Dr Matt Pope
@mattpope.bsky.social
Archaeologist & Associate Professor in Palaeolithic Archaeology at UCL, where we run the PaPa MSc programme.
Researching Neanderthal archaeology in La Mancheland & Western Doggerland, from Boxgrove to La Cotte.
Provide Geoarch expertise to ASE.
He/Him 🏺
Researching Neanderthal archaeology in La Mancheland & Western Doggerland, from Boxgrove to La Cotte.
Provide Geoarch expertise to ASE.
He/Him 🏺
Pinned
Dr Matt Pope
@mattpope.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Applications are now open to join our 2026 Master's programme in human evolution. Covering the Palaeolithic, Palaeoanthropology & other key disciplines, the course is taught by experts from UCL and designed to equip you for a career in the deep human past. #PaPa
🦣🧪🏺
tinyurl.com/5duy6twh
🦣🧪🏺
tinyurl.com/5duy6twh
First Kayak and (brief) swim of the year. Relieved my wetsuit still fits and quite a wonderful tide-assist on the way back.
Arrived back into the midst of a large group of people bathing to celebrate the Hindu full moon festival of Magha Purnima with the Adur standing in for Ganges.
🌕
Arrived back into the midst of a large group of people bathing to celebrate the Hindu full moon festival of Magha Purnima with the Adur standing in for Ganges.
🌕
February 1, 2026 at 1:59 PM
First Kayak and (brief) swim of the year. Relieved my wetsuit still fits and quite a wonderful tide-assist on the way back.
Arrived back into the midst of a large group of people bathing to celebrate the Hindu full moon festival of Magha Purnima with the Adur standing in for Ganges.
🌕
Arrived back into the midst of a large group of people bathing to celebrate the Hindu full moon festival of Magha Purnima with the Adur standing in for Ganges.
🌕
The Castel Statue Menhir, Guernsey.
An Early Bronze Age female figure of power: spiritual, temporal or both.
Raised on the highest point of the island (I think), slighted and buried at some point in the past.
#StandingStoneSunday
🏺🦣
An Early Bronze Age female figure of power: spiritual, temporal or both.
Raised on the highest point of the island (I think), slighted and buried at some point in the past.
#StandingStoneSunday
🏺🦣
February 1, 2026 at 10:09 AM
The Castel Statue Menhir, Guernsey.
An Early Bronze Age female figure of power: spiritual, temporal or both.
Raised on the highest point of the island (I think), slighted and buried at some point in the past.
#StandingStoneSunday
🏺🦣
An Early Bronze Age female figure of power: spiritual, temporal or both.
Raised on the highest point of the island (I think), slighted and buried at some point in the past.
#StandingStoneSunday
🏺🦣
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
Anniversary of a trauma that echoes down the years.
What happens when you put government guns on the street, from Iran, to USA, to any number of massacres & atrocities against civilians down the years.
As the world moves on, the families of Bloody Sunday innocent victims have to endure, resist
What happens when you put government guns on the street, from Iran, to USA, to any number of massacres & atrocities against civilians down the years.
As the world moves on, the families of Bloody Sunday innocent victims have to endure, resist
Today in Irish History, Bloody Sunday in Derry, 30 January 1972
The fatal shooting of 13 unarmed demonstrators by the British Army in Derry in 1972. www.theirishstory.com/2012/01/29/t...
The fatal shooting of 13 unarmed demonstrators by the British Army in Derry in 1972. www.theirishstory.com/2012/01/29/t...
January 30, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Anniversary of a trauma that echoes down the years.
What happens when you put government guns on the street, from Iran, to USA, to any number of massacres & atrocities against civilians down the years.
As the world moves on, the families of Bloody Sunday innocent victims have to endure, resist
What happens when you put government guns on the street, from Iran, to USA, to any number of massacres & atrocities against civilians down the years.
As the world moves on, the families of Bloody Sunday innocent victims have to endure, resist
Keyworth, we have a problem
January 30, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Keyworth, we have a problem
For #FindsFriday, Caitlin Withnell and @erin-longwell.bsky.social choosing Acheulean tools for next week's teaching. Our @uclarchaeology.bsky.social teaching collections span 1.6 million years of hands-on human evolution. #PaPa 🏺🦣
January 30, 2026 at 7:35 AM
For #FindsFriday, Caitlin Withnell and @erin-longwell.bsky.social choosing Acheulean tools for next week's teaching. Our @uclarchaeology.bsky.social teaching collections span 1.6 million years of hands-on human evolution. #PaPa 🏺🦣
Explore a >300,000 year old wonder.
Dr Sarah Duffy's scan of the Maritime Academy Giant Handaxe published in @lettyingrey.bsky.social et al 2023 intarch.ac.uk/journal/issu...
sketchfab.com/3d-models/ma...
@uclarchaeology.bsky.social #PaPa 🦣🏺
Dr Sarah Duffy's scan of the Maritime Academy Giant Handaxe published in @lettyingrey.bsky.social et al 2023 intarch.ac.uk/journal/issu...
sketchfab.com/3d-models/ma...
@uclarchaeology.bsky.social #PaPa 🦣🏺
Maritime Academy Giant Handaxe - 3D model by sarahMduffy.uk
Please enjoy exploring this digital model of the giant handaxe discovered during archaeological excavations carried out by Archaeology South-East, part of the UCL Institute of Archaeology ahead of con...
sketchfab.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Explore a >300,000 year old wonder.
Dr Sarah Duffy's scan of the Maritime Academy Giant Handaxe published in @lettyingrey.bsky.social et al 2023 intarch.ac.uk/journal/issu...
sketchfab.com/3d-models/ma...
@uclarchaeology.bsky.social #PaPa 🦣🏺
Dr Sarah Duffy's scan of the Maritime Academy Giant Handaxe published in @lettyingrey.bsky.social et al 2023 intarch.ac.uk/journal/issu...
sketchfab.com/3d-models/ma...
@uclarchaeology.bsky.social #PaPa 🦣🏺
How about smaller classes and better paid teachers and classroom assistants. The poverty of vision in the policy is breath taking.
We want to make sure tutoring isn't the preserve of a lucky few, but accessible to every child who needs it.
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Poorest pupils to be given AI tutors
Bridget Phillipson says tuition would no longer be the preserve of ‘the lucky few’
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 3:30 PM
How about smaller classes and better paid teachers and classroom assistants. The poverty of vision in the policy is breath taking.
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
We want to make sure tutoring isn't the preserve of a lucky few, but accessible to every child who needs it.
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Poorest pupils to be given AI tutors
Bridget Phillipson says tuition would no longer be the preserve of ‘the lucky few’
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 5:07 PM
We want to make sure tutoring isn't the preserve of a lucky few, but accessible to every child who needs it.
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
The Pleiades star cluster (M45) captured over 25 hours. The blue glow is starlight reflecting off interstellar dust. The surrounding brown structures are the Integrated Flux Nebula, incredibly faint clouds lit by the glow of our entire galaxy.
#astrophotography #astronomy #space #m45
#astrophotography #astronomy #space #m45
January 28, 2026 at 7:03 PM
The Pleiades star cluster (M45) captured over 25 hours. The blue glow is starlight reflecting off interstellar dust. The surrounding brown structures are the Integrated Flux Nebula, incredibly faint clouds lit by the glow of our entire galaxy.
#astrophotography #astronomy #space #m45
#astrophotography #astronomy #space #m45
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
An odd idea. Governments (partly, inadequately) fund universities because they are a superb source of highly educated, trained graduates vital right across society.
Try not having in your society doctors, engineers, nurses, scientists, dentists, social workers, archaeologists 🙂 etc, ad infinitum
Try not having in your society doctors, engineers, nurses, scientists, dentists, social workers, archaeologists 🙂 etc, ad infinitum
2026: Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves, "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to"
2020: That time Labour leader Keir Starmer said he would scrap university tuition fees
2020: That time Labour leader Keir Starmer said he would scrap university tuition fees
January 29, 2026 at 3:15 PM
An odd idea. Governments (partly, inadequately) fund universities because they are a superb source of highly educated, trained graduates vital right across society.
Try not having in your society doctors, engineers, nurses, scientists, dentists, social workers, archaeologists 🙂 etc, ad infinitum
Try not having in your society doctors, engineers, nurses, scientists, dentists, social workers, archaeologists 🙂 etc, ad infinitum
I wonder if the Wizard in this story might have been the Abbe Breuil.
January 29, 2026 at 12:01 PM
I wonder if the Wizard in this story might have been the Abbe Breuil.
Sussex has legends of Giants but I never thought one would reveal its face in such a dramatic way
January 28, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Sussex has legends of Giants but I never thought one would reveal its face in such a dramatic way
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
The remains of a teenage boy who lived around 27,000 years ago suggest he was attacked by a cave bear—some of the first direct evidence of a predator attacking an ancient human
A foraging teenager was mauled by a bear 27,000 years ago, skeleton shows
The remains of a teenage boy who lived around 27,000 years ago suggest he was attacked by a cave bear—some of the first direct evidence of a predator attacking an ancient human
www.scientificamerican.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:16 PM
The remains of a teenage boy who lived around 27,000 years ago suggest he was attacked by a cave bear—some of the first direct evidence of a predator attacking an ancient human
Its been quite a day for Birling Gap. This is a very important Ice Age section, this is massive impact on it.🦣
January 27, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Its been quite a day for Birling Gap. This is a very important Ice Age section, this is massive impact on it.🦣
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
January 27, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
Week 3 Age(s) of Stonehenge: Monuments! Particularly tombs and causewayed enclosures. Discussed extensive genealogies uncovered at Hazleton North. Made it a bit into the Middle Neolithic with major changes in population and subsistence, but not as far as I'd hoped...the cursuses will have to wait...
January 27, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Week 3 Age(s) of Stonehenge: Monuments! Particularly tombs and causewayed enclosures. Discussed extensive genealogies uncovered at Hazleton North. Made it a bit into the Middle Neolithic with major changes in population and subsistence, but not as far as I'd hoped...the cursuses will have to wait...
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
Is it about time that someone told @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social that their "Tourmaline stone axe" is actually made of cheese?
January 27, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Is it about time that someone told @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social that their "Tourmaline stone axe" is actually made of cheese?
Today in #Palaeolunch (the @uclarchaeology.bsky.social online Palaeolithic discussion group) we are discussing Oktaviana et al.
Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Its Open Access so do give it a read. #PaPa
🦣🏺🎨
Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Its Open Access so do give it a read. #PaPa
🦣🏺🎨
Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi - Nature
A hand stencil painted on a cave wall on a small island off the coast of Sulawesi more than 67,800 years ago suggests a very early occupation of Wallacea.
www.nature.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Today in #Palaeolunch (the @uclarchaeology.bsky.social online Palaeolithic discussion group) we are discussing Oktaviana et al.
Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Its Open Access so do give it a read. #PaPa
🦣🏺🎨
Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Its Open Access so do give it a read. #PaPa
🦣🏺🎨
Breaking News! ✨
@annemiekemilks.bsky.social , @katharv.bsky.social , @harvatilab.bsky.social and colleagues publish important artefacts from the MIS12 cold stage in Greece.
Great forensic work and a little glimpse of what we are missing from sites without the preservation of wood. 🌳🦣🏺1/3
@annemiekemilks.bsky.social , @katharv.bsky.social , @harvatilab.bsky.social and colleagues publish important artefacts from the MIS12 cold stage in Greece.
Great forensic work and a little glimpse of what we are missing from sites without the preservation of wood. 🌳🦣🏺1/3
It was such a privilege to get to work on this amazing material from an incredible site and team - now the earliest handheld wooden tools in the archaeological record, taking evidence back to 430,000 years! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Evidence for the earliest hominin use of wooden handheld tools found at Marathousa 1 (Greece) | PNAS
The Middle Pleistocene (MP; ca. 774 to 129 ka) marks a critical period of human evolution,
characterized by increasing behavioral complexity and th...
www.pnas.org
January 27, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Breaking News! ✨
@annemiekemilks.bsky.social , @katharv.bsky.social , @harvatilab.bsky.social and colleagues publish important artefacts from the MIS12 cold stage in Greece.
Great forensic work and a little glimpse of what we are missing from sites without the preservation of wood. 🌳🦣🏺1/3
@annemiekemilks.bsky.social , @katharv.bsky.social , @harvatilab.bsky.social and colleagues publish important artefacts from the MIS12 cold stage in Greece.
Great forensic work and a little glimpse of what we are missing from sites without the preservation of wood. 🌳🦣🏺1/3
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
It was such a privilege to get to work on this amazing material from an incredible site and team - now the earliest handheld wooden tools in the archaeological record, taking evidence back to 430,000 years! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Evidence for the earliest hominin use of wooden handheld tools found at Marathousa 1 (Greece) | PNAS
The Middle Pleistocene (MP; ca. 774 to 129 ka) marks a critical period of human evolution,
characterized by increasing behavioral complexity and th...
www.pnas.org
January 27, 2026 at 11:01 AM
It was such a privilege to get to work on this amazing material from an incredible site and team - now the earliest handheld wooden tools in the archaeological record, taking evidence back to 430,000 years! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
From Viz, three years ago: The Brexit Opportunity Detector.
Still looking.
Still looking.
January 27, 2026 at 7:12 AM
From Viz, three years ago: The Brexit Opportunity Detector.
Still looking.
Still looking.
Archiving teaching photos, here's the result of a morning teaching Palaeoart with our students at Archaeotech. A cash of clay female figurines around a fire. 🏺🦣
January 27, 2026 at 6:27 AM
Archiving teaching photos, here's the result of a morning teaching Palaeoart with our students at Archaeotech. A cash of clay female figurines around a fire. 🏺🦣
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
Very excited! My sixth book but first one reviewed in the New Yorker, out now
"A crisp, confident, and convincing new account of the place and its chroniclers.. reflects a broader shift in the consensus, one that many readers will find persuasive, as this one did"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
"A crisp, confident, and convincing new account of the place and its chroniclers.. reflects a broader shift in the consensus, one that many readers will find persuasive, as this one did"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Easter Island and the Allure of “Lost Civilizations”
Why Western writers have shrouded the history of Rapa Nui in myth and mystery.
www.newyorker.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Very excited! My sixth book but first one reviewed in the New Yorker, out now
"A crisp, confident, and convincing new account of the place and its chroniclers.. reflects a broader shift in the consensus, one that many readers will find persuasive, as this one did"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
"A crisp, confident, and convincing new account of the place and its chroniclers.. reflects a broader shift in the consensus, one that many readers will find persuasive, as this one did"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Some inspiration for a cold day during bleak times.
Half million year old handaxes from Boxgrove, Sussex, laid out for a photoshoot with Dr Claire Harris at the @britishmuseum.bsky.social
#MondayMotivation
🦣🏺
Half million year old handaxes from Boxgrove, Sussex, laid out for a photoshoot with Dr Claire Harris at the @britishmuseum.bsky.social
#MondayMotivation
🦣🏺
January 26, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Some inspiration for a cold day during bleak times.
Half million year old handaxes from Boxgrove, Sussex, laid out for a photoshoot with Dr Claire Harris at the @britishmuseum.bsky.social
#MondayMotivation
🦣🏺
Half million year old handaxes from Boxgrove, Sussex, laid out for a photoshoot with Dr Claire Harris at the @britishmuseum.bsky.social
#MondayMotivation
🦣🏺
Reposted by Dr Matt Pope
One of the things I’m finding annoying is media using word “appeared”
The ICE agent “appeared” to push a woman over
He pushed her over
“Appeared” to then pepper-spray a man helping her up
He pepper sprayed him
Is it not possible to watch the several videos and just describe what happened?
The ICE agent “appeared” to push a woman over
He pushed her over
“Appeared” to then pepper-spray a man helping her up
He pepper sprayed him
Is it not possible to watch the several videos and just describe what happened?
January 25, 2026 at 1:33 PM
One of the things I’m finding annoying is media using word “appeared”
The ICE agent “appeared” to push a woman over
He pushed her over
“Appeared” to then pepper-spray a man helping her up
He pepper sprayed him
Is it not possible to watch the several videos and just describe what happened?
The ICE agent “appeared” to push a woman over
He pushed her over
“Appeared” to then pepper-spray a man helping her up
He pepper sprayed him
Is it not possible to watch the several videos and just describe what happened?