Open AccessArchaeogenetics in Popular Media: Contemporary Implications of Ancient DNA
Author(s) -
Anna Källén,
Charlotte Mulcare,
Andreas Nyblom,
Daniel Strand
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
current swedish archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.256
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2002-3901
pISSN - 1102-7355
DOI - 10.37718/csa.2019.04
Subject(s) - politics , narrative , meaning (existential) , relation (database) , public sphere , field (mathematics) , boom , media studies , sociology , popular media , history , epistemology , environmental ethics , political science , literature , art , law , philosophy , computer science , mathematics , database , environmental engineering , pure mathematics , engineering
If most academic debates surrounding the recent boom of ancient DNA (aDNA) so far have concerned conflicting research epistemologies, this article is a call for taking aspects of media and communication more seriously. Analyzing the fates of two recent research papers on Viking Age Scandinavia, we show how aDNA research is communicated, narrated and infused with meaning in the public sphere, particularly in relation to popular narratives and political debates. We observe significant interlacing of scientific, political and media discourses in and around the papers, and conclude that archaeogenetics is a highly mediatized scientific field.