Who are we as historical beings? Shaping identities in light of the archaeogenetics ‘revolution’

Abstract

There is a human fundamental need to know who we are and where we come from. In an age when myths, legends and family memories are starting to fade or become obsolete, science is brought in to fill the gaps and answer these questions. This article introduces a special theme section dedicated to critical reflections on the relationship between the disciplines of archaeology and archaeogenetics. It gives a summary of the ‘Can science accommodate multiple ontologies? The genetics revolution and archaeological theory’ workshop held in Cambridge 2018, followed by an introduction of the papers in this theme section. Lastly, I evaluate archaeogenetic narratives in terms of their target audience, knowledge obtained (or not) and future directions.

Keywords

• aDNA
• archaeology
• identity
• narratives
• reductionism
• slow science