Shropshire Christmas Eve, the Black Hill settles itself down for a long winter's nap

A lovely thing: my hope as a writer is to both inform and also to evoke 📚

Actually ❤️ this

Midwinter misty gloaming... calendrical New Year's Eve has never meant much to me (beyond partying when still young enough to avoid hangovers), but solstices are different. I ❤️ Midsummer, but it's Yule that increasingly draws me to mark it, circling the flames as the year turns again 🕯️

Midwinter misty gloaming... calendrical New Year's Eve has never meant much to me (beyond partying when still young enough to avoid hangovers), but solstices are different. I ❤️ Midsummer, but it's Yule that increasingly draws me to mark it, circling the flames as the year turns again 🕯️

🏺🗃️ Been to loads of museums/exhibitions in the past year, am going to try and share more photos over the holidays, so here's a favourite object from the excellent #MadeInEgypt show at the Fitzwilliam, Cambridge: Tiny wood figurine of a woman with inlaid eyes, c. 1943-1898 BCE

#FossilFriday DAN5/P1, Gona, Ethiopia ~1.6 Ma: intricate evolutionary transition from early Homo to H. erectus + long persistence of small-brained, plesiomorphic Homo group(s) alongside other Homo groups that experienced continued encephalization doi.org/10.1038/s414...

And this is exactly the reason why there should be a professional ethics framework agreed with urgency for #gen-AI, in particular photo-realistic stuff : archaeologists and heritage orgs who use it for general outreach & #SciComm are contributing to this problem.

🏺 On #archaeology, the practice and meaning of it, as emotionally resonant & inspirational; reminds me of the affection and something more - wonder? reverence? - behind Detectorists, the soundtrack for that, and the musical connection through to Digging For Britain as Time Team's successor.

🏺🗃️ Been to loads of museums/exhibitions in the past year, am going to try and share more photos over the holidays, so here's a favourite object from the excellent #MadeInEgypt show at the Fitzwilliam, Cambridge: Tiny wood figurine of a woman with inlaid eyes, c. 1943-1898 BCE

🧪🦣 🏺 Super thread on complexity & pitfalls in using genetics to - crudely put - explain why H. sapiens are here but #Neanderthals aren't. For me, it underlines as usual that while the DNA revolution has been amazing, the #archaeology - what humans actually did - remains central to understanding.

🏺🧪 I'll also note that in a lot of recent #gen-AI content I've seen specifically created for human origins /palaeoanth outreach, the extent of stereotypes and racial bias in images is striking (apparently unnoticed or ignored by producers)

And this is exactly the reason why there should be a professional ethics framework agreed with urgency for #gen-AI, in particular photo-realistic stuff : archaeologists and heritage orgs who use it for general outreach & #SciComm are contributing to this problem.

Immense excitement for this incredible opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Land of Anning and begin this new @trowelblazers.bsky.social project! Huge thanks to Landmark Trust for supporting our work.

PSA to anyone I've ever helped, feel free to make me an Eemian ecosystem terrarium, tiny beaver model and dam optional 😍

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🏺 Recs for recent (& accessible to non-specialists) books on later prehistoric Europe?

Immense excitement for this incredible opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Land of Anning and begin this new @trowelblazers.bsky.social project! Huge thanks to Landmark Trust for supporting our work.

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Down the right alley, from the right angle, York rewards you with collaged history.

Down the right alley, from the right angle, York rewards you with collaged history.

We've had quite a special 24 hours!

We've had quite a special 24 hours!

Ps TAG uk! You’re getting 3/4 of us! Not at the same time natch 😅🤘 catch @lemoustier.bsky.social and @toriherridge.bsky.social today then stay for the angriest data activism paper you’ve yet seen from @brennawalks.bsky.social tomorrow

Would be v interested to see how this compares to opinions a decade ago, before trans people faced an accelerating onslaught of negative campaigning & media attention

Hello! A little Sunday evening survey... 📝 We're looking for examples where info or resources concerning achievements of 🏺⛏️ #trowelblazing women in archaeology, geology or palaeontology have been removed or vanished from public sources in the past year due to external pressures... Pls repost!

🏺 For anyone reading this @livescience.com piece, I don't know of any #Neanderthal sites with "ritual 'altars' of circular or arranged skulls", whether hominin or bear. (for clarity I was asked to comment for this but did not have time)

Just spent a lovely hour talking to @jacquelyngill.bsky.social & @phoebefossil.bsky.social for their forthcoming podcast series which will be SUPERB @makeaplanetpod.bsky.social (you'll have to listen to find out my favourite kind of pie 🥧) www.makeaplanetpod.earth

Interested in connections between #history & #CreativeWriting / #poetry? @ihr.bsky.social is seeking a Creative Practitioner in Residence for 2026. £1000 monthly stipend, opportunities for collaboration & developing projects. Happy to have a chat! Please share: www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...

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This is a keeper! I cannot afford to buy many books, but this is an outstanding work and was worth having a copy. One of a couple science books bringing tears to my eyes, and makes an excellent reference book.

🏺🦣🧪 A short chat with @whippletom.bsky.social about this discovery and its broader context www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I love so many things about Kindred, but the one thing I love the most is the way Becky separates her imaginative, intuitive, deeply emotional responses to the archaeology from her clear-sighted critique of the evidence. Best of both worlds. Story, and science ❤️

Kindred is that rare book that layers solid science with careful, caring interpretations of human history. Highly recommend! It makes an amazing gift ♥️🎁

Not sure even in previous information revolutions was there a situation where fake info was being disseminated on anything like this scale. Gossip, skewed reporting, shady advertising, yes... but endless tainted #AI dross swilling through the web that isn't even directly selling anything? That's new

It's OK back on the OLD old stuff today 😉

🎄 📚 A Christmas book post: Endless love to everyone who has supported #Kindred over the years - if you've read & loved it, consider gifting it to someone else this year, or you can give me a little 🎁 with a review! (on whichever website you prefer)

🎄 📚 A Christmas book post: Endless love to everyone who has supported #Kindred over the years - if you've read & loved it, consider gifting it to someone else this year, or you can give me a little 🎁 with a review! (on whichever website you prefer)

🏺🦣🧪 A short chat with @whippletom.bsky.social about this discovery and its broader context www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

🧪 #Palaeolithic scicomm : words & visuals matter in reporting. Based on Google News results, all but three major news sites used some variation of "human" or "people" to report this. Those that didn't? BBC & The Guardian used "man" (now altered)... and GB news used "cavemen" (I'd bet deliberately)

📻 Listen out for Inside Science on BBC Radio 4 at 16.30 today where I'll be talking to Tom Whipple about this new find!

Would like to ask all the 'For Women' types how they feel about creating a social environment where secondary school kids are now targeting girls for gender-policing because they have short-ish hair and wear trousers

🧪🏺🦣 Strong case for *oldest fire-starting* 🔥 capacity, before 400 Ka, suggested by multi-stranded analysis: geochem, magnetic, sedimentary evidence of anthropogenic burning, + heated lithics + remains of iron pyrite. Behaviourally heading towards #Neanderthals. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧪🏺🦣 Strong case for *oldest fire-starting* 🔥 capacity, before 400 Ka, suggested by multi-stranded analysis: geochem, magnetic, sedimentary evidence of anthropogenic burning, + heated lithics + remains of iron pyrite. Behaviourally heading towards #Neanderthals. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🏺 You want ancient shields? Not only can you gawp close-up at huge Bronze & Iron Age examples, but also see gorgeous mini votive shields from hoards - showing real variety in form - and the simply astonishing Enderby BARK SHIELD, which revealed true diversity in Iron Age materials & artisan skill.

🏺 Top tip for British Museum visitors: go across the court, up rotunda stairs, cross bridge into upper floor, head past crowds aiming for Egypt and Mesopotamia, and go straight to Rooms 50 and 51 where the most stunning array of glories from later prehistory await you!

🏺One thing that I find interesting about natural tufa sites is that a number in Europe have produced #Neanderthal remains. Love this one, accumulating its own much more recent cultural record!

my Palaeolithic friends looking at my TL full of sexy Metal Ages content, saying "what HAPPENED to her"

Some teeny tiny punched deco from one of the Snettisham Great torc terminals. I love the way the ripples within each little line show each time the maker struck their punch... Ting, ting, ting... 🎶 If you want to know more about the patterns: bigbookoftorcs.com/2022/05/29/p... #Archaeology 🏺