Welcome to 2026 year’s Felix Neubergh Lecture in archaeology. On Friday 13th of November, Stephen Shennan, Professor in theoretic archaeology at the University College London (UCL), will give the lecture Long-term Demographic Patterns in the Prehistory of Europe.
Stephen Shennan is a prominent researcher in European prehistory, in particular the Neolithic period, and his interdisciplinary research combines archaeological issues with evolutionary biology methods. Through these methods, he explains cultural dynamics, innovations and dispersion patterns in prehistoric societies. He is also a prominent researcher in prehistoric demography and has made significant contributions to the study of the social and economic institutions that shaped change and organization in early societies.
Shennan's scientific production is extensive: nine books and monographs. He is the editor or co-editor of nineteen anthologies and special editions of scientific journals and the author of around 180 scientific articles. He has been Principal Investigator (PI) for several internationally successful research projects.
Shennan has visited the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg on several occasions, and most recently in May last year when he carried out a three-week research stay and collaborated closely with several of the researchers. Shennan is a Fellow of the British Academy, a member of the Academia Europaea and a recipient of the Huxley Memorial Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute.
The lecture lasts for 75 minutes including questions and award ceremony. The lecture is primarily aimed at teachers and students at the university, but also at a wider audience.
The lecture will be held in English.
About Felix Neubergh Lecture
Every year since 1977, a Felix Neubergh Lecture has been arranged at the University of Gothenburg. Every other year, the lecture concerns archaeology and every other year economics.
The lecture series has been created through a donation from Felix Neubergh, a Swedish banker who was born in Gothenburg in 1896 and moved to London after the end of the First World War. There he achieved an outstanding career, married and became a permanent resident. From their considerable wealth, he and his wife Bertha donated funds to various institutions in their hometown, especially to the University of Gothenburg. He strived to support the university's contacts with culture and science in English-speaking countries. Felix Neubergh lived to be almost 100 years old and died in December 1995.
