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medieval worlds • no. 4 • 2016medieval worlds 4 (2016)
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 4 • 2016, pp. 22-41, 2016/12/01
medieval worlds 4 (2016)
Traditional views and ›master narratives‹ have long been outdated by recent research. Identity has become a keyword in social research. It means the self-consciousness of groups. Ethnic identity therefore characterises the perceptions of a people and their particularity, and varies among every other nation. Nevertheless, this is a social and cultural construct depending on each group’s specific situation. Ethnic identity has to be flexible and appropriate to the necessities and interests of each group. Genes are a matter of biology. Ancient DNA is preserved in smaller fragments which mainly allow approximations of population development. Modern DNA reflects actual distribution and the complex, but overlapping historical information at the population level. Expecting any direct accord between population history and social history would be a fall-back into nineteenth century conceptions of the ideal nation state: homogeneous in space, race, culture, language and people. This could only be a rare historical exception. The complex relations between both research fields provide promising perspectives, which can be followed only by a narrow exchange between biological and historical disciplines. Together, new and adequate questions should be developed.
Keywords: chronology; typology; spatial analysis; contextual analysis; isotope analysis; aDNA analysis; early middle ages; methodology