Andy I.R. Herries at La Trobe Archaeoogy

We are both part of the ARC grant and have done two field seasons together

Long form news article in @science.org covering our latest collaborations between the Drimolen and Kromdraai teams as part of a new 4 year @Australian Research Council Discovery Grant

Three ancient human relatives once shared the same valley. Did they meet—and compete? The world’s greatest concentration of ancestral human remains, in South Africa, poses a 2-million-year-old riddle of coexistence

The world’s greatest concentration of ancestral human remains, in South Africa, poses a 2-million-year-old riddle of coexistence. scim.ag/46xvUwV

Uniform, circular, and shallow pitting on two Paranthropus robustus teeth from Drimolen Main Quarry (DMQ; southern Africa).

Uniform, circular, and shallow enamel pitting in hominins: Prevalence, morphological associations, and potential taxonomic significance 🏺🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Remarkable consistency across species, time and geography suggests these enamel pits may be something quite interesting.

2-million-year-old pitted teeth from our ancient relatives reveal secrets about human evolution Curiously uniform dimples on the teeth of ancient hominins may give scientists a new way to trace their origins and relationships.

2-million-year-old pitted teeth from our ancient relatives reveal secrets about human evolution theconversation.com/2-million-ye...

Uniform, circular, and shallow enamel pitting in hominins: Prevalence, morphological associations, and potential taxonomic significance This study explores a particular form of enamel pitting originally identified in Paranthropus robustus. We call this uniform, circular, and shallow (U…

Uniform, circular, and shallow enamel pitting in hominins: Prevalence,
morphological associations, and potential taxonomic signals www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The curse of Toumaï: an ancient skull, a disputed femur and a bitter feud over humanity’s origins The long read: When fossilised remains were discovered in the Djurab desert in 2001, they were hailed as radically rewriting the history of our species. But not everyone was convinced – and the bitter...

Worth a read for any up and coming Palaeoanthropologists about how not to behave. Let's leave this culture behind in our discipline.

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Assistant Professor in Archaeological Science (Materials) The Department of Classics and Archaeology seeks to appoint an Assistant Professor in Archaeological Science (Materials) from 1 September 2025. Following £1.6 million investment from UKRI in our Archa...

💥Job Alert!!💥

We’re seeking to appoint a permanent Assistant Professor of Archaeological Science (materials), following the retirement of Prof. Julian Henderson.

Deadline May 5th 2025.

#Archaeology #archeology #archaeologicalScience 🧪

Full details here: jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

Not sure I have ever gotten the smellorama of visiting Yorvik out of my nasal passages

🏺 There is actually a perfume range called "Neanderthal" and it's gorgeous - I did a book giveaway with them!
(also I would totally be up for a real Viking scent)

Changes to ARC grants will make it harder for Australia to combat Trump chaos, researchers warn Plan to cut most standalone positions in favour of shorter fellowships will hurt international recruitment, critics say

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com reporting on the proposed changes to the ARC grants system.

There’s concern that getting rid of standalone fellowships will have lots of unintended consequences, especially for Early-Career Researchers.

By @donnadlu.bsky.social

Non-destructive radiocarbon dating of bone Since the 1950s, radiocarbon measurements have anchored archaeological chronologies dating back to 50,000 years, with bone collagen being a commonly dated material. Despite advances in collagen extrac...

We are happy to share our pre-print on dating bone using a novel non-destructive protocol we developed. The paper is on the Biorxiv here (Luftensteiner et al. 2025):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I received a heartbreaking email today: A paper in a special issue I’m editing is being retracted because one of its authors is afraid of losing their job and their legal status in the U.S. if they publish a scientific study on evolution. Yes, on evolution, nature's engine of diversity.

Latest paper out from the Drimolen team about the ~2 million year old DNH 43 Paranthropus pelvis from Drimolen Cave in South Africa. @ltuarchaeology.bsky.social

Analysis of an understudied 2-million-year-old fossil pelvis from the site of Drimolen, South Africa provides additional insights into the anatomy of early human relatives. doi.org/10.17159/saj... @caleyorr.bsky.social @ozarchaeomaglab.bsky.social

New paper from my lab & Drimolen team (@ozarchaeomaglab.bsky.social) on the DNH 43 hominin pelvis. I first saw it in 2019. Given the importance of the pelvis in the evolution of human locomotion and birth, I was surprised only a basic description had been published. 1/ #paleoanthropology 🏺🧪

Australian Opal colours in Adelaide

International student numbers hit record highs last year, but a shift is underway The past year has seen the international education sector thrown into turmoil, as Labor targeted students in their plan to drive down migration. That uncertainty is set to continue into 2025.

Not a single mention of all tne job losses in the University sector caused by these constantly shifting targets on international student numbers. FYI that bit about “Plugging holes in university budgets” = job losses. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

One of the many new MIS 11 Acheulian large cutting tools from Amanzi Springs Area 1. As we enter the last week of excavation we switch from collecting more of these to sampling for micromorphology/geochronology/palaeoenvironments

#AmanziSprings

I am so thrilled to share our last paper on the WAfrica MSA sites "Constraining the age of the Middle Stone Age locality of Bargny (Senegal) through a combined OSL-ESR dating approach" (doi.org/10.1016/j.qe...)!

One of the many new MIS 11 Acheulian large cutting tools from Amanzi Springs Area 1. As we enter the last week of excavation we switch from collecting more of these to sampling for micromorphology/geochronology/palaeoenvironments

Constraining the age of the Middle Stone Age locality of Bargny (Senegal) through a combined OSL-ESR dating approach The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is the major chrono-cultural phase associated with the emergence and evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa. Despite its impor…

Our new article led by @eslembenarous.bsky.social on the MSA site of Bargny, where new investigations headed by Dr Khady Niang have yielded samples that show its Middle Pleistocene age. The West African MSA keeps getting older (watch this space!).
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Come and have a holiday digging with us, we do a lot of GIS, drone mapping and georectified photogrammetry as part of the process, often reaching the limits of the software and technology available to us.

quartzite

La Trobe Archaeology student Jaz with her first handaxe discovery from Amanzi Springs Area 1 in South Africa. This central layer has actually been interesting for yielding lots of small flaking debris, and wood, but glad the students finally also got to excavate an Acheulian icon as well.

One of the large cutting tools we just recovered from a new layer, >400,000 years old, at Amanzi Springs Area 1 in South Africa.

Hi Gerry, have dm’d you