Category Archives: Conferences and Workshops

Conference on Plague, Mallorca, October 20-22 2021

In-Hoppe, the “International Network – Historical and osteoarchaeological Past Populations Exploration” is organizing a conference on

Plague and Plagues – Transdisciplinary and diachronic perspectives on the history of the plague

in collaboration with the ADEH (asociación de demografía histórica) and the Research group on the History of Health (GHIS) of the University of the Balearic Islands, under the lead of Isabelle Seguy and Joana Maria Pujades Mora.

Originally, the conference was planned for October 2020, but rescheduled  to 2021 due to COVID-19.

More information can be found on the conference website.

Online registration is already open, the submission deadline is May 31, 2021.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Castles and Fortresses in Times of Pestilence

A conference digitally held on 17 December 2020 by the Marburger Arbeitskreis für Europäische Burgenforschung and Aarhus University looking into the role of castles in times of pestilence can be found on youtube:

There are five papers:

  1. Christian Ottersbach: Introduction
  2. Rainer Atzbach: The Black Death in Denmark and in front of Kiel Castle
  3. Michael Nobel Hviid: The Royal Castle as a catalyst for dissemination
  4. Lea Reiff: War and Pestilence. (Co-)relations between plague and warfare in literature and film, past and present
  5. Dominik Gerd Sieber: Walls, Ditches and Gates contra Pestilence
. Castles in Upper Swabia during Times of  Pestilence in 16th Century

Rainer Schreg

archaeologist

professor in medieval and postmedieval archaeology at Bamberg university

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Medieval Studies at princeton Launches New Talk Series on Historical Pandemics

Program in Medieval Studies at Princeton, in collaboration with Climate Change and History Research Initiative launches a new seminar series dedicated to the history of pandemics through the ages, coordinated by Professors John Haldon and Helmut Reimitz.

Details and programme can be found here:

Medieval Studies Launches New Talk Series on Historical Pandemics

CfP EAA Barcelona 2018: Re‐thinking medieval and early modern pestilences from a biosocial perspective: advanced methods and renewed concepts in archaeological sciences

EAA Barcelona 2018 – 5‐8 September 2018
Call for Papers and Posters
Deadline: 15 February 2018
Re‐thinking medieval and early modern pestilences from a biosocial perspective: advanced methods and renewed concepts in archaeological sciences

While contagious diseases have affected the human species since its origins, great medieval epidemics (e.g. plague, leprosy, tuberculosis) have sparked particular interest for decades. In recent years, archaeology has played an increasing role in the scientific study of medieval pestilences, notably by providing reliable data on both the paleobiology of epidemic victims and their burial treatment. Despite the various breakthroughs reached by interdisciplinary research, the study of past epidemics still needs to get improved, particularly through an integrated analysis of biological and social dimensions of these diseases, which are closely interrelated. We invite contributions regarding both recent methodological advances in the retrospective diagnosis of infectious diseases and the output of archaeological sciences on social and cultural factors acting in human populations’ adaptability to these diseases.

The session shall address various questions, among which:
– What are the new lines of research and future perspectives in paleopathological and palaeomicrobiological study of these diseases?
– What information paleobiological data derived from skeletal assemblages can provide on the epidemiological characteristics of the diseases?
– What was the endemicity of diseases in various places, how did they evolve over time, and how did various diseases competed each other?
– How funerary archaeology and textual sources contributes to reappraise the history of these diseases (e.g. attitudes towards the victims in terms of their integration and/or exclusion, depending on the time period and cultural framework)?
– Which methodological implementation would be desirable in the future to allow retrospective diagnosis of still poorly-known diseases (e.g. ergotism)?

Keywords: Archaeology, Paleomicrobiology, Paleopathology, Medieval, Epidemics

Session details:
– Session theme: Theories and methods in archaeological sciences
– Session ID: #413
– Session type: Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Session organizers:
– Dr. Dominique Castex, CNRS, UMR 5199 – PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France, dominique.castex@u-bordeaux.fr
– Dr. Mark Guillon, Inrap, UMR 5199 – PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France, mark.guillon@inrap.fr
– Maria Spyrou, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany, spyrou@shh.mpg.de
– Marcel Keller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany, keller@shh.mpg.de
– Dr. Sacha Kacki, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, United Kingdom, sacha.s.kacki@durham.ac.uk

Abstract submission deadline:
15 February 2018

If you are interested to submit a Paper or Poster proposal, please use the conference website at
https://www.e‐a‐a.org/EAA2018/
Further information, including registration details, general and practical information, etc. can be found on the conference website

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network
Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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EAA Vilnius 2016: Session report on “Plague in diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective”

The following session report by Doris Gutsmiedl-Schümann (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany), Sacha Kacki (Université de Bordeaux, France), Marcel Keller (MPI-SHH Jena, Germany) and Christina Lee (University of Nottingham, UK) will be published in The European Archaeologist. With kind permission of the EAA.

Edit 17-02-07: filmed talks are now linked under the respective name.

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Plague, an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, occurred in at least three major historical pandemics: the Justinianic Plague (6th to 8th century), the Black Death (1348-1352, with further epidemic outbreaks until the 18th century), and the Modern or Hong Kong Plague (19th to 20th century). However, it appears that the disease may be much older: DNA from Bronze Age human skeleton has recently shown that plague first emerged at least as early as 3000 BC. As any disease, plague has both a biological as well as a social dimension. Different disciplines can therefore explicate different aspects of plague which can lead to a better understanding of the disease and its medical and social implications.

The session was held on 2nd September 2016 as part of the 22nd Annual Meeting of the EAA with the aim of bringing together researchers from different disciplines who work on plague. It addressed a series of research questions, such as:

  • Which disciplines can contribute to the research on plague?
  • What are their methodological possibilities and the limitations of their methodologies?
  • How can different disciplines work together in order to gain a more realistic and detailed picture of plague in different periods and regions?
  • How did different societies react to plague? In which way may we prove or disprove evidence for such reactions – and which disciplines may contribute to the debate?
  • What where the common aspects, and what the differences of the various plague outbreaks? Are there any epidemiological characteristics that are essential and/or unique to plague?
  • What are possible implications of the pandemic spread and endemic occurrence of plague through the ages for the interpretation of historical and cultural phenomena?

Continue reading EAA Vilnius 2016: Session report on “Plague in diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective”

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network
Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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A Conference at Rome: CfP “The Crisis of the 14th Century”

http://climatehistorynetwork.com/2015/05/14/cfp-workshop-the-crisis-of-the-14th-century-teleconnections-between-environmental-and-societal-change/

in February 2016 at the German Historical institute at Rome.

Conference Summary: The first half of the 14th century, the transition from the so-called Medieval Climate Anomaly to the so-called Little Ice Age, is one of the few climatic events indicated about equally well in written and physical source.  The ‘crisis of the 14th century’ has also become an established interpretation for certain developments and problems of late medieval Europe. However, such an interpretation has been criticized by some as a contemporary projection of the crisis-ridden 20th and 21st centuries onto the past.

The conference will focus on the imputed climatic deterioration of the 1300s and its presumed impact on medieval economy, society, environment, and culture.   The organizers are calling for proposals for 30-minute presentations. The conference language will be English. Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, along with a short CV, by 30 June 2015 to both Gerrit J. Schenk (Darmstadt University of Technology) at schenk@pg.tu-darmstadt.de and Martin Bauch (German Historical Institute Rome) at bauch@dhi-roma.it  Accommodation during the conference and travel expenses will be covered.

more details.

Rainer Schreg

archaeologist

professor in medieval and postmedieval archaeology at Bamberg university

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