Lecture
Thursday, Jun 1, 2017, 7 PM

Julien d’Huy

Anthropologe, Institut des mondes africains, Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne

From the Myths to the Genes. A New Method for Reconstructing the Human Past

Gesprächsleitung: Prof. Dr. Russell Gray, Jena

Studies of mythology could play a vital role in our understanding of human evolutionary history. Indeed, myths are passed on from one generation to another by a process of descent with modifications, are often transmitted at the same time as genes and evolve slowly enough to reveal a deep history. Recently, phylogenetic methods have been applied to myths to answer a range of questions. These include the reconstruction of the first human migrations, the evolution of myths, including patterns in transmission and rates of evolution, and the reconstruction of the human proto-mythology. These results shed new light on anthropology, archaeology and genetics.

Julien d’Huy arbeitet an der Universität Pantheon–Sorbonne in Paris an der Erforschung der anthropologischen Bedeutung von Mythen und Märchen mit Hilfe der computergestützten Verfahren der Paläogenetik.

Prof. Dr. Russell Gray ist geschäftsführender Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Menschheitsgeschichte in Jena.

The event will be held in English