The Invisible Actor: The role of disease in the disappearance of the genome associated with hunter-gatherers in southern Scandinavia
(2026) ARKK04 20252Archaeology
- Abstract
- This thesis examines zoonotic disease as a possible contributing factor in the disappearance of the genome associated with hunter-gatherers during the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia. While genetic studies show that hunter-gatherer ancestry disappeared around 5900 BP, the mechanisms behind this demographic change remain insufficiently explained. Building on recent archaeogenetic research indicating the presence of zoonotic pathogens in Neolithic populations, this study approaches disease as an active socioecological process rather than an isolated event.
This thesis contributes by combining a One Health perspective with epidemiological scenario modelling to connect human, animal, and environmental evidence into a... (More) - This thesis examines zoonotic disease as a possible contributing factor in the disappearance of the genome associated with hunter-gatherers during the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia. While genetic studies show that hunter-gatherer ancestry disappeared around 5900 BP, the mechanisms behind this demographic change remain insufficiently explained. Building on recent archaeogenetic research indicating the presence of zoonotic pathogens in Neolithic populations, this study approaches disease as an active socioecological process rather than an isolated event.
This thesis contributes by combining a One Health perspective with epidemiological scenario modelling to connect human, animal, and environmental evidence into a shared, mechanism-oriented system. One Health can help to identify mechanisms - not specific events. Published archaeological, osteological, isotopic, and genomic data are analysed through a comparative case study of Middle Neolithic Falbygden, where repeated infections of Yersinia pestis have been identified. The analysis explores how farming, sedentism, animal management and mobility created mechanisms that helped pathogens to circulate.
Although Falbygden is later than the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition, it is used as a comparative model for early farming systems. The mechanisms and systems identified in the Falbygden case were not unique to this period, but also reflect processes that began during the earliest stages of farming in southern Scandinavia. The results support previous research suggesting that zoonotic disease and long-term infectious pressure within such systems may have acted as a gradual contributing factor in the disappearance of hunter-gatherer ancestry in southern Scandinavia. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9222665
- author
- Sörenby Tuneld, Philip LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- ARKK04 20252
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- zoonotic disease, population turnover, hunter-gatherer ancestry, One Health, socioecological systems
- language
- English
- id
- 9222665
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-21 13:52:07
- date last changed
- 2026-04-21 13:52:07
@misc{9222665,
abstract = {{This thesis examines zoonotic disease as a possible contributing factor in the disappearance of the genome associated with hunter-gatherers during the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia. While genetic studies show that hunter-gatherer ancestry disappeared around 5900 BP, the mechanisms behind this demographic change remain insufficiently explained. Building on recent archaeogenetic research indicating the presence of zoonotic pathogens in Neolithic populations, this study approaches disease as an active socioecological process rather than an isolated event.
This thesis contributes by combining a One Health perspective with epidemiological scenario modelling to connect human, animal, and environmental evidence into a shared, mechanism-oriented system. One Health can help to identify mechanisms - not specific events. Published archaeological, osteological, isotopic, and genomic data are analysed through a comparative case study of Middle Neolithic Falbygden, where repeated infections of Yersinia pestis have been identified. The analysis explores how farming, sedentism, animal management and mobility created mechanisms that helped pathogens to circulate.
Although Falbygden is later than the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition, it is used as a comparative model for early farming systems. The mechanisms and systems identified in the Falbygden case were not unique to this period, but also reflect processes that began during the earliest stages of farming in southern Scandinavia. The results support previous research suggesting that zoonotic disease and long-term infectious pressure within such systems may have acted as a gradual contributing factor in the disappearance of hunter-gatherer ancestry in southern Scandinavia.}},
author = {{Sörenby Tuneld, Philip}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Invisible Actor: The role of disease in the disappearance of the genome associated with hunter-gatherers in southern Scandinavia}},
year = {{2026}},
}