The 2022 Conference

January 26-28, 2022, online

Theme 1: Relationships between Humans and Animals

Invited Speaker: Mr. NISKANEN – Body size, conformation, athletic ability and temperament of horses have likely affected the human-horse relationship over time –

Throughout their history, humans have developed a complex set of relationships with the animal world. Whether hunted, gathered, or raised, animals have, through their bodies, provided materials for food, clothing, tools, and expression. Through their physical capabilities or simply their companionship, animals have also rendered an incredible array of services to humans, who, by modifying their exploitation techniques, have in turn fostered the emergence of new animal forms useful for their purposes. Through their symbolic power or sacrifice, animals have not remained on the sidelines of human artistic, cultural, and religious activities. As a source of zoonotic pathogens, they have also impacted the demographic trajectories of human societies. Finally, the diversity of relationships between humans and other animal species, as well as animal models, have often been used to better understand the evolutionary history of our own species. This session will explore the diversity of relationships between humans and animals, in their entirety and across all eras, and will aim to evaluate their consequences on both human societies and the animals themselves.

Scientific Committee: Ludovic Orlando, Morgane Gibert, Clio Der Sarkissian, Gwenaëlle Goude, Olivia Munoz, Bérénice Chamel.

Theme 2: Ailing Bodies

Invited Speaker: M. KELLY-IRVING – Why are health and sickness socially patterned across human societies?

While modern medicine has made prodigious progress since the late 19th century and has contributed to extending our life expectancy, major current issues remind us how unequal we are, both biologically and socially, in the face of illness. The global COVID-19 pandemic, first and foremost, has brought illness, ailing bodies, and the management of death back to the forefront of our daily lives. Individuals’ exposure to different forms of violence, their risk factors, and their consequences remind us that public health challenges are not limited to chronic and infectious diseases. Ailing bodies, etymologically bodies in poor condition, indeed pose central questions to our societies, both present and past: – How to diagnose and treat the bodies of individuals in the hope of curing them? – How to prevent disease and collectively treat bodies to address public health issues or contain epidemics? – How to treat them scientifically to understand the contours of our biological diversity and our social constructs? – Beyond the experience of illness, what does the perspective of funerary anthropology on the management of bodies during pandemics reveal about our societies? – Finally, how does technological innovation in health contribute to the management of diseases in current populations and provide insights into the health status of past populations? This session will focus on ailing bodies in what they reveal about individuals and societies, their living conditions, hygiene, and their social and biological inequalities in the face of illness.

Scientific Committee: Frederic Savall, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Delphine Maret, Rozenn Colleter, Sacha Kacki

Theme 3: Research Updates

This theme will bring together recent achievements in the discipline, whether unprecedented discoveries or methodological advances.

Program:Abstracts: