Tom Booth
@boothicus.bsky.social
Bioarchaeologist. Amateur Scarecrow.
Ancient DNA Lab @ The Francis Crick Institute
Associate Lecturer in Quantitative Archaeology and Later European Prehistory @ UCL Institute of Archaeology
Ancient DNA Lab @ The Francis Crick Institute
Associate Lecturer in Quantitative Archaeology and Later European Prehistory @ UCL Institute of Archaeology
In this House you will find thousands of toys. Play with whatever you wish. But do not touch the Waluigi Hotwheels. It is precious to the Master of the House. Some say it holds his very soul.
January 16, 2026 at 10:28 PM
In this House you will find thousands of toys. Play with whatever you wish. But do not touch the Waluigi Hotwheels. It is precious to the Master of the House. Some say it holds his very soul.
Spooky goings-on at Winchester Cathedral!
January 16, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Spooky goings-on at Winchester Cathedral!
Mystic morning in Morden.
January 14, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Mystic morning in Morden.
First lecture on the 'Age of Stonehenge' Module done! Wrong-footing everyone, perhaps even myself, by starting with a deep dive into Mesolithic Britain...
January 13, 2026 at 6:34 PM
First lecture on the 'Age of Stonehenge' Module done! Wrong-footing everyone, perhaps even myself, by starting with a deep dive into Mesolithic Britain...
With a lag, the total inverse of this graph. Cheaper sequencing = more ancient genomes, not just because you can get a certain standard of data from more individuals absolutely but also because the economic threshold for ‘failure’ die to preservation drops.
January 11, 2026 at 11:04 PM
With a lag, the total inverse of this graph. Cheaper sequencing = more ancient genomes, not just because you can get a certain standard of data from more individuals absolutely but also because the economic threshold for ‘failure’ die to preservation drops.
happy new year from my little corner of London.
January 1, 2026 at 12:17 AM
happy new year from my little corner of London.
The new Gormley sculpture in the entrance of The Crick. Can’t decide if the addition of a Father Christmas hat would make this scene feel more or less tragic….
December 8, 2025 at 5:47 PM
The new Gormley sculpture in the entrance of The Crick. Can’t decide if the addition of a Father Christmas hat would make this scene feel more or less tragic….
Just when you thought Spotify had run out of creative ways to make you feel irrelevant in their latest end-of-year summary.
December 3, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Just when you thought Spotify had run out of creative ways to make you feel irrelevant in their latest end-of-year summary.
Just about to leave Ireland and my first site of the sun since my be been here! Those megalith building sub-worshippers were crazy…
November 16, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Just about to leave Ireland and my first site of the sun since my be been here! Those megalith building sub-worshippers were crazy…
Highlight of my athletic career. Still sub-20 you’ll be reassured to hear…
November 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Highlight of my athletic career. Still sub-20 you’ll be reassured to hear…
🏺
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Interesting ancestry from probable Roman soldiers buried in a mass grave in Mursa (Croastia) in mid-3rd Century CE. The Eastern Mediterranean-related ancestry turns up wherever you have Roman urban centres, including Rome itself, so could be from various places.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Interesting ancestry from probable Roman soldiers buried in a mass grave in Mursa (Croastia) in mid-3rd Century CE. The Eastern Mediterranean-related ancestry turns up wherever you have Roman urban centres, including Rome itself, so could be from various places.
October 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
🏺
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Interesting ancestry from probable Roman soldiers buried in a mass grave in Mursa (Croastia) in mid-3rd Century CE. The Eastern Mediterranean-related ancestry turns up wherever you have Roman urban centres, including Rome itself, so could be from various places.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Interesting ancestry from probable Roman soldiers buried in a mass grave in Mursa (Croastia) in mid-3rd Century CE. The Eastern Mediterranean-related ancestry turns up wherever you have Roman urban centres, including Rome itself, so could be from various places.
Found myself in the posh North han’t ah?!
October 13, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Found myself in the posh North han’t ah?!
Well, looks like we’re going to have to change the shape of the building!
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
September 25, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Well, looks like we’re going to have to change the shape of the building!
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
September 18, 2025 at 8:01 AM
The feasts were just an excuse to show off their dope flesh hooks.
media.britishmuseum.org/media/Reposi...
media.britishmuseum.org/media/Reposi...
September 11, 2025 at 11:32 AM
The feasts were just an excuse to show off their dope flesh hooks.
media.britishmuseum.org/media/Reposi...
media.britishmuseum.org/media/Reposi...
Cardiff in September!
September 3, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Cardiff in September!
Yeh I can run really fast, actually, here’s proof.
August 29, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Yeh I can run really fast, actually, here’s proof.
🏺
Hancock and his goons have gone too far this time. Now they’ve been buying up billboard space to blame ‘Big Archaeology’ for fast food cravings.
Hancock and his goons have gone too far this time. Now they’ve been buying up billboard space to blame ‘Big Archaeology’ for fast food cravings.
August 23, 2025 at 10:36 AM
🏺
Hancock and his goons have gone too far this time. Now they’ve been buying up billboard space to blame ‘Big Archaeology’ for fast food cravings.
Hancock and his goons have gone too far this time. Now they’ve been buying up billboard space to blame ‘Big Archaeology’ for fast food cravings.
Had reason to look up ‘vegetarian wolf’ today and found the mane wolf.
Yes that is definitely what I expected a vegetarian wolf to look like somehow.
static.wikia.nocookie.net/allspecies/i...
Yes that is definitely what I expected a vegetarian wolf to look like somehow.
static.wikia.nocookie.net/allspecies/i...
August 15, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Had reason to look up ‘vegetarian wolf’ today and found the mane wolf.
Yes that is definitely what I expected a vegetarian wolf to look like somehow.
static.wikia.nocookie.net/allspecies/i...
Yes that is definitely what I expected a vegetarian wolf to look like somehow.
static.wikia.nocookie.net/allspecies/i...
Next stop on my getting-a-new-job-so-will-not-be-able-to-travel-as-much farewell tour.
August 13, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Next stop on my getting-a-new-job-so-will-not-be-able-to-travel-as-much farewell tour.
Oh yeh, festival of Genomics and Biodata!? Well this is one booth that cannot be bought!
August 12, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Oh yeh, festival of Genomics and Biodata!? Well this is one booth that cannot be bought!
Yersinia pestis (plague) detected in a sheep which died 4000 years ago in Central Europe….but given it looks as though plague couldn’t be transmitted by fleas at this stage the question on everyone’s lips is ‘what did the sheep catch it from?’. That’s right, everyone’s lips.
August 12, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Yersinia pestis (plague) detected in a sheep which died 4000 years ago in Central Europe….but given it looks as though plague couldn’t be transmitted by fleas at this stage the question on everyone’s lips is ‘what did the sheep catch it from?’. That’s right, everyone’s lips.
Romano-British, eh? Well…I’ll be the judge of that, in about 6 months time.
August 7, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Romano-British, eh? Well…I’ll be the judge of that, in about 6 months time.
One of the (yuge) benefits of my job is the opportunity to travel all over the country. Going to be much more restricted when I move to a new role. I’m going to miss it! This visit soundtracked by an apparently irate peregrine.
August 7, 2025 at 12:47 PM
One of the (yuge) benefits of my job is the opportunity to travel all over the country. Going to be much more restricted when I move to a new role. I’m going to miss it! This visit soundtracked by an apparently irate peregrine.