Simon Wyatt-Spratt

Text reading "Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Paper of the Month". Next to the text is an issue cover of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

The Paper of the Month from Cambridge Archaeological Journal is "Turning-the-edge, Tranchet, and Social Signalling at Boxgrove" by Ceri Shipton et al., available #openaccess!

📚 https://cup.org/3Wwdk1R

#PaperOfTheMonth

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Linked Open Data Location Identifiers for Pacific Archaeology | Hardy & Leclerc | CAAA2025

Next we have Kristine Hardy and Mathieu Leclerc talking about “The Use of Linked Open Data Location Identifiers for Pacific Archaeology”. See their talk and others on #digital #archaeology here: youtu.be/6sdbHqeZpbY

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Going with the flow: An investigation into pre-contact Māori fishing lures | McDonald | CAAA2025

Next up in our #digital #archaeology conference was Bradley McDonald with “Going with the flow: A pilot experimental investigation into the in-water behaviour of pre-contact Māori fishing lures”. Watch here: youtu.be/KtaVtShKwOc

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Unidentified Darling Harbour Boat 1 – Managing the Digital Journey | Rampe & Wharton | CAAA2025

Back to back talks from Michael Rampe at our #digital #archaeology conference, this time with Benjamin Wharton on “Unidentified Darling Harbour Boat 1 – Managing the Digital Journey”. Find it here: youtu.be/ZNGL_4bxxio

Five finely crafted flint daggers are displayed vertically against a black background. Each blade features unique flaking patterns and subtle variations in shape and color, ranging from light grey to tan, highlighting their prehistoric craftsmanship. The lighting emphasizes the texture and contours of each blade, making them stand out distinctly against the dark backdrop.

Simply beautiful: Late Neolithic and early Bronze Age flint daggers found in Saxony-Anhalt, 2300-1600 BC (Unétice-Culture).

On display at Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle.

📷 me

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Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) are investigating the use of AI in Australian cultural heritage. If you work in heritage (or heritage/archaeology education) and have a spare 10 minutes, fill out the survey using the below link or QR code:

Link: tinyurl.com/2xz4nwjm

An abstract image of a person on their knees trowelling. They are kneeling on an outline of the state of South Australia. Superimposed on this are the words AUS TAG 2026. The text reads: Save the date 22-23 May Adelaide University austheoreticalarchaeologygroup@gmail.com

Hey Australian Archaeology - do you like arch theory? do you want to hang out with other folks who do?? Please put 22-23 May in your calendar - we're hosting an AusTAG conference at Adelaide University!

more details and call for submissions soon!

CAA 2026

For those who leave it till the last minute....Calls for Papers, Posters, and Workshops for CAA2026 have been extended to 9 November 2025!!🤩

2026.caaconference.org

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Progress and Lessons from the Digitisation of a Maritime Museum Fleet | Rampe & Moitino | CAAA2025

The next talk from our #digital #archaeology conference early this month was from Michael Rampe and Katherine Moitino on “Progress and Lessons from the Digitisation of a Maritime Museum Fleet”: youtu.be/Z5ESqIC5uPE

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Establishing photogrammetry in practice at Auckland Museum | Emmitt & Ng | CAAA2025

We kicked off Day 2 of our #digital #archaeology conference with a talk from the current Chair of @caa-int.archaeo.social.ap.brid.gy - Josh Emmitt - alongside Richard Ng on “Establishing photogrammetry in practice at Auckland Museum”. Catch up on it here: youtu.be/Oj4Uyx5Gasc

New in Australian Archaeology: pXRF sourcing of stone artefacts from Kings Table & Dargan shelters shows dynamic movement and changing pathways across the Blue Mountains since the LGM. 🔓🔽
Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Living like a Viking: A Digital Living Museum Reconstruction of Coppergate | Cornwall | CAAA2025

The final talk of Day 1 of our #digital #archaeology conference was given by Tess Cornwall “Living like a #Viking: A Digital Living Museum Reconstruction of Coppergate”: youtu.be/-tyXtSdDrL4

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Shopping in Colonial Parramatta | Elizabeth West | CAAA2025

The next talk from our #digital #archaeology conference is Elizabeth West’s is one for fans of #Australianarchaeology, “Shopping in Colonial Parramatta”. Watch Elizabeth’s talk here: youtu.be/Bm6dye8QvN4

CAA 2026

Have you submitted your paper for CAA2026 yet?!? Hurry and get them in now🤩 Last day is 26 October. 2026.caaconference.org

YouTube video by CAA Australasia A Non-Uniform Processing Method for Large Photogrammetry Datasets | Ranjbari et al | CAAA2025

Today we’re highlighting Amin Ranjbari and colleagues’ talk from our #digital #archaeology conference “A Non-Uniform Processing Method (NUPM) for Large Photogrammetry Datasets: Case Study of Shams-ol-Emareh, Golestan Palace (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Iran”. Available here: youtu.be/WBmsK3kAXQU

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Do You See What I See? Digital methods on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project | Keep | CAAA2025

Our second lightning talk from our recent #digital #archaeology conference is from @tom-keep.bsky.social, “Do You See What I See? Digital methods on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project”. Watch it here: youtu.be/3B4mkykWqNs

Did humans kill Australia's ancient megafauna? Bone study prompts rethink Palaeontologists say there is no hard evidence in the fossil record that extinct Australian megafauna were butchered by First Nations people.

More evidence that the evidence is ambiguous at best. www.abc.net.au/news/science...

How forensic analysis and traditional knowledge reveal the story of a unique boomerang Grip marks, blood and fire damage hint at the fascinating history of a non-returning boomerang.

Our new study of an Australian boomerang 🪃 is out! ‘How forensic analysis & traditional knowledge reveal the story of a unique boomerang’ in The Conversation: theconversation.com/how-forensic...

And our in-depth research article in ‘Australian Archaeology’: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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YouTube video by CAA Australasia Data Ethics in Aerial Archaeology at Angkor | Sayumphu Ros | CAAA2025

Next up is Sayumphu Ros’ talk on “Data Ethics in Aerial Archaeology at Angkor”. Available along with the rest of the #digital #archaeology conference papers here: youtu.be/t8JsDvo0sBk

#jobalert! ARDC HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons partnership projects are hiring!

⭐ Program Manager - Australian Creative Histories & Futures (ACHF) - UNSW Sydney - closes 31 October
🔗 external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au/en/job/53559...

#creativearts

YouTube video by CAA Australasia The Guam Rock Art Study: Digital archaeology and creative/artistic expression | Reyes | CAAA2025

The next #digital #archaeology talk from our recent conference was from Aja Reyes “The Guam Rock Art Study: Digital archaeology and creative/artistic expression”. View here: youtu.be/52Lkh60t8fo

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Aura and Presence with digital heritage: The usefulness of Augmented Reality | Farrar | CAAA2025

The first lightning talk for our #digital #archaeology conference was from @calumfarrar.bsky.social “Aura and Presence with digital heritage: The usefulness of Augmented Reality”. Check it out here: youtu.be/cmYBT-OjNIs

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Re-populating the Bangucheon Stream World Heritage Landscape with GIS Data | Ko & Shim | CAAA2025

Ilhong Ko and Woo Jin Shim gave the fourth talk of our #digital #archaeology conference, “Re-populating the Bangucheon Stream World Heritage Landscape with GIS Data”. Watch or re-watch here: youtu.be/oW-3HEO-beg

YouTube video by CAA Australasia A Visibility Analysis of the Jeju-ro Beacon Network from Joseon Korea | Cho & Han | CAAA2025

Third talk from our #digital #archaeology conference was by Daeyoun Cho and Sanggu Han, “A QGIS-Based Visibility Analysis of the Jeju-ro Beacon Network in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea”. You can find it here: youtu.be/HbmipNUPC4A

YouTube video by CAA Australasia LiDAR and Medieval Urban Landscapes in Sri Lanka | Young et al | CAAA2025

The second talk from our #digital #archaeology conference is Bradley Young and colleagues’ work mapping medieval landscapes in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, with LiDAR. Watch it here: youtu.be/HEkZ1F_7H7k

YouTube video by CAA Australasia Visualising Ancestral Futures | Brett Leavy | CAAA2025

If you missed out on our #digital #archaeology conference earlier this month you can catch up at our YouTube channel! Start with the amazing keynote from Brett Leavy (Bilbie XR Labs) on "Visualising Ancestral Futures". youtu.be/alVaRjusYqM

A middle aged white Woman with an red updo and big glasses holding a large book, title says diversity in visual representations of the past. Representation matters.

Me (to The Internet, everybody listening, or just looking my way for more than 5 sec): „Look what we did!“
I received the prints of our #RepresentationMatters publication yesterday evening. It’s not only a collection of papers on the way we reproduce and communicate our knowledge towards audience.

Drawing of a skeuomorphic spear head made of flint. It says, “bronze bronze bronze bronze…what’s wrong with stone?” And hashtags in the tweet.

“Bronze is brilliant!” #archink #inktober - bronze & flint
youtu.be/nyu4u3VZYaQ

Functional ecological convergence between the thylacine and small prey-focused canids - BMC Ecology and Evolution Background Morphological convergence is a fundamental aspect of evolution, allowing for inference of the biology and ecology of extinct species by comparison with the form and function of living species as analogues. The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), the iconic recently extinct marsupial, is considered a classic example of convergent evolution with the distantly related placental wolf or dog, though almost nothing is actually known regarding its ecology. This lack of data leads to questions regarding the degree of convergence with, and the similarity of, the functional ecology of the thylacine and the wolf/dog. Here, we examined the cranium of the thylacine using 3D geometric morphometrics and two quantitative tests of convergence to more precisely determine convergent analogues, within a phylogenetically informed dataset of 56 comparative species across 12 families of marsupial and placental faunivorous mammals. Using this dataset, we investigated patterns of correlation between cranial shape and diet, phylogeny, and relative prey size across these terrestrial faunivores. Results We find a correlation between cranial, facial, and neurocranial shape and the ratio of prey-to-predator body mass, though neurocranial shape may not correlate with prey size within marsupials. The thylacine was found to group with predators that routinely take prey smaller than 45% of their own body mass, not with predators that take subequal-sized or larger prey. Both convergence tests find significant levels of convergence between the thylacine and the African jackals and South American ‘foxes’, with lesser support for the coyote and red fox. We find little support for convergence between the thylacine and the wolf or dog. Conclusions Our study finds little support for a wolf/dog-like functional ecology in the thylacine, with it instead being most similar to mid-sized canids such as African jackals and South American ‘foxes’ that mainly take prey less than half their size. This work suggests that concepts of convergence should extend beyond superficial similarity, and broader comparisons can lead to false interpretations of functional ecology. The thylacine was a predator of small to mid-sized prey, not a big-game specialist like the placental wolf.

My final paper out of my PhD was published 5 years ago:
bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Let's take a 🧪🧵 look back at convergent #evolution using the #thylacine and canid #mammals

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Want to advance use-wear analysis methodology?

OPEN CALL! WE'RE HIRING: POST-DOC POSITION IN TRACEOLAB

Topic: optical profilometry of use-wear traces on prehistoric stone tools, methodological development and archaeological application, integration with other methods used in TraceoLab