New evaluation of the taxonomic affinities of the Late Pleistocene fossil hominin from Kabua, Kenya. Very happy to finally have the chance to finish and publish this work, nearly a decade after a very happy time in Tuebingen working on it with excellent colleagues.

doi.org/10.1111/1467...

New preprint with Rafael Leite, Sandro Reia and Paulo Campos

Cumulative Cultural Evolution in Structured Populations

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

In which we take an old model of cumulative cultural evolution of mine and see what happens if you add social networks

Scientific Research Fellowship (BI) 014/2026 NOTICE NO. 014/2026 COMPETITION FOR THE AWARD OF A GRANT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE RESEARCH GRANT REGULATIONS OF UNIVERSITY OF ALGARVE

Interested in Early Stone Age and Africanist Archaeology? Check out this doctoral research grant at @icarehb.bsky.social with @jonathanreeves.bsky.social in his project on Oldowan technology and Plio-Pleistocene hominin evolution 🦴⛏️🦣🪨

euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/427576

The Tool Systems Approach: Measuring Complexity in the Primatological, Archaeological, and Ethnographic Records - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Measuring technological complexity across species, as well as across temporal and spatial scales, is an ongoing challenge among authors who work on primatological, archaeological, and/or ethnographic questions. Researchers in these individual fields have developed a number of innovative ways of approaching this issue that reflect the specific affordances of their data with a known set of limitations. However, comparability between these approaches is often difficult. One such field-specific approach is the techno-unit method of Oswalt et al. (1976), which has had a massive impact on our interpretation of ethnographic technology over the fifty years since its publication. Nevertheless, this method has issues with its compression of variability and the different pathways to “complexity”. Here, we review a number of different ways technological complexity has been measured in non-human primates, the archaeological record, and modern human foragers, in order to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. We suggest that the approach deployed in any given study should continue to follow the data and research questions under consideration, but that we lack an easily-applicable method that allows explicit comparisons between fields of study. In this context, we introduce the Tool Systems Approach as one possible way of doing so, which decomposes tool manufacture into its constituent steps (i.e., Tool Systems Total) and discrete forms of action (i.e., Total Discrete Actions). We apply the approach to a number of different technologies across the three fields, to explore the practicalities of its application, as well as its limitations. Plotting these different technologies with regards to their maximum complexity through time reveals trends that may map onto important changes in cognitive evolution, which are also reflected in ever-growing variability in the complexity of individual artefacts. The ramifications for the study of technological complexity as a whole are discussed.

I am delighted to share our new paper on measuring complexity across the Primatological, Archaeological, and Ethnographic records, with an amazing team of co-authors - including the excellent @lucytimbrell96.bsky.social and @ceciliapad.bsky.social! Short 🧵 below /1

doi.org/10.1007/s108...

Check out our latest paper in JAMT on measuring tool complexity across different contexts 👇🏼 Big thanks to @jclark997.bsky.social for leading this project!

The Tool Systems Approach: Measuring Complexity in the Primatological, Archaeological, and Ethnographic Records - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Measuring technological complexity across species, as well as across temporal and spatial scales, is an ongoing challenge among authors who work on primatological, archaeological, and/or ethnographic ...

Our new paper exploring the measurement of complexity in tools - the result of significant and ongoing work, including that which emerged from our Complexity in Lithics Conference!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The Tool Systems Approach: Measuring Complexity in the Primatological, Archaeological, and Ethnographic Records - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Measuring technological complexity across species, as well as across temporal and spatial scales, is an ongoing challenge among authors who work on primatological, archaeological, and/or ethnographic ...

🚨🧪NEW PAPER!🚨 Led by the great @jclark997.bsky.social - We present the Tool Systems Approach: A method to calculate cultural complexity in a way that allows comparisons between the archaeological, ethnographic and primatological records, hence tackling big Qs in CE link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The origins and development of mobile containers: Biocultural perspectives on Pleistocene containment Containers are ubiquitous and universal across all present-day societies. The substantial increase in the quantity and diversity of containers in the …

Awhile back I meet the brilliant Jenni French & and now been lucky to collab on a project w/ her for the last ~3 yrs. Along with Somaye Khaksar & @anthrofuentes.bsky.social our 1st project paper is out, on origins & development of mobile containers (1/n) 🧪 🧺
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Management consultants are ruining UK universities Relentless off-the-peg commercial rewiring has undermined British higher education

Management consultants are ruining UK universities ft.trib.al/0LelZP9 | opinion

🚨I couldn’t be happier to share that today I’m officially starting my own research group at the Human Origins Cluster of Excellence in Tübingen (@humanorigins.bsky.social)!🚨We’ll explore drivers of genetic, phenotypic and cultural evolution by integrating evidence from many fields in creative ways 🧬

Yaaaay! Congratulations @ceciliapad.bsky.social 🥳🥰

Aterian shell beads from the coastal site of El Mnasra Cave (Rabat-Témara, Morocco): Specificities of the north African MSA personal ornaments The use of Nassariidea shells as personal ornaments is attested to an increasing number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological sites in northern and southern Africa. The chronological extent of this...

🏺🧪🦣 Large new MSA shell assemblage from Morocco, c 100 Ka, near shell source and with traces throwing light on potential uses

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Lessons from the Past takes place in less than two weeks! For those that are interested in joining, but can’t make it to Liverpool in person, online tickets to attend the first day of the conference are still available 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️

Sign up for your free ticket here: lessonsfromthepast.info/registration/

Join the University of Liverpool’s Department of Archaeology, for the hybrid conference - Lessons From the Past: UN SDGs. 🌍💡

Don’t miss out on the keynote talk from the renowned Professor Robert L Kelly taking place on the 23rd March, 5-6pm.👏

🔗 Book your space: lessonsfromthepast.info/keynote/

🚨🧬New preprint!🧪🚨"Cultural norms of exogamy and mobility shape hunter-gatherer genetic evolution".

We used demographic, genomic and mobility data from two hunter-gatherer populations to investigate how they mitigate negative fitness consequences of inbreeding.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

There are still free online tickets for the “Lessons from the Past” conference, hosted by the University of Liverpool on 23-24/03 lessonsfromthepast.info

We are particularly pleased to welcome Prof Robert L. Kelly to Liverpool for the keynote on “Learning from the Past how to Build the Future.” 😊

My next Webinar is in just one week!

Title: 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚

Organised by the Human Palaeosystems at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.

Free Zoom Registration --> www.gea.mpg.de/201476/cross...

A paper over then years in the making! Using Latent Class Models to categorise stone tool classes. Great to see it out after so long, and huge thanks to @lucytimbrell96.bsky.social for taking this to the finish line!

Assessing the Potential of Latent Class Modelling for Classifying Stone Artefacts and the Quantification of Technological Diversity - Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology - Archaeological typologies are used to determine the number and diversity of artefact forms within a prehistoric toolkit. However, objective classification is...

With @elliescerri.bsky.social and Matt Grove, we explore latent class modelling for quantifying stone tool assemblages in our new paper published in the Journal of Palaeolithic Archaeology 😊 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Unravelling the Palaeolithic 2026!

Join us for two days of all things Palaeolithic, Pleistocene and Early Human Origins at UCL Institute of Archaeology 19-20th June.

Call for papers is now open and tickets are on sale! Check out our website for more information.

sites.google.com/view/unravel...

BBC - Home The best of the BBC, with the latest news and sport headlines, weather, TV & radio highlights and much more from across the whole of BBC Online.

🔥Wood, Smoke and Science!

#LivUni’s Dr Ceren Kabukcu was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science podcast.

Drawing on her archaeobotany expertise, she explained how carbonised plant remains and dental evidence reveal how fire shaped human diets and eating habits.

🎧 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Hi all,
Please join us next Thursday, 19th February at 13:00 GMT for the next webinar of the semester, presented by Dr Francesc Marginedas.

If you would like to attend, please register here:
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/30baf8...

We hope to see you there!

PanAF Sessions The Local Organizing Committee is excited that almost 70 sessions and workshops will occur at PanAF Moz 2026. Pan-African Association members and non-members are welcome to submit paper abstracts t…

🚨CALL FOR PAPERS!🚨 @lucytimbrell96.bsky.social and I are running a session (S17) at PanAf2026 in Mozambique, titled: Pan-African Homo sapiens evolution: linking processes with data. More info: panaf2026moz.com/panaf-sessio... & submit an abstract: panaf2026moz.com/paper-submis... deadline March 15th

Job alert in Malta on my ERC funded IslandLab Project for a post excavation research assistant. A bachalor's degree in Archaeology, or related fields is required, ideally with experience working on faunal assemblages and handling bones/fossils, and curating finds.
www.um.edu.mt/media/um/doc...

We are delighted to announce our timetable of talks for Semester 2 of the 2025/26 academic year! 🥳🤩

As always, all of our talks will be streamed online and are open to anyone. Our first talk will be on the 12.02.26. More details will be released closer to the time.

We hope to see you there!

📣 Yonatan Sahle and I are delighted to invite abstracts for Session# 18 of the 17th PanAf Congress (July 26–31, 2026, Maputo, Mozambique). The session welcomes interdisciplinary contributions on the Middle and Late Pleistocene archaeology of eastern Africa. Submit your abstract by March 15, 2026.

📣 The Newton International Fellowship programme by the Royal Society opens on 15th January!

📍If you're an early career researcher interested in collaborating and moving to Liverpool, lets chat!

🔗 www.royalsociety.org/grants/newto...

PanAF Sessions The Local Organizing Committee is excited that almost 70 sessions and workshops will occur at PanAF Moz 2026. Pan-African Association members and non-members are welcome to submit paper abstracts t…

CALL FOR PAPERS ALERT 🚨 For the next PanAf2026 in Mozambique, we are organizing the session "Beyond the frontiers in Palaeoscience: renewing chronological, geoarchaeological, palaeolandscape and palaeoenvironmental approches to the African Pleistocene".

Fully funded PhD studentship here with @katerinad.bsky.social on palaeoproteomics. Apply below!

jobs.univie.ac.at/job/PhD-Stud...

Oldest known cremation in Africa poses 9,500-year-old mystery about Stone Age hunter-gatherers An ancient cremation would have been a community spectacle in a place returned to and reignited over many generations. What was behind this unexpected funeral ritual?

The earliest confirmed evidence of an adult cremation pyre has been discovered in Malawi! 🔥

theconversation.com/oldest-known...