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Jo Sindre P. Eidshaug (Trondheim, Norway) and Li Tang (Jena, Germany) share the Johanna Mestorf Award 2025 for outstanding dissertations in the field of socio-ecological research and landscape archaeology.
How did people in the past adapt to special habitats such as the coast or high mountains and react to changes in the environment? These questions are the focus of two exceptional archaeological dissertations that were honoured with the prestigious Johanna Mestorf Award by the Johanna Mestorf Academy at Kiel University today (March 24).
“Both doctoral theses were ambitious, methodologically innovative and have significantly expanded our knowledge of the relationship between humans and the environment in the past. We have therefore decided to split the award this year,” said prehistorian Prof. Dr. Johannes Müller, spokesperson of the JMA, during the award ceremony in Kiel University' Audimax.
Dr. Jo Sindre Eidshaug received the award for his dissertation entitled “Remote sensing, words, objects: In pursuit of new avenues for coastal archaeology in Tierra del Fuego and Norway,” that he completed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
In this highly interdisciplinary thesis, Jo Sindre Eidshaug focussed on the relationships between humans and the sea both in Tierra del Fuego and on the Norwegian coast. He incorporated methods from remote sensing, ethnography, linguistics and archaeology. “The dissertation is very much in line with the aim of the JMA Award to promote interdisciplinary research topics and drive forward innovative and courageous research,” emphasised Prof. Dr Eileen Eckmeier, geoarchaeologist and Vice Spokesperson of the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University, during the laudatory speech.
Jo Sindre Eidshaug thanked the prize committee: “I am deeply honoured to receive the Johanna Mestorf Award. It is a strong and important recognition of the hard work that lies behind the dissertation, including that of fellow members of the Norwegian-Argentinean research collaboration Marine Ventures. Moreover, it serves to underscore the importance of attempting to combine scientific and humanistic sources of information and pursue new trajectories in coastal landscape archaeology.”
For his dissertation, the prize winner digitised a 19th century dictionary of the Fuegian Yagan language. He now wants to make it accessible to researchers and the public. “This work is in progress, and the award money will contribute to reach this end. It should ultimately also benefit today’s Yagan communities in Tierra del Fuego,” Jo Sindre Eidshaug explained today.
The second laureate is Dr Li Tang, who currently works at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena. She received the award for her dissertation entitled “High-altitude dietary adaptations on the interior Tibetan Plateau in prehistory: Archaeobotanical, paleoproteomic, and stable isotopic evidence”, that she completed at Kiel University.
In her work, Li Tang examined dietary adaptation on the Tibetan Plateau and analysed how earlier human communities responded to environmental challenges by switching to a new system of agriculture and animal husbandry. “This excellent and superbly written work has a strong scientific and archaeological context and demonstrates how different disciplines can be successfully integrated within archaeology,” emphasised ROOTS Vice Spokesperson Prof. Dr Martin Furholt in his laudatory speech.
“I am excited to receive the Johanna Mestorf Award 2025. This honour validates the importance of my dissertation in unravelling the complexities of human responses to diverse high-altitude landscapes across the Tibetan Plateau. It also motivates me to delve deeper into the co-development of human societies and the environment during the appearance and intensification of the new agropastoral system in the region,” Li Tang said during the award ceremony.
The scientist plans to use her share of the prize money for an upcoming research trip to Tibet. “I am eager to further explore ancient diets, diseases, and social interactions in Tibet and beyond, hoping that insights from past societies will shed light on current and future challenges related to extreme environments, climate change, and human impacts worldwide,” she added.
The award ceremony also marked the start of the eighth international Kiel Conference 2025: Scales of Social, Environmental, and Cultural Change in Past Societies at Kiel University. Until next Saturday, more than 350 scientists from 30 countries will present and discuss the latest findings on the interconnections between the environment, social relationships, material culture, population dynamics and human perception in the past.
The conference has been organised by the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation – Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’ and the Cluster of Excellence ‘ROOTS – Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies’ as part of the Johanna Mestorf Academy.
The Johanna Mestorf Award, endowed with 3000 euros, is being presented for the seventh time as part of this conference series. It honours young researchers who have written an excellent dissertation in the field of socio-ecological research or landscape archaeology.
“In all our research activities, the promotion of excellent young researchers is an important concern. The Johanna Mestorf Prize sets an example that is recognised far beyond Kiel,” says Johannes Müller, spokesperson for the CRC1266 and the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence.
Prof. Dr. Johannes Müller
Speaker of the Johanna Mestorf Academy at Kiel University
Tel.: 0431 880-3391
email: Johannes.mueller@ufg.uni-kiel.de
https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/details/news/038-jm-award-25 Press release on the website of Kiel University with images for download
http://www.cluster-roots.org ROOTS Cluster of Excellence
https://www.sfb1266.uni-kiel.de CRC 1266
https://www.jma.uni-kiel.de/en Johanna Mestorf Academy
Dr Jo Sindre Eidshaug (Trondheim, Norway) and Dr Li Tang (Jena, Germany) share the Johanna Mestorf A ...
Jan Steffen
Cluster ROOTS/Uni Kiel
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Dr Jo Sindre Eidshaug (Trondheim, Norway) and Dr Li Tang (Jena, Germany) share the Johanna Mestorf A ...
Jan Steffen
Cluster ROOTS/Uni Kiel
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