major prehistoric and historic events. DNA results from this new technology, which can be combined with more than a century of archaeological research, are now helping us better understand how to address age-old questions. But these powerful new tools pose their own important questions. How critical is DNA in defining who ancient peoples were? When did DNA matter in shaping the course of historical events?

This webinar brings together three leading scholars from the worlds of genetics and archaeology to address these issues, first through some short presentations and then in general discussion.

Webinar Speakers:

Prof Liran Carmel is the Snyder Granadar Chair in Genetics in the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and recent recipient of the University’s Rector Prize for Excellence in Research. He specialises in focusing on identifying the genetic changes that made us humans, in studying the epigenetics of ancient populations, and in the general understanding of evolutionary and historical processes.

Prof Erella Hovers is the Moshe Stekelis Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research is focused on early prehistory, in particular technological, cognitive and social transitions in human prehistory and how they can be gleaned from the inanimate objects that constitute the archaeological record. She has been involved in extensive archaeological field work both in Israel and Ethiopia.

Prof Daniel Master is Professor of Archaeology at Wheaton College. For more than twenty-five years, his archaeological research has been part of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, an important market town linking Israel and Judah to Mediterranean markets. Beginning in 2016, he began a new project at Tel Shimron, an inland agricultural centre and the largest city in the Jezreel Valley in Northern Israel.