Archaeologists seek better pay after many ‘bled out of the profession’ due to low wages

Airport bookshop at Johannesburg: perceptive categorisation

Tomorrow afternoon I will present the results of our work on Middle and Later Stone Age archaeology at Umhlatuzana 🏺 I promise an AI-free ppt! You can watch it live online here: www.youtube.com/live/Zo-mLI9... (Provided the spare tyre I just put on the car holds for about 370 km)

Proud that after five years of careful analysis and discussion our paper "Lasting Lower Rhine-Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion" has now been published.

De enige AI die we willen!✨🏺

The Association of Archaeologists in Greece, representing all the archaeologists with permanent contracts in the state sector, is withdrawing its participation in the organizing of the @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social conference in Athens..Open letter, in English, below. archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...

Between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago, South African societies radically reorganised their stone tool technology. Does this reflect cognitive evolution, or something else? Our analysis at Umhlatuzana suggests the latter. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

With the extension of the EAA 2026 deadline, it may be good to reiterate the need for a boycott of the event until the EAA executive steps down.

1/3 New recommendation: Shumon T. Hussain (2025). The Loss of Typological Innocence: Pluralism in the Epistemology and Ontology of Archaeological Typo-Praxis. v3 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Archaeology doi.org/10.5281/zeno... @shumon.bsky.social 🧪🏺

🖐️ Handmotieven in een grot op Sulawesi mogelijk de oudste grotkunst ooit gevonden 🌍 De datering is 'absoluut spectaculair', vertelt @dussel.bsky.social (@unileiden.bsky.social) in @trouw.nl, maar wie de kunst maakte blijft zeer onzeker. @dearcheoloog.bsky.social @leidenarchaeo.bsky.social

@avrotros.bsky.social asked me what the use of commercial DNA testing for Neanderthal ancestry is? Does it tell you anything about the state of your health? Functionally, knowing your percentage seems meaningless. radar.avrotros.nl/artikel/test...

Amazing new ages for human handprints in Sulawesi at 70,000 years-old. 🏺 I was asked to provide context for Dutch newspapers. I radmire the work, but think it calls for a serious evaluation of the possibility of other humans than Homo sapiens making some of the art. www.trouw.nl/wetenschap/h...

A group of current and past EAA members and action groups are calling for a (first) Counter Conference open online meeting for all of you to join to get information, voice your concerns and discuss next steps (date TBA).

Tired of excuses and obfuscation from the EAA Executive? Want a collegial and supportive society fit for its members? Then #boycottEAA Read our call for voting and boycotting below! If you want a detailed description of the events so far please read: drive.google.com/file/d/1jdGO...

Told you so...

The Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the National Museum, Bloemfontein (South Africa) is inviting applications for the James Brink Field School in Pleistocene Archaeology and Palaeontology. For more info see image below :)🦣⛏️

Fossilised ideas from 2024 In 2023/4 I wrote a book review. Due to mission creep it expanded into a review article changing understanding of the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic over the last 20 years. Publication took so long that I completely forgot about it. poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?...

Grote zorgen om kwaliteit water Ringvaart en daarmee ook Amsterdamse Bos. "Dit water is zo zwaar vervuild dat het daar zelfs de ruime advieswaarden voor veilig zwemwater overschrijdt."

Archaeologists: D.C. Capitol May Have Once Been Used For Legislating https://theonion.com/archaeologists-d-c-capitol-may-have-once-been-used-for-legislating/

🏺🦣🧪 V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka. Thoughts: - tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka - focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

It seems the actions of EAA are designed to have a UISPP-WAC type split. I wonder by when we will have an EAC? Reading tip for EAA board 🏺: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi... Academic freedom is not "anything goes". 1/3

🚨Urgent‼️ The EAA has doxxed members who have been working to reestablish justice, democracy and accountability in the association. This is a chilling move. We must take action. ALL EAA MEMBERS OUT FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING THIS FRIDAY JAN 9TH! #EAAforDemocracy

Venezuela has oil. Greenland has rare Earth minerals. Luckily Iceland has only volcanoes, glaciers, and very average cricketers.

New Year's Eve here in Holland has the same soundtrack as people in Kiev or Gaza are subjected to the entire year. Luckily it's only fireworks, not ordnance. Makes me realise how lucky we are to have electricity, running water, heating, etc. And how much I hate fireworks.

So why can't we do this with detecting? Why not a license required to own a detector and an online test (to check knowledge of the law and Code of Practice) to be completed before license granted...? #Archaeology #Detecting 🏺 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My thoughts on the APPAG detecting report and an update on donations... #Archaeology #Treasure #Detecting 🏺 bigbookoftorcs.com/2025/12/29/t...

Je kunt haar wel degelijk verwijten geen zelfspot te hebben en daarbovenop dat ze niet begrijpt wat zelfspot is.

Archaeology can determine what _actually_ happened on battlefields. But all the other archaeologies are more interesting.

Our @bes-cascade.bsky.social survey of ecologists asked which socio-political changes might be most effective in the biodiversity & climate crises Broad-scale transformative changes were most selected Biodiversity or carbon credits, use of AI, & de-extinction were each selected in <1% of responses

After the British navy combatting scurvy with lime juice, it seems in WWII the British army went one better!

To govern well is to anticipate. The Rijksmuseum establishing facilities and at the same time helping the Dutch get used to their new capital! Eindhoven will inevitably become the Netherlands' capital city as Amsterdam is swallowed by the sea in the coming century. nos.nl/artikel/2594...

All archaeologists should be aware of how our discipline is being used in Palestine right now 🏺

𝗪𝗮𝘁 𝘇𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗸 𝗱𝗮𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝗸? Ism Daniel Soliman (RMO) troffen archeologen @apolitopoulos.bsky.social & @waltros.bsky.social (@unileiden.bsky.social) een bordspel aan op het dak van de tempel @rmoudheden.bsky.social 🎙️In deze podcast vertellen ze over de ontdekking⤵️ @leidencity.bsky.social

Neanderthalers deden aan kannibalisme. Door DNA-onderzoek weten we nu ook dat de slachtoffers vrouwen en kinderen konden zijn: 'Dit lijkt in ieder geval één geval van een vrij kille selectie van de makkelijkst buit te maken individuen', vertelt archeoloog @dussel.bsky.social

Deliberate fire-making by humans in the UK may date to more than 400,000 years ago, according to evidence in Nature. The findings predate previous evidence for the deliberate lighting of fires by around 350,000 years. go.nature.com/4oKHAS4 🏺 🧪

Angry Academics in Amsterdam, hoping the next government may put a stop to the systematic destruction of higher education in the Netherlands. #WOinActie

I was asked to explain recent analyses of Neanderthal cannibalism at Goyet Cave on Dutch radio earlier today. www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/o...

Om 10u00 @ovt-vpro.bsky.social de documentaire Two Plus Two Is Five over het gedachtegoed van George Orwell, Russisch gas in Europa, Neanderthalers aten vrouwen en kinderen, Marine-vrouwen en meer @thomasheij.bsky.social @dussel.bsky.social @nporadio1.bsky.social www.vpro.nl/ovt/artikele...

This is not true. These are the figures for England and Wales (where the 1996 Treasure Act and subsequent amendments apply). It's a complete mess. #Archaeology 🏺 #Detecting #Treasure

Our new ancient DNA paper has just been published! We present 28 new genomes from southern Africa - several of them high-coverage whole genomes. Exciting to be moving towards population-level representation of ancient southern African genetic diversity! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Go watch it and share to fight these bastards. It's both funny and exposes these liars They claim to be pro free speech and then work to cancel me for no reason other than they don't like my critique. They're petty hypocrites Link to video here: youtu.be/oFOFSuHHGzs

Sleeping on his side may be the least of this guy's problems. Also: AI pictures are just so ugly. Do people actually click on these things?

Appros of nothing, The Sussex mammoth Map www.google.com/maps/d/edit?... 🦣🏺

Mediterranean soils can distort ancient plant oil residues, causing decades of olive oil identifications to be wrong. New experiments show how soil chemistry reshapes archaeological interpretations. #Archaeochemistry #Archaeology #Mediterranean #Science www.anthropology.net/p/when-soil-...

This is so problematic. Creating big-money grants (7m EUR!) is such a travesty. Instead of funding 1 researcher, why not fund 25 with smaller grants? It would create more ideas, secure more careers, and create so much more innovative knowledge. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Congratulations to my colleague Dr Ben Jennings on his recent publication in Antiquity - a must read if you're into Wetlands and Archaeology. Find the article here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This must be the awesomest animal in the history of life. The sun can safely explode right now. Earth has peaked 55 million years ago. www.bbc.com/news/article...

7th October 2025 289 Detected Iron Age coins. "as the years move on, I feel it is time to pass on part of this collection to fellow enthusiasts, collectors & historians." AKA flogging them to highest bidder to do what they want with... #Archaeology 🏺 #Detecting www.noonans.co.uk/archive/spec...

In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀

I was shocked to hear of proposed cuts to the Earth Sciences at the @uniofleicester.bsky.social. The School of Geography, Geology and the Environment is a world class department. These cuts are a mindless destruction of academic and intellectual capital. c.org/5rcbPjDb2x