The Twilight of the Gods? Genomic History and the Return of Race in the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4496207 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher Stedman Parmenter (0000-0003-1624-9962, The Ohio State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 45-70 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2656 • E-ISSN: 1468-2303 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/hith.12328 |
| OpenAlex | W4387451084 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 16 |
This article discusses the impact of genomic history, a subdiscipline that emerged in the study of the ancient Mediterranean in the 2010s. In 2014, scientists first published a method for extracting genetic material, which they christened aDNA (ancient DNA), from ancient human remains in hot climates. After a decade of research, genomic history is now poised to transform our understanding of Mediterranean premodernity, centering migration and conflict as the key mechanisms for cultural change. Despite years of critique, aDNA researchers have failed to seriously examine the bioessentialist assumptions implicit in their work-a failure that has led many to deploy language that is strikingly evocative of pre-World War II racialism. Even worse, some genomic historians continue to make troubling overtures toward the ethnonationalist Right, which has been ascendant across Europe and North America since the 2010s. This article traces the intellectual genealogy of genomic history from World War II to the present, examines recent attempts to answer criticism from the humanities and social sciences, and suggests paths for responsible use of aDNA in historical and prehistorical scholarship
Ancient DNA · Art · Criticism · Environmental ethics · Genealogy · Literature · Political science · Race (biology · Scholarship · Sociology · Anthropology · Demography · Forensic and Genetic Research · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Race, Genetics, and Society
The passing of the great race
The Human Genome Diversity Project
Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe
The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes
A global reference for human genetic variation
A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome
Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5,000 Years Ago
De-colonizing the Historiography and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. Part 1. Scientific Racism
Ancient cephallenians. The population of a Mediterranean island
Re-theorising mobility and the formation of culture and language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe
Skeletal Material from Attica
Ancient DNA, kinship and relational identities in Bronze Age Britain
Social Biology of Greek Culture Growth
Tracing a genealogy of ideas, seeing, and not seeing bias
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |