Paige Madison
@fossilhistory.bsky.social
Science writer. Writing a book on hobbits and human origins. Editor PBS Eons. History of science PhD.
Reposted by Paige Madison
Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺
Neanderthals cannibalized 'outsider' women and children 45,000 years ago at cave in Belgium
Fragmented Neanderthal bones discovered in a cave in Belgium show that one group cannibalized the women and children of another group.
www.livescience.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺
The marvelous Lucy was discovered #OnThisDay in 1974 in Ethiopia. At more than 3 million years old, she was the oldest, most complete ancestor found to date. 🏺
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
November 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The marvelous Lucy was discovered #OnThisDay in 1974 in Ethiopia. At more than 3 million years old, she was the oldest, most complete ancestor found to date. 🏺
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
“There is grandeur in this view of life - that from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published today in 1859. 🧪
November 24, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“There is grandeur in this view of life - that from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published today in 1859. 🧪
Celebrating an incredible coincidence of history today: #OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, and 115 years later, to the day, Lucy was found. 🏺
November 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Celebrating an incredible coincidence of history today: #OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, and 115 years later, to the day, Lucy was found. 🏺
#OnThisDay in 1953, the Piltdown man fossils were declared a “perfectly executed and carefully prepared fraud," concluding a hoax that had lasted over forty years. 🏺🧪
November 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
#OnThisDay in 1953, the Piltdown man fossils were declared a “perfectly executed and carefully prepared fraud," concluding a hoax that had lasted over forty years. 🏺🧪
Reposted by Paige Madison
🧪🏺🦣
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
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.
1/7
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.
1/7
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
doi.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:25 PM
🧪🏺🦣
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Reposted by Paige Madison
Hello internets, there's a paleontological museum in danger of being closed. Please help.
Well it seems it is going to be to late for @lastweektonight.com to help with their hiatus. Any suggestions for a big sci com/science interested news account I should play with to help save PRI?
Tag them in the comments with your pitch for why they should help out this museum maybe
Tag them in the comments with your pitch for why they should help out this museum maybe
November 17, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Hello internets, there's a paleontological museum in danger of being closed. Please help.
Every few months: “Are the hobbits still out there?” 🤦♀️
www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...
www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...
A Tiny Apelike Humanoid May Still Be Living in Plain Sight, Scientist Says
Don’t be shy, little guy.
www.popularmechanics.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Every few months: “Are the hobbits still out there?” 🤦♀️
www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...
www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...
Reposted by Paige Madison
Excellent write-up of a remarkable exhibition by @fossilhistory.bsky.social - glad I could provide some commentary on it!
Lucy traveled from Ethiopia to Prague in a custom box, with police escorts, to meet her great-great-great grandchildren (of sorts) in Europe for the first time. Hundreds of thousands showed up. Me for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🏺
Meeting Lucy: How a World-First European Exhibition Brought Visitors Face to Face With the Fossil That 'Shrinks Time'
Two Australopithecus fossils named Lucy and Selam made a rare trip out of Ethiopia for a 60-day display at the National Museum in Prague
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Excellent write-up of a remarkable exhibition by @fossilhistory.bsky.social - glad I could provide some commentary on it!
Lucy traveled from Ethiopia to Prague in a custom box, with police escorts, to meet her great-great-great grandchildren (of sorts) in Europe for the first time. Hundreds of thousands showed up. Me for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🏺
Meeting Lucy: How a World-First European Exhibition Brought Visitors Face to Face With the Fossil That 'Shrinks Time'
Two Australopithecus fossils named Lucy and Selam made a rare trip out of Ethiopia for a 60-day display at the National Museum in Prague
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Lucy traveled from Ethiopia to Prague in a custom box, with police escorts, to meet her great-great-great grandchildren (of sorts) in Europe for the first time. Hundreds of thousands showed up. Me for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🏺
Reposted by Paige Madison
Over the next few hours/days I'll be uploading lots of new #paleoart to Patreon. First up is this #Neanderthal fellow looking whimsically over his shoulder, wondering if he locked the door to his cave. Lots of discussion about his appearance and clothes at
www.patreon.com/posts/142405... #sciart
www.patreon.com/posts/142405... #sciart
October 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Over the next few hours/days I'll be uploading lots of new #paleoart to Patreon. First up is this #Neanderthal fellow looking whimsically over his shoulder, wondering if he locked the door to his cave. Lots of discussion about his appearance and clothes at
www.patreon.com/posts/142405... #sciart
www.patreon.com/posts/142405... #sciart
#OnThisDay in 2004, we were introduced to "a stranger from Flores," a new species of human called Homo floresiensis. @chrisbstringer.bsky.social's thoughts at the time on the big (or small) surprise: go.nature.com/34s9xbM 🏺🧪
October 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
#OnThisDay in 2004, we were introduced to "a stranger from Flores," a new species of human called Homo floresiensis. @chrisbstringer.bsky.social's thoughts at the time on the big (or small) surprise: go.nature.com/34s9xbM 🏺🧪
'Excavated with colonial labor and shipped to the Netherlands, the famous fossil is being repatriated to Indonesia along with 28,000 other fossils.' 🏺
'Java Man,’ the first Homo erectus discovered, is finally going home
Excavated with colonial labor and shipped to the Netherlands, the famous fossil is being repatriated to Indonesia along with 28,000 other fossils.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:16 PM
'Excavated with colonial labor and shipped to the Netherlands, the famous fossil is being repatriated to Indonesia along with 28,000 other fossils.' 🏺
The fossils of a potential ancestor, Orrorin tugenensis, were found #OnThisDay in 2000 in Kenya. The bones give us hints about early experiments in walking upright. 🏺
October 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The fossils of a potential ancestor, Orrorin tugenensis, were found #OnThisDay in 2000 in Kenya. The bones give us hints about early experiments in walking upright. 🏺
Reposted by Paige Madison
Prang, T.C., Tocheri, M.W., Patel, B.A. et al. Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like vertical climbing in the earliest hominins. Commun Biol 8, 1454 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s420...
Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like vertical climbing in the earliest hominins - Communications Biology
Morphometric analyses of ankle bones provide evidence that humans evolved from an ancestor with vertical climbing adaptations like those of chimpanzees and gorillas.
doi.org
October 16, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Prang, T.C., Tocheri, M.W., Patel, B.A. et al. Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like vertical climbing in the earliest hominins. Commun Biol 8, 1454 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s420...
Revisiting old Liang Bua documentaries and getting a kick out of this scene. 🏺
October 15, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Revisiting old Liang Bua documentaries and getting a kick out of this scene. 🏺
Reposted by Paige Madison
📄 New paper 📣 of @matrixerc.bsky.social & @welkergroup.bsky.social! We show that microstratigraphic-scale #paleoproteomics works in intact sediments - opening new ways to explore ancient ecosystems & hominin behaviour 🌍🦴
@erc.europa.eu @icarehb.bsky.social 🔗 academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
@erc.europa.eu @icarehb.bsky.social 🔗 academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
New methods on the block: Taxonomic identification of archaeological bones in resin-embedded sediments through paleoproteomics
Abstract. The integration of biomolecular studies of past organisms with geoarchaeological studies can significantly improve our understanding of the relat
academic.oup.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:28 AM
📄 New paper 📣 of @matrixerc.bsky.social & @welkergroup.bsky.social! We show that microstratigraphic-scale #paleoproteomics works in intact sediments - opening new ways to explore ancient ecosystems & hominin behaviour 🌍🦴
@erc.europa.eu @icarehb.bsky.social 🔗 academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
@erc.europa.eu @icarehb.bsky.social 🔗 academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Paige Madison
Short article I wrote* on recent advances in the story of early Homo sapiens is now available online!
*commissioned as accompanying BBC Human series, although tbh I did not love their Neanderthal episode :-(
www.sciencefocus.com/science/huma...
*commissioned as accompanying BBC Human series, although tbh I did not love their Neanderthal episode :-(
www.sciencefocus.com/science/huma...
We didn’t conquer the world alone. This is humanity’s untold origin story | BBC Science Focus Magazine
We’re discovering there were more characters, and more acts, in the tale of how Homo sapiens spread across the globe.
www.sciencefocus.com
October 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Short article I wrote* on recent advances in the story of early Homo sapiens is now available online!
*commissioned as accompanying BBC Human series, although tbh I did not love their Neanderthal episode :-(
www.sciencefocus.com/science/huma...
*commissioned as accompanying BBC Human series, although tbh I did not love their Neanderthal episode :-(
www.sciencefocus.com/science/huma...
Reposted by Paige Madison
Reposted by Paige Madison
The #TaungChild has been silent for over 2 million years — until now.
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
October 8, 2025 at 8:30 AM
The #TaungChild has been silent for over 2 million years — until now.
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
That was something else.
October 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
That was something else.
In case you missed it, I went to Prague to visit Lucy for her first-ever appearance in Europe and wrote down a few thoughts: open.substack.com/pub/paigemad... 🏺
Circling Lucy
Bowing to ancient bone fragments in a hushed room
open.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:05 PM
In case you missed it, I went to Prague to visit Lucy for her first-ever appearance in Europe and wrote down a few thoughts: open.substack.com/pub/paigemad... 🏺
#OnThisDay in 2009, after years of preparation, Ardipithecus ramidus was unveiled. The stunningly old 4.4 million-year-old fossils from Ethiopia were introduced as "a new kind of ancestor."
October 2, 2025 at 10:18 AM
#OnThisDay in 2009, after years of preparation, Ardipithecus ramidus was unveiled. The stunningly old 4.4 million-year-old fossils from Ethiopia were introduced as "a new kind of ancestor."
Reposted by Paige Madison
The world has lost one of the biggest figures in Anthropology, Biology, and Conservation to have ever lived. Science will be an emptier place without her, and I can only take solace in knowing that she has inspired entire new generations of researchers who will continue her work. Rest in peace, Jane
JUST IN: Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.
Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91
Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.
n.pr
October 1, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The world has lost one of the biggest figures in Anthropology, Biology, and Conservation to have ever lived. Science will be an emptier place without her, and I can only take solace in knowing that she has inspired entire new generations of researchers who will continue her work. Rest in peace, Jane
#OnThisDay in 1861, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend "But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything." n.pr/3kVZvon
October 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
#OnThisDay in 1861, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend "But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything." n.pr/3kVZvon