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FOLK – From racial types to DNA sequences

Erica Hagelberg

Erika Hagelberg is professor of evolutionary biology at the Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo. Her main research interests include ancient DNA typing, human molecular genetics and molecular evolution. She has worked on developing methods to extract and analyze DNA from archaeological bones. In the 1990s, she was among the first who applied bone DNA typing in forensic identification, including the first use of microsatellite DNA in forensics. Since then, she have used molecular markers, mainly mitochondrial DNA, to investigate the origin and migration of human populations. Ongoing projects address the colonization of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, genetic variation in Norwegian populations, and analysis of bone DNA from the crew of the Mary Rose. Other interests include the evolution of language, history of science, and controversies about genetic identity. The focus of research in this project is "Human molecular genetics in forensic identification and human evolution, and its relation to identity, (1990-2012)".

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Erika Hagelberg

Publications during the project period

  • ​Hagelberg E., Genetic studies on the Rapanui. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific (eds. Burkhard Vogt and Annette Kühlem). Forschungen zur Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen, German Archaeological Institute. In press.

  • Hagelberg E., 2016. El origen biológico del pueblo rapanui: Polynesia ó Sudamérica? Anales del Museo de Historia Natural de Valparaiso, volume 29, pages 104–119.

  • Hagelberg E., 2016. "Genetic affinities of the Rapanui", in "Skeletal biology of the Ancient Rapanui", ed. G.W. Gill & V. Stefan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pages 182–201.

  • Hagelberg E., 2015. Molecules through time. The Royal Society: blog to celebrate 350 years of scientific publishing, 29 May 2015.

  • Hagelberg E., Hofreiter M., Keyser C., 2015. Ancient DNA: The first three decades. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 370: 20130371

  • Hagelberg, E., 2014. Molecular genetics and the human settlement of the Pacific. In: Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki in New Light, ed. Ingjerd Hoëm, The Kon-Tiki Museum Occasional Papers, volume 14, pages 132–142.