Andrew Curry
@andrewcurry.com
Journalist covering archaeology, science, culture, politics, business, and cycling. When not on my bike, I'm found most often in Science, National Geographic & Archaeology. WahlBerliner, on Signal at andrewcurry.01 More at andrewcurry.com
Reposted by Andrew Curry
Pointed out by my friend @carloshasanax.bsky.social . There's something weird and unsettling about a fairly homogeneous culture spread out across Europe that then collapses into an orgy of genocide.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Pointed out by my friend @carloshasanax.bsky.social . There's something weird and unsettling about a fairly homogeneous culture spread out across Europe that then collapses into an orgy of genocide.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
<<"evidence points to “something of a cultural collapse.” From a demographic point of view, the LBK was a stunning success story.
...
“As LBK people multiply, communication becomes more and more difficult, and society breaks apart,” say Gronenborn>>
www.science.org/content/arti...
...
“As LBK people multiply, communication becomes more and more difficult, and society breaks apart,” say Gronenborn>>
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
<<"evidence points to “something of a cultural collapse.” From a demographic point of view, the LBK was a stunning success story.
...
“As LBK people multiply, communication becomes more and more difficult, and society breaks apart,” say Gronenborn>>
www.science.org/content/arti...
...
“As LBK people multiply, communication becomes more and more difficult, and society breaks apart,” say Gronenborn>>
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
Fascinating article! www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 26, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Fascinating article! www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
Woke up at 5am and read this article about weird mass graves at the end of LBK culture, gotta start a day mindfully relating to fellow culture collapse era humans from 5000 bce
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Woke up at 5am and read this article about weird mass graves at the end of LBK culture, gotta start a day mindfully relating to fellow culture collapse era humans from 5000 bce
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
A fascinating article by @andrewcurry.com @science.org!
🔬....we hope to find out soon whether 'killings/massacres' actually happened in Vráble or whether ritual practices took place here–skull removal and decapitation are different procedures... 💀👀 stay tuned!
@uni-kiel.de @clusterroots.bsky.social
🔬....we hope to find out soon whether 'killings/massacres' actually happened in Vráble or whether ritual practices took place here–skull removal and decapitation are different procedures... 💀👀 stay tuned!
@uni-kiel.de @clusterroots.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 12:29 PM
A fascinating article by @andrewcurry.com @science.org!
🔬....we hope to find out soon whether 'killings/massacres' actually happened in Vráble or whether ritual practices took place here–skull removal and decapitation are different procedures... 💀👀 stay tuned!
@uni-kiel.de @clusterroots.bsky.social
🔬....we hope to find out soon whether 'killings/massacres' actually happened in Vráble or whether ritual practices took place here–skull removal and decapitation are different procedures... 💀👀 stay tuned!
@uni-kiel.de @clusterroots.bsky.social
I love a lot of things about living in Germany, but boy do I miss good avocados.
Oh btw, if you wanted something to go with your little old crackers, I have this delightful Guacamole recipe over on my website. Its story isn't as old as the crackers, but gosh, it's a delightful eat.
www.myhistoricaltable.com
@myhistoricaltable.bsky.social
www.myhistoricaltable.com
@myhistoricaltable.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM
I love a lot of things about living in Germany, but boy do I miss good avocados.
This was a super interesting analysis of why the US feels so broken. It reminded me of a plumber I met while working as a janitor in Maine (hi, @colbycollege.bsky.social!) who refused to ever work overtime because it would bump him into another tax bracket: He knew working more meant earning less.
This is an insightful but deeply upsetting article about why everyone in the US feels poor, and why the current political situation emerges as a direct result.
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
www.yesigiveafig.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:57 AM
This was a super interesting analysis of why the US feels so broken. It reminded me of a plumber I met while working as a janitor in Maine (hi, @colbycollege.bsky.social!) who refused to ever work overtime because it would bump him into another tax bracket: He knew working more meant earning less.
But it's also OK to change the terms of the debate. Things can have value even if they _never_ make anyone rich. There's value in just knowing and appreciating.
Not everything has to make a few people rich right this instant in order to have value.
November 25, 2025 at 8:58 PM
But it's also OK to change the terms of the debate. Things can have value even if they _never_ make anyone rich. There's value in just knowing and appreciating.
The German term "orchid discipline" (Orchideenfach) is often used to dismiss fields of inquiry that don't produce obvious value–you can't eat orchids. But an archeoastronomer once told me a mark of civilization is pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, just like we treasure orchids for their beauty.
And this all elides the fact that it's just really cool to understand how things work, as a part of being a human on Earth in the universe.
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 PM
The German term "orchid discipline" (Orchideenfach) is often used to dismiss fields of inquiry that don't produce obvious value–you can't eat orchids. But an archeoastronomer once told me a mark of civilization is pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, just like we treasure orchids for their beauty.
Thank you for reading! The walls are totally baffling. Rick Shulting suggested a parallel in Pacific Coast societies, where different clans might occupy the same village and build palisades around individual longhouses as protection against enemy clan members coming from neighboring settlements.
This is such a well written and crazy fascinating article.
What were the doomed neighbors doing while the other 2 painstakingly built a wall around them over a pretty long time? Sat & watched? Held captive by the other 2 neighbors tho their manpower was spread thin building the wall?
Humans suck
What were the doomed neighbors doing while the other 2 painstakingly built a wall around them over a pretty long time? Sat & watched? Held captive by the other 2 neighbors tho their manpower was spread thin building the wall?
Humans suck
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
November 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Thank you for reading! The walls are totally baffling. Rick Shulting suggested a parallel in Pacific Coast societies, where different clans might occupy the same village and build palisades around individual longhouses as protection against enemy clan members coming from neighboring settlements.
Reposted by Andrew Curry
A very interesting site! However, it should be noted that there is also evidence of continuity between the Linear Pottery culture 🏺and the Post-LBK period in certain regions of Central Europe. It is evidence of crisis that makes headlines, not evidence of continuity.
November 24, 2025 at 9:41 AM
A very interesting site! However, it should be noted that there is also evidence of continuity between the Linear Pottery culture 🏺and the Post-LBK period in certain regions of Central Europe. It is evidence of crisis that makes headlines, not evidence of continuity.
But will they be willing to pay for it? An existential question I think a lot about these days.
Media of all kinds and the internet is already an overflowing bilge of immediacy and unreliability, but what people need now, and will become ever-more-precious, is trustworthy, clear information : news yes, but also how our world works, what happened in the past, *how we know* these things.
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
But will they be willing to pay for it? An existential question I think a lot about these days.
When my kid was little, he asked me over and over for "that song where you can get all the things that you want if you try hard." Took me a few confused days to realize it was a Jimmy Cliff request.
RIP, Jimmy.
RIP, Jimmy.
November 24, 2025 at 3:02 PM
When my kid was little, he asked me over and over for "that song where you can get all the things that you want if you try hard." Took me a few confused days to realize it was a Jimmy Cliff request.
RIP, Jimmy.
RIP, Jimmy.
Reposted by Andrew Curry
"Then something went terribly wrong. Vráble and other mass graves across Europe attest to a wave of brutality around 5000 B.C.E., about the same time as hundreds of LBK settlements across the continent abruptly vanished."
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:58 PM
"Then something went terribly wrong. Vráble and other mass graves across Europe attest to a wave of brutality around 5000 B.C.E., about the same time as hundreds of LBK settlements across the continent abruptly vanished."
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
End times 7000 ya 💥. I quite like the cycle...:
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 24, 2025 at 7:17 AM
End times 7000 ya 💥. I quite like the cycle...:
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Brin, "Startide Rising" is amazing
November 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Brin, "Startide Rising" is amazing
Reposted by Andrew Curry
Seven thousand years ago, the LBK culture brought agriculture to Central Europe. 400 years later, it devolved into what's looking more and more like a cannibalistic death cult. www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Seven thousand years ago, the LBK culture brought agriculture to Central Europe. 400 years later, it devolved into what's looking more and more like a cannibalistic death cult. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
A wave of mass brutality accompanied the vanishing of the first pan-European culture [via Science.org] 🧪🥼🦴⚔️💀🌽
"each new LBK #massacre site seems to have its own distinct character and particular details that suggest [] #brutal practices"
www.science.org/content/arti...
#ancient #farming #Europe
"each new LBK #massacre site seems to have its own distinct character and particular details that suggest [] #brutal practices"
www.science.org/content/arti...
#ancient #farming #Europe
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM
A wave of mass brutality accompanied the vanishing of the first pan-European culture [via Science.org] 🧪🥼🦴⚔️💀🌽
"each new LBK #massacre site seems to have its own distinct character and particular details that suggest [] #brutal practices"
www.science.org/content/arti...
#ancient #farming #Europe
"each new LBK #massacre site seems to have its own distinct character and particular details that suggest [] #brutal practices"
www.science.org/content/arti...
#ancient #farming #Europe
Reposted by Andrew Curry
Archaeologists find evidence that a wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture ⛏️☠️ www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Archaeologists find evidence that a wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture ⛏️☠️ www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
fascinating and disturbing
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
fascinating and disturbing
Reposted by Andrew Curry
We can reconstruct the environment but humans are truly unpredictable...
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 5:05 AM
We can reconstruct the environment but humans are truly unpredictable...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
“If conflict was a regular part of LBK life, the graves should appear throughout the culture’s […]span instead of only at the very end. And each new LBK […] site seems to have its own distinct character and particular details that suggest some[…] brutal practices, not competition for land or mates.”
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:36 PM
“If conflict was a regular part of LBK life, the graves should appear throughout the culture’s […]span instead of only at the very end. And each new LBK […] site seems to have its own distinct character and particular details that suggest some[…] brutal practices, not competition for land or mates.”
Reposted by Andrew Curry
My favourite part of this ancient Assyrian letter to an ancient Assyrian goldsmith, is the last bit where the writer basically declares that the “house where they purify silver” absolutely does not pass the vibe check.
“They are drunk and silver is stolen”
“They are drunk and silver is stolen”
November 21, 2025 at 9:16 AM
My favourite part of this ancient Assyrian letter to an ancient Assyrian goldsmith, is the last bit where the writer basically declares that the “house where they purify silver” absolutely does not pass the vibe check.
“They are drunk and silver is stolen”
“They are drunk and silver is stolen”
Reposted by Andrew Curry
What happened to Europe's first farmers? @andrewcurry.com joins the @science.org podcast to talk about the mass graves linked with the mysterious disappearance of Neolithic LBK culture 7000 years ago.
🎧 Listen here: www.science.org/content/podc...
🎧 Listen here: www.science.org/content/podc...
November 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
What happened to Europe's first farmers? @andrewcurry.com joins the @science.org podcast to talk about the mass graves linked with the mysterious disappearance of Neolithic LBK culture 7000 years ago.
🎧 Listen here: www.science.org/content/podc...
🎧 Listen here: www.science.org/content/podc...
Reposted by Andrew Curry
A great article by @andrewcurry.com about truly fascinating research: the violent end phase of the Linienbandkeramiker.
Archaeologists are unearthing heaps of headless bodies buried in a big neolithic settlement in Slovakia which seems to have broken out in heavy civil conflict or warfare.
Archaeologists are unearthing heaps of headless bodies buried in a big neolithic settlement in Slovakia which seems to have broken out in heavy civil conflict or warfare.
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 10:43 AM
A great article by @andrewcurry.com about truly fascinating research: the violent end phase of the Linienbandkeramiker.
Archaeologists are unearthing heaps of headless bodies buried in a big neolithic settlement in Slovakia which seems to have broken out in heavy civil conflict or warfare.
Archaeologists are unearthing heaps of headless bodies buried in a big neolithic settlement in Slovakia which seems to have broken out in heavy civil conflict or warfare.