On April 2nd, 2025, I had the opportunity to attend a stimulating workshop hosted by the British School at Rome (BSR) titled “So Close and Yet So Far: A Critical Approach to Mobility in the Past.” The event was organized by my secondment host Prof. Alessia Nava, alongside Prof. Luca Bondioli, Dr. Carmen Esposito, and other experts in the field. This workshop served as a dynamic platform for sustained and critical discussion of bioarchaeological methods for studying human mobility, exploring their potential to answer broader archaeological questions. Unlike many conferences where the focus is often on showcasing the most promising results, this gathering took a refreshingly critical stance, openly addressing the methodological challenges and interpretative pitfalls we frequently encounter in mobility research.
Attending this workshop alongside my secondment activities was a valuable chance to get an up-to-date overview of current debates and reflect deeply on the limitations and opportunities in our field. It felt very much like a training day—inviting us to rethink and refine our approaches for analyzing mobility in the past.