Andrew Millard

Was descent in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe patrilineal or bilateral? | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Many studies have attempted to gain insights into the kinship systems of past human populations using ancient DNA data. Several studies focusing on Neolithic and Bronze Age European sites reported a h...

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Probably posted a preprint version of this before but good to see some formal testing of different hypotheses of descent/residence in prehistoric cemeteries of Europe, rather than just eyeballing the trends.

I'm hiring!⭐ As part of the DFF Sapere Aude-funded project MiddleEarth, I am looking for 1 postdoctoral researcher and 1 research assistant.

StratoBayes: a Bayesian method for automated stratigraphic correlation and age modelling Abstract. Stratigraphic correlation and age modelling are fundamental to reconstructing Earth's history, biological evolution, and palaeoclimate, and underpin the exploration for subsurface resources....

Our new paper is out: StratoBayes: a Bayesian method for automated stratigraphic correlation and age modelling doi.org/10.5194/gchr... with @palaeosmith.bsky.social Kilian Eichenseer & Matthias Sinnesael

detailed poll results for selecting Radiocarbon 26 Conference host. 58% Tokyo, 28% Cologne, 16% Ottawa, 1% other

The poll for selecting the host city of the Radiocarbon 26 in 2028 is closed.

The winner is Tokyo, receiving 58% of all votes!

Congratulations to Tokyo team!

Thanks to the Cologne and Ottawa teams for their excellent proposals.

Thanks to Kim from @14cjournal.bsky.social for running the poll.

👋 Hello, Bluesky! We’re Radiocarbon, an international peer-reviewed journal (since 1959) dedicated to advancing radiocarbon research, from calibration and chronology to applications across archaeology, geology, environmental science, and more. We’re glad to be here. #Radiocarbon #Geochronology

On the Identity (and Individuation) of Proper Names Though this blog has been rather quiet for rather longer than we might have liked, this doesn’t mean work isn’t being done…it’s just quiet, background work. But there’…

New blog post! We're not dead!

"On the Identity (and Individuation) of Proper Names"

dmnes.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/o...

New paper by Tamsin O’Connell:

This is a MUST read for all archaeologists who include isotopes in their projects.

“The signal and the noise: inherent challenges for isotopic studies in bioarchaeology”

doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

#stableisotopes

Contextualizing descent in Neolithic northern Europe Introduction Our ability to investigate kinship practices in Neolithic communities has been revolutionized by combining measurements of biological relatedness through ancient DNA analyses with oste...

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A fine new article by Chris Fowler discussing the complexities of genetic relatedness at Neolithic funerary sites across Europe. Argues the emphasis on patrilineal patterns and fitting established kinship/marriage schemes means subtle complexities are missed.

journals.openedition.org/bmsap/16175

Free UK Genealogy, the charity behind FreeBMD, FreeREG and FreeCEN, has started a crowdfunder for a new free probate records website:

www.whodoyouthinkyouaremaga...

To celebrate the start of the 2025 excavation season, we've just released the Gefrin Trust's recent conversation with Professor Sarah Semple. Read on for more! gefrintrust.org/conversation...

Professor Sarah Semple (Durham University) and team are readying to lay out the trenches at Yeavering for another fantastic season of fieldwork. We can’t wait to see what they get up to! #Yeavering #DurhamArchaeology #GefrinTrust

Skoglund Lab - Ancient Genomics Skoglund lab

Now recruiting for two positions in my lab:

Postdoc in computational analysis of ancient human genomes www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Bioarchaeology staff scientist supporting human aDNA projects www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Background: sites.google.com/view/skoglun...

Applications welcome!

If you want to know more (or just about everything) about AMS, check out a brand new online book by one of the old masters Keith Fifield (ANU) with input from another - Martin Suter (ETH); hdl.handle.net/1885/733767269

Now with correct link: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Looks interesting but the link is not working.

Our first tour of the day is underway, led by Professor Sarah Semple (Durham), Gefrin Trust trustee and lead site excavator. #Yeavering #EarlyMedievalNorthumberland

A Day in Archaeology: developing the NEMCAS (North East Material Culture Analytical Suite) research facility at Durham University Learn more about the diverse work we carry out at the CBA.

🔬 Behind the scenes of a research facility for #ADayInArchaeology

Lisa-Marie Shillito shares how they're building NEMCAS, @durham-university.bsky.social 's new high-tech research hub using micro-CT & thin section analysis to reveal what the eye can’t see 👉 shorturl.at/dvub7

#FestivalOfArchaeology

The Gefrin Trust is now on Bluesky! Follow along as we head back to the field this September, uncovering new finds and charting old trowel-marked features at #Yeavering. #GefrinTrust #Northumberland #DurhamArchaeology

Professor Sarah Semple elected Fellow of the British Academy - Durham University

Congratulations to Professor Sarah Semple, of our Department of Archaeology, who has been elected as a Fellow of @britishacademy.bsky.social ‬. Her fellowship recognises Sarah’s contribution to the research of early medieval Britain and northern Europe. Discover more 👉 durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Upload with Emma Millen - A Medieval Comedy Show - BBC Sounds Luke Connell shares his love for medieval history in new fringe show.

Catch our member Luke Connell on @bbcsounds.bsky.social talking about his medieval comedy show, Bloody Marvellous - coming to @edfringe.bsky.social on 31 July!

🎙️Listen: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

🎟️Buy Tickets: www.edfringe.com/.../luke-con...

📚Luke's research: www.durham.ac.uk/staff/luke-s...

Does microCT reduce the amount of collagen we can extract from a bone/tooth for dating and stable isotope work? We think it might. With Mathieu Duval and Laura Martin Frances @cenieh.bsky.social; www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

a man holding a trophy with the words " you deserve a trophy " behind him ALT: a man holding a trophy with the words " you deserve a trophy " behind him

#JournéesdelaSAP Attention young researchers 🚩👀
💀🦷
Each year, the SAP awards the SAP Prize, which recognizes a doctoral dissertation in biological anthropology defended in English or French during the year preceding the application deadline.

More information here: sapweb.fr/index.php/en...

Hello Bluesky! Like many of you in recent months we're moving here from a different platform and need to rebuild our profile - so if you've any interest in @vchlondon.bsky.social and local history in its many guises, please follow us and repost!

My Garrod number is 3: Garrod > Kenyon > Cramp > me

Day 5 - We have walls! We have finds! We have a tower? 1) uncovering a large stone surface which has the trench playing the game “Tower or Buttress?”, 2) chasing the curtain wall in the top trench, & 3) finding amazing things (such as a base of a small cauldron).

@arcdurham.bsky.social

Day 4 - A day of recording, finds, and fashion! From recording the well from Day 3, to medieval pottery, a bishop’s roasted pig, to site fashion…It’s been a full day of #archaeology with the @arcdurham.bsky.social students!

Day 3 - Well, well, well…we have a well/spring! Just in time too as it may help keep us all cool as we enter some warmer days on site…meanwhile, some interesting mortar-material has appeared in the #archarology of Trench D.

📸 Photo 1- Jamie Armstrong
Photos 2, 3- Intern Tom
@arcdurham.bsky.social

Our special issue on Chronological Modelling is out now! This issue features 9 articles that provide a snapshot of current research on approaches to chronology in archaeology. buff.ly/ITt4x5n

Marine exploitation and the arrival of farming: resolving the paradox of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Denmark The transition to farming in the coastal environments of southern Scandinavia remains a key conundrum in European prehistory. This region was heavily …

Very impressive and incredibly dense paper on the Neolithic transition to farming in Denmark in the centuries around 4000 BC. Specifically squaring the biomolecular evidence for sharp shifts in genetic ancestry and diet indicative of migrations…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Fossil of Shishania

An early "mollusc" reconsidered: Is Shishana, in fact, a chancelloriid?
Read our new paper @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...