*With apologies for cross-posting*

Call for papers for poster presentations LeCHE conference, June 28-29 2012, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

LeCHE:  Lactase Persistence in the Early Cultural History of Europe

What is LeCHE?
This large European training network explores the origin and impact of dairying in Europe. The participating researchers have been drawing on the latest genetic studies of modern humans and domestic animals to identify markers of specific traits, but have also travelled back in time and searched for these in ancient remains. The trait of Lactase Persistence is under extreme positive selection in humans, and ancient DNA analyses reveals that it is absent in the first Neolithic farmers. 
The LeCHE researchers have been using sophisticated chemical and isotopic geochemical analyses of artefacts and bones, combined with traditional archaeology to obtain direct evidence of milk consumption and explore husbandry practices. Spatially explicit modelling of gene flow and selection in Neolithic populations, informed by archaeological data, is being used to develop hypotheses which can be tested against modern distribution of genetic diversity and ancient remains. 

The network draws together leading European research teams, state-of-the-art methods and a clearly focused, important and emotive question with widespread repercussions. 

Now, the LeCHE team would like to invite other interested researchers to hear about some of the results of their efforts, at the LeCHE conference in Amsterdam, on the 28th and 29th of June, 2012. Three sessions will present the research carried out within the broad topic of dairy production practices and their effect on humans and animals in terms of diet, health, domestication and migration. Both the origins of dairy production as well as the effects in later and modern societies will be topics of discussion. The latest in archaeological methodology applied to these questions will also be presented. Other workers are invited to present their related work in a poster session accompanied by a short oral introduction. Finally, a roundtable session will allow the different pieces of evidence to be put together in an attempt to summarize the state of research, and to discuss ideas and directions for future ventures. 

Poster session
Conference participants are encouraged to submit posters. The topic of the posters should complement or fit within the themes of the oral sessions (see below). Furthermore, the authors of posters containing material not presented elsewhere are asked to give a short oral introduction (max 3 min) for the poster to be presented at the end of each session.

Venue
VU University Amsterdam, Main building (Auditorium), The Netherlands (www.vu.nl)

Registration
The fee for this conference for workers and students not being affiliated to the LeCHE project is 100 Euro (students 50 Euro, with proof of status by forwarding a copy of their current student ID card). This includes the conference bag, a book of abstracts, all lunches, coffee breaks and receptions. 

The deadline for application to attend this conference is 1 June 2012
Deadline for abstract submission for the poster session is 15 May 2012:

Registration and abstract submission can be done by sending an e-mail to Lisette Kootker ([log in to unmask])


The Programme

Oral sessions

Session 1 – How to do it? Tools and recent developments in the study of ancient biomaterials
Session 2 – What is it all about? Milk, diet and health, past and present.
Session 3 – How did it all happen? Domestication, migration and the gene-culture co-evolution
Session 4 – Syntheses and the Future, including a round table discussion with Beth Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Jean-Denis Vigne (Paris), Jim Williams (Northampton), Richard Evershed (Bristol), Gert Jan Hiddink (Zoetermeer) &  Mark Thomas (London).


For more information, please contact Lisette Kootker ([log in to unmask])