Who are we?

Envisioned in 2022 and established in 2023 under the sponsorship of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Bioanthropological Latin American Network (BLAN) is a community of scientists researching ancient human remains located in Latin America, in the context of the Global South. Our mission is the protection of our regional biocultural heritage by establishing and advocating for ethical guidelines for collaboration between researchers from our region and the Global North, in addition to strengthening bioanthropological research in Latin America by empowering members of the scientific community. We seek to achieve these goals through the communication of scientific findings, the organization of meetings and the exchange of skills and experience.

Our official blog and our social media fulfill these purposes by disseminating the results of research carried out in the region, organizing and participating in online debates, broadcasting our agenda, and convening meetings, as well as linking or storing scientific publications and preprints of the members of our Network. In the future, we aim to host courses, seminars and workshops that allow our colleagues to develop skills and aptitudes that foster more successful research careers.

Our founding members include people with diverse views and identities working in a wide range of subdisciplines in bioanthropology.