Lecture by Dr Natacha Buc
On behalf of Professor Justyna Baron from the Institute of Archeology at the University of Wrocław, we are pleased to invite you to a lecture by Dr Natacha Buc (University of Buenos Aires), currently undertaking a research stay at the University of Wrocław as part of the Visiting Professors program within the IDUB initiative.
The lecture, entitled “Bones, Marks, and Narratives: Rethinking the Peopling of the Americas through the Ameghino Collection (Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris)”, will take place on 13 May 2026 at 2:00p.m. at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Wrocław, Szewska 48 Street, room 203.
Abstract: Florentino Ameghino was a nineteenth-century naturalist who proposed that the people of the Americas had occurred much earlier than was commonly believed at the time. His hypothesis was based on the discovery of supposedly ancient bones, sometimes associated with extinct fauna, which he interpreted as bearing traces of human activity. Although later research demonstrates that these discoveries were not as early as originally assumed, it is now widely accepted that extinct megafauna coexisted with the earliest human populations in the Americas.
By examining the history of the discovery, circulation, and interpretation of these materials, the lecture explores their role in early debates concerning the people of the Americas and the antiquity of humankind on the continent.
Dr Natacha Buc specialises in the study of hunter-gatherer communities inhabiting the lowlands of Argentina, particularly the Lower Parana Valley and the Río de la Plata basin. Her research combines classical archaeological methods with technological, functional, and experimental analyses. She employs microwear analysis to determine how tools were used and to reconstruct production processes, from the selection of raw materials and processing techniques to the final use of artefacts. This approach makes it possible not only to reconstruct past technologies, but also to gain a deeper understanding of labour organisation, specialisation, and relationships between humans and the environment.
Translated by Dominika Łuczak (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
Date of publication: 4.05.2026
Added by: MJ
