Does a high population density increase violence between humans? Is migration a special case or rather the normal situation in the history of mankind? When did humans begin to change their environment? The latest episode of the podcast "Exzellent erklärt” (excellently explained) introduces the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS, located at Kiel University. In ROOTS, scientists from the humanities, natural sciences and life sciences are working together on these and other research questions concerning the roots of basic human phenomena and their connectivities with each other and with the environment. The podcast episode is available online now.

In order to comprehend the complex topics of the ROOTS cluster, podcaster Larissa Vassilian spoke with archaeologist and ROOTS spokesperson Johannes Müller. In the course of the podcast episode, it turns out that some controversially discussed topics of our time are not as new as they sometimes seem. Humans changed their environment thousands of years ago, and migration has always existed, as Johannes Müller points out.

In the further course of the podcast episode, anthropologist Katharina Fuchs explains some of the methods used to research the aforementioned questions. Human bones, for example, can reveal a lot about living conditions and also migration routes of past societies.

Of course, the research in ROOTS is still ongoing. But there is already clear evidence that cultural openness and the ability to innovate were prerequisites for past societies to survive crises, says Johannes Müller. "If that's not the case, societies collapse. And I think that's at least something that can also be very crucial for us today," he adds.

The full episode is available at https://exzellent-erklaert.podigee.io or on all popular podcast platforms.