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IMC 2022: Sessions

Session 601: Integrating Genetic, Archaeological, and Historical Perspectives on Eastern Central Europe, 400-900 (HistoGenes), II: Steppe Peoples between the Local and the Global

Tuesday 5 July 2022, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:ERC Synergy Grant Project 'HistoGenes'
Organiser:Walter Pohl, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Moderator/Chair:Walter Pohl, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Paper 601-aLiving on the Edge of the Avar Empire: Archaeological Perspectives
(Language: English)
Bendeguz Tobias, Institut für Archäologien Universität Innsbruck
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Archaeology - Sites, Social History
Paper 601-bLiving on the Edge of the Avar Empire: Anthropological Perspectives
(Language: English)
Doris Pany-Kucera, Anthropologische Abteilung, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
Index terms: Anthropology, Archaeology - Sites, Geography and Settlement Studies, Science
Paper 601-cHorse Lords of the Eurasian Steppe: Comparison of Latin, Greek, and Chinese Accounts of Steppe Peoples, 4th-9th Centuries
(Language: English)
Sandra Wabnitz, Institut für österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Universität Wien
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Mentalities, Social History
Abstract

The second session in this strand presents two case studies about European steppe peoples that have started in the HistoGenes project. One is a regional study about the 7th/8th-century northwestern periphery of the Avar Empire in today's Eastern Austria. A fresh look at the archaeological remains shows long-term changes in burial customs, but also local differences between contemporary sites. Anthropological analysis of several hundred skeletons gives clues as to demography, traumatic lesions and disease burdens of these communities. The comparison of anthropological, archaeological and genetic data will allow fresh look on living conditions, social structure and family ties. Secondly, comparing Western/Byzantine and Chinese sources about steppe peoples of the period allows assessing similar perceptions and prejudices, but also corresponding information about the cultural habitus of Central Eurasian steppe riders.