Culture, Language & History

egyptology

2020.10.26

Inks containing lead were likely used as drier on ancient Egyptian papyri

Analysing 12 ancient Egyptian papyri fragments with X-ray microscopy, University of Copenhagen researchers were surprised to find previously unknown lead compounds in both red and black inks and suggest they were used…

Geology

2020.10.14

Volcanic eruptions may explain Denmark’s giant mystery crystals

Researchers have long been stumped for an explanation of how tens of millions of years-old giant crystals known as glendonites came to be on the Danish islands of Fur and Mors. A recent study from the University of…

Norms & Behavior

2020.09.14

Uncertain expectations beget stinginess and selfishness

The less we know about what is expected of us in a given situation, the more likely we are to act upon self-interest alone. According to the UCPH researcher behind the new study, this applies both to our degree of…

Study

2020.06.25

The Covid-19 lockdown caused young people to strengthen close relationships

Young students have not only learned to live with the lockdown during the corona epidemic. A new study shows that they have strengthened close relationships and found new, creative ways to be together online.

archaeology

2020.03.23

Paper on early agriculture’s impact on human lifestyle awarded prestigious prize

Together with an international team of researchers, University of Copenhagen archaeologist Scott Haddow receives this year’s PNAS Cozzarelli Prize for co-authoring the best paper in the field of Social and Behavioral…

geology

2020.03.11

Terrestrial riddle solved: We now know where our oceans came from

One of planet Earth’s great riddles has been clarified. We now have proof of the origin of our oceans. The evidence is found in billions of years old rocks that were collected in Greenland by a Danish researcher from th…

global development

2020.01.29

Historical inequalities and uncertain land tenure systems create problems in protected areas of Patagonia

Systematic repression through harassment, violence and bureaucracy. This is how families experience everyday life in the hands of a powerful national park in the Argentine region of Patagonia. One hundred years ago, the…

assyriology

2019.12.20

Researcher discovers terrifying epilepsy demon on 2,700-year-old clay tablet

A 2,700-year-old cuneiform tablet from ancient Iraq describing medical treatments has suddenly revealed a secret – a hitherto overlooked drawing of the demon that the ancient Assyrians thought caused epilepsy. It is the…

Ancient DNA

2019.12.17

Ancient “Chewing Gum” Yields Insights into People and Bacteria of the Past

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have succeeded in extracting a complete human genome from a thousands-of-years old “chewing gum”.

archaeology

2019.12.13

Rare find: human teeth used as jewellery in Turkey 8,500 years ago

At a prehistoric archaeological site in Turkey, researchers have discovered two 8,500-year-old human teeth, which had been used as pendants in a necklace or bracelet. Researchers have never documented this practice…

ERC grant

2019.12.10

New research project will tell the entangled history of the Lesser Antilles

In history books, the islands of the eastern Caribbean, the Lesser Antilles, are described as small isolated societies controlled by European colonial powers. But the many small islands were in fact deeply dependent on…

activism

2019.10.04

Chinese activists protest the use of traditional treatments - they want medical science

In China, traditional Chinese medicine has the same status in the health system as modern medical science. This has led thousands of science activists to protest that the state neglects its duty to treat its citizens…

The walrus

2019.09.13

Extinction of Icelandic walrus coincides with Norse settlement

An international collaboration of scientists in Iceland, Denmark and the Netherlands has for the first time used ancient DNA analyses and C14-dating to demonstrate the past existence of a unique population of Icelandic…

Exhibition

2019.09.04

Danish museum wins international award

The Medical Museion in Copenhagen, Denmark, has won the prestigious UMAC Award for the museum’s experimental exhibition Mind the Gut which is a of blend science, art and history.

machine learning

2019.08.27

Women are beautiful, men rational

Men are typically described by words that refer to behavior, while adjectives ascribed to women tend to be associated with physical appearance. This, according to a group of computer scientists from the University of…

global research

2019.06.21

University of Copenhagen’s Amanda Hammar elected President of AEGIS

Head of the Centre of African Studies at University of Copenhagen, Amanda Hammar, looks forward to extending global research collaboration in African Studies as new president of the European African Studies Association.

DNA-SCIENCE

2019.05.10

Uncovering a 5000-year-old family tragedy

An international team, lead by researchers from the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, has shed light on a mysterious 5000-year-old mass grave in Poland. Despite being killed brutally, the victims were buried…

islamic studies

2019.02.06

Forgotten Islamic literary tradition uncovered in the Horn of Africa

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have spent the last five years identifying and analysing more than 2,000 Islamic manuscripts in the Horn of Africa in order to map and preserve the rich, but largely…

archaeology

2019.01.15

11,500-year-old animal bones in Jordan suggest early dogs helped humans hunt

11,500 years ago in what is now northeast Jordan, people began to live alongside dogs and may also have used them for hunting, a new study from the University of Copenhagen shows.

science communication

2018.09.24

Doubts and dialogue may alter public perceptions of science

Science projects within controversial fields such as synthetic biology could benefit from experimenting with communication settings in which experts share their thoughts and feelings with each other and the public. This…

archaeology

2018.07.16

Archaeologists discover bread that predates agriculture by 4,000 years

At an archaeological site in northeastern Jordan, researchers have discovered the charred remains of a flatbread baked by hunter-gatherers 14,400 years ago. It is the oldest direct evidence of bread found to date,…

Indo-European languages

2018.05.09

New research shows how Indo-European languages spread across Asia

A new study has discovered that horses were first domesticated by descendants of hunter-gatherer groups in Kazakhstan who left little direct trace in the ancestry of modern populations.

Fertility

2018.04.13

China needs babies

Anthropological study shows a Chinese fertility industry on the rise.

wildlife trade

2017.11.22

EU trade ban brings down global trade in wild birds by 90 %

Trade of wild birds has dropped about 90% globally since the EU banned bird imports in 2005. A study published today in the recognized scientific journal Science Advances demonstrates how the EU’s ban decreased the…

egyptology

2017.11.10

Ink from ancient Egyptian papyri contains copper

Until recently, it was assumed that the ink used for writing was primarily carbon-based at least until the fourth and fifth centuries AD. But in a new University of Copenhagen study, analyses of 2,000-year-old papyri…