Publication Alert! Comment la génétique réécrit l’histoire du Moyen Age by Patrick J. Geary

Using biological data to reconstruct the past is an age-old temptation. Nearly a century ago, such efforts led directly to racist and Nazi theories. These are risks that advances in genetics can amplify. Co-PI Patrick Geary offers a unique introduction to the principles and foundations of genetic research in history, highlighting the phenomenal contributions of the biological sciences and their limitations. To prove his point, he presents some of the main findings of a five-year integrated study of the Carpathian Basin (Austria, Slovenia, Hungary). This essential passageway to Italy, conquered by the Huns, Lombards, Avars, and Slavs, appears to have been a complex melting pot of individuals. He traces its transformations over five centuries, documenting the arrivals and replacements of populations from Europe and Asia.

The book will be open access soon.

Le Mond has published a review of this book, to read the article click here: https://www.lemonde.fr/livres/article/2025/11/30/comment-la-genetique-reecrit-l-histoire-du-moyen-age-de-patrick-j-geary-dans-le-melting-pot-medieval_6655441_3260.html