Welcome to the homepage of The Basel Initiative for Integrative Ancient History.

Founded in 2018 as the Basel Climate & Ancient History Lab, our initiative has evolved into a broader platform for research, teaching, and public engagement dedicated to the study of the ancient world through the integration of historical, archaeological, environmental, and biological evidence.

Integrative Ancient History is a new approach to the study of the ancient world. It seeks to overcome the traditional separation between textual, archaeological, and scientific evidence by integrating all available sources into historical interpretation. Ancient History is thus understood not as the study of texts alone, but as the critical synthesis of documentary, material, biological, and environmental evidence. Through this integration, historical questions can be addressed with greater precision and on a broader empirical foundation than ever before. The Basel programme combines research, teaching, and fieldwork to train a new generation of historians capable of working across the full spectrum of evidence for the ancient world.

Our research spans the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, encompassing topics such as environmental change, disease, migration, social resilience, agricultural production, human mobility, and the long-term dynamics between people and their environments. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative teaching, and international research partnerships, we aim to advance a new generation of historically informed and scientifically engaged scholarship.

Integrative Ancient History at Basel serves as an umbrella for a range of research projects, teaching initiatives, fieldwork programmes, and collaborative networks based at the University of Basel.

Climate • Environment • Health • Mobility • Society