What can we learn from Neanderthals? Professor Penny Spikins, Professor of the Archaeology of Human Origins at the University of York, will be honoured with the Europa prize for her contributions to European prehistory, and the conference will explore issues salient to Professor Spikins' work. The lives of Neanderthals have fascinated us since the earliest finds of these ancient humans in the nineteenth century. Discoveries continue to surprise and intrigue us, alternately encouraging us to see our nearest cousins as just like us, or subtly different. Over the past few decades our knowledge of Neanderthal lives and behaviours has expanded at a remarkable rate, yet if anything more and more questions have emerged. This session will combine some of the latest archaeological evidence and research on Neanderthal behaviour with a sense of reflection on what this evidence and how we understand it continues to tell us about ourselves. From pressing us to reflect on how we decide what makes us human. how our preconceptions affect our judgements of people, why we fail to live sustainably or the downsides of global connections, we will uncover how Neanderthals help us know what it means to be ourselves. Conference presentations will take place over the whole day (6th June) in person, with early career researcher talks alongside invited speaker presentations. Confirmed invited speakers include: Prof Chris Stringer, CHER, The Natural History Museum London Dr Jennifer French, University of Liverpool Dr Matt Pope, University College London Dr Silvia Bello, CHER. The Natural History Museum London Call for papers Please email title & abstract of no more than 350 words to Meetings Secretaries of Prehistoric Society (Adelle Bricking and George Prew-Stell, meetings@prehistoricsociety.org) by Sunday 5th April 2026. Please include your current title and organisational affiliation in the email. Authors will be notified if their proposals were accepted by Sunday 19th April 2026.

Call for papers for the 2026 Europa, 6th June at Uni of York honouring work of Professor Penny Spikins. The topic will be:

What can we learn from Neanderthals?

(Please note change in previously advertised title)

Further details here: www.prehistoricsociety.org/events/2026-...

#Archaeology 🏺

Selective culinary uses of plant foods by Northern and Eastern European hunter-gatherer-fishers Carbonised food deposits preserved in pottery vessels, often termed ‘foodcrusts,’ are frequently encountered on hunter-gatherer-fisher (HGF) pottery throughout Northern and Eastern Europe. While lipid...

For anyone working on prehistoric hunter-gatherer-fisher pottery - our food-crust plant paper is finally out... journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Our workshop abstract booklet is live! 📘

Check out the upcoming talks and don’t miss your chance to join us online — registration closes this Wednesday, March 4.

All info: research.reading.ac.uk/coexist/work...

Excited to announce the launch of the LEIZA Journal of Archaeology (LJA), a new #DiamondOpenAccess, double-blind peer-reviewed online journal of world #archaeology.

More Info: www.leiza.de/forschung/pu...

Enhancing archaeological mobility studies: Bayesian-modelled isoscapes and high-resolution refinement of the bioavailable strontium baseline in southern Scandinavia Mapping spatial variability of bioavailable strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) is fundamental to robust analyses of prehistoric human and animal mobility …

Beautifully done: Enhancing archaeological mobility studies: Bayesian-modelled isoscapes and high-resolution refinement of the bioavailable strontium baseline in southern Scandinavia www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Complex perishable technologies from the North American Great Basin reveal specialized Late Pleistocene adaptations Organic items from the Great Basin broaden understanding of complex technologies in the Pleistocene.

Complex perishable technologies from the North American Great Basin reveal specialized Late Pleistocene adaptations | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Hunter-gatherers took refuge in European 'water world' for millennia Ancient inhabitants of the Rhine-Meuse river delta resisted population shifts that transformed most of Europe — until they helped catalyse the expansion of ‘Bell Beaker’ culture.

'Patterns of genetic diversity on the X and Y chromosomes suggested that European-farmer ancestry seemed to arrive mostly through females.

“We really do think that the bits and pieces of the farming lifestyle that were incorporated by these hunter-gathering groups came in through...women".'

Unravelling the Palaeolithic 2026!

Join us for two days of all things Palaeolithic, Pleistocene and Early Human Origins at UCL Institute of Archaeology 19-20th June.

Call for papers is now open and tickets are on sale! Check out our website for more information.

sites.google.com/view/unravel...

Earliest evidence for intentional cremation of human remains in Africa The world’s oldest in situ adult funeral pyre (~9500 years old) shows complex mortuary behaviors among ancient African foragers.

Earliest evidence for intentional cremation of human remains in Africa | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Earliest evidence for intentional cremation of human remains in Africa The world’s oldest in situ adult funeral pyre (~9500 years old) shows complex mortuary behaviors among ancient African foragers.

Earliest evidence for intentional cremation of human remains in Africa | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

thanks, cited it already!

Awesome - is it published yet?

Radiocarbon 25 Proceedings Submission Deadline Extended to Jan 10, 2026

Papers must be based on RC25 presentations.
Submit: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rdc
Guidelines: radiocarbon.org/submissions

@14cjournal.bsky.social
#RC25 #Radiocarbon25

HUMAN ROOTS AWARD 2025 🏆
The Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution @paleomonrepos.bsky.social, part of the LEIZA, proudly honours Professor John D. Speth (University of Michigan, USA) with this year’s international HUMAN ROOTS AWARD! 🌍✨ #researchaward #archaeology

agreed, but post-Brexit changes to UK visa rules may exclude some of the best applicants - I think the salary needs to be over 40k if you do not already have a UK work permit

Visual with the word ‘Jobs’ and the ROOTS logo

You are an early-career scientist interested in social and environmental processes in the past? For our second phase, we are offering 5 positions for postdocs and 9 positions for doctoral students.

Apply now!

All the details: www.uni-kiel.de/en/cluster-r...
#earlycareerscientists #jobs

Wow. I give up.

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

Neanderthals, hypercarnivores, and maggots: Insights from stable nitrogen isotopes Putrefying animal foods laced with maggots should be considered when using isotopes to reconstruct Late Pleistocene hominin diets.

Essential reading.

Neanderthals, hypercarnivores, and maggots: Insights from stable nitrogen isotopes | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#Neanderthals Ran “Fat Factories” 125,000 Years Ago. Groundbreaking discovery by @paleomonrepos.bsky.social @unileiden.bsky.social @leizarchaeology.bsky.social and the LDA in Saxony reveals large-scale fat processing by Neanderthals:
idw-online.de/de/news854632

#archaeology #paleolithic #prehistory

🍝Our next PAASTA Seminar Series talk will be next week Wednesday 02 July at 15:00 CET! 🍝

@mirandaevans.bsky.social will be presenting "The Proteomics of Pottery: What can dirty dishes tell us about ancient diet and cuisine?"

As always, DM us for the Zoom link to join!

Kiel University in the Excellence Strategy: Success for the two Kiel clusters PMI and ROOTS The German Research Foundation announced which collaborative research projects will receive funding for the next seven years as Clusters of Excellence.

Double success for Kiel University: The Clusters of Excellence 'Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation' (PMI) and 'ROOTS – Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies' @clusterroots.bsky.social will be funded for another seven years!

Lecturer (Archaeological Science) #archsci #job - deadline 2nd June www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DND779/l... @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social

📢 We're hiring!
The Leibniz-Zentrum for Archaeology (LEIZA) is launching a new international, English-language, Diamond Open Access journal—and we're looking for a Managing Editor (m/f/d) to lead the way.

📍#Mainz or #Schleswig
🕒 Full- or part-time
💼 EG 13 TV-L

#archaeology #journal #editing 1/4

finally, the Duvensee chronology paper is published:
Jos Kleijne, Harald Lübke, Daniel Groß, Klaus Bokelmann, John Meadows, 2025, Temporal patterns in Mesolithic activity at Duvensee, Germany, Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 353, 109230, doi.org/10.1016/j.qu...
Thanks to everyone who helped us.😇