2024 News from the MPI of Geoanthropology

EUROpest aims to replace simplistic models of disease with a more comprehensive approach, enabling a more detailed understanding of historical disease outbreaks and a blueprint for navigating future ones more

As part of the Max-Planck- based RESILIENT group’s activities, the avant-première of the documentary Amazonia: Coeur de la Terre Mère (Amazonia: Heart of the Mother Earth) is being planned within the framework of the Planète Amazone NGO’s tour in Europe. The event is organized by the General History Department and the Latino Lab of the University of Geneva, in collaboration with MPI GEA researchers. more

Researchers have developed an AI-powered method to analyze historical scientific texts, revealing how knowledge spread and evolved across early modern Europe. By examining centuriues of astronomical textbooks, the AI shows how scientific frameworks both expanded and adapted over time. This approach offers a promising tool for historical research, providing new insights into the evolution of scientific thought and potentially aiding future studies in diverse knowledge areas. more

While debate about the start of the Anthropocene continues, its social, geophysical, and environmental roots undoubtedly lie deep in the past. Now, an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, historians, palaeoecologists, and Earth system scientists highlights the ways in which human activities significantly altered parts of the Earth system prior to the Industrial Age, with ramifications for navigating current and future relationships with the planet. more

A new study examines differences in dogs’ behavior while their owners’ experience various emotional states. Researchers found that dogs behaved differently depending on their owner’s emotion, performing better at a training task with a happy owner. more

Research reveals likely remains of discoverer of St James’ Tomb more

Analysis of lake sediment cores from Nam Co will illuminate paleoenvironmental changes on continental-scale, enabling predictions of future climate changes and its consequences. more