On the 12th of January 2026, the ESTER project held its introductory Advisory Board meeting, bringing together an international group of scholars with expertise in archaeological demography, quantitative methods, radiocarbon modelling, and large-scale data integration.
The meeting marked the formal start of the Advisory Board’s engagement with ESTER and served to introduce the project’s overall vision, structure, and current status during its early, formative phase. Rather than focusing on reporting or evaluation, the session was explicitly designed as an open discussion, aimed at collecting strategic guidance on scientific priorities, methodological risks, and long-term positioning.
Discussions centred on key questions for the coming project phase, including the balance between breadth and depth in early pilot studies, strategies for demonstrating methodological robustness, and the importance of infrastructure, openness, and sustainable project culture. Particular emphasis was placed on ensuring that ESTER develops not only as a data resource, but as a genuinely integrative modelling framework capable of advancing archaeological demography beyond existing approaches.
We are grateful to all Advisory Board members for their thoughtful contributions and constructive engagement. The insights gathered during this meeting will directly inform the refinement of ESTER’s priorities and workflows in the coming months, and provide an important foundation for continued dialogue as the project progresses.