Dear colleagues,

We are organizing an SMBE symposium titled:

"Human history and past social organisation in the light of palaeogenomes:
new methods, new findings"

to be held during the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution annual
meeting in Beijing, China, between July 20-24, 2025.

Deadline for abstract submission is January 30, 2025.

For more information about the symposium, please see below and visit the
SMBE website at https://smbe2025.scimeeting.cn/.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Beijing!

Hannah Moots and Mehmet Somel

Title:

Human history and past social organisation in the light of palaeogenomes:
new methods, new findings

Invited speaker:

María C. Ávila Arcos, National Autonomous University of Mexico

Abstract:

At the crossroads of genetics and archaeology, archaeogenetics brings
together these disciplines in new and unique ways. The last decade has seen
the emergence of a remarkable body of work using paleogenomes data to
examine past social dynamics, describing various modes of human mobility
and their cultural consequences, prehistoric "postmarital" residence and
consanguinity patterns, the role of genetic relatedness in kinship
structures, patterns pathogen transmission, or the exchange of domestic
animals in past societies. This has been possible through contextualization
of genetic results using material culture, bioarchaeological data and
social theory, providing a glimpse into various facets of daily life in the
past. In this symposium we invite talks a) that cover exciting new findings
from diverse periods and regions of the world on social dynamics inferred
using archaeogenomic data, b) that present novel methodological approaches
tailored for inference of relevant patterns from ancient genomes (e.g.
identifying genetic relatedness and mobility), and c) that showcase
creative approaches synthesizing genetic data with archaeological data and
models. This session aims to examine how ancient DNA, by its
interdisciplinary nature, bridges questions about cultural and biological
change and how this nascent field is positioned to contribute to
theory-building in relation to social structure and evolutionary biology.

Organizers:

Hannah Moots (Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, hannah.moots@nrm.se)

Mehmet Somel (Middle East Technical University, somel.mehmet@googlemail.com)

Dates:

Abstract submission deadline: Jan 30, 3025

Early bird registration deadline: Apr 20, 2025

Abstract submission details:
https://smbe2025.scimeeting.cn/en/web/index/25070_2367426

Note that SMBE is implementing rates for members in Low-and-Middle Income
Countries (LMIC).

Mehmet Somel <somel.mehmet@googlemail.com>

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