Eleanor M. Williams
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eleanormw.bsky.social
Eleanor M. Williams
@eleanormw.bsky.social
NERC CREATES DLA PhD student, University of Cambridge | Human Evolution in Africa, Plio-Pleistocene, Palaeoanthropology, Archaeology | she/her
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
Paranthropus boisei is a human fossil cousin w/ giant jaws and teeth that lived in East Africa ~2.6 to 1.3 million years ago. Whether it could make & use tools has been a paleoanthropological mystery since the 1960s. Our new paper describes the first firmly associated hand and foot. 1/
New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei - Nature
Analyses of newly discovered hand and foot bones of a Paranthropus boisei specimen provide insight into possible tool use and other palaeobiology characteristics among Plio-Pleistocene hominin species...
www.nature.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Great time visiting Lucy and Selam in Prague this weekend! Amazing to see the original fossils, well worth the trip
October 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Last week I matriculated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge to start my NERC-funded (CREATES DLA) PhD in Archaeology!

@caiuscollege.bsky.social
@cam.ac.uk
@cam-archaeology.bsky.social
October 6, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
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
October 3, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
Poster Session 2 #ESHE2025

83 wonderful posters. 169 in total.

Palaeotrails’ Jesse Martin & @martamlahr.bsky.social on detecting microevolutionary trends in fossil hominin populations.
September 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
When in Rome...

#Colosseum
September 22, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
Pastoralism remains central to survival in the Turkana of northwest Kenya, where heat and water scarcity pose constant challenges. New research uncovers the genetic signatures that underlie adaptation to arid living in this pastoralist community.

Learn more this week: https://scim.ag/4nxcJbx
September 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
Happy to share the first paper from my PhD! Open access in a special issue of JAS, 'The Mind in Deep Time: Interdisciplinary explorations of cognitive evolution'

When less is more: risk, reward and optimisation in Acheulean handaxe manufacture and the impact of skill

share.google/hj43OR6QWXtc...
When less is more: risk, reward and optimisation in Acheulean handaxe manufacture and the impact of skill
As the most numerous manifestations of technology across the Palaeolithic record, linking stone tool artefacts to past hominin cognition and expertise…
share.google
September 4, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Last sunrise in Turkana before heading back to Nairobi. What an incredible few months it's been!

#kenya #fieldwork
@palaeotrails.bsky.social
August 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
📣 PUBLISHED OPEN ACCESS 📣

In a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Cambridge researchers explore the role of skill for Lower Palaeolithic handaxe manufacture through flint knapping experiments.

👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

🧵
August 22, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Such good news! Really pleased for you @martamlahr.bsky.social! 🎉
Fabulous news that @martamlahr.bsky.social has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy 🍾🍾🍾
July 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
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
July 17, 2025 at 3:19 PM
3D scanning these beauties with Ng'ipalajem!
@palaeotrails.bsky.social

#handaxe #turkana
July 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Eleanor M. Williams
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...
July 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM