Dr. Abigail Desmond
@abigaildesmond.bsky.social
Archaeologist. Technologist. Lecturer in Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.
https://heb.fas.harvard.edu/people/abigail-desmond
https://heb.fas.harvard.edu/people/abigail-desmond
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
Tattoo from the preserved body of a Siberian ice mummy, from the Iron Age Pazyryk culture of the Altai Mountains. Depicting two tigers and a leopard attacking two deer, it shows the sophisticated methods of Pazyryk tattooers #InternationalSnowLeopardDay
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
October 23, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Tattoo from the preserved body of a Siberian ice mummy, from the Iron Age Pazyryk culture of the Altai Mountains. Depicting two tigers and a leopard attacking two deer, it shows the sophisticated methods of Pazyryk tattooers #InternationalSnowLeopardDay
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
There are few greater joys than being employed to read stuff like this
October 22, 2025 at 7:09 PM
There are few greater joys than being employed to read stuff like this
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
In a paper under review @abigaildesmond.bsky.social and I argue that self-directed tool use should be the most common form of novel (and possibly temporary) tool use, because of the immediacy of the feedback and the stability of the self as an environment. Fingers crossed it survives review!
🧪🪮🐼
🧪🪮🐼
October 21, 2025 at 10:09 AM
In a paper under review @abigaildesmond.bsky.social and I argue that self-directed tool use should be the most common form of novel (and possibly temporary) tool use, because of the immediacy of the feedback and the stability of the self as an environment. Fingers crossed it survives review!
🧪🪮🐼
🧪🪮🐼
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
What do you know about Louis Pasteur who developed the first effective rabies vaccine back in 1885?
One of the most brilliant minds and scientists of all time, writes Rodney E. Rohde. Pasteur died on this day in 1995, and #WorldRabiesDay is marked on the anniversary.
buff.ly/56EB92l
One of the most brilliant minds and scientists of all time, writes Rodney E. Rohde. Pasteur died on this day in 1995, and #WorldRabiesDay is marked on the anniversary.
buff.ly/56EB92l
Louis Pasteur’s scientific discoveries in the 19th century revolutionized medicine and continue to save the lives of millions today
On World Rabies Day – which is also the anniversary of French microbiologist Louis Pasteur’s death – a virologist reflects on the achievements of this visionary scientist.
theconversation.com
September 28, 2025 at 11:48 AM
What do you know about Louis Pasteur who developed the first effective rabies vaccine back in 1885?
One of the most brilliant minds and scientists of all time, writes Rodney E. Rohde. Pasteur died on this day in 1995, and #WorldRabiesDay is marked on the anniversary.
buff.ly/56EB92l
One of the most brilliant minds and scientists of all time, writes Rodney E. Rohde. Pasteur died on this day in 1995, and #WorldRabiesDay is marked on the anniversary.
buff.ly/56EB92l
Yunxian 2, is that you?! 💀
September 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Yunxian 2, is that you?! 💀
First day of my lecture course on the evolution of human technology, and my students just voted to have a laptop-free class. Sometimes, all is right with the world.
September 4, 2025 at 2:53 PM
First day of my lecture course on the evolution of human technology, and my students just voted to have a laptop-free class. Sometimes, all is right with the world.
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
Prehistoric stone tools were often hafted, but we only find the lithics not the wood/bone part of tools. So it is not always clear how stones were hafted.
We tested two ways of hafting the same type of arrow tip, shooting into ballistics gel. Very mythbusters!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We tested two ways of hafting the same type of arrow tip, shooting into ballistics gel. Very mythbusters!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Experimental evidence for the efficacy of transversal hafting of backed segments as arrowheads
Backed segments in quartz from the Howiesons Poort industry of Southern Africa (65–60 ka) have been interpreted as tips of arrows. Nevertheless, sever…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Prehistoric stone tools were often hafted, but we only find the lithics not the wood/bone part of tools. So it is not always clear how stones were hafted.
We tested two ways of hafting the same type of arrow tip, shooting into ballistics gel. Very mythbusters!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We tested two ways of hafting the same type of arrow tip, shooting into ballistics gel. Very mythbusters!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Always a pleasure to see hominin graffiti. Tbilisi, Georgia.
August 9, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Always a pleasure to see hominin graffiti. Tbilisi, Georgia.
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
"It was early in the morning of a sunny day, with perfect light for checking tracks," Neto de Carvalho told Live Science in an email. 🏺🧪
78,000-year-old footprints from Neanderthal man, child and toddler discovered on beach in Portugal
A Neanderthal trackway discovered in Portugal shows how an adult male and two children hunted for food 78,000 years ago.
www.livescience.com
July 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
"It was early in the morning of a sunny day, with perfect light for checking tracks," Neto de Carvalho told Live Science in an email. 🏺🧪
Are you kept awake at night, wondering whence your bags of archaeological bone fragments? Is your child ZooMS curious? Check out this mMass-ively cool AMA where we address your pressing proteomic problems. youtu.be/loAgeUuK08g?...
IZAZ 'Ask Us Anything' Online Forum June 2025
YouTube video by Integrating ZooMS and Zooarchaeology (IZAZ)
youtu.be
July 15, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Are you kept awake at night, wondering whence your bags of archaeological bone fragments? Is your child ZooMS curious? Check out this mMass-ively cool AMA where we address your pressing proteomic problems. youtu.be/loAgeUuK08g?...
What can we tell about Stone Age strategies by identifying critters’ bones? Join me online tomorrow for an archaeological ZooMS AMA!
We are hosting a free online ‘Ask Us Anything’ event as part of the Integrating ZooMS and Zooarchaeology workshop series. For more info and to submit questions: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
📅 Date: June 30, 2025
🕒 Time: 15:00 CET
📍 Location: Online (link: univ-tlse2.zoom.us/j/9775805212...)
📅 Date: June 30, 2025
🕒 Time: 15:00 CET
📍 Location: Online (link: univ-tlse2.zoom.us/j/9775805212...)
June 29, 2025 at 1:44 PM
What can we tell about Stone Age strategies by identifying critters’ bones? Join me online tomorrow for an archaeological ZooMS AMA!
True for the individual, and true for evolution.
June 11, 2025 at 1:53 PM
True for the individual, and true for evolution.
Super happy to be a panelist at this upcoming ZooMS webinar - join us on June 30 for a fun archaeological AMA!
We are hosting a free online ‘Ask Us Anything’ event as part of the Integrating ZooMS and Zooarchaeology workshop series. For more info and to submit questions: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
📅 Date: June 30, 2025
🕒 Time: 15:00 CET
📍 Location: Online (link: univ-tlse2.zoom.us/j/9775805212...)
📅 Date: June 30, 2025
🕒 Time: 15:00 CET
📍 Location: Online (link: univ-tlse2.zoom.us/j/9775805212...)
May 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Super happy to be a panelist at this upcoming ZooMS webinar - join us on June 30 for a fun archaeological AMA!
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
Delighted to see our paper on the evolutionary history of the CCR5Δ32 deletion published this week in @cellpress.bsky.social. Work led by @ravnkirstine.bsky.social, Leonardo Cobuccio and Rasa Muktupavela, and co-supervised by me and @simorasmu.bsky.social. See 🧵 for main findings...
May 8, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Delighted to see our paper on the evolutionary history of the CCR5Δ32 deletion published this week in @cellpress.bsky.social. Work led by @ravnkirstine.bsky.social, Leonardo Cobuccio and Rasa Muktupavela, and co-supervised by me and @simorasmu.bsky.social. See 🧵 for main findings...
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
"He takes a pledge from me and vexes my goose-herd."
"The letter you wrote to Menon about Kallikon's money has been eaten by mice."
"We find that 6 jugs of the wine are missing."
What To Read Next If You Liked the Complaint Tablet to Ea-Nasir
www.thechatner.com/p/he-vexes-m...
"The letter you wrote to Menon about Kallikon's money has been eaten by mice."
"We find that 6 jugs of the wine are missing."
What To Read Next If You Liked the Complaint Tablet to Ea-Nasir
www.thechatner.com/p/he-vexes-m...
"He vexes my goose-herd": What To Read Next If You Liked the Complaint Tablet to Ea-Nasir
Everybody loves the complaint tablet to Ea-Nasir – the question is, what will you read next, after you’ve finished the original series?
www.thechatner.com
April 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
"He takes a pledge from me and vexes my goose-herd."
"The letter you wrote to Menon about Kallikon's money has been eaten by mice."
"We find that 6 jugs of the wine are missing."
What To Read Next If You Liked the Complaint Tablet to Ea-Nasir
www.thechatner.com/p/he-vexes-m...
"The letter you wrote to Menon about Kallikon's money has been eaten by mice."
"We find that 6 jugs of the wine are missing."
What To Read Next If You Liked the Complaint Tablet to Ea-Nasir
www.thechatner.com/p/he-vexes-m...
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
A fossil Pleistocene-age hominin jawbone discovered in Taiwan has now been identified as belonging to a Denisovan, finds a new study in Science.
The results provide direct molecular evidence that Denisovans occupied diverse climates and offer new insights into this hominin lineage. scim.ag/4joSUBh
The results provide direct molecular evidence that Denisovans occupied diverse climates and offer new insights into this hominin lineage. scim.ag/4joSUBh
April 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
A fossil Pleistocene-age hominin jawbone discovered in Taiwan has now been identified as belonging to a Denisovan, finds a new study in Science.
The results provide direct molecular evidence that Denisovans occupied diverse climates and offer new insights into this hominin lineage. scim.ag/4joSUBh
The results provide direct molecular evidence that Denisovans occupied diverse climates and offer new insights into this hominin lineage. scim.ag/4joSUBh
Laughed out loud reading archaeologists characterized - by a physical anthropologist - as “… the senile playboys of science rooting in the rubbish heaps of antiquity.” Subtitle: If Earnest Hooton is insulting you, you must be cool. From Trigger’s “A History of Archaeological Thought”.
April 3, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Laughed out loud reading archaeologists characterized - by a physical anthropologist - as “… the senile playboys of science rooting in the rubbish heaps of antiquity.” Subtitle: If Earnest Hooton is insulting you, you must be cool. From Trigger’s “A History of Archaeological Thought”.
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
I am very happy to share this piece with you, exploring the link between inventiveness and play in nonhuman animals. It was written with care and a sincere desire to convey what science and philosophy can teach us about this fascinating topic.
I hope you enjoy reading it!
aeon.co/essays/how-e...
I hope you enjoy reading it!
aeon.co/essays/how-e...
How evolution favoured costly and frivolous animal play | Aeon Essays
Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?
aeon.co
March 28, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I am very happy to share this piece with you, exploring the link between inventiveness and play in nonhuman animals. It was written with care and a sincere desire to convey what science and philosophy can teach us about this fascinating topic.
I hope you enjoy reading it!
aeon.co/essays/how-e...
I hope you enjoy reading it!
aeon.co/essays/how-e...
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
Leslie White (1942) on human tool use. Simply breathtaking.
March 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Leslie White (1942) on human tool use. Simply breathtaking.
So pumped to announce this fabulous conspiracy-in-progress 📖
BOOK BOOK BOOK!! 🐣
Our (me + @abigaildesmond.bsky.social) new book defines #intelligence in a practical way and explains why others have found the idea so slippery. By showing what intelligence is and isn't, we open up new avenues for seeing success in non-humans of all kinds 📚
Our (me + @abigaildesmond.bsky.social) new book defines #intelligence in a practical way and explains why others have found the idea so slippery. By showing what intelligence is and isn't, we open up new avenues for seeing success in non-humans of all kinds 📚
March 20, 2025 at 11:24 PM
So pumped to announce this fabulous conspiracy-in-progress 📖
Tools - as manifestations of human strategic thinking - can tell us a lot about the people that made them. My new paper (out today!) offers some interpretive frameworks for ancient bone tool analysis.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Strategy and Ideology through ZooMS: Insights from Palaeolithic and prehistoric bone tools
ZooMS (Zooarchaeoology by Mass Spectrometry) is a biomolecular technique for determining the taxon of origin for archaeological bone and osseous tool …
www.sciencedirect.com
March 2, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Tools - as manifestations of human strategic thinking - can tell us a lot about the people that made them. My new paper (out today!) offers some interpretive frameworks for ancient bone tool analysis.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Dr. Abigail Desmond
Diversos taxones vegetales en herramientas de percusión de 780 ka: Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel: alimentos de distintos paisajes, estaciones y modos de trabajo.
Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools https://buff.ly/3X1ThZB
Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools https://buff.ly/3X1ThZB
buff.ly
February 24, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Diversos taxones vegetales en herramientas de percusión de 780 ka: Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel: alimentos de distintos paisajes, estaciones y modos de trabajo.
Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools https://buff.ly/3X1ThZB
Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools https://buff.ly/3X1ThZB