Michael Petraglia
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mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Michael Petraglia
@mdpetraglia.bsky.social
Professor & Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution | #HumanEvolution | #Archaeology | Researching #HumanOrigins in #Africa and #Asia

more info: https://experts.griffith.edu.au/28674-michael-petraglia
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I’m so honoured and excited to be leading this international initative together with so many amazing people and organisations news.griffith.edu.au/2025/12/09/g...
Griffith secures $85m to transform global understanding of human origins - Griffith News
Transforming Human Origins Research Centre of Excellence to reframe the study of our species globally.
news.griffith.edu.au
Thanks Deepak we have work to do - would love to see you in India ❤️
December 12, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Absolutely Mike, can’t wait to get going too!
December 11, 2025 at 11:34 AM
The Centre will support a new generation of transdisciplinary researchers including more than 40 research fellows, 70 PhD and Masters students, and 112 Honours students - with half the opportunities prioritised for Indigenous or those from the Global South. www.miragenews.com/griffith-lan...
Griffith Lands $85M to Revolutionize Human Origins Study
Griffith University has been awarded the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transforming Human Origins Research, one of only eight Centres of Excellence
www.miragenews.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:18 AM
I’m so honoured and excited to be leading this international initative together with so many amazing people and organisations news.griffith.edu.au/2025/12/09/g...
Griffith secures $85m to transform global understanding of human origins - Griffith News
Transforming Human Origins Research Centre of Excellence to reframe the study of our species globally.
news.griffith.edu.au
December 9, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
(1/2) Just out, our new paper 'Assessing the intensity of Late Quaternary humid phases in the Nefud Desert, northern Arabia'. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
December 8, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
(1/18) New paper alert, a thread! Just published in PLoS ONE, our study: “Novel archaeological and palaeontological findings in cave and palaeoriver landscapes of inland northeast Arabia”. Link: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Novel archaeological and palaeontological findings in cave and palaeoriver landscapes of inland northeast Arabia
Knowledge about environmental change and the evolutionary history of hominins in Arabia has been rapidly developing over the last two decades. Interdisciplinary research on humans and environments acr...
journals.plos.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
[new paper alert!!]. Taking another look at the traditional Out of Africa I model… 😎😎

@courtneymanthey.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 8, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Exciting new discoveries and theories emerging out of China and Eastern Asia about the course of human evolution
This just out in NewScientist. It includes various discussions around bodoensis, juluensis and everything Chibanian… (had no idea they were going to draw my pic for the piece!! 😂😂).

www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
November 4, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
Interested in the kinds of information archaeologists can gain from metabolic profiling? Check out this wonderful new book and our chapter on the ancient oasis of Tayma.

This work builds on our 2022 paper on reconstructing ancient scents in Nature Human Behaviour: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 24, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Remarkable achievement. Congratulations to you and the CIEHF team too!
October 19, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
ABC Deep Time Australia Launched Today

Congratulations to everyone involved in working with the ABC News Story Lab to bring this project to fruition!

@ciehf.bsky.social is proud to have closely collaborated on this project.

www.abc.net.au/news/deeptime/
Explore an epic story 65,000 years in the making
Dive into Deep Time, an immersive story of the knowledge, art and ingenuity of Australia’s First Nations peoples — told like never before.
www.abc.net.au
October 19, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
Australia in the Anthropocene: Linking Past, Present and Future. Wonderful project workshop yesterday exploring the diverse methods our students and ECRs are using to examine how Australia's ecosystems have been shaped by people over the long-term and why it matters today.
October 16, 2025 at 1:06 AM
My comments on the new discovery of hand bones of Paranthropus boisei and its implications for tool use. www.abc.net.au/news/science...
'They've got a power grip': Fossil hands suggests ape-like cousin made tools
The first set of ancient hand fossils from an ape-like cousin of humans discovered in Kenya suggest a number of species were capable of making tools 1.5 million years ago.
www.abc.net.au
October 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
Paper alert 🎓🌿

I’m excited to share a new publication from my PhD

On-site plant-wax biomarkers + compound-specific isotopes show why relying on bulk δ13C of SOM can mislead in the tropics. Case study: Jwalapuram (S. India).

Read: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Huge thanks to all co-authors 🙏
October 15, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
Want to explore these amazing camel images in more detail? Check out a 2022 examination of four of the #RockArt panels in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺#Archaeology
October 6, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
Hunter-gatherers may have used engravings to find water in the parched deserts of the Arabian Peninsula 12,000 years ago. https://scim.ag/4nql413
Prehistoric camel art pointed to precious water sources in the Arabian Desert
Hunter-gatherers may have used the engravings to find water 12,000 years ago
scim.ag
October 1, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
Jane Goodall was a global legend at the forefront of discovery — breaking through barriers for women in primatology, science, and beyond.

Her curiosity, strength, and kindness changed the world, bridging countries and cultures in pursuit of a better future.
October 1, 2025 at 9:24 PM
For the publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 1, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Had some fun with this one! Based on a publication by @mariaguagnin.bsky.social and our terrific team! 🐪
m.youtube.com/shorts/7Pcec...
12,000-year-old road signs
YouTube video by Griffith University
m.youtube.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:42 AM
About 12,000 years ago, high up on a cliff in the desert of northern Arabia, an artist – or perhaps artists – was hard at work. @mariaguagnin.bsky.social
theconversation.com/12-000-year-...
12,000-year-old rock art marked ancient water sources in Arabia’s desert
The large, naturalistic engravings are a striking symbol for survival in the desert.
theconversation.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Some nice news coverage by @science.org of our recent discoveries of 12,000-year-old life-sized camel engravings in rock art of #SaudiArabia. @mariaguagnin.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
Prehistoric camel art pointed to precious water sources in the Arabian Desert
Hunter-gatherers may have used the engravings to find water 12,000 years ago
www.science.org
September 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
New discovery! Here @mariaguagnin.bsky.social and our team report on 12,000-year-old life-size camel rock art engravings in the Saudi desert. #GreenArabia @griffith.edu.au www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 30, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Some of my initial comments on the most interesting Yunxian 2 study and its implications.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Million-year-old skull could change human evolution timeline
A digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull suggests humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than thought and in Asia not Africa, a study said Friday."It sug...
www.yahoo.com
September 28, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Michael Petraglia
“Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity.”

Actually I’m not even sure they’re doing that, though many are indeed trying.

share.google/XNaLs2bBjdMG...
Equity in science is a beautiful lie — and I’m done pretending
Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system.
share.google
September 21, 2025 at 2:54 AM