Dr Huw Groucutt
@huwgroucutt.bsky.social
Archaeologist, lecturer at University of Malta, PI: TerraForm ERC project.....posting about old stones, and occasional bones. Exploring human responses to climate change, particularly in Malta and Arabia. http://www.huwgroucutt.com
This just popped up from ten years ago...flashback to my office in Oxford looking at ancient stone tools from Arabia.
November 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
This just popped up from ten years ago...flashback to my office in Oxford looking at ancient stone tools from Arabia.
Good bit of Saturday morning reading. All the 'revolutions' in human prehistory are evaporating. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Unpacking the Neolithic: Assessing the Relevance of the Neolithic Construct in Light of Recent Research - Journal of World Prehistory
This paper represents an effort to ‘unpack’ the Neolithic as an umbrella concept for the pivotal developments in world prehistory that include the origins of agriculture and the emergence of village l...
link.springer.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Good bit of Saturday morning reading. All the 'revolutions' in human prehistory are evaporating. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#FieldworkFriday. Fond memories of exploring caves in Saudi Arabia a few years ago.
November 21, 2025 at 7:47 AM
#FieldworkFriday. Fond memories of exploring caves in Saudi Arabia a few years ago.
(1/18) New paper alert, a thread! Just published in PLoS ONE, our study: “Novel archaeological and palaeontological findings in cave and palaeoriver landscapes of inland northeast Arabia”. Link: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Novel archaeological and palaeontological findings in cave and palaeoriver landscapes of inland northeast Arabia
Knowledge about environmental change and the evolutionary history of hominins in Arabia has been rapidly developing over the last two decades. Interdisciplinary research on humans and environments acr...
journals.plos.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
(1/18) New paper alert, a thread! Just published in PLoS ONE, our study: “Novel archaeological and palaeontological findings in cave and palaeoriver landscapes of inland northeast Arabia”. Link: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Congratulations to our archaeology students who just graduated at the University of Malta. Onwards to great things.
November 18, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Congratulations to our archaeology students who just graduated at the University of Malta. Onwards to great things.
#FieldworkFriday ...An intensive week for fieldwork. I worked at three different sites, doing different things. Ground Penetrating Radar was fun :)
November 14, 2025 at 3:25 PM
#FieldworkFriday ...An intensive week for fieldwork. I worked at three different sites, doing different things. Ground Penetrating Radar was fun :)
Terraces, terraces.
November 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Terraces, terraces.
Slightly delayed #FieldworkFriday post...not a bad view from the 'office' this week.
November 8, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Slightly delayed #FieldworkFriday post...not a bad view from the 'office' this week.
Very nice new paper systematically mapping different structural types in northwest Saudi Arabia (www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/...). Note distinction between different types of 'desert kites' (large hunting traps) in the study area.
November 5, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Very nice new paper systematically mapping different structural types in northwest Saudi Arabia (www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/...). Note distinction between different types of 'desert kites' (large hunting traps) in the study area.
#FlintFriday. Some beautiful Neolithic arrowheads from central Saudi Arabia that we published a few years ago (Alghabban et al., 2015).
October 31, 2025 at 7:27 AM
#FlintFriday. Some beautiful Neolithic arrowheads from central Saudi Arabia that we published a few years ago (Alghabban et al., 2015).
Nice discussion! www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-10...
Who are our ancestors and why does it matter? | A Question of Science
Professor Brian Cox and our expert panel are talking all things ancient DNA.
www.crick.ac.uk
October 25, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Nice discussion! www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-10...
#FieldworkFriday. Serious science in the desert.
October 24, 2025 at 6:17 AM
#FieldworkFriday. Serious science in the desert.
It was a pleasure for the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta to host a visit from the Ambassador of Ireland to Malta, Caroline Whelan.
October 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
It was a pleasure for the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta to host a visit from the Ambassador of Ireland to Malta, Caroline Whelan.
Looks like a rather similar site setting to the Latnija site that we are excavating in Malta. Hunter-gatherers often like similar kinds of site.
Eşek Deresi Cave in the Central Taurus Mountains 🇹🇷 is a rare example of an Epipalaeolithic site in the region.
Finds show links to both Central Anatolian and Levantine sites, indicating ancient connections across the Taurus Mountains #WednesdayWisdom
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Finds show links to both Central Anatolian and Levantine sites, indicating ancient connections across the Taurus Mountains #WednesdayWisdom
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
October 22, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Looks like a rather similar site setting to the Latnija site that we are excavating in Malta. Hunter-gatherers often like similar kinds of site.
Photos from some recent trips to Tarxien and Tas Silġ Neolithic 'temples' in Malta. Amazing remains from about 5000 years ago.
October 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Photos from some recent trips to Tarxien and Tas Silġ Neolithic 'temples' in Malta. Amazing remains from about 5000 years ago.
#FieldworkFriday. Nice looking through pictures from various fieldwork seasons for the talk I did the other day. Had some amazing adventures with great friends and colleagues.
October 17, 2025 at 10:23 AM
#FieldworkFriday. Nice looking through pictures from various fieldwork seasons for the talk I did the other day. Had some amazing adventures with great friends and colleagues.
Homo no-lead-i. ... in seriousness, this is an interesting new paper! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Impact of intermittent lead exposure on hominid brain evolution
Lead exposure, as influenced by NOVA1 expression, affected brain function in multiple hominid species.
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Homo no-lead-i. ... in seriousness, this is an interesting new paper! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Just out, our new paper "The state of the late Quaternary megafauna extinction debate...". We review the various perspectives, methods, and datasets which have been used to explore the extinction of many large animals. Was it humans, climate, or a mix of both? The debate continues!
Frontiers | The state of the late Quaternary megafauna extinction debate: a systematic review and analysis
With its origins in the late 18th and early 19th century, the question of what drove the late Quaternary megafauna extinctions remains one of science’s most ...
www.frontiersin.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Just out, our new paper "The state of the late Quaternary megafauna extinction debate...". We review the various perspectives, methods, and datasets which have been used to explore the extinction of many large animals. Was it humans, climate, or a mix of both? The debate continues!
(1/4) Continuing studies demonstrate the broadly global distribution of mass kill hunting structures, known as 'desert kites' where they are most abundant and longest studied, in Southwest Asia.
October 14, 2025 at 7:38 PM
(1/4) Continuing studies demonstrate the broadly global distribution of mass kill hunting structures, known as 'desert kites' where they are most abundant and longest studied, in Southwest Asia.
Reposted by Dr Huw Groucutt
🧪🦣🏺 Strong criticisms of recent study claiming super-ancient origin forlineage leading to H. sapiens, which is contradicted by DNA that points strongly to a last common ancestor more like 600,000 years ago rather than +1 million.
Also, geopolitics & nationalism often intersect with #HumanOrigins
Also, geopolitics & nationalism often intersect with #HumanOrigins
Fossiler Schädel: Homo sapiens viel älter als angenommen? | via BR24
br.de/nachrichten/... @br24.de
#Evolution #Anthropology
br.de/nachrichten/... @br24.de
#Evolution #Anthropology
Fossiler Schädel: Homo sapiens viel älter als angenommen?
Bisher waren Forschende sich weitgehend einig: Der Homo sapiens hat sich einst in Afrika entwickelt und von dort aus verbreitet. Eine neue Studie über die Rekonstruktion eines fossilen Schädels aus Ch...
br.de
October 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
🧪🦣🏺 Strong criticisms of recent study claiming super-ancient origin forlineage leading to H. sapiens, which is contradicted by DNA that points strongly to a last common ancestor more like 600,000 years ago rather than +1 million.
Also, geopolitics & nationalism often intersect with #HumanOrigins
Also, geopolitics & nationalism often intersect with #HumanOrigins
Fieldwork Friday with the TerraForm team.
October 10, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Fieldwork Friday with the TerraForm team.
Reposted by Dr Huw Groucutt
Jane Goodall obituary:
Pioneer primatologist who inspired generations of scientists 🏺🧪👩🔬
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
She was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats.
Pioneer primatologist who inspired generations of scientists 🏺🧪👩🔬
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
She was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats.
October 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Jane Goodall obituary:
Pioneer primatologist who inspired generations of scientists 🏺🧪👩🔬
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
She was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats.
Pioneer primatologist who inspired generations of scientists 🏺🧪👩🔬
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
She was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats.
Looking forward to giving this talk on October 15th. Open to all.
October 5, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Looking forward to giving this talk on October 15th. Open to all.
Rest in peace Jane Goodall. A real hero.
October 2, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Rest in peace Jane Goodall. A real hero.