New Evidence Practices in Archaeology: On the Relationship of Archaeogenetic and Archaeological Evidence in the Study of Kinship

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Ruth Müller
• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559851615

Research about ancient DNA (aDNA) has attracted increasing attention in both science and society in recent years. New sequencing techniques now allow researchers to analyze genetic material from archaeological finds, which promises to shed new genetic light on human evolution and history. Part of this promise is to enable archaeologists to trace kinship genetically and not only based on the analysis of cultural artefacts and practices, such as shared burial sites. This new opportunity, however, raises questions about how aDNA analysis can and should be integrated into current evidence practices in the field. In science and society, genetic data is often perceived as a superior type of evidence as compared to the interpretive practices of the cultural sciences and humanities. At the same time, genetic evidence gives only a partial picture when it comes to kinship, a concept and a practice which encompasses both biological and social forms of relating. A careful approach to integrating aDNA evidence into archaeological research is thus vital in order to ensure the productive and reflexive use of this new tool and to avoid any biologically determinist readings of kinship. This project draws on concepts and approaches from Science & Technology Studies (STS) to carefully study how researchers have begun to use aDNA in archaeological research about kinship, how aDNA analyses are related to and integrated with other forms of archaeological evidence and which epistemic, social, political and research-ethical opportunities, challenges and tensions arise in these processes. The project pays particular attention to how researchers relate biological and social dimensions of kinship to each other and how notions of human differentiation, such as sex, gender, race, ethnicity, population and social class are mobilized and created in archaeological research with aDNA on kinship. The project will follow knowledge production with aDNA from the archaeological field to the archaeogenetic lab to the archaeological institute using qualitative social science methods such as interviews, participant observation and document analysis. We will employ a comparative research design and follow three studies of kinship with aDNA that differ regarding the time period, geographical location, availability of archaeological sources and their overarching research questions. Drawing on the commitment of key researchers in archaeogenetics and archaeology in Germany to collaborate with our project, we will regularly organize interdisciplinary workshops to discuss project results and develop insights into how epistemic, social, political and research-ethical challenges can be addressed from an interdisciplinary perspective. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical social science study that engages with aDNA research in Germany, and the first internationally that focuses specifically on the reconstruction of kinship with aDNA in archaeological research.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants