Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@lemoustier.bsky.social
Archaeologist, word-witcher, scicomm, consultancy
📚 KINDRED: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death & Art
🖋️ MATRIARCHA: Prehistory Re-imagined
🏛️ Honorary Researcher U. Cambridge & U. Liverpool
1/4 @trowelblazers.bsky.social
Rep: PEW Literary
📚 KINDRED: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death & Art
🖋️ MATRIARCHA: Prehistory Re-imagined
🏛️ Honorary Researcher U. Cambridge & U. Liverpool
1/4 @trowelblazers.bsky.social
Rep: PEW Literary
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Just in case any new arrivals are keen to follow archaeology folks:
This thread 🧵 collects all the #archaeology 🏺 starter packs
Share far & wide. We could all use a little more archaeology in our lives
@cjfrieman.bsky.social made the OG Archaeology and heritage list with first wave Twitter refugee scholars & orgs. Go follow Catherine now!
bsky.app/starter-pack...
Share far & wide. We could all use a little more archaeology in our lives
@cjfrieman.bsky.social made the OG Archaeology and heritage list with first wave Twitter refugee scholars & orgs. Go follow Catherine now!
bsky.app/starter-pack...
January 10, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Just in case any new arrivals are keen to follow archaeology folks:
🏺🧪 As there are a fair few new people joining here, a reshare of this list might be useful - let me know if you are a professional in this field and I'll add you.
#Archaeology
go.bsky.app/6hXVX57
#Archaeology
go.bsky.app/6hXVX57
January 10, 2026 at 1:00 PM
🏺🧪 As there are a fair few new people joining here, a reshare of this list might be useful - let me know if you are a professional in this field and I'll add you.
#Archaeology
go.bsky.app/6hXVX57
#Archaeology
go.bsky.app/6hXVX57
Severn morning mist and snow ❄️ 🌬️
January 10, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Severn morning mist and snow ❄️ 🌬️
📚
I know, it's not out until October, but pre-orders help books hit big on that first week and get attention.
Help Snaggletooth make a big entrance - I promise you're going to want to sink your teeth into this one. 🦖
Help Snaggletooth make a big entrance - I promise you're going to want to sink your teeth into this one. 🦖
Tyrant Lizard Queen: The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore
The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore
bookshop.org
January 9, 2026 at 3:35 PM
📚
Facebook is not the answer to the twitter/X problem.
Govt should not be pushing people towards another platform with horrible track record on dodgy content and algorithmic misinformation inc during political campaigns...
Govt should not be pushing people towards another platform with horrible track record on dodgy content and algorithmic misinformation inc during political campaigns...
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked WhatsApp messages show Labour MPs urging govt to leave X, arguing that it should "show direction to others in the UK"
The MPs said X owner Elon Musk is "fascist" and that the platform's AI tool, Grok, had put "children in harm's way"
The MPs said X owner Elon Musk is "fascist" and that the platform's AI tool, Grok, had put "children in harm's way"
January 9, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Facebook is not the answer to the twitter/X problem.
Govt should not be pushing people towards another platform with horrible track record on dodgy content and algorithmic misinformation inc during political campaigns...
Govt should not be pushing people towards another platform with horrible track record on dodgy content and algorithmic misinformation inc during political campaigns...
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
🧪 This is the thing that gets me most with scientific colleagues & institutions who remain on twitter. For well over a year it's been clear from looking at engagement stats that, without paying for verification, NOBODY EVEN SEES YOU. It's virtually pointless for outreach. So why stay?
I’ve been in decision-making roles in several projects and organisations where I persuaded colleagues we should exit X, even before it became a platform for child sex abuse. It wasn’t difficult. Its algorithms ensured our work never got seen. But even then the moral case was clear.
January 8, 2026 at 10:34 PM
🧪 This is the thing that gets me most with scientific colleagues & institutions who remain on twitter. For well over a year it's been clear from looking at engagement stats that, without paying for verification, NOBODY EVEN SEES YOU. It's virtually pointless for outreach. So why stay?
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Was there ever a tech scramble in history as embarrassing as AI
LG has a new home assistant robot named "Cloid".
Cloid.
Cloid.
January 8, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Was there ever a tech scramble in history as embarrassing as AI
Was there ever a tech scramble in history as embarrassing as AI
LG has a new home assistant robot named "Cloid".
Cloid.
Cloid.
January 8, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Was there ever a tech scramble in history as embarrassing as AI
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
BEHOLD! The voice of Odin!
".....Hai!"
".....Hai!"
January 8, 2026 at 10:36 AM
BEHOLD! The voice of Odin!
".....Hai!"
".....Hai!"
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
🏺🦣🧪
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Direct evidence for poison use on microlithic arrowheads in Southern Africa at 60,000 years ago
Earliest proof of plant poisons on arrows reveals complex Pleistocene hunting in southern Africa.
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 10:21 AM
🏺🦣🧪
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪 This is the thing that gets me most with scientific colleagues & institutions who remain on twitter. For well over a year it's been clear from looking at engagement stats that, without paying for verification, NOBODY EVEN SEES YOU. It's virtually pointless for outreach. So why stay?
I’ve been in decision-making roles in several projects and organisations where I persuaded colleagues we should exit X, even before it became a platform for child sex abuse. It wasn’t difficult. Its algorithms ensured our work never got seen. But even then the moral case was clear.
January 8, 2026 at 10:34 PM
🧪 This is the thing that gets me most with scientific colleagues & institutions who remain on twitter. For well over a year it's been clear from looking at engagement stats that, without paying for verification, NOBODY EVEN SEES YOU. It's virtually pointless for outreach. So why stay?
BEHOLD! The voice of Odin!
".....Hai!"
".....Hai!"
January 8, 2026 at 10:36 AM
BEHOLD! The voice of Odin!
".....Hai!"
".....Hai!"
🏺 New noisy blower is nice, but would've loved another teapot 😉
January 8, 2026 at 10:28 AM
🏺 New noisy blower is nice, but would've loved another teapot 😉
🏺🦣🧪
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Direct evidence for poison use on microlithic arrowheads in Southern Africa at 60,000 years ago
Earliest proof of plant poisons on arrows reveals complex Pleistocene hunting in southern Africa.
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 10:21 AM
🏺🦣🧪
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
V nice work: poison-tipped projectile weapons in early H. sapiens S. Africa 60 Ka.
Thoughts:
- tiny lithics framed as *adapted* for poisoning makes me think of Néronian micro-points in France, 54 ka
- focus here is hunting, but potentially useful against humans
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🏺Thrilled to see my talented friend @toriherridge.bsky.social return to our screens tonight to present the new #DiggingForBritain series with the brilliant @profaliceroberts.bsky.social 🎥 ⛏️
Tune in live tonight at 9pm GMT
Tune in live tonight at 9pm GMT
January 7, 2026 at 6:38 PM
🏺Thrilled to see my talented friend @toriherridge.bsky.social return to our screens tonight to present the new #DiggingForBritain series with the brilliant @profaliceroberts.bsky.social 🎥 ⛏️
Tune in live tonight at 9pm GMT
Tune in live tonight at 9pm GMT
V interesting research including this - people with authoritarian views less likely to go to museums
January 7, 2026 at 1:31 PM
V interesting research including this - people with authoritarian views less likely to go to museums
💯
In Dec 2025, I published a short comment on whether the emergence of AI has been as revolutionary as other moments of innovation in our species' history (e.g., emergence of technology or agriculture). On balance, current evidence suggests to me that it isn't.
www.isita-org.com/jass/Content...
www.isita-org.com/jass/Content...
January 7, 2026 at 1:24 PM
💯
🗃️
#OTD 7 January 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women was published. This text was hugely influential and is regarded as one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. #WomensHistory #GenderHist
January 7, 2026 at 12:53 PM
🗃️
🏺 Love this perspective on these fantastic new finds!
(in Scotland, the Iron Age just kept going...)
(in Scotland, the Iron Age just kept going...)
... not only a carnyx but also a 'bronze boar’s head battle standard'... So much about this that's Deerhurst label stop/ Coppergate helmet but not quite. A reminder perhaps of how much more Iron Age material was still around in the early middle ages?
January 7, 2026 at 12:49 PM
🏺 Love this perspective on these fantastic new finds!
(in Scotland, the Iron Age just kept going...)
(in Scotland, the Iron Age just kept going...)
Ah so now the latest PR push is that we all need "AI literacy" as an essential skill for modern life... 🙄
Yeah I actually understand how AI works already and I'm still not interested in using it.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Yeah I actually understand how AI works already and I'm still not interested in using it.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Generation AI: fears of ‘social divide’ unless all children learn computing skills
Children are growing up as AI natives and experts say computing skills should be on par with reading and writing
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Ah so now the latest PR push is that we all need "AI literacy" as an essential skill for modern life... 🙄
Yeah I actually understand how AI works already and I'm still not interested in using it.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Yeah I actually understand how AI works already and I'm still not interested in using it.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Of course this means I'm back at work writing #Matriarcha, and at least today there is a beautiful view from my desk 📚✒️💻
January 5, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Of course this means I'm back at work writing #Matriarcha, and at least today there is a beautiful view from my desk 📚✒️💻
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
🗃️ Thinking about ancient mothers: packing "two breads" lunches for their sons going to scribe school in Mesopotamia of the early 2200s BCE, and buying silk two millennia later in Qin China of 220s BCE for their soldier sons who plead "if you don't send it, I will just die, it is very important!"
January 5, 2026 at 1:30 PM
🗃️ Thinking about ancient mothers: packing "two breads" lunches for their sons going to scribe school in Mesopotamia of the early 2200s BCE, and buying silk two millennia later in Qin China of 220s BCE for their soldier sons who plead "if you don't send it, I will just die, it is very important!"
Of course this means I'm back at work writing #Matriarcha, and at least today there is a beautiful view from my desk 📚✒️💻
January 5, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Of course this means I'm back at work writing #Matriarcha, and at least today there is a beautiful view from my desk 📚✒️💻
🗃️ Thinking about ancient mothers: packing "two breads" lunches for their sons going to scribe school in Mesopotamia of the early 2200s BCE, and buying silk two millennia later in Qin China of 220s BCE for their soldier sons who plead "if you don't send it, I will just die, it is very important!"
January 5, 2026 at 1:30 PM
🗃️ Thinking about ancient mothers: packing "two breads" lunches for their sons going to scribe school in Mesopotamia of the early 2200s BCE, and buying silk two millennia later in Qin China of 220s BCE for their soldier sons who plead "if you don't send it, I will just die, it is very important!"
🧪 Genuinely don't see the point of this piece.
It contains no new info and only serves to give Colossal another opportunity to mend public reputation & boost hype.
(apparently their PR strategy now includes mentioning 'inspiring children' in all interviews...)
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
It contains no new info and only serves to give Colossal another opportunity to mend public reputation & boost hype.
(apparently their PR strategy now includes mentioning 'inspiring children' in all interviews...)
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing?
The bioscience startup has attracted billions in investment – and a flurry of criticism, but founder tells the Guardian plans to bring back the woolly mammoth will not be derailed
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:30 PM
🧪 Genuinely don't see the point of this piece.
It contains no new info and only serves to give Colossal another opportunity to mend public reputation & boost hype.
(apparently their PR strategy now includes mentioning 'inspiring children' in all interviews...)
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
It contains no new info and only serves to give Colossal another opportunity to mend public reputation & boost hype.
(apparently their PR strategy now includes mentioning 'inspiring children' in all interviews...)
www.theguardian.com/environment/...