Dr Sam Neil

Principal Researcher in Human Evolution:South Kensington

Natural History Museum. Apply for Principal Researcher in Human Evolution jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Want to check your ancient DNA study for chromosomal aneuploidies? RChASM is now available for R, to screen for autosomal and sex chromosomal aneuploidies, such as Down syndrome on data from 0.0014X coverage.

We also wrote a step-by-step tutorial with examples:
jonotuke.github.io/RChASM/artic...

Lasting Lower Rhine–Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion - Nature A distinctive population with high hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted 3,000 years later than in most European regions, contributing to later Lower Rhine–Meuse Bell Beaker users.

Proud that after five years of careful analysis and discussion our paper "Lasting Lower Rhine-Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion" has now been published.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Assessing Ancient DNA Sampling Strategies for Natural Selection Inference in Humans Using Allele Frequency Time Series Data Abstract. The increased availability of genomic data from ancient humans allows estimating the strength of natural selection at a given locus using time se

Interested in using aDNA time-series datasets to estimate selection?

Our study "Assessing Ancient DNA Sampling Strategies for Natural Selection Inference in Humans Using Allele Frequency Time Series Data" is now out in GBE! doi.org/10.1093/gbe/... @genomebiolevol.bsky.social @cegamorim.bsky.social

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As well as acting as an insightful review of ancient DNA as it relates to the Bell Beaker Phenomenon in 3rd Millennium BC Europe (particularly the variability and nuances), this also has some great straightforward explanations of analytical methods in aDNA.

cris.unibo.it/handle/11585...

DNA extraction in the lab:
The black blobs in this photo are DNA stuck to magnetic nanoparticles. The DNA is from a site in Britain dated to the earlier Neolithic (the period when farming was beginning).

By putting an external magnet outside the tray we can then separate DNA from a solution.

📢 Announcing the Analytical research forum (ARF26)!
Join us to explore cutting-edge analytical chemistry and its applications across the field.
Find out more: rsc.li/arf2026 #ChemSky

Evidence for the earliest hominin use of wooden handheld tools found at Marathousa 1 (Greece) | PNAS The Middle Pleistocene (MP; ca. 774 to 129 ka) marks a critical period of human evolution, characterized by increasing behavioral complexity and th...

It was such a privilege to get to work on this amazing material from an incredible site and team - now the earliest handheld wooden tools in the archaeological record, taking evidence back to 430,000 years! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi - Nature A hand stencil painted on a cave wall on a small island off the coast of Sulawesi more than 67,800 years ago suggests a very early occupation of Wallacea.

Paintings at least 67 thousand years old in Indonesia
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Enjoyed the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk exhibition 'Treasured', featuring many rare manuscripts, including Herculaeum scrolls and the libraries copy of Magna Carta. Worth visiting if you are in the area. Closes 1st February. visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/treasured

Well done Sue!!!!!! x

Walks into the Oxford laboratory under this inscription which reads "Chemistry offers eternal hope" .... that the equipment doesn't break and that the samples produce data

Global patterns of natural selection inferred using ancient DNA Ancient DNA has revolutionized our understanding of human history, and is now yielding important insights into evolution and natural selection. However, studies of selection using ancient DNA have lar...

Interesting pre-print: Global patterns of natural selection inferred using ancient DNA
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

“These fossils offer clues about the last common ancestor shared with Neanderthals and Denisovans”

Early hominins from Morocco basal to the Homo sapiens lineage
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA First ancient HHV-6 genomes reveal 2500 years of phylogenetic continuity and provide insights into the endogenization of HHV-6A.

Our paper on the first ancient Human betaherpesvirus 6 A/B (HHV-6) genomes is published in Science Advances! 🥳

In collaboration with @virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social @lucyvandorp.bsky.social @lehtisaag.bsky.social @ktambets.bsky.social & other amazing researchers!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Genes don’t explain what made humans different Tiny genetic variations between humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans might not be all they were cracked up to be.

This headline is wrong and misleading, and the brief text below it is not much better. Whatever might constitute a full explanation of the differences between sapiens and other hominins, we remain confident that 'genes' will be central to it.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2024 New resolution is emerging of some events in ancient human populations, and a clearer view of some parts of the genome.

I’m writing up this year’s top discoveries from ancient DNA and it reminded me to circulate a link to last year’s top 10 list. Some amazing stuff there and remarkable how fast this field moves!

www.johnhawks.net/p/top-10-dis...

Ancient DNA insights into diverse pathogens and their hosts Nature Reviews Genetics - Ancient DNA techniques are being applied to study increasingly diverse pathogens of the past. The authors review the latest insights into pathogen–host coevolution,...

Lovely to work with @blevinske.bsky.social, @paleogenomics.bsky.social & Verena Schuenemann on " Ancient DNA insights into diverse pathogens and their hosts"! Read it at rdcu.be/eSVPN

Escaping the laboratory by climbing to the top of one of Bordeaux's bell towers. Constructed in 1440 by the founder of Bordeaux University, Pey Berland.

Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey

Did Neandertals choose their prey when practicing cannibalism?🍖

Check out our new study, just published in Scientific Reports - @natureportfolio.nature.com!

We provide the strongest evidence to date for a highly selective cannibalism at the end of Neandertal lineage, 41-45.000 years ago.

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Abstract submission is now open for the 1st International Conference on Palaeogenomics!

June 23–26 2026, in Stockholm.

Join researchers from across the field for 4 days and >100 talks (+ poster sessions)!

Submit abstracts here 👉
icp2026.palaeogenomics.org/abstracts/

Deadline: Nov 30th

Amazing presentations at the meeting on Ancient Genomes: perspectives on human biology and medicine at the Royal Society today

Genomic evidence for the Holocene codispersal of dogs and humans across Eastern Eurasia As the first domestic species, dogs likely dispersed with different cultural groups during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed 73 ancient dog genomes, including 17 ...

🚨 New paper alert 🚨

Our research, published today in Science, reveals remarkable concordance between human and dog genomes through time, highlighting how deeply intertwined our evolutionary histories have been over the past 11,000 years.

🔗 Read the full paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Currently writing up the results of new radiocarbon dating from this amazing Neolithic monument, Le Déhus, on the Channel Islands. With thanks to @isotopesuk.bsky.social and @oxradiocarbon.bsky.social for funding radiocarbon dating.

is back at one of my favourite places in the whole world, The Oxford University Museum of Natural History @morethanadodo.bsky.social

Is all alone early a very quiet radiocarbon lab, freeze drying things..hey, who put the sign in the pie oven...no Frey Bentos in here

Application of microsublimation for sample purification in compound-specific radiocarbon analysis - Progress in Earth and Planetary Science This article presents the development and application of a microsublimation apparatus aimed at improving the purity of ultra-small samples for compound-specific radiocarbon analysis. Accurate radiocar...

Interesting new paper on radiocarbon dating methods: Application of microsublimation for sample purification in compound-specific radiocarbon analysis.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Just to say thanks so much for your efforts in organizing today Kenny along with Seren. It was a really great series of talks and a fascinating day!

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.