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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 5d

We are hiring a Project Co-ordinator! 🚨

Are you extremely organised with great interpersonal skills?
Able to multitask efficiently?
Interested in African prehistory?
Keen to work with an enthusiastic team?
We want to hear from you!

Closing date: 17 October, 2025

Project Coordinator (Fixed Term)

Applications are invited for a 12-month Project Co-ordinator position on the NG'IPALAJEM project, funded by the ERC. The project aims at collecting new palaeontological, archaeological and geological

www.cam.ac.uk

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Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 6d

Like you, I've read so many nice things about Jane Goodall's amazing life and legacy today, but this video of the realease of the chimp called Wounda is beyond words ♥️

If only we could find the will to stop destroying the extraordinary natural world around us...

youtu.be/ClOMa_GufsA?...

Wounda's Journey - Jane Goodall Witnesses Release of Chimpanzee Into New Island Sanctuary Site

YouTube video by Dr. Jane Goodall & the Jane Goodall Institute USA

youtu.be

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 10d

It's a wrap! #ESHE2025
3 days filled with stimulating discussions in the form of 35 podiums, 33 Pecha Kuchas, 169 posters.
Congratulations to the winners of the student prize - Harmony Hill & Gabriele Russo!
Massive thank you to the organisers for making it all happen.

See you in Burgos next year!

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 10d

It's a wrap! #ESHE2025
3 days filled with stimulating discussions in the form of 35 podiums, 33 Pecha Kuchas, 169 posters.
Congratulations to the winners of the student prize - Harmony Hill & Gabriele Russo!
Massive thank you to the organisers for making it all happen.

See you in Burgos next year!

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 11d

Session 9 Podium #ESHE2025

@stephanepeyregne.bsky.social on a new Denisovan genome,
J. Kubat uncovers sexing and phylogeny of M. palaeojavanicus,
E. Veatch reconsiders fire use and behaviour in H. floresiensis,
H. Berghuis on the first subsea H. erectus site in Sundaland

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 11d

Podium Day 3 #ESHE2025

H. Farrell, R. Sorrentino, C. Ruff, A. Toccacceli, R. Clarke, A. Robles on the architecture of human foot, gait in Dmanisi, dexterous rock climbing in chimps, craniofacial diversity in great apes and so much more!

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 12d

Poster Session 2 #ESHE2025

83 wonderful posters. 169 in total.

Palaeotrails’ Jesse Martin & @martamlahr.bsky.social on detecting microevolutionary trends in fossil hominin populations.

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 12d

Podium talks Day 2 #ESHE2025

@jingzhang.bsky.social, K. Bretzke, G. Duller, @armandofalcucci.bsky.social, @giuliagallo.bsky.social, @jonathanreeves.bsky.social present exciting research on AI refits for lithics, use of operculum to push the limits of OSL, fire durations in the MP and so much more!

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Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 13d

#ESHE2025
posting on Pecha Kuchas is hard 😅😅😅!

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · 13d

First round of podium presentations at #ESHE2025

Olivia Rivero, Alba Mesa, April Nowell,
@aurelienmounier.bsky.social, Chris Hunt explore everything from cognitive complexity, aDNA in cave art to the lives of teens in the #Palaeolithic and the amazing discoveries at #Shanidar!

Stay tuned!

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Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 13d

#ESHE2025
Introduction by @mariesoressi.bsky.social – 14 years of ESHE! 340 participants in Paris 😊!
Welcome by MNHN, hosting: info on major cyber-attack in July, and how challenging it was to organise the meeting (thank you Paris team!!), thanking a number of supporting & funding institutions.

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 19

Celebrating our wonderful PI @martamlahr.bsky.social for such an incredible achievement 🎉🍾🥂

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 17

Justus Erus Edung was only 25 years old when he discovered Kenyanthropus platyops in a team led by Prof. Meave Leakey in 1999.

This 3.5 million year old “flat-faced” skull quickly grabbed international headlines and changed the course of human evolution.

#fossils #turkana #humanevolution

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 16

Had such a fun time learning about species identification, phylogeny and palaeoecology with @deadbovids.bsky.social 🤩🤩

Kaedan O'Brien, Ph.D. @deadbovids.bsky.social · Jul 16

38 trays, 722 specimens, and 31 species of elephant, rhino, hippo, rodent, pig, monkey, horse, buffalo, and antelope teeth and horns later, I can finally wrap up the first project I'm working on this summer in Kenya with @palaeotrails.bsky.social and the Ng'ipalajem project!

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 15

Episode 2: Faunal identification with @deadbovids.bsky.social

Other than identification, tooth wear pattern can give us exciting insights into faunal diet and palaeoecology.

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 13

The joy of sorting LSA lithics from Turkana under the guidance of @robfoley.bsky.social

Follow us on Instagram for more www.instagram.com/palaeotrails...

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Rob Foley @robfoley.bsky.social · Jul 10

Breaking the barriers! Important new paper by Daniel Green and others discovering 18 million years of proteins of East African mammals!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Eighteen million years of diverse enamel proteomes from the East African Rift - Nature

The isolation of dental proteins from fossils deposited 1.5 million to 18 million years ago in the Turkana Basin in Kenya, a tropical region, demonstrate the promise of dental enamel for palaeoproteom...

www.nature.com

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 11

What does the Ng'ipalajem team do?

Ng’ipalajem, meaning Ancestors in Turkana, is an ERC-funded project.

Led by @martamlahr.bsky.social, the project investigates how the emergence of Homo sapiens is deeply intertwined with Africa’s long-term environmental and ecological history.

#humanevolution

We spend long periods of time in Kenya collecting data in the collections, understanding the landscape and looking for fossils.

Picture credits: Sarah Paris

The rest of the year is spent analysing data, honing skills and preparing for upcoming field work. During this time, we develop new methodologies, attend conferences, write papers and discuss our findings

Picture credits: Sarah Paris, Eleanor Williams

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 1

📢 We’re HIRING!

Are you experienced in 3D imaging and geometric
morphometric analysis? Do you have strong organisational and communication skills?

We want to hear from you! Apply below www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51730/

Join our passionate research team exploring Pleistocene African prehistory! 🦴

Research Assistant in the Ng'ipalajem Project (digital) (fixed-term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge

Research Assistant in the Ng'ipalajem Project (digital) (fixed-term) in the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jul 1

🚨 Who made the Oldowan? - New paper from Eleanor Williams

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Who made the Oldowan? Reviewing African hominin fossils and archaeological sites from 3.5 million years ago

The question of which African hominin taxon/taxa was responsible for producing Oldowan stone tools has persisted for nearly a century. Homo habilis, P…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jun 30

🚨New Paper from Palaeotrails @avantikab.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Late Quaternary fluvio-aeolian interactions and possible aridification in west-central India: Implications for prehistoric human adaptations in the Central Tapi Valley

The Central Tapi Valley in India presents a unique opportunity to study Late Quaternary environmental changes, with a particular focus on fluvio-aeoli…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jun 21

🎉 Fantastic new book by Jonathan R. Goodman Invisible Rivals: How we evolved to compete in a cooperative world’ forward by Palaeotrails @robfoley.bsky.social

Cambridge Archaeology @cam-archaeology.bsky.social · Jun 20

Cambridge Archaeology graduate Jonathan R. Goodman has published a book: 'Invisible Rivals: How We Evolved to Compete in a Cooperative World'.

Available to purchase from Yale University Press: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jun 9

🚨 More below!!

At Khok Phanom Di, red ochre pigment was applied to most burials. Infants who died around the time of birth were excluded. And yet, they were still buried in the same sacred ground.

What does this tell us about how ancient communities perceived personhood, grief, and belonging?

Ochre and Identity: An Exploration of Perinatal Mortality, Personhood and Social Acknowledgement at Khok Phanom Di, Central Thailand | Cambridge Archaeological Journal | Cambridge Core

Ochre and Identity: An Exploration of Perinatal Mortality, Personhood and Social Acknowledgement at Khok Phanom Di, Central Thailand

www.cambridge.org

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jun 9

🚨 New research by Palaeotrails' @sarah-paris.bsky.social
beautifully connects Neolithic infant burials in Thailand with today’s evolving conversations around perinatal loss.

"This isn't just about pigment—it's about belonging."

From ancient ochre to Ronaldo's 7th-minute tribute—grief unites. 🕊️

What Ancient Burials Can Teach Us About Grief: New Study Links Prehistoric Thai Cemetery to Today’s Perinatal Loss Conversations

www.arch.cam.ac.uk

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Palaeotrails @palaeotrails.bsky.social · Jun 9

More here!!

Ochre and Identity: An Exploration of Perinatal Mortality, Personhood and Social Acknowledgement at Khok Phanom Di, Central Thailand | Cambridge Archaeological Journal | Cambridge Core

Ochre and Identity: An Exploration of Perinatal Mortality, Personhood and Social Acknowledgement at Khok Phanom Di, Central Thailand

www.cambridge.org