Research
Estonian scientists contributed to the largest-ever ancient DNA study on a medieval cemetery, revealing 1,000 years of genetic history in the Low Countries
Geneticists from KU Leuven, the Institute of Genomics at the University of Tartu, and their international colleagues have conducted the largest ancient DNA study ever performed on human remains from a single medieval burial site. In total, they analysed the remains of 400 individuals buried between the 8th and 18th centuries beneath what is now the main square (Groenmarkt) of Sint-Truiden, a historic town in present-day Belgium.
The study offers unprecedented insights into how migration, urban development, family structures, and epidemics shaped the genetic landscape of this medieval city and of the broader Low Countries. Remarkably, it also uncovered the first direct evidence of the plague in medieval Flanders, at a time when no written sources from the town make mention of the disease.
Urbanization and genetic homogenization in the medieval Low Countries revealed through a ten-century paleogenomic study of the city of Sint-Truiden (2025)
Owyn Beneker; Ludovica Molinaro; Meriam Guellil; Stefania Sasso; Helja Kabral; Biancamaria Bonucci; Noah Gaens; Eugenia D’Atanasio; Massimo Mezzavilla; Hélios Delbrassine; Linde Braet; Bart Lambert; Pieterjan Deckers; Simone Andrea Biagini; Ruoyun Hui; Sara Becelaere; Jan Geypen; Maxim Hoebreckx; Birgit Berk; Petra Driesen; April Pijpelink; Philip van Damme; Sofie Vanhoutte; Natasja De Winter; Lehti Saag; Luca Pagani; Kristiina Tambets; Christiana L. Scheib; Maarten H. D. Larmuseau and Toomas Kivisild.
Multiscale pollen-based reconstructions of anthropogenic land-cover change in Karula Upland, south Estonia (2024)
Väli, Vivika; Vassiljev, Jüri; Alliksaar, Tiiu; Blaus, Ansis; Kama, Pikne; Kihno, Kersti; Põldmaa, Maret; Saarse, Leili; Tomson, Pille; Poska, Anneli
Arvutuslikke vaateid läänemeresoome regilaulude varieeruvusele: “Harja otsimine” ja “Mõõk merest” (2024)
Sarv, Mari; Kallio, Kati; Janicki, Maciej
All Publications
2024
- Väli, Vivika; Vassiljev, Jüri; Alliksaar, Tiiu; Blaus, Ansis; Kama, Pikne; Kihno, Kersti; Põldmaa, Maret; Saarse, Leili; Tomson, Pille; Poska, Anneli (2024). Multiscale pollen-based reconstructions of anthropogenic land-cover change in Karula Upland, south Estonia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 163, 105940. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.105940.
- Hiiemäe, Reet (2024). Rituaalsed naistepeod. Eesti Naine, 1, 114−114.
- Sarv, Mari; Kallio, Kati; Janicki, Maciej (2024). Arvutuslikke vaateid läänemeresoome regilaulude varieeruvusele: “Harja otsimine” ja “Mõõk merest”. Keel Ja Kirjandus, LXVII (3), 238−259. DOI: 10.54013/kk795a2.
- Weidebaum, Reet; Joons Gylling, Sofia; Oras, Janika (2024). Loodud, lauldud ja kuuldud. Loetud ja kirjutatud 23.03.2024 Vikerraadio.
- Lanka, Anna; Dimante-Deimantovica, Inta; Saarni, Saija; Stivrins, Normunds; Tylmann, Wojciech; Zawiska, Izabela; Veski, Siim (2024). Urbanization-driven Cladocera community shifts in the lake – a case study from Baltic region, Europe. Anthropocene, 46, 100439. DOI: 10.1016/j.ancene.2024.100439.
- Malve, Martin (2024). Narvast leiti 1700. aasta lahingu tummad tunnistajad. Horisont, 1/2024, 54.
- Malve, Martin (2024). Vanad luud Paidest. Horisont, 3/2024, 54.
- Malve, Martin; Oks, Kristo (2024). Vändra on ühe matmispaiga võrra rikkam. Horisont, 4/2024, 54.
- Pajusalu, Karl; Metslang, Helle; Norvik, Miina; Saar, Eva; Teras, Pire; Vaab, Janek (2024). Eesti murrete hääldusjooned läänemeresoome taustal. Areaaltüpoloogiline analüüs. Pajusalu, Karl; Viikberg, Jüri; Kendla, Mari (Toim.). Saarte keeled. Ellen Niidi juubeliraamat. (104−127). Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Emakeele Selts. (Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Emakeele Seltsi toimetised; 83).
- Taremaa, Piia; Metslang, Helle; Norvik, Miina (2024). Midagi erakordset on toimumas! Progressiiv eesti keeles. Prillop, Külli; Viht, Annika (Toim.). Keelde. Keelel. Keelest. Pühendusteos Külli Habichtile 60. sünnipäevaks. (335−359). Tallinn: EKSA. (Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Emakeele Seltsi toimetised; 84).
- Metslang, Helle; Habicht, Külli; Hennoste, Tiit; Pajusalu, Renate (2024). Editorial: Exploring subjectivity and intersubjectivity in language. Open Linguistics, 10 (1), 20240035. DOI: 10.1515/opli-2024-0035.
- Külli Habicht, Tiit Hennoste, Helle Metslang, Renate Pajusalu (Ed.) (2024). Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity in Language. Open Linguistics Warsaw: De Gruyter Open Access.
- Sasso, Stefania; Saag, Lehti; Spros, Rachèl; Beneker, Owyn; Molinaro, Ludovica; Biagini, Simone A; Lehouck, Alexander; Van De Vijver, Katrien; Hui, Ruoyun; D’Atanasio, Eugenia; Kushniarevich, Alena; Kabral, Helja; Metspalu, Ene; Guellil, Meriam; Ali, Muhammad Q A; Geypen, Jan; Hoebreckx, Maxim; Berk, Birgit; De Winter, Natasja; Driesen, Petra … Kivisild, Toomas (2024). Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, 121 (27), e2406734121. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2406734121.
- Malve, Martin; Jonuks, Tõnno; Aguraiuja-Lätti, Ülle; Haak, Arvi; Johanson, Kristiina; Lõugas, Lembi (2024). Multidisciplinary investigations at Viru-Nigula churchyard and settlement. Archaeological Fieldwork in Estonia, 2023, 169−184.
- Lanka, Anna; Poska, Anneli; Bakumenko, Varvara; Dimante-Deimantovica, Inta; Liiv, Merlin; Stivrins, Normunds; Zagars, Matiss; Veski, Siim (2024). Subfossil Cladocera as indicators of pH, trophic state and conductivity: Separate and combined effects in hemi boreal freshwater lakes. Ecological Indicators, 167, 112592. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112592.
- Rannamäe, Eve; Lang, Valter; Johanson, Kristiina; Sammler, Sandra; Oras, Ester (2024). Horsemeat consumption in Late Bronze Age Estonia: a case study from the Iru fortified settlement. Estonian Journal of Archaeology, 28 (2), 67−91. DOI: 10.3176/arch.2024.2.01.
- Tvauri, Andres (2024). Christian message of Estonian sheet pendants from the 10th to the 17th century. Estonian Journal of Archaeology, 28 (2), 92−119. DOI: 10.3176/arch.2024.2.02.
- Valk, H., Blehner, M. A., Malve, M., Rammo, R., Kajak. K.. (2024). Excavations on the medieval village cemetery of Loosi at the eastern border of Võrumaa. Arheoloogilised välitööd Eestis = Archeological fieldwork in Estonia, 2023, 147−168.
- Valk, H., Raudsepp, M. (2024). Archaeological investigations in the middle room of the ´Clergy House´ of the Teutonic Order Castle in Viljandi. Arheoloogilised välitööd Eestis = Archeological fieldwork in Estonia, 2023, 207−214.
- Valk, H. (2024). Trial excavations at Vatla ring fort in western Estonia. Arheoloogilised välitööd Eestis = Archeological fieldwork in Estonia, 2023, 131−138.
- Valk, H. Suni, R. (2024). Excavations of besieging constructions from 1223 and Final Iron Age occupation layers on the Ski-jumping hill in Viljandi. Arheoloogilised välitööd Eestis = Archeological fieldwork in Estonia, 2023, 139−146.
- Niedziałkowska, M.; Górny, M.; Gornia, J.; Popović, D.; Baca, M.; Ratajczak-Skrzatek, U.; Kovalchuk, O.; Sykut, M.; Suska-Malawska, M.; Mackiewicz, P.; Hofman-Kamińska, E.; Kowalczyk, R.; Czarniauski, M.; Pawłowska, K.; Makowiecki, D.; Tataurova, L.; Bondarev, A.; Shpansky, A.; Protopopov, A.V.; Sorokin, A.D. … Stefaniak, K. (2024). Impact of global environmental changes on the range contraction of Eurasian moose since the Late Pleistocene. The Science of The Total Environment, 957 (177235). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177235.
- Särg, Taive; Veskis, Kaarel (2024). Corpus-based Research of Semantic Aspects of Laul-stem Words in Estonian, Focused on Past Newspaper Texts and Folk Song Lyrics. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 94, 181−222. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2024.94.sarg_veskis.
- Hiiemäe, Reet (2024). Kogemuslugudes kirjeldatud kokkupuuted füüsiliselt agressiivsete vaimolenditega. Keel ja Kirjandus, 67 (8–9), 753−767. DOI: 10.54013/kk800a4.
- Hiiemäe, Reet (2024). Environmental folklore as a vernacular code of sustainability: the case of Estonian lakes. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. DOI: 10.1007/s13412-024-00974-6.
- Kalkun, Andreas (2024). Soodoma varemeil. Vikerkaar, 3, 42−46.
- Kuutma, Kristin; Oras, Janika; Saarlo, Liina (2024). Introduction: The Potential and Constraints of Cultural Transfer through Voice, Connection, and Message. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 94, 7−14. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2024.94.introduction.
- Oras, Janika (2024). As Much as Necessary and as Little as Possible: The Interplay of National and Soviet in a Wedding Performance at the 1960 Folk Art Evening of the Estonian Song Festival. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 94, 67−98. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2024.94.oras.
- Pall, Lona; Pungas-Kohv, Piret (2024). How Can Storytelling Help Restore Mires? Applying Place-lore Fieldwork Methodology in Ecological Restoration. Environmental Communication. DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2024.2420789.
- Saarlo, Liina (2024). She Sang in a Beautiful Light Voice: Musical Qualities of Runosong Performances in Fieldwork Reports. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 94, 133−168. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2024.94.saarlo.
- Petrovych, Olha; Zavalniuk, Inna; Bohatko, Valentyna (2024). Exploring the Semantics and Structure of Vocatives in Ukrainian Folk Songs. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 94, 233−266. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2024.94.ukrainian.
- Järv, Risto (2024). Vägivaldne surm muinasjuttudes. Keel ja Kirjandus, 67 (8–9), 710−735. DOI: 10.54013/kk800a2.
- Kallio, Kati; Sarv, Mari; Janicki, Maciej; Mäkelä, Eetu (2024). Bridging Northern and Southern Traditions in the Finnic Corpus of Oral Poetry. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 94, 191−232. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2024.94.finnic_corpus.
- Hiiemäe, Reet (2025). Hingeloomad eesti nüüdisusundis. Lea Altnurme (Toim.). Mitut usku Eesti VII. Loodus. (215−232). Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
- Jonuks, Tõnno; Greeves, Samantha; Tõrv, Mari; Kriiska, Aivar (2025). Stone Age anthropomorphic flat figurines from Tamula, Estonia. Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, 116, 95−131. DOI: 10.37522/aaav.116.2025.285.
- Oras, Janika; Palolill, Mari; Pärtlas, Žanna; Lock, Hans-Gunter; Torn, Tanel (2025). Seto leelo noodikiri. Veebirakendus seto leeloviiside õppimiseks.
- Oras, Janika; Simm, Janno; Tamm, Jaan (2025). Janika Oras: Seto punktinoot ja leelokool.
- Lisniak, Inna; Cherneta, Tetiana (2025). Ukrainian Folk Dumy: Problems of Historical Development and Modern Performance. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 258 (95), 105−128. DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2025.95.lisniak_cherneta.
- Särg, Taive; Väina, Mari; Lisniak, Inna (Ed.) (2025). Särg, Taive; Väina, Mari; Lisniak, Inna (Ed.).. Preservation of Folklore in Modern Archival Sources: Field Research and Documentation Issues in the Context of European Practices. Online seminar. April 25, 2025. Estonian Literary Museum, Tartu; M. Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the NAS of Ukraine; Kyiv; Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. EKM Teaduskirjastus 2025: EKM .
- Bro-Jørgensen, Maiken Hemme; Ahlgren, Hans; Glykou, Aikaterini; Ruiz-Puerta, Emily J.; Lõugas, Lembi; Gotfredsen, Anne Birgitte; Olsen, Morten Tange; Lidén, Kerstin (2025). The Evolutionary History of the Extinct Baltic Sea Harp Seal Population. Ecology and Evolution, 1−13. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.71322 .
- Inna Lisniak (2025). Ukrainian Musical Folklore in the Estonian Folklore Archives: A View Through Changing Historical Contexts. Preservation of Folklore in Modern Archival Sources: Field Research and Documentation Issues in the Context of European Practices. Online seminar: April 25, 2025. Estonian Literary Museum, Tartu; M. Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the NAS of Ukraine; Kyiv; Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. Ed. Särg, Taive; Väina, Mari; Lisniak, Inna. Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.
- Khrustaleva, I; Kriiska, A (2025). Comb Ware cultures in the eastern Baltic. Estonian Journal of Archaeology, 29 (1), 72−105. DOI: 10.3176/arch.2025.1.03.
- Jonuks, Tõnno; Johanson, Kristiina (2025). Magic in News: Magic, Witchcraft and Superstition in Estonian Newspapers 1850–1980. Pomegranate, 25 (1-2), 186−215. DOI: 10.1558/pom.22957.
- Nilsson Stutz, Liv; Peyroteo Stjerna, Rita; Tõrv, Mari (Ed.) (2025). Nilsson Stutz, Liv; Peyroteo Stjerna, Rita; Tõrv, Mari. The Oxford Handbook of Mesolithic Europe.
- Nilsson Stutz, Liv; Peyroteo Stjerna, Rita; Tõrv, Mari (2025). Introduction: The Archaeology of Mesolithic Europe. In: The Oxford Handbook of Mesolithic Europe. (3−14). Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198853657.013.65.
- Tõrv, Mari; Peyroteo Stjerna, Rita (2025). From the Treatment of the Body to the Places of the Dead. In: The Oxford Handbook of Mesolithic Europe. (887−900). Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198853657.013.54.
- Tõrv, Mari (2025). Surmakultuurist ehk Kuidas hakkama saada elulõpu jäävusega. Sirp. Eesti kultuurileht, 10.01.2025.
- Beneker, Owyn; Molinaro, Ludovica; Guellil, Meriam; Sasso, Stefania; Kabral, Helja; Bonucci, Biancamaria; Gaens, Noah; D’Atanasio, Eugenia; Mezzavilla, Massimo; Delbrassine, Helios; Braet, Linde; Lambert, Bart; Deckers, Pieterjan; Biagini, Simone Andrea; Hui, Ruoyun; Becelaere, Sara; Geypen, Jan; Hoebreckx, Maxim; Berk, Birgit; Driesen, Petra … Kivisild, Toomas (2025). Urbanization and genetic homogenization in the medieval Low Countries revealed through a ten-century paleogenomic study of the city of Sint-Truiden. Genome Biology, 26 (127), 1−42. DOI: 10.1186/s13059-025-03580-z.
- Saarlo, Liina; Oras, Janika; Torn, Tanel; Ruus, Mia Marta (2025). Revisiting Gender and Age Dynamics in the Estonian Runosong Corpus. In: SIEF2025, Aberdeen, 3–6 June 2025.
- Petrovych, Olha (2025). “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow”: Reflecting the Ukrainian National Mood. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, 19 (1), 45−68. DOI: 10.2478/jef-2025-0004.
- Veskis, Kaarel (2025). Deminutiivsufiksi -kEnE varieerumine eesti regilaulutekstides. Keel ja Kirjandus, 68 (6), 510−539. DOI: 10.54013/kk810a3.
- Biedermann, A.; Laurimäe, T.; Anijalg, L.; Kamenetzky, L.; Soriano, S.V.; Pierangeli, N.; Lazzarini, L.E.; Umhang, G.; Bold, B.; Bayasgalan, C.; Karamon, J.; Samorek-Pieróg, M.; Simsek, S.; Celik, F.; Harandi, M.F.; Nasibi, S.; Mehmood, N.; Chihai, O.; Casulli, A.; Saarma, U. (2025). Zoonotic Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato genotypes G6 and G7: new insights from the global mitogenome analysis. International Journal for Parasitology. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.04.014.
- Casulli, Adriano; Abela, Bernadette; Petrone, Daniele; Šoba, Barbara; Dezsényi, Balázs; Karamon, Jacek; Millon, Laurence; Saarma, Urmas; Antolová, Daniela; Chappuis, François; Gloor, Severin; Stoeckle, Marcel; Müllhaupt, Beat; Beck, Relja; Lagler, Heimo; Lötsch, Felix; Auer, Herbert; Hayette, Marie-Pierre; Kolářová, Libuše; Laivacuma, Sniedze … Santoro, Azzurra (2025). Unveiling the incidences and trends of alveolar echinococcosis in Europe: a systematic review from the KNOW-PATH project. The Lancet: Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(25)00283-X.
- Khrustaleva, Irina; Uueni, Andres; Metspalu, Mait; Kriiska, Aivar (2025). A Birch Bark Tar Figurine from the Pulli Settlement Site in Estonia. Baltic Journal of Art History, 28, 9−30. DOI: 10.12697/BJAH.2025.28.02.
- Petrovych, Olha; Väina, Mari (2025). Sweetness and Bitterness: Symbolism of Taste in Ukrainian and Estonian Folk Songs. In: Folklore and the Senses: Programme & Abstracts. (22−23). The Folklore Society’s Annual Conference 2025 ‘Folklore and the Senses’, the Department of Folklore and Ethnology, University College Cork and online, 20-22 June 2025.
- Petrovych, Olha (2025). Archiving Tradition: Examining Provenance and Influence in Ukrainian Folk Song Collections. In: 17th International SIEF Congress “Unwriting”, Elphinstone Institute for Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, 3-6 June 2025.
- Hiiemäe, Reet (2025). Verbal Magic In Contemporary Women’s Narratives About Nightmare Experiences In Estonia. Incantatio An International Journal on Charms Charmers and Charming, 12 (2024), 63−80. DOI: 10.7592/Incantatio2024_12_Hiiemae.
- Inna Lisniak (2025). Surviving the Occupation: Personal Stories from Hostomel During the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. SIEF2025: Unwriting, 17th Congress of Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore: 17th Congress of Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore, SIEF2025: Unwriting. Elphinstone Institute for Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, 3-6 June 2025. Elphinstone Institute for Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology, University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland, 117.
