Mark Altaweel

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

🚨 Job Alert 🚨

Research Fellow in Environmental Archaeology (Amazonia)

📆 Closing Date 10-Nov-2025

📲 bit.ly/475fr2U

#LocalAndGlobal

Our in-review preprint on the origin of sands used in the foundation of the Ishtar temple at Assur can be found here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Results show sands came from near Assur along the Zagros-Lower Zab but suggesting southern Mesopotamian influence in the cult of Ishtar.

The Flooding of Lagash (Iraq): Evidence for Urban Destruction Under Lugalzagesi, the King of Uruk and Umma High-resolution remote sensing, magnetometry, and trench stratigraphy identify a significant flood event at Lagash (modern Tell al-Hiba) during the late Early Dynastic period (ca. 2400–2350 BC). Sate...

Hot off the presses! Here’s a new article that I co-authored with my Lagash Archaeological Project colleagues on a geoarchaeological study of what we believe to be evidence of hydrological warfare in the Third Millennium BCE.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Nice to see this book out: heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/view.... We have a chapter on population and wages in the 1st mill. BCE-1st mill CE in the Near East where we demonstrate wages mostly declined during this time and converged to similar wages across the Near East for unskilled labour.

Early urbanism in Mesopotamia coincided with increased moisture between 6500 to 5500 years BP Climate change is thought to have played a significant role in the rise and demise of complex Mesopotamian societies throughout the mid- to late Holoc…

Our new work demonstrates the relationship between increased moisture and the beginning of urbanism in Mesopotamia: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Job in Ireland for a Geomatics expert: www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/pre...

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

We are advertising a lab manager post at UCL's IoA, details here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Here is a two-year teaching cover at UCL Institute of Archaeology, with a focus on Quantitative Approaches and European Archaeology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

The National Heritage Science Forum is holding a poster session on July 10th showcasing areas related to heritage and science-based methods as applied to heritage. For those interested, see: www.heritagescienceforum.org.uk/what-we-do/2...

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

🚨 3rd Job Advert of the Week 🚨

Applications for a full-time (36.5 hours per week) Research Fellow @ucl.ac.uk IoA within the @erc.europa.eu Synergy project ‘MEDGREENREV: Re-thinking the “Green Revolution” in the Medieval Western Mediterranean (6th-16th centuries).

📲 bit.ly/4lso8t3

Deadline 2nd May

Dear all, please see this call for papers I am involved with. If you are interested, please consider submitting.

Mid-Holocene hydroclimatic optimum recorded in a stalagmite from Shalaii Cave, northern Iraq In Mesopotamia, climate is regarded as an important contributing factor to major socio-cultural transformations. However, the scarcity of Holocene pal…

New palaeoclimate results from Iraq, where we demonstrate that the mid-Holocene was ancient Mesopotamia's wettest period during the Holocene, at about the time urbanism first began: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Ancient Cave Discovery Reveals That 8,000 Years Ago, the Sahara Was Green Analysis of Moroccan stalagmites reveals that the Sahara received increased rainfall between 8,700 and 4,300 years ago, supporting early herding societies. This rainfall, likely driven by tropical plu...

New research by an international team of researchers incl. Prof Nick Barton & Dr Stacy Carolin suggests that the #Sahara experienced wetter conditions during the African Humid Period between 8700-4300 years ago!
Remember, 'c' for 'ceiling' and 'g' for ground! #Caves scitechdaily.com/ancient-cave...

Map of the Eridu region, reconstructing the irrigation canal network in relation to the ancient Euphrates riverbed and the archaeological sites of the Eridu region. The base map is a Corona satellite image.

NEW Eridu is traditionally considered the earliest city in southern #Mesopotamia. Discovery of thousands of irrigation canals in the Eridu region provides a rare direct example of intense agricultural management in ancient Mesopotamia.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

No second state visit for Trump Unbelievable. Keir Starmer has handed Donald Trump a letter from King Charles, inviting him for a second state visit to the UK. It’s totally unprecedented, and should not go ahead.  This is the...

Donald Trump has been invited to a state visit to the UK. We should not be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate this man. Agree? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no...

More jobs :)

Another job! This one as a two year research fellow in paleobot for the ERC DREAM project I am happily advising on: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Home page

Website for the project, about state institutional capacity, is now also up: www.origins-project.com

Open Positions Postdoc in Archeology of Bronze Age Mesopotamia

Sever post-doc possibilities for Mesopotamia archaeologists and with expertise in the region based in Bologna for a project I am involved with: www.origins-project.com/open-positions

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

🚨 Research Fellow in #Archaeobotany Job Klaxon 🚨

All info here on the @ucl.ac.uk jobs page:

📲 bit.ly/ABOTRF25

📆 Deadline 25th February 2025

Applications are now being sought for a Research Fellow to support the ERC-awarded and UKRI-underwritten project DREAM

#LocalAndGlobal

Lecturer in Heritage at The University of Edinburgh Discover an exciting academic career path as a Lecturer in Heritage at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!

🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨 LECTURER IN HERITAGE 🚨 DEADLINE 26 FEB 2025🚨 We are hiring a *Lecturer in Heritage* (1 year, FT), on a 40(research)-40(teaching)-20(admin) contract. The post holder will work in @edinburgharchaeo.bsky.social @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social & @uoe-sps.bsky.social! Info: shorturl.at/PjRRs

Place, Encounter, and the Making of Communities @ Sidestone Press This book sketches the first archaeological history of the lower Sirwan/upper Diyala river valley of north-east Iraq and adjacent landscapes over a period of c. 12,000 years, from the earliest signs o...

Just published and available open access here: www.sidestone.com/books/place-...

#archaeology

I'm not sure what lump sum this could be or what mortgage they'd have, or what their situation with dependants is.
This would be a luxurious, privileged position I see in zero of my colleagues under 60 and very few over. Not really the biggest worry unless this is just Plan A

Part of ancient Britain was a woman’s world, burials reveal 2000-year-old graves suggest women wielded as much—and sometimes more—power than men in some Celtic tribes

The Durotriges

An Iron Age people with women at the centre of power, kinship and land ownership

A great report on our joint @tcddublin.bsky.social @bournemouthuni.bsky.social research project by @spoke32.bsky.social in @science.org 😊👍

www.science.org/content/arti...

Drone mapping unveils 3,000-year-old fortress, reshaping ancient history A Cranfield University, UK, academic has used drone mapping to investigate a 3,000-year-old 'mega fortress' in the Caucasus mountains.

phys.org/news/2025-01...
#Archaeology

#Jobalert! I am looking for a #postdoc to join my team in Warsaw for 2 years. The project focuses on Material Religion in #Mesopotamia. You'll be working with Rafał Solecki, two research assistants, and me. The application deadline is coming up soon: 14 Jan wnhs.uksw.edu.pl/.../employme...

Join a great team! UCL Archaeology South East @archsoutheast.bsky.social are looking for a Geoarchaeologist...…! Deadline 5 January 2025. JD here: Https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs/details?jobId=29558

Looking forward to participating in the 2nd International Conference on Advancing Sustainable Futures this week: www.adu.ac.ae/conferences-...

Two archaeologists in hi vis clothing, crouching excavating in a pit stepped down to 3m below ground level. Small white flags mark the position of artefacts. Beyond is metal fencing and field of green maize leaves.

We're hiring! Pls RT 🚨
Two Geoarchaeologists needed to join our @uclarchaeology.bsky.social team.
🔸Work for @uclofficial.bsky.social a leading uni
🔸Industry leading pay & conditions.
🔸Diverse projects
🔸Great support
Take the next step in your Geoarch career with us
Details: shorturl.at/aYDPB
🦣🧪🏺

Our paper on Late Chalcolithic Shakhi Kora was just published. A rather amazing site with an intriguing occupation history that suggests the development of local institutional households, an Uruk one, and then the rejection of this type of centralised organisation/power.
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...