Dr Sam Neil
@drsamneil.bsky.social
Uses biomolecular science to study human biological and social evolution: ancient DNA, stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating.
Research Fellow @pacea.bsky.social University of Bordeaux and @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social University of Oxford
Research Fellow @pacea.bsky.social University of Bordeaux and @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social University of Oxford
Pinned
Dr Sam Neil
@drsamneil.bsky.social
· Apr 24
Now that contracts have been signed and it is official, I am delighted to say I have been awarded a Marie-Curie Fellowship in ancient DNA and stable isotopes, based at @pacea.bsky.social (University of Bordeaux) and seconded to @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social (University of Oxford).
Save the date for another conference: UKAS 2026 at the University of Bristol, Monday March 30th - Thursday April 2nd 2026
www.ukas2026.co.uk
www.ukas2026.co.uk
UKAS 2026
www.ukas2026.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Save the date for another conference: UKAS 2026 at the University of Bristol, Monday March 30th - Thursday April 2nd 2026
www.ukas2026.co.uk
www.ukas2026.co.uk
is back at one of my favourite places in the whole world, The Oxford University Museum of Natural History @morethanadodo.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
is back at one of my favourite places in the whole world, The Oxford University Museum of Natural History @morethanadodo.bsky.social
Is all alone early a very quiet radiocarbon lab, freeze drying things..hey, who put the sign in the pie oven...no Frey Bentos in here
November 6, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Is all alone early a very quiet radiocarbon lab, freeze drying things..hey, who put the sign in the pie oven...no Frey Bentos in here
Interesting new paper on radiocarbon dating methods: Application of microsublimation for sample purification in compound-specific radiocarbon analysis.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Application of microsublimation for sample purification in compound-specific radiocarbon analysis - Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
This article presents the development and application of a microsublimation apparatus aimed at improving the purity of ultra-small samples for compound-specific radiocarbon analysis. Accurate radiocar...
link.springer.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Interesting new paper on radiocarbon dating methods: Application of microsublimation for sample purification in compound-specific radiocarbon analysis.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Probably posted a preprint version of this before but good to see some formal testing of different hypotheses of descent/residence in prehistoric cemeteries of Europe, rather than just eyeballing the trends.
Probably posted a preprint version of this before but good to see some formal testing of different hypotheses of descent/residence in prehistoric cemeteries of Europe, rather than just eyeballing the trends.
Was descent in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe patrilineal or bilateral? | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Many studies have attempted to gain insights into the kinship systems of past human
populations using ancient DNA data. Several studies focusing on Neolithic and Bronze
Age European sites reported a h...
royalsocietypublishing.org
October 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Probably posted a preprint version of this before but good to see some formal testing of different hypotheses of descent/residence in prehistoric cemeteries of Europe, rather than just eyeballing the trends.
Probably posted a preprint version of this before but good to see some formal testing of different hypotheses of descent/residence in prehistoric cemeteries of Europe, rather than just eyeballing the trends.
At the Treasure exhibition, Museum of Liverpool
October 30, 2025 at 4:17 PM
At the Treasure exhibition, Museum of Liverpool
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
A new high-coverage #Denisovan genome, chock-full of fascinating new information. Must-read study by @stephanepeyregne.bsky.social @janetk.bsky.social and colleagues
On @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: 🧪🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
On @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: 🧪🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A high-coverage genome from a 200,000-year-old Denisovan
Denisovans, an extinct sister group of Neandertals who lived in Eastern Eurasia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, are known only from a handful of skeletal remains and limited genetic data, incl...
www.biorxiv.org
October 21, 2025 at 4:58 AM
A new high-coverage #Denisovan genome, chock-full of fascinating new information. Must-read study by @stephanepeyregne.bsky.social @janetk.bsky.social and colleagues
On @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: 🧪🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
On @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: 🧪🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
Hand bones from a human relative, found in Kenya, reveal features similar to those of living gorillas, complicating the evolutionary history of hand and tool manipulation
go.nature.com/4nQn3ff
go.nature.com/4nQn3ff
First known fossil hand of the hominin Paranthropus boisei
Hand bones from a human relative, found in Kenya, reveal features similar to those of living gorillas, complicating the evolutionary history of hand and tool manipulation.
go.nature.com
October 18, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Hand bones from a human relative, found in Kenya, reveal features similar to those of living gorillas, complicating the evolutionary history of hand and tool manipulation
go.nature.com/4nQn3ff
go.nature.com/4nQn3ff
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
👋 Hello, Bluesky! We’re Radiocarbon, an international peer-reviewed journal (since 1959) dedicated to advancing radiocarbon research, from calibration and chronology to applications across archaeology, geology, environmental science, and more. We’re glad to be here. #Radiocarbon #Geochronology
October 3, 2025 at 5:10 PM
👋 Hello, Bluesky! We’re Radiocarbon, an international peer-reviewed journal (since 1959) dedicated to advancing radiocarbon research, from calibration and chronology to applications across archaeology, geology, environmental science, and more. We’re glad to be here. #Radiocarbon #Geochronology
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
🚨SAVE THE DATE for two 14C conferences happening in Santiago, Chile 🇨🇱, next year:
4th 14C & Diet: 6-8 July
3rd Latin American 14C: 8-10 July
Plus, the 11th 14C & Archaeology will be in Brazil just before on 30 June-3 July 🇧🇷
Details for 🇨🇱 below👇 Please share widely!
@fransantanas.bsky.social
4th 14C & Diet: 6-8 July
3rd Latin American 14C: 8-10 July
Plus, the 11th 14C & Archaeology will be in Brazil just before on 30 June-3 July 🇧🇷
Details for 🇨🇱 below👇 Please share widely!
@fransantanas.bsky.social
October 1, 2025 at 9:29 AM
🚨SAVE THE DATE for two 14C conferences happening in Santiago, Chile 🇨🇱, next year:
4th 14C & Diet: 6-8 July
3rd Latin American 14C: 8-10 July
Plus, the 11th 14C & Archaeology will be in Brazil just before on 30 June-3 July 🇧🇷
Details for 🇨🇱 below👇 Please share widely!
@fransantanas.bsky.social
4th 14C & Diet: 6-8 July
3rd Latin American 14C: 8-10 July
Plus, the 11th 14C & Archaeology will be in Brazil just before on 30 June-3 July 🇧🇷
Details for 🇨🇱 below👇 Please share widely!
@fransantanas.bsky.social
Useful new paper on use of isotopes in biomolecular archaeology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The signal and the noise: inherent challenges for isotopic studies in bioarchaeology
Isotopic analysis as a method of assessing diet or geographical origin is now ubiquitous in archaeology, to the point where seemingly no project is co…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 27, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Useful new paper on use of isotopes in biomolecular archaeology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Has just emerged from below ground in central Bordeaux looking at some beautifully carved 4th-6th century sarcophagi
September 13, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Has just emerged from below ground in central Bordeaux looking at some beautifully carved 4th-6th century sarcophagi
Made it from Oxford to Bordeaux... just before the transport chaos started here in France
September 10, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Made it from Oxford to Bordeaux... just before the transport chaos started here in France
Busy in the labs working on isotope samples to link these to our palaeogenomic data. Better linking these datasets will help us directly study changes in population diet, mobility and genomics over time.
September 5, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Busy in the labs working on isotope samples to link these to our palaeogenomic data. Better linking these datasets will help us directly study changes in population diet, mobility and genomics over time.
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
Your project can create positive change – by helping the environment, your project can also support your own growth and success.
Make your ideal project a reality and share sustainable research practices with your community.
Find out more: rsc.li/sustainable-labs-grant
Make your ideal project a reality and share sustainable research practices with your community.
Find out more: rsc.li/sustainable-labs-grant
September 2, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Your project can create positive change – by helping the environment, your project can also support your own growth and success.
Make your ideal project a reality and share sustainable research practices with your community.
Find out more: rsc.li/sustainable-labs-grant
Make your ideal project a reality and share sustainable research practices with your community.
Find out more: rsc.li/sustainable-labs-grant
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
Nice piece by @mathiesoniain.bsky.social on polygenic prediction of human complex traits using ancient DNA (h/t @evobioclio.bsky.social ) 🧪🧬
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Polygenic prediction of human complex traits using ancient DNA
Ancient DNA has revolutionized our understanding of human history and clarified many aspects of human evolution on a molecular level. In this article,…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Nice piece by @mathiesoniain.bsky.social on polygenic prediction of human complex traits using ancient DNA (h/t @evobioclio.bsky.social ) 🧪🧬
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Disagree with this paper, it is too early to tell...very many sites have not been sampled, or had data published yet... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Modeling the European Neolithic expansion suggests predominant within-group mating and limited cultural transmission - Nature Communications
The Neolithic Revolution marked an important shift from foraging to farming in human society. Here, the authors show that in Europe the spread of farming involved mostly within-group mating and limite...
www.nature.com
August 26, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Disagree with this paper, it is too early to tell...very many sites have not been sampled, or had data published yet... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
Attending #ESEB2025 has been an amazing experience!
If you are interested in more ancient DNA and museomics, please consider joining us in Stockholm for the first International Conference on Palaeogenomics (June 23-26 2026)!
Follow @palaeogenomics.bsky.social
👉icp2026.palaeogenomics.org
If you are interested in more ancient DNA and museomics, please consider joining us in Stockholm for the first International Conference on Palaeogenomics (June 23-26 2026)!
Follow @palaeogenomics.bsky.social
👉icp2026.palaeogenomics.org
August 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Attending #ESEB2025 has been an amazing experience!
If you are interested in more ancient DNA and museomics, please consider joining us in Stockholm for the first International Conference on Palaeogenomics (June 23-26 2026)!
Follow @palaeogenomics.bsky.social
👉icp2026.palaeogenomics.org
If you are interested in more ancient DNA and museomics, please consider joining us in Stockholm for the first International Conference on Palaeogenomics (June 23-26 2026)!
Follow @palaeogenomics.bsky.social
👉icp2026.palaeogenomics.org
Escaped the DNA lab for a day to climb Europe's largest sand dune
July 26, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Escaped the DNA lab for a day to climb Europe's largest sand dune
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
Two useful new reviews on ancestry inference in population genetics:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
July 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Two useful new reviews on ancestry inference in population genetics:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Reposted by Dr Sam Neil
We have an exciting line-up of speakers already confirmed for our Ancient Genomes meeting in November. If you want to be one of the speakers or present a poster, submit your abstract by 31 July!
genetics.org.uk/events/ancie...
genetics.org.uk/events/ancie...
July 14, 2025 at 11:25 AM
We have an exciting line-up of speakers already confirmed for our Ancient Genomes meeting in November. If you want to be one of the speakers or present a poster, submit your abstract by 31 July!
genetics.org.uk/events/ancie...
genetics.org.uk/events/ancie...
Cool....Optimized in-solution enrichment of over a million ancient human SNPs. doi.org/10.1186/s130...
Optimized in-solution enrichment of over a million ancient human SNPs - Genome Biology
Background In-solution hybridization enrichment of genetic markers is a method of choice in paleogenomic studies, where the DNA of interest is generally heavily fragmented and contaminated with enviro...
doi.org
July 17, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Cool....Optimized in-solution enrichment of over a million ancient human SNPs. doi.org/10.1186/s130...
Bastille Day in Bordeaux...
July 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Bastille Day in Bordeaux...
Details of our new research project are now online: thanks to the the European Commission for funding.
Based at @pacea.bsky.social partnered with @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social
cordis.europa.eu/project/id/1...
Based at @pacea.bsky.social partnered with @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social
cordis.europa.eu/project/id/1...
Monumentality in Europe with the Growth of Agriculture during the Neolithic | MEGALITH | Projekt | Fact Sheet | HORIZON | CORDIS | European Commission
The transition to farming provided the foundation for evolution of modern complex societies. This process, also known as a change from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic involved a radical shift in subsi...
cordis.europa.eu
June 28, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Details of our new research project are now online: thanks to the the European Commission for funding.
Based at @pacea.bsky.social partnered with @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social
cordis.europa.eu/project/id/1...
Based at @pacea.bsky.social partnered with @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social
cordis.europa.eu/project/id/1...