Johanna Mestorf Prize: Two researchers honored for innovations!

Johanna Mestorf Prize: Two researchers honored for innovations!

The Johanna Mestorf Academy at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel awarded the renowned Johanna Mestorf Prize on March 24, 2023. This award honors outstanding dissertations that address human-environment relationships in the past. This year the prize was shared and two exceptional research papers were recognized for their methodological innovation and contribution to knowledge of human-environment relationships.

The prize was awarded by Prof. Dr. Johannes Müller, the spokesman for the Johanna Mestorf Academy. This honor is considered an important stimulus for the scientific examination of the social and ecological changes that have shaped human history.

Prize winners and their work

The first prize winner, Dr. Jo Sindre Eidshaug, with his dissertation “Remote sensing, words, objects: In pursuit of new avenues for coastal archeology in Tierra del Fuego and Norway” at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), conducted a comprehensive study of the relationships between humans and the sea in Tierra del Fuego and Norway. His work combines innovative methods of remote sensing, ethnography, linguistics and archaeology.

Particularly noteworthy is his project to digitize a 19th century dictionary of the Yagan language, with the aim of making this valuable knowledge accessible to researchers and the public.

In contrast, the dissertation by Dr. Li Tang with the title “High-altitude dietary adaptations on the interior Tibetan Plateau in prehistory: Archaeobotanical, paleoproteomic, and stable isotopic evidence” focuses on the dietary patterns on the Tibetan plateau and their development. Dr. Tang, who currently works at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Jena, is studying the transition to new farming and livestock farming systems in this region. She plans to use the prize money for a research trip to Tibet to conduct further research into the region's dietary habits and social interactions.

A framework for international science

The award ceremony marked the start of the eighth international Kiel Conference 2025. This conference addresses social, ecological and cultural changes in past societies and offers more than 350 scientists from 30 countries the opportunity to exchange their findings and research.

The Johanna Mestorf Prize is endowed with 3,000 euros and is awarded for excellent dissertations in the field of social-ecological research or landscape archaeology. This prize is also supported by the SFB 1266, which examines transformation processes in societies and environmental conditions between 15,000 and 1 B.C.E. examined. Using an interdisciplinary approach, crucial changes in human history from the Paleolithic base camp to the Aegean polis are explored.

A central concern of the SFB 1266 is researching the complex interactions between humans and the environment. In this context, social inequalities, power structures and demographic processes are also considered. The use of archaeological, paleoecological and paleogenetic archives broadens the horizons for future research and lays the foundations for deeper insights into human-environment relationships.

In addition, spatial and environmental sciences are intensively concerned with the consequences of climate change on ecosystems and are developing innovative methods for environmental monitoring. The results of this research are essential for understanding biodiversity and its changes. The integration of various scientific disciplines, from natural sciences to social and legal sciences, enables new perspectives on old questions and contributes to a more comprehensive picture of human-environment relationships.