A fantastic week at the #AWRANA2026 with presentations by @paulovaml.bsky.social, @keyandesj.bsky.social and myself from the #ERCStG ExOsTech team with new insights into European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic unmodified bone tools. Many thanks to the organizers for making this gathering memorable!

Were all ‘smoothers’ used to smooth hides? Likely not! In a new study, we demonstrate the relevance of quantitative use wear methods to document the function of Middle Palaeolithic bone tools. Turns out that Neanderthals at Abri du Maras, Rhône Valley, France, used bone tools to flay carcasses…

Since Nov. 17, @keyandesj.bsky.social is at the Angoulême Museum to study the bone tools from Artenac. This fantastic collection is crucial for the #ERCStG ExOsTech to understand the origin and development of bone tools in Europe. @univbordeaux.bsky.social

With @lucdoyon.bsky.social , we discussed how beads and bone tool technology can help trace the dispersal of Homo sapiens across Eurasia. Our colleague N. Zwyns (PACEA) shared new insights on the IUP in mainland Asia (~45 ka), and P. Zhang (PACEA) presented on stone tool tech in China MIS 3.

Happy to be in Dryanovo, Bulgaria, for a fascinating IUP workshop organized by Tsenka Tsanova and her team. And honoured to be among 40 years history of collaborations involving @univbordeaux.bsky.social reunited here with colleagues from ~15 Eurasian countries…

For the last weeks, @paulovaml.bsky.social and I were at the Paläon Museum to study the bone tools from Schöningen. This fantastic collection is crucial for the #ERCStG ExOsTech to understand the origin of bone tools in Europe. @univbordeaux.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social @pacea.bsky.social

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Atapuerca reescribe la historia del primer poblamiento europeo 🦴Un estudio del @iphes-cerca.bsky.social, en el que participan dos institutos del #CSIC, atribuye un fragmento facial hallado en #Atapuerca a la especie ‘Homo affinis erectus’ 👉http://tiny.cc/vg2d001 🎥 Antonio Rodríguez (#IAM_CSIC)👇

The end of a fruitful week in Halle (Saale, Germany) with colleagues from the Landesmuseum, studying ornaments for my THREADS project @nouvelleaquitaine.bsky.social and bone tools with L. Doyon for his ERC ExOsTech research. Exciting insights @univbordeaux.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social

Ancient humans were systematically producing bone tools as early as 1.5 million years ago, according to a study in Nature. Bone tools discovered in Tanzania pre-date previous evidence of systematic bone tool production by more than a million years. https://go.nature.com/3XpB20D 🏺 🧪

Systematic bone tool production at 1.5 million years ago www.nature.com/articles/s41... congrats!!

#PressRelease🗞️ Twenty-seven standardised bone tools dating back more than 1.5 million years were recently discovered in Tanzania. This discovery challenges our understanding of early hominin technological evolution. 👉 www.cnrs.fr/en/press/sta...

Registrations "Digital Archaeology" Summer School! June 30 – July 5, 2025 @univbordeaux.bsky.social hands-on introduction to Photogrammetry 3D modeling Geometric morphometrics Surface roughness quantification Epigraphic data & AI tools. limited seats—don’t miss this opportunity! shorturl.at/vjwM7

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Fresh out of the oven… New discovery from the Olduvai Gorge Archaeology Project led by I. de la Torre and J. Njau in collaboration with Maasai people and local collaborators in Tanzania. @csic.es @pacea.bsky.social @univbordeaux.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social

This week, we are in Halle (Saale) at the @landesmuseumhalle.bsky.social to study bone tools and ornaments with Jörg, Arev, @marcel-weiss.bsky.social, @solangerigaud.bsky.social, @cedric-beauval.bsky.social… #ERC_StG ExOsTech @pacea.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social @univbordeaux.bsky.social

This week, we are in Brussels at the IRSNB to collect data for Kelly-Ann Desjardins’ master thesis. She compares retouchers on human and animal bones to establish whether the human ones were used in a symbolic way! ERC StG ExOsTech @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social @cedric-beauval.bsky.social

Notre chère collègue à la une !

Excited for today's 'Surface' team meeting! Discussion on our work on high-res methods for studying modifications on bone/stone artifacts. Plus, we welcome our new postdoc, P. Mateo Lomba (ERC ExOsTech @lucdoyon.bsky.social ) to the team! @cnrsecologie.bsky.social @univbordeaux.bsky.social

Nice interview @hrougier.bsky.social !!!

Oh how much I like that reply…

Fresh out of the oven… a critical evaluation of DLCV methods to infer the agents responsible for bone surface modifications with Courtenay, Vanderesse, Souron and myself. @pacea.bsky.social @univbordeaux.bsky.social @cnrs.bsky.social #ERCStG ExOsTech journal.caa-international.org/articles/10....

Looking for a postdoc in use-wear analysis of Pleistocene expedient osseous tools? Check out this offer from the #ERCStG ExOsTech project at #universitébordeaux euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/296676