The Bodies of our Ancestors.

Ancient human remains and the past in the future

Budapest, 5-6 luglio 2013

Because human remains were identified as belonging to the ancestors of modern ethnic and national groups from the 19th century on, data derived from their study was mainly used to shed light on issues connected to identity and ancestry. Such studies have, in many cases, now lies at the heart of political and national claims. The very recent case of the Hungarian right-wing politician requesting a genetic test to certify his ‘freedom’ from Roma and Jewish genes is a case in point, showing how brilliant scientific methods can turn dangerous in contexts of social tension. Even though DNA studies have challenged taxonomic approaches since the 1960s, showing that races and ethnic groups have no genetic basis, the matter of defining lines of ancestry and descent still remains an important issue. Resolution of conflicts and tensions over identity issues was sought within biology and other related scientific disciplines in an attempt to mobilize hard facts for explaining complex cultural processes. Biological ‘factoids’ cherry-picked from proper scientific work has often been used in a simplistic and linear manner by non-professionals such as politicians and journalists as a deterministic factor which both interfered with and regulated the social life of humans. More recent approaches emphasize the inextricable and complex interaction between humans and nature in shaping the existence of people and in modeling interactions between human populations and the environments surrounding them.