This year I have the privilege of lecturing in lithics, experimental archaeology, human evolution, early prehistory, and the European Lower Palaeolithic at U. of Reading. It's a lot...but also, very exciting to be in a position to share my knowledge and experience with students!

Al contrario que el desarrollo prolongado en el neurocráneo de H. sapiens y H. erectus, en Au. afarensis y P. robustus los patrones de desarrollo son variables: Complex and diverse patterns of neurocranial development in Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo

Academia doesn't have a healthy work culture, and neither does America. So imagine my (total lack of) surprise when I got proofs for an article ON Christmas day from a big American journal, followed by email reminders to do them w/in 48 hours. Nope nope nope. I am on vacation. Enjoy your breaks!

I am very happy to see this published! Congratulations 🥳 to Okopi Ade, it was a pleasure to have you in our lab at @tracer-leiza.bsky.social @paleomonrepos.bsky.social @leizarchaeology.bsky.social We all learned a lot

Last weekend I got out on my board for a wonderful session (just me and a few others out on the meanders). Today might be the last warm day before the temperature drops by quite a large margin so maybe I can fit one more in for 2025!

Our wider research culture in archaeology is a shame, I hang on dearly to those collaborators that are decent, supportive (especially of early career researchers), share ideas, work well with others, and understand what 'constructive' feedback means. Every day I try to be that person for others.

Two key points from our paper: 1. We found wooden spears to be 'effective' on large prey, whether thrust or thrown. Results were pretty similar between the two. 2. We still think the Boxgrove horse was hunted! Just, that based on the experiments, that particular piece of evidence doesn't hold!

Avoid jumping to conclusions about mechanisms behind large-scale genetic shifts in the past! This paper doesn’t prove that small scale migrations of Homo sapiens led to the gradual replacement of Neanderthal DNA but suggests this explanation is as good as any other. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Time to update your Palaeolithic palettes... 🔵 Very proud to share our new research on the OLDEST use of blue pigment! We identified traces of azurite - a vibrant blue mineral - on a stone object around 14-13,000 years old. Why is this so exciting? 👇🏺 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

Latest paper: Boxgrove is a key European site dating to 480,000 years ago. At GTP17, hominins knapped handaxes and then butchered an adult female horse. A fragment of the horse's scapula appeared to have evidence of impact from a wooden spear..... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Help maybe? I'm trying to finalise a grant budget and include some £££ for artistic reconstructions but I haven't had much luck getting estimated costs. I'd LOVE to pay real artists for this...but if I don't know how much to cost for I can't really budget for it.

@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised! 3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution 2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions. Please share and apply! www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Interested in post-doctoral research on hunter-gatherers with me at @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social? Main source of funding is from Research Ireland (see below). Deadline 23/10/25. Please contact me to discuss. www.researchireland.ie/funding/gove...

Today I got to do something really fun that I've needed to do for a little while: Thanks to @kentwildlife.bsky.social I got to visit the original UK beaver release site to collect some beaver gnawed wood for my wood reference collection, and see this amazingly re-engineered landscape! 🦫🪵

🚨 We are hiring!! 🚨 The Cluster of Excellence 'HUMAN ORIGINS' is looking for: - a scientific coordinator - a science communication officer 🚨 Deadline: September 15 🚨 See links for the full advertisements: uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet... uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

🚨 Job alert! The new Cluster of Excellence 'HUMAN ORIGINS' is looking for a scientific coordinator to start as soon as possible. Please see link for full advertisement text and information. Deadline for applications: September 15 uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

And Palaeolithic archaeology, which remains hugely behind too. 'This is not about political correctness or ticking boxes....Diverse teams deliver better science: they ask different questions, challenge old assumptions, and produce richer, more nuanced insights.' www.heriuct.co.za/news-content...

If I could move I'd be all over this...! What a great position.

I am extremely honored that our Cluster of Excellence 'HUMAN ORIGINS' was selected for funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft!! This is incredible news and I look forward to exciting times ahead setting up this new Cluster!

I'm stepping down after 5 years as a co-chair, so please do vote for the new co-chair to join co-chairs Silje Evjenth Bentsen and Andrej Maczkowski!

in a way aren't we all looking for more sink cheese where we found it yesterday

Just 1 week left to apply! 🙏 Pls share with anyone you think might be interested. If there are any Q's, get in touch! 👉 3x PhD position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html 👉 2yr Postdoc position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....

🚨 Who made the Oldowan? - New paper from Eleanor Williams www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Dig. Discover. Document. Repeat. What a year it's been! From the field to the lab, every artifact tells a story. Here are some highlights from our archaeological adventures so far. ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyMatters #SharmaHeritage #SCHE

Reminder - today is the last day to send us statements to join the PaM community as a co-chair. The position will go to a vote soon. Thank you!

I've loved being co-chair of this amazing community, but it's time to pass on the baton. Please do spread the news, this is a brilliant opportunity and one through which I met many fantastic researchers and colleagues.

Spent the day with master flint knapper, John Lord, to 3D scan handaxes. Some were made by him, but this one was collected from a quarry spoil heap at Lynford and dates to 65,000 years ago! Fresh as the day it was made!

I've loved being co-chair of this amazing community, but it's time to pass on the baton. Please do spread the news, this is a brilliant opportunity and one through which I met many fantastic researchers and colleagues.

Into the Wild: Re-wilding and the #Historic #Environment Questionnaire for landowners/land managers, #nature managers, #ecologists, #archaeologists and historic land managers around the topic of #rewilding led by @fossilbeetle.bsky.social ‬ intothewildnetwork.glasgow.ac.uk/questionnaire/

Observations from a seminar series in Biology shows that "Female speakers had smaller audiences, especially among professors, even with comparable productivity metrics." https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/7175/ recommended @PeerCommunityIn Ecology […] [Original post on fediscience.org]

Do you know of a museum, library, or archive that offers images from their collection for publication or presenting, for free? Please use the form below to help crowd-source a list of these magical places!

The post-doc / project manager will use the data collected by the PhD projects (and other sources) to run Agent Based Models exploring how plant properties and distributions may have influenced Homo erectus migration patterns, and compare these to other potential explanations for the migration.

The first PhD position will explore whether it's possible to find evidence of smoke, bee products, and fermentation in dental calculus, using a model system developed in my lab. www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/vacancies...

The second PhD position will explore the costs and benefits of plant foods, through the nutritional analysis of wild plants and energetics experiments designed to measure the caloric costs of food collection and processing. www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/vacancies...

I've been pondering research culture. Turns out this is one of the most important features of a department for me. I have, and still do, travel significant distances in order to work within positive, supportive departments, and actively avoid those lacking a strong commitment to putting people 1st.

Hot off the press! The free OA Field Guide to Cross-Cultural Research on Childhood Learning is set to be an amazing resource, and I'm super happy to have been one of the 60 (!!!) contributors.

Paddleboarding this morning on Cuckmere - one of the many physical things I regularly do to stay fit and (mostly) sane! Even if you love your job and feel it's a privilege, don't forget to work to live, not live to work. Take your weekends and holidays! #WorkToLive

Job announcement 🚨: paid fieldwork opportunity with Sanguatsiniq research project! Details in thread ⬇️ Please share!

The Sanguatsiniq project focuses on cultural and economic change in two Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic, Kangiqsujuaq and Ulukhaktok: sanguatsiniq.github.io

Join us online today 4-5 pm BST for our University of Reading Archaeology Seminar. Dr Sheina Lew-Levy's talk is exploring childhood socialization practices that support behavioural flexibility in hunter-gatherer societies. Joining link below!

Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education, sent Harvard a letter. They graded it. Bwahahaha.

The Prehistoric Society's Europa Conference 2025, Landscape Connectivity in Prehistory, is taking place Saturday June 7th in person at University of Reading, and online. Honouring Prof. Martin Bell + fantastic speakers! More info and registration here: www.prehistoricsociety.org/events/2025-...

#archaeology 🏺

ICYMI: due to the political situation in Serbia, EAA 2025 will now be virtual only, with reduced fees and with sessions spread over 5 days, Sept 4-6. The payment deadline for first authors and session organisers is May 26th. You can find further information here: www.e-a-a.org/EAA2025/Home...

My teenager has just been through a spinal fusion - a five hour surgery with a painful 12 month recovery. She's been incredible, but I absolutely also want to reiterate so many things shared in the quoted post - incredible medical professionals and rigorous systems to keep her alive through it all.

I struggle regularly with staying in academia, but I hang in here because I adore archaeology and the people I work with. Today it's 'death by bureaucracy' - cannot add my kid (still a minor) onto my flight plan booked through host's university's agent, but can't travel without her either. Sigh.

Europe stands with Ukraine. My birth country is a total disgrace.

Seems like now is a good a time as any to remind UK academias that they can mentor Ukrainian colleagues looking to continue their work through the on-going invasion via the @scienceforukraine.bsky.social initiative. #StandWithUkraine scienceforukraine.eu/d/U3396

As always, @chriswarcraft.bsky.social is a real one.

Looking to start a PhD? Want to work with us on the Gippsland coast of Australia to study how people interacted with marine molluscs over thousands of years? If so, get in touch! Deadline for applications is 27 March, 2025. #Archaeology #biodiversity #PhD www.sydney.edu.au/scholarships...