Archaeology, University of Cambridge | The Globe, University of Copenhagen
Ancient Proteins | Medieval Manuscripts | Proteomics and AI | 🇺🇦
Matthew Collins, is a professor at the University of Copenhagen, formerly as a Niels Bohr professor, and also holds a McDonald Chair in Palaeoproteomics at the University of Cambridge. .. more
Will we are seeing the same "accidental" toughening. Because we can't all afford $40k H100s, developers outside USA / China are forced to use "charcoal" methods:
A more resiliant 'steel AI' would impact markets and change workpatterns
Bronze was brittle. Iron (and eventually steel) was resilient. The "Steel" of AI isn't a massive, fragile LLM in a single data center—it’s a million small, locally-tuned models running on "gaming PCs."
Resilience beats Scale when the environment gets harsh.
If global trade or energy crises make 100,000-GPU clusters unsustainable, we move to the "Artisanal" era.
Quantisation: Making models smaller/faster.
LoRA: Efficient fine-tuning.
Edge Computing: AI running on ARM, Gaming PC not server farms.
When the Bronze Age collapsed, the "Democratic" technology of Iron took over. Why? Because iron ore is everywhere. It didn't need a 2,000-mile trade route; it just needed a local blacksmith with the right "recipe."
Bronze Age empires were "Palatial"—highly centralized, elite-controlled, and fragile.
We are currently in the Palatial AI era: Power is concentrated in a few "Hyperscalers" (Big Tech/Foundries). Only "Palaces" (the data center) have the tech.
Bronze wasn't a "local" tech. It required Copper (common) + Tin (rare). Tin traveled 1000s of km to reach the Mediterranean.
Today’s "Bronze" is Compute. High-end AI requires specialized GPUs + HBM memory. If that hyper-centralized supply chain snaps, the "empire" halts.
Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich
1/ Can archaeology predict the future of Big Tech?
Economists usually look back 50-150 years; archaeologists look back further.
When you look at the Bronze Age Collapse (c. 1200 BCE), are there any parallels to our current AI trajectory?
#AI #TechHistory #Archaeology
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins, Allan D. McDevitt, Catherine J. Frieman
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins
This means Springer-Nature has gobbled up USD$837,540 of science funding this year.
I'm sure we couldn't think of anything better to do with that money.
#OpenScience
🗓️ Aug 12–21, 2026 📍 Copenhagen (In-person + 3-day remote option) 🎓 6 ECTS credits ⏳ Deadline: April 1st
Apply here: phdcourses.ku.dk/detailkursus...
#Palaeoproteomics #BioArch #Archaeology #Proteomics #PhDLife
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins, Allan D. McDevitt
We are seeking to appoint a part-time, permanent Biomolecular Research Laboratory Technician!
Hear a bit more about the role from @matthewcollins.bsky.social
📅 Closing date: 2 February
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/biomole...
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins
🚨 New open access paper out today🚨
The Demodifier: a tool for screening modification-induced alternate peptide taxonomy in palaeoproteomics.
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
#palaeoproteomics
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins
#Proteomics #Archaeology
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
Apply by Feb 2: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/biomole...
#ScienceJobs #Cambridge #Archaeology #STEM
Join NTU (UK) & UNamur (Belgium) to develop non-invasive workflows (ML, OCT, hyperspectral) for heritage science & biocodicology. 📜
🗓️ Deadline: Feb 13, 2026 Apply for Project D145: isaac-lab.com
#HeritageScience #AI #PhD #Archaeology
A shout-out to CTR @ucph-soa.bsky.social and the TriVaL project ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-pro...
Where are the weavers in the Vikings TV series, when a (woollen) sail was the key technology?
Reposted by Catherine J. Frieman, Caroline Robion‐Brunner
Focus: Lipidomics & starch analysis of West African ceramics for the RainForStory project (Congo Basin agriculture).
📅 Deadline: 12 Jan 2026
New paper by @neaarlab.bsky.social, using Bithynia snails 🐌 to date the last 1Ma: 4 new reference sets for climate & Quaternary Science 🌍
open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/5-396
Reposted by Catherine J. Frieman
Deadline: Jan 4, 2026.
Mikkel Winther Pedersen ([email protected])
#AcademicJobs #aeDNA #ClimateChange
Reposted by Catherine J. Frieman
Join Prof. @christinawarinner.bsky.social ’s group at @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social to study the evolution and ecology of ancient oral microbiota.
📅 Apply by Jan 20, 2026: www.microverse-cluster.de/en/career/jo...
Reposted by Catherine J. Frieman
Apply by Jan 14: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins
Reposted by Matthew J. Collins, Catherine J. Frieman
Reposted by Catherine J. Frieman
Interested in #Roman economy / organic artefacts?
Background in data analysis for #ZooMS?
Then apply for a 3-year RA post working to join PELLIS project with the wonderful @gtaylortu.bsky.social to investigate Roman leather economy
Apply by 12/01/2026