SGA/SSA: Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Anthropologie
In May 2024, the SGA/SSA organized a two-day retreat in Bern to finalize the work on ethical guidelines for research on human remains.
On July 26, 2024, the workshop titled "Forensische Anthropologie in der Schweiz, Deutschland und Österreich – Herausforderungen und Chancen" was held at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) in Germany. The event was kindly organised by PD Dr. Eilin Jopp, PD Dr. Sandra Lösch and Assoc.-Prof. Fabian Kanz, who, as forensic anthropologists, also represented Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
The Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich is celebrating its 125th anniversary. To mark the occasion, an exhibition entitled “What makes us human?” opened in the UZH Auditorium on October 1, 2024.
The 2024 Annual Meeting and Workshop of the SGA/SSA took place on November 22 and 23 in Geneva and was kindly organized by Dr. Jocelyne Desideri and her team.
- SGA/SSA Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Anthropologie. 2023-2024 Bulletin.
- Ethical Guidelines of the SGA/SSA (Lösch S, Cooper C, Desideri J, Abegg C, Indra L, Roth D). https://zenodo.org/records/14229532
WORKSHOP “FORENSISCHE ANTHROPOLOGIE IN DER SCHWEIZ, DEUTSCHLAND UND ÖSTERREICH – HERAUSFORDERUNGEN UND CHANCEN”, 2024, HAMBURG, GERMANY.
by Sandra LÖSCH
On Friday, July 26, 2024, the workshop titled "Forensische Anthropologie in der Schweiz, Deutschland und Österreich – Herausforderungen und Chancen" was held at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) in Germany. The event was kindly organised by PD Dr. Eilin Jopp, PD Dr. Sandra Lösch and Assoc.-Prof. Fabian Kanz, who, as forensic anthropologists, also represented Germany, Switzerland and Austria. 28 participants, some of whom work in the field, travelled to the event to exchange ideas. In addition to students, employees of the BKA in Wiesbaden and the LKA in Berlin were also in attendance. As the topic was limited to German-speaking countries, we decided to hold the event in German.
The day commenced with a welcome speech by Prof. Benjamin Ondruschka, the director of the Institute of Legal Medicine, followed by a talk about the status quo of Forensic Anthropology in Austria by Prof. Fabian Kanz from the Institute of Legal Medicine in Vienna. Dr. Sandra Lösch from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern then presented the state-of-research in Switzerland. These two presentations formed the basis for an engaging discussion, which continued during the coffee break. The host, Dr. Eilin Jopp-van Well, then presented the status quo of forensic anthropology in Germany, which was accompanied by another extensive discussion before the lunch break.
The participants then had the opportunity to present their work, including Dr. Grit Schüler, who spoke about the tasks at the LKA Berlin. Dr Svenja Weise from the University of Odense also provided insight into the status quo of forensic anthropology in Denmark.
At the end of the long and successful day, we were able to continue the fruitful discussions in the Restaurant ÜberQuell at the Landungsbrücken over a cold beer.
In conclusion, all participants discussed the professional requirements and work situation of Forensic Anthropology in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. We will try to summarise the outcome of the workshop.
Our next event is scheduled to take place in Berlin in two to four years' time. Dr. Grit Schüler from the BKA Berlin has kindly agreed to host the event.
The societies for anthropology SGA /SSA (SCNAT) and GfA/AGFA kindly supported the workshop. Students can apply for a travel grant from the aforementioned organisation.
The 2024 Annual Meeting and Workshop of the SGA/SSA took place on November 22 and 23 in Geneva and was kindly organized by Dr. Jocelyne Desideri and her team.
The first day of the meeting was scheduled in the Science II building of the University of Geneva. Due to the heavy snowfall that paralyzed the train lines the day of, the program had to be slightly changed, as some presenters encountered delays. Nonetheless, things kicked off to a great start, with a keynote presentation by Gwennaelle Goude titled “Consortium WomenSOFar: A new perspective on the study of women's roles in the past: the example of the ANR WomenSOFar project”. The talk highlighted the need for highly interdisciplinary and integrative research when it comes to isotope analysis, demonstrating the nuances required in interpreting data from isotopes studies.
The second keynote speaker was Anne Mayor, with a talk titled “Foodways in West Africa: an integrated approach on pots, animals and plants”. This presentation described the ongoing project of the ARCAN laboratory in West Africa, focusing once more on an interdisciplinary approach with archaeological and ethnographical specialists working together to better understand the importance of food acquisition and processing in the region.
The first session was dedicated to interdisciplinary research in Africa, with many fascinating new projects by young researchers, followed by a first varia session. Due to the small change of schedule, after the coffee break, the meeting resumed with presentations from the second varia session.
The meeting was then adjourned for the day, participants who wished to could attend a private visit to the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, with the cantonal archaeologist, Nathan Badoud, narrating the visit. This was a very pleasant excursion, an occasion to see and understand the past of the city.
The evening concluded at the L’Iode restaurant, with an excellent dinner and good conversations among all presents. The choice of restaurant was lauded by all as a Geneva address to remember!
On Saturday morning, the meeting resumed with the general assembly of the Swiss Society for Anthropology, where the matters pertaining to the inner functioning of the society are discussed. Per usual, the budget and accounts were approved, the past year’s activity reviewed, and an update on the bulletin given. Of note, the society approved the Ethical Guidelines drawn up by the committee, which can now be found on our website for consultation. Jocelyne Desideri and her team were warmly thanked by the society for their organization of this year’s meeting, which was particularly appreciated.
After the general assembly, the second session on interdisciplinary research in alpine agro-pastoral societies, which had been postponed due to the weather conditions the day before, began. The keynote speaker was Jocelyne Desideri with a presentation entitled "Towards a renewed vision of early alpine agro-pastoral societies through the analysis of food practices, lifestyles and population dynamics". This presentation described the ongoing project of the ARCAN laboratory on Swiss-Italian Alpine Neolithic populations, focusing on an interdisciplinary approach with specialists in bioanthropology, paleopathology, isotope geochemistry, genetics and archaeobotany working together to discuss how these populations evolved and lived in their environment.
Lunch was then served at the Sofra restaurant, where we enjoyed an excellent Lebanese meal in a friendly and stimulating atmosphere.
Saturday afternoon was devoted to a workshop on the study of dental calculus under the expert guidance of Charles Le Moyne, postdoctoral fellow at the ARCAN laboratory. Participants benefited from a highly didactic introduction to the study of this material, highlighting the potential and limitations of the approach, followed by practical observation of residues under the microscope.
Following the workshop, the meeting was closed.
The SGA/SSA supported young scientist Michael Baumann with the printing costs for his doctoral thesis. The book is already available and is entitled “EARLY DEATH IN LATE ANTIQUE VINDONISSA – INTERDISCIPLINARY EVALUATION OF THE LATE ANTIQUE BURIAL GROUND WINDISCH-TSCHANZ.” It contains an anthropological analysis of the buried individuals.
In addition, the SGA/SSA supported young scientists with travel expenses to specific scientific events that are important for their individual careers.
The SGA/SSA received funding to develop ethical guidelines for research on human remains. The board worked on this task by collecting comparable international guidelines, distributing work packages, and holding several online meetings on the subject. A two-day retreat was organized in Bern in May 2024, during which the board worked on an English version. The guidelines were later translated into German, French, and Italian. The final multilingual version is available at: https://zenodo.org/records/14229532
The SGA/SSA supported the exhibition “What makes us human?” at the University of Zurich in the framework of the 125th anniversary of the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. The exhibition provided an overview of the current research, as well as a retrospective view on the early history of the institute.