BGAEU Congress 2025
Date/Termin: 27.–28.03.2025
Location/Ort: PETRI-Berlin, Kleine Gertraudenstraße 8, 10178 Berlin
The colonial heritage of European nations plays a major role in current discourse. The collection history of the BGAEU is largely linked to the colonial history of the German state, which is why the question arises on an ethical-historical level as to how it should be dealt with scientifically today and in the future. The first step is to clarify what cognitive value these collection items still have today. The starting point for an approach to this topic could be the research that has been carried out on these objects in recent years. What future research questions could emerge from this?
At the planned scientific meeting, we should first clarify the fundamental positions in dealing with human remains today and their position within the larger topic of a critical examination of the colonial legacy. To this end, we should endeavour to bring together the most important voices in the post-colonial discourse and representatives of collections with comparable objects. It would then be important to ask all those colleagues who have worked scientifically with human remains from more recent historical contexts in recent years to comment on this issue. This includes all anthropological university institutes and departments, as well as the various laboratories that deal with human DNA.
The discussion should be open-ended, also in the knowledge that a negative answer to the question of the usefulness of such a collection in today's world will inevitably confront us with the problem of how to deal with it in the future.
Sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
To register for this conference, please send an e-mail to: vorsitz@bgaeu.de
Due to the high number of registrations, we have to charge a catering fee of 10 EUR.
This fee can be paid in cash at the registration desk in the PETRI foyer or by bank transfer to the BGAEU:
- Account holder: BGAEU
- Bank: Berliner Sparkasse
- IBAN: DE04 1005 0000 0191 2617 69
- BIC: BELADEBEXXX
In the case of a bank transfer, please show the payment receipt at the entrance.
Program:
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Berlin's colonial heritage in the current discourse
10:00 |
Raiko Krauß
Historically grown anthropological collections and post-colonial debate – challenge of our time |
10:15 |
Barbara Teßmann
The anthropological collection of the BGAEU |
10:30 |
Decolonize Berlin
Coordinating Office for the City-wide Process of Addressing Berlin's Colonial Past: Developing a Just and Dignified Approach to Repatriation Demands of Ancestral Remains from Colonial Contexts |
11:00 |
Bernhard Heeb & Marius Kowalak
One Individual, two Continents: Problems and Potentials of a historical anthropological Collection |
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Anthropological Collections and their Historical Background
12:00 |
Jan Novacek
Historically grown anthropological collections from archaeological contexts. Current possibilities and challenges, even without a context of injustice |
12:30 |
Irene Hochgraf-Cameron & Maureen Devlin
Recovering Lost Contexts: Tracing the Forgotten Histories of Osteological Teaching Collections |
13:00 |
Ana Luísa Santosk
Identified osteological collections (19th–20th cent.) from the University of Coimbra: Contributions to the field and current challenges |
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14:30 |
Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta, Margit Berner, Doris Pany-Kucera
Human remains in Natural History Museums, chances, challenges and perspectives |
15:00 |
Albert Zink
The Bavarian State Collection of Anthropology – Challenges and opportunities of collecting, conserving and interdisciplinary research |
15:30 |
Oleksandra Kozak
Ancient History of the Ukrainian Steppe and Forest in anthropological collections of the Institute of Archaeology in Kyiv |
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Human Remains in their Context
16:30 |
Wanda Zinger
Bio-Anthropological Data and Holistic Approach: Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Oceanian Anthropological Collections |
17:00 |
Caroline Polet
The potential of anthropological collections in reconstructing the way of life of ancient populations |
17:30 |
Csilla Líbor
Significance of Investigating Post-Medieval Human Remains in Hungary |
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Friday, March 28, 2025
10:00 |
Johannes Krause
The potential and challenges to use anthropological collections for archaeogenetic studies |
10:30 |
Sandra Lösch
The importance of identified skeletal collections |
11:00 |
Martin Friess
Of babies, baths and skulls – the future of anthropological collections |
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Current Studies on Human Remains
12:00 |
Andreas Winkelmann
Human Remains are ambiguous and contested traces of past lives of deceased individuals as well as scientists |
12:30 |
Stefan Exner
A Central European anatomical collection of the industrial age reflects changing environmental conditions and health status and enables new radiological diagnoses |
13:00 |
Roman Sokiranski
Modern procedures for the digitization and visualization of historical human remains. Examples from Egyptology and Embryology |
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14:30 |
Cosimo Posth
The value of interdisciplinary investigations on ancestral remains from museum archives |
15:00 |
Ben Krause-Kyora
The importance of well-curated collections as archives for biomolecules |
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Challenges and future prospects
16:00 |
Tara Chapman & Patrick Semal
Recommendations of the HOME (Human Remains Origin(s) Multidisciplinary Evaluation) project and future perspectives in Belgium |
16:30 |
Alexander Stößel
The potential of bony labyrinth shape analysis for a better understanding of past global dispersal and the evolution of modern humans |
17:00 |
Ewa Dutkiewicz
Anthropological collections, historical heritage and responsible handling for the future |
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- Gabriele Alex (BGAEU/University of Tübingen)
- Margit Berner (Natural History Museum, Vienna)
- Tara Chapman (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences & Free University of Brussels)
- Maureen Devlin (University of Michigan)
- Ewa Dutkiewicz (BGAEU/SPK – Berlin State Museums, Museum for prehistory and early history)
- Stefan Exner (Charité – Berlin University Medicine, Centrum für Anatomie, Institute of Cell Biology and Neurobiology)
- Martin Friess (National Museum of Natural History, Paris)
- Merel Fuchs (Decolonize Berlin)
- Bernhard Heeb (BGAEU/SPK – Berlin State Museums, Museum for prehistory and early history)
- Irene Hochgraf-Cameron (University of Michigan)
- Elke Kaiser (BGAEU/Free University of Berlin)
- Marius Kowalak (SPK – Berlin State Museums, Museum for prehistory and early history)
- Oleksandra Kozak (Institute of Archaeology National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kiev)
- Johannes Krause (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig)
- Ben Krause-Kyora (Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, University of Kiel)
- Raiko Krauß (BGAEU/University of Tübingen)
- Doris Pany-Kucera (Natural History Museum, Vienna)
- Csilla Líbor (Hungarian National Museum, Budapest)
- Sandra Lösch (Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern)
- Jan Novacek (Thuringian State Office for Monument Conservation and Archaeology, Weimar)
- Caroline Polet (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels)
- Cosimo Posth (Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen)
- Ana Luísa Santos (University of Coimbra)
- Patrick Semal (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)
- Roman Sokiranski (Medical University Varna)
- Alexander Stößel (Jena University/MPI Leipzig)
- Barbara Teßmann (BGAEU/SPK – Berlin State Museums, Museum for prehistory and early history)
- Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta (Natural History Museum, Vienna)
- Andreas Winkelmann (Brandenburg Medical School, Neuruppin)
- Wanda Zinger (National Museum of Natural History, Paris)
- Albert Zink (Institute for Mummy Studies, Eurac Research, Bolzano)
