BYLINE: Sydney Kern

Britney Kyle, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Northern Colorado is a biological anthropologist who seeks to understand human variation and evolution based on the study of populations from the last 10,000 years.

She most recently co-authored an article that appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Oct. 3, 2022, titled The diverse genetic origins of a Classical period Greek army, and featured in Science and the New York Times. Kyle's research explores how warfare and mercenaries may have played an important role in large-scale movements of individuals in the ancient Greek world. The classical Mediterranean world was characterized by long-distance interactions catalyzed in part by political and military altercations. Kyle and her colleagues, Laurie Reitsema, Alissa Mittnik, David Caramelli, Ron Pinhasi and David Reich, provide genetic evidence that armed conflict served as a contact mechanism among diverse ancient populations in classical antiquity.

Read more about Kyle’s background: https://www.unco.edu/hss/anthropology/about/faculty/britney-kyle.aspx