Dr. Christopher Beekman of Anthropology and his colleagues have published "A collaborative synthetic view of migration in archaeology: Addressing challenges for policymakers" in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
This article presents the latest results of a collaborative project that seeks to develop recommendations for policymakers on migration by drawing upon the incomparable dataset accessible to archaeologists. We present detailed case studies from very different cultural contexts, prioritized by what are called "modalities" – the different challenges to migrants and the types of capital used to overcome them. We observe that these challenges are often cumulative, placing more burdens upon migrants that ultimately undermine a successful outcome.
The project is one of several ongoing by the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis, which aims to inform policymakers based on archaeology's long-term and material perspective.