Michael Petraglia
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mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia
@mdpetraglia.bsky.social
1.5K followers 710 following 110 posts

Professor & Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution | #HumanEvolution | #Archaeology | Researching #HumanOrigins in #Africa and #Asia

more info: https://experts.griffith.edu.au/28674-michael-petraglia

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Environmental science 22%
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mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Sep 30
About 12,000 years ago, high up on a cliff in the desert of northern Arabia, an artist – or perhaps artists – was hard at work. @mariaguagnin.bsky.social
theconversation.com/12-000-year-...
12,000-year-old rock art marked ancient water sources in Arabia’s desert
The large, naturalistic engravings are a striking symbol for survival in the desert.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

paleobae.bsky.social
Christopher J. Bae @paleobae.bsky.social · 2d
[new paper alert!!]. Taking another look at the traditional Out of Africa I model… 😎😎

@courtneymanthey.bsky.social

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

Reposted by Christopher J. Bae

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · 6d
Exciting new discoveries and theories emerging out of China and Eastern Asia about the course of human evolution
paleobae.bsky.social Christopher J. Bae @paleobae.bsky.social · 7d
This just out in NewScientist. It includes various discussions around bodoensis, juluensis and everything Chibanian… (had no idea they were going to draw my pic for the piece!! 😂😂).

www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

paleobae.bsky.social
Christopher J. Bae @paleobae.bsky.social · 7d
This just out in NewScientist. It includes various discussions around bodoensis, juluensis and everything Chibanian… (had no idea they were going to draw my pic for the piece!! 😂😂).

www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

nicoleboivin.bsky.social
Nicole Boivin @nicoleboivin.bsky.social · 17d
Interested in the kinds of information archaeologists can gain from metabolic profiling? Check out this wonderful new book and our chapter on the ancient oasis of Tayma.

This work builds on our 2022 paper on reconstructing ancient scents in Nature Human Behaviour: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Book cover for Scents of Arabia: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Olfactory Worlds

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · 22d
Remarkable achievement. Congratulations to you and the CIEHF team too!

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia, Catherine J. Frieman

seanulm.bsky.social
Sean Ulm @seanulm.bsky.social · 23d
ABC Deep Time Australia Launched Today

Congratulations to everyone involved in working with the ABC News Story Lab to bring this project to fruition!

@ciehf.bsky.social is proud to have closely collaborated on this project.

www.abc.net.au/news/deeptime/
Explore an epic story 65,000 years in the making
Dive into Deep Time, an immersive story of the knowledge, art and ingenuity of Australia’s First Nations peoples — told like never before.
www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

nicoleboivin.bsky.social
Nicole Boivin @nicoleboivin.bsky.social · 26d
This is now published! Great pleasure to work with @stewiestewart.bsky.social, @huwgroucutt.bsky.social, @carlipeters.bsky.social and the rest of the team!

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

nicoleboivin.bsky.social
Nicole Boivin @nicoleboivin.bsky.social · 26d
Australia in the Anthropocene: Linking Past, Present and Future. Wonderful project workshop yesterday exploring the diverse methods our students and ECRs are using to examine how Australia's ecosystems have been shaped by people over the long-term and why it matters today.
Photo of participants in the Australia in the Anthropocene workshop

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · 26d
My comments on the new discovery of hand bones of Paranthropus boisei and its implications for tool use. www.abc.net.au/news/science...
'They've got a power grip': Fossil hands suggests ape-like cousin made tools
The first set of ancient hand fossils from an ape-like cousin of humans discovered in Kenya suggest a number of species were capable of making tools 1.5 million years ago.
www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

gopesh.bsky.social
Gopesh Jha @gopesh.bsky.social · 26d
Paper alert 🎓🌿

I’m excited to share a new publication from my PhD

On-site plant-wax biomarkers + compound-specific isotopes show why relying on bulk δ13C of SOM can mislead in the tropics. Case study: Jwalapuram (S. India).

Read: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Huge thanks to all co-authors 🙏

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

antiquity.ac.uk
Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · Oct 6
Want to explore these amazing camel images in more detail? Check out a 2022 examination of four of the #RockArt panels in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺#Archaeology

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · Oct 1
Hunter-gatherers may have used engravings to find water in the parched deserts of the Arabian Peninsula 12,000 years ago. https://scim.ag/4nql413
Prehistoric camel art pointed to precious water sources in the Arabian Desert
Hunter-gatherers may have used the engravings to find water 12,000 years ago
scim.ag

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

governor.ca.gov
Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · Oct 1
Jane Goodall was a global legend at the forefront of discovery — breaking through barriers for women in primatology, science, and beyond.

Her curiosity, strength, and kindness changed the world, bridging countries and cultures in pursuit of a better future.
Jane Goodall: April 3, 1934 – October 1, 2025

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Oct 1
For the publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Oct 1
Had some fun with this one! Based on a publication by @mariaguagnin.bsky.social and our terrific team! 🐪
m.youtube.com/shorts/7Pcec...
12,000-year-old road signs
YouTube video by Griffith University
m.youtube.com

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Sep 30
Some nice news coverage by @science.org of our recent discoveries of 12,000-year-old life-sized camel engravings in rock art of #SaudiArabia. @mariaguagnin.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
Prehistoric camel art pointed to precious water sources in the Arabian Desert
Hunter-gatherers may have used the engravings to find water 12,000 years ago
www.science.org

Reposted by Nicole Boivin

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Sep 30
New discovery! Here @mariaguagnin.bsky.social and our team report on 12,000-year-old life-size camel rock art engravings in the Saudi desert. #GreenArabia @griffith.edu.au www.nature.com/articles/s41...

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Sep 28
Some of my initial comments on the most interesting Yunxian 2 study and its implications.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Million-year-old skull could change human evolution timeline
A digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull suggests humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than thought and in Asia not Africa, a study said Friday."It sug...
www.yahoo.com

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

nicoleboivin.bsky.social
Nicole Boivin @nicoleboivin.bsky.social · Sep 21
“Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity.”

Actually I’m not even sure they’re doing that, though many are indeed trying.

share.google/XNaLs2bBjdMG...
Equity in science is a beautiful lie — and I’m done pretending
Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system.
share.google

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

mu-peter.bsky.social
MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · Aug 22
Homo erectus technological behaviors during the Middle Pleistocene Transition: Engaji Nanyori, Oldupai Gorge 🏺🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Arturo Cueva-Temprana, @nicoleboivin.bsky.social, @mdpetraglia.bsky.social, et al

Recent excavations of Acheulean occupational sequence dated 1.1–0.9 Ma.
Stone tool selection from layer IV. A: Basalt cleaver on flake. B: Basalt bifacial centripetal core. C-F: Burin-like/dihedral retouched flakes on basalt I, phonolite (D-E) and quartzite (F). G: Quartzite dorsal-ventral refit of two flakes

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Aug 13
Paper alert! Led by my PhD student Arturo Cueva-Temprana on Engaji Nanyori (Oldupai Gorge). This study offers rare insight into Acheulean technology during the Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.1–0.9 Ma).
Striking technological uniformity by early ancestors. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Homo erectus technological behaviors during the Middle Pleistocene Transition: Engaji Nanyori, Oldupai Gorge - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - The Acheulean technocomplex is a milestone in the evolutionary adaptability, technological development, and dispersal of Homo erectus. While the...
link.springer.com

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

mu-peter.bsky.social
MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · Aug 8
Human footprints provide snapshot of last interglacial ecology in the Arabian interior🏺🧪
Mathew Stewart, @huwgroucutt.bsky.social , @mdpetraglia.bsky.social et al
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Evidence indicates a well-watered semi-arid grassland setting during human movements into Nefud Desert.
The Alathar paleolake sediments, footprints, and fossils. (A) Plan view of the Alathar paleolake deposits with researchers indicated by white arrowheads. (B) First stratigraphic section (units FS1 to FS3). (C) Second stratigraphic section (units SS1 to SS3) overlying the first but located toward the center of the paleolake. (D and E) Example of an elephant track and trackway, Proboscipeda isp. (F) Camelid trackway, Lamaichnum isp. (G) Camelid forefoot (H) Camelid hindfoot. (I) Equid track, Hippipeda isp. (J) Bovid axis vertebra eroding out of the paleolake sediment. Photo credit: Gilbert Price, The University of Queensland and Richard Clark-Wilson, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · Dec 31
Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum
www.nature.com

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia, Victor A. Albert

Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · Jan 1
Archaeologists Stunned by 115,000-Year-Old Human Footprint Discovery in the Most Unexpected Place
dailygalaxy.com/2024/12/1150...
Archaeologists Stunned by 115,000-Year-Old Human Footprint Discovery in the Most Unexpected Place
Deep in the sands of the Arabian Peninsula, scientists unearthed an ancient lakebed harboring a secret that could transform our understanding of human history. Human footprints, preserved for over 115...
dailygalaxy.com

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

eshallinan.bsky.social
Emily Hallinan @eshallinan.bsky.social · Jan 24
Something special for the lithophiles for #FlintFriday and #FieldFriday - two ends of the Levallois spectrum from my survey yesterday in Luxor. I’ve never seen anything quite like either of them 🤩

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

hlee.bsky.social
Howard Lee @hlee.bsky.social · Jan 25
As far a I was aware, the idea that the eruption of Toba 74,000 years ago caused a human genetic bottleneck was discredited some years ago. See explanation by @johnhawks.bsky.social: 🧪
www.google.com/amp/s/johnha...

www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smiths...
How the Largest Volcanic Eruption in Human History Changed the World
Read about the volcano that some believe almost wiped humans off the planet
www.smithsonianmag.com

mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia @mdpetraglia.bsky.social · Jul 18
Great news! 😀

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

ingatkatandaan.bsky.social
Vito Hernandez @ingatkatandaan.bsky.social · Jun 27
10th World Archaeology Congress has wrapped up. Here's us who presented in the session 'Microarchaeology—Using Micro-analytical Techniques to Elucidate the Deep Environmental Past and the Evolution of Our Species'. Our session and the whole of the conference was largely successful

Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia

suegreaney.bsky.social
Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · Jun 16
Did you know that WAC-10 World Archaeology Congress (next week) is free for students to attend online? Register here: worldarchaeologicalcongress.com/wac10/
WAC-10 – Darwin 22-28 June 2025
worldarchaeologicalcongress.com