The lab aims to deepen collaboration between medieval studies and disciplines such as archaeology, archaeogenetics, climate and environmental research, as well as other natural sciences. Its goal is to expand the source base of historical research, improve the communication of research findings, and strengthen the role of the historical sciences in interpreting scientific evidence about the past. Particular emphasis will be placed on enhancing the use of bioinformatics methods, digital visualization technologies, and AI.

The first thematic focus, “Microhistories of Change: Mautern as an Interdisciplinary Case Study (400–1100)”, centers on the cemetery of Mautern (Burggartengasse/Kainzstraße). It explores questions of population continuity, local communities, and transformation in the Middle Danube region between Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages—an era characterized by profound political, social, and climatic upheavals. The more than 400 already documented and genetically analyzed graves indicate continuous use of the site, which can only be partially documented by written sources. The aim of the lab’s interdisciplinary collaboration is to use this exemplary case to develop new perspectives on population continuity, both stabilizing and disruptive factors, and local as well as supra-regional interconnections.