Penny Bickle
@pennybickle.bsky.social
Archaeologist | Orienteerer | Wanderer. Professor of Funerary Archaeology at the University of York, specializing mostly in the central European Neolithic.
Pinned
Penny Bickle
@pennybickle.bsky.social
· Nov 25
Uralter Müll zeigt, wie Steinzeitbauern erstmals lernten, mit Abfall zu leben
nachrichten.idw-online.de
So very excited to announce our new project - From Reuse to Resource - joint with the Freie Universitaet Berlin, funded by DFG-AHRC. Starting early 2026, we're going to be analyzing the wastescapes of Neolithic settlements to rethink ontologies of rubbish nachrichten.idw-online.de/2025/11/25/u...
Reposted by Penny Bickle
We are looking for a research project manager for the upcoming FORAGER ERC Synergy Project. Based at the University of York, this is an exciting opportunity to work in a team of 37 researchers from the UK, the US, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Japan. Join us!
jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...
jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...
Jobs - The University of York
jobs.york.ac.uk
February 2, 2026 at 11:21 AM
We are looking for a research project manager for the upcoming FORAGER ERC Synergy Project. Based at the University of York, this is an exciting opportunity to work in a team of 37 researchers from the UK, the US, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Japan. Join us!
jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...
jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...
This PhD project forms part of our AHRC-DFG funded project, based at York and Berlin. Although the job advert has been published in German, English language candidates without German knowledge are also welcome to apply. The scientific community at the institute in Berlin mostly works in English.
January 27, 2026 at 10:30 AM
This PhD project forms part of our AHRC-DFG funded project, based at York and Berlin. Although the job advert has been published in German, English language candidates without German knowledge are also welcome to apply. The scientific community at the institute in Berlin mostly works in English.
Currently advertising: PhD project on Neolithic waste, based with Henny Piezonka. Project focuses on spatial analysis and the Neolithic. Deadline is 9th Feb. A chance to work with a cool range of sites from Serbia to Poland and you get to live in Berlin, so what's not to like! Link in next post.
GK-PA02_2025-WiMi-AB_Piezonka_RENEW
www.fu-berlin.de
January 27, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Currently advertising: PhD project on Neolithic waste, based with Henny Piezonka. Project focuses on spatial analysis and the Neolithic. Deadline is 9th Feb. A chance to work with a cool range of sites from Serbia to Poland and you get to live in Berlin, so what's not to like! Link in next post.
Evidence for contact between LBK and hunter-gatherers, it grows at every turn, but we are no closer to really understanding the range and scope of relationships. The site of Eilsleben gives us more evidence of just how close interaction could have been. Plus that deer antler mask 🤩
Archaeologists have uncovered one of the first instances of interaction between #Neolithic farmers and #Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in central Europe, indicating a level of technology transfer not observed before.
🏺A communicative #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵
🏺A communicative #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Evidence for contact between LBK and hunter-gatherers, it grows at every turn, but we are no closer to really understanding the range and scope of relationships. The site of Eilsleben gives us more evidence of just how close interaction could have been. Plus that deer antler mask 🤩
Wonderful study on a cow called Veronica and her use of tools! The video abstract is a treat, as is this thread. Definitely using in future lectures to talk about how we approach animal sociality and mutuality of being in the past. We all know how good it is to scratch that itch!!
Cow Tools!
We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them
It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS
Here I describe our study
(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them
It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS
Here I describe our study
(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
January 20, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Wonderful study on a cow called Veronica and her use of tools! The video abstract is a treat, as is this thread. Definitely using in future lectures to talk about how we approach animal sociality and mutuality of being in the past. We all know how good it is to scratch that itch!!
not only is this wonderful, it also involves the far side. so cool.
January 20, 2026 at 2:01 PM
not only is this wonderful, it also involves the far side. so cool.
Reposted by Penny Bickle
Our Don Henson Prize runner-up, Lizzie Lovejoy (@lizzie_lovejoy_illustration @lizzielovejoy.bsky.social) also produced a poem during the conference, a TAG Group Self-Portrait.
We hope you enjoy it.
And TAG will return. At Exeter on 14th-16th Dec. Save the Date and look out for more details soon.
We hope you enjoy it.
And TAG will return. At Exeter on 14th-16th Dec. Save the Date and look out for more details soon.
January 8, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Our Don Henson Prize runner-up, Lizzie Lovejoy (@lizzie_lovejoy_illustration @lizzielovejoy.bsky.social) also produced a poem during the conference, a TAG Group Self-Portrait.
We hope you enjoy it.
And TAG will return. At Exeter on 14th-16th Dec. Save the Date and look out for more details soon.
We hope you enjoy it.
And TAG will return. At Exeter on 14th-16th Dec. Save the Date and look out for more details soon.
This marks a rather lovely way to wrap TAG in York and formally pass on to Exeter for this year's conference! Announcing the Don Henson Prize winner and some runner ups, as the panel had such a tough time deciding.
Congratulations to Liz, Max and Lizzie!!
Congratulations to Liz, Max and Lizzie!!
Congratulations Liz Carter (University of Glasgow).
Awarded the Don Henson Prize for:
Prosthetic Materials for Prosthetic Memories: ’Inauthentic’ Objects of WW2 Memory in Local British Museums
Runners-up:
Max Jacobs and Lizzie Lovejoy (@lizzie_lovejoy_illustration
@lizzielovejoy.bsky.social)
Awarded the Don Henson Prize for:
Prosthetic Materials for Prosthetic Memories: ’Inauthentic’ Objects of WW2 Memory in Local British Museums
Runners-up:
Max Jacobs and Lizzie Lovejoy (@lizzie_lovejoy_illustration
@lizzielovejoy.bsky.social)
Awards - TAG 2025
tag2025.hosted.york.ac.uk
January 8, 2026 at 10:14 AM
This marks a rather lovely way to wrap TAG in York and formally pass on to Exeter for this year's conference! Announcing the Don Henson Prize winner and some runner ups, as the panel had such a tough time deciding.
Congratulations to Liz, Max and Lizzie!!
Congratulations to Liz, Max and Lizzie!!
Best part of getting back to work emails - seeing all the Christmas and New Year messages from former students with updates on what they are doing. It really is joyful.
January 5, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Best part of getting back to work emails - seeing all the Christmas and New Year messages from former students with updates on what they are doing. It really is joyful.
Also I walked over 43,000 steps across the three days (just around the venue)!
December 18, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Also I walked over 43,000 steps across the three days (just around the venue)!
Thank you to everyone for coming! I have loved this conference ever since my first TAG in 2003. I really hope there were people at York having the same brilliant experience I had in Lampeter. It feels so good to have given my part to keep the theory flames going. Now to sleep till January...
Safely home after a brilliant few days at @tag2025york.bsky.social thanks so much to the whole team there for all their efforts including @pennybickle.bsky.social @evamol.bsky.social and @clmorgan.bsky.social ace work guys.
December 18, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Thank you to everyone for coming! I have loved this conference ever since my first TAG in 2003. I really hope there were people at York having the same brilliant experience I had in Lampeter. It feels so good to have given my part to keep the theory flames going. Now to sleep till January...
Wonderful to see you both after so long! Hoping I can make it over to McMaster at some point. Enjoy the rest of your visit, especially the panto 🤗
December 18, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Wonderful to see you both after so long! Hoping I can make it over to McMaster at some point. Enjoy the rest of your visit, especially the panto 🤗
Absolutely delighted to give this year's TAG prize to the Trowelblazers. Great way to kick off TAG!
Much deserved winners of the TAG prize 2025 🏆 50% of @trowelblazers.bsky.social being presented with their prize by @pennybickle.bsky.social in York earlier tonight.
December 15, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Absolutely delighted to give this year's TAG prize to the Trowelblazers. Great way to kick off TAG!
New article published today! Funerary Practices Among Central European First Farmers in the Light of New Radiocarbon Dates: The Case of Southern Moravia/Western Slovakia
Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Chronology matters when comparing different funerary rites.
Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Chronology matters when comparing different funerary rites.
Funerary Practices Among Central European First Farmers in the Light of New Radiocarbon Dates: The Case of Southern Moravia/Western Slovakia - Journal of World Prehistory
This paper examines the temporal dynamics of Linearbandkeramik (LBK) mortuary practices in south-eastern Czechia and western Slovakia, focusing on the emergence and development of funerary traditions....
link.springer.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:33 AM
New article published today! Funerary Practices Among Central European First Farmers in the Light of New Radiocarbon Dates: The Case of Southern Moravia/Western Slovakia
Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Chronology matters when comparing different funerary rites.
Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Chronology matters when comparing different funerary rites.
Some lovely coverage of the new project in the independent :-) www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
The surprising things ancient rubbish can tell us about our ancestors
Researchers said ancient waste could tell us whether our ancestors were keen recyclers
www.independent.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Some lovely coverage of the new project in the independent :-) www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
November 27, 2025 at 7:05 AM
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
November 26, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Here’s the press release for our new project on Neolithic wastescapes in English from the university of York. The project is funded jointly by the UK and Germany, allowing us to effectively collaborate Internationally. Can’t wait to get started with Henny and the team :-)
Can't wait to start on this exciting endeavour with Penny, Bruno and the international team! Here is also the English press release: www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2025/research/ancient-rubbish-early-farmers/
Ancient rubbish shows how early farmers learned to live with waste
A new archaeological project aims to shed light on how Neolithic rubbish could help understand how Europe’s first farmers adapted to a more settled way of life.
www.york.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Here’s the press release for our new project on Neolithic wastescapes in English from the university of York. The project is funded jointly by the UK and Germany, allowing us to effectively collaborate Internationally. Can’t wait to get started with Henny and the team :-)
There are also some amazing sites we will be collaborating on, with partners from Serbia, Romania, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. So a huge thanks to the DFG-AHRC for making a long held dream project come to reality.
November 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
There are also some amazing sites we will be collaborating on, with partners from Serbia, Romania, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. So a huge thanks to the DFG-AHRC for making a long held dream project come to reality.
I've wanted to do this project since my PhD, but methods developments since (cough) 2008, mean we can investigate so much more now. Exciting analysis to come from Dr Bruno Vindola-Padros on automated analysis of sherd wear and, in York, we are working with Physics to analyse microstructure of bone.
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
I've wanted to do this project since my PhD, but methods developments since (cough) 2008, mean we can investigate so much more now. Exciting analysis to come from Dr Bruno Vindola-Padros on automated analysis of sherd wear and, in York, we are working with Physics to analyse microstructure of bone.
So very excited to announce our new project - From Reuse to Resource - joint with the Freie Universitaet Berlin, funded by DFG-AHRC. Starting early 2026, we're going to be analyzing the wastescapes of Neolithic settlements to rethink ontologies of rubbish nachrichten.idw-online.de/2025/11/25/u...
Uralter Müll zeigt, wie Steinzeitbauern erstmals lernten, mit Abfall zu leben
nachrichten.idw-online.de
November 25, 2025 at 12:22 PM
So very excited to announce our new project - From Reuse to Resource - joint with the Freie Universitaet Berlin, funded by DFG-AHRC. Starting early 2026, we're going to be analyzing the wastescapes of Neolithic settlements to rethink ontologies of rubbish nachrichten.idw-online.de/2025/11/25/u...
New open access publication: Moving to Stay in (a Woman’s) Place: Was Patrilocality the Dominant Mode of Postmarital Residence across Later European Prehistory? Current Anthropology.
Thanks to Wenner Gren for funding the workshop it emerged from!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Thanks to Wenner Gren for funding the workshop it emerged from!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Moving to Stay in (a Woman’s) Place : Was Patrilocality the Dominant Mode of Postmarital Residence across Later European Prehistory? | Current Anthropology
This paper questions whether forms of female mobility and their relation to kinship were uniform throughout later European prehistory. Patrilocality has become the primary way in which sex-based diffe...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 24, 2025 at 4:44 PM
New open access publication: Moving to Stay in (a Woman’s) Place: Was Patrilocality the Dominant Mode of Postmarital Residence across Later European Prehistory? Current Anthropology.
Thanks to Wenner Gren for funding the workshop it emerged from!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Thanks to Wenner Gren for funding the workshop it emerged from!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
A great account of the brilliant Kiel team's work at the LBK site of Vrable here. Andrew does such a good job of teasing out the complexity of that century of the LBK.
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 9:18 AM
A great account of the brilliant Kiel team's work at the LBK site of Vrable here. Andrew does such a good job of teasing out the complexity of that century of the LBK.
Only a month to go - alternating with excitement at everyone coming to York and sheer terror of how much there is to do in the next month 😱🥳😵💫😆
Just under a month until the Theoretical Archaeology Group meeting
@tag2025york.bsky.social!
This year's theme is 'Theory in Action', so come along from the 15th-17th December to explore how archaeological theory can make an impact on the world.
Learn more: tag2025.hosted.york.ac.uk/en/
🏺
@tag2025york.bsky.social!
This year's theme is 'Theory in Action', so come along from the 15th-17th December to explore how archaeological theory can make an impact on the world.
Learn more: tag2025.hosted.york.ac.uk/en/
🏺
November 17, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Only a month to go - alternating with excitement at everyone coming to York and sheer terror of how much there is to do in the next month 😱🥳😵💫😆
What a fantastic day yesterday was! Such a rich set of data and perspectives on kinship. I learnt so much. Huge thanks to everyone who made it happen. Also good showing from @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social with my paper, and Sophie Charleton speaking later on about the curious site of Banbury lane.
Now the fantastic @pennybickle.bsky.social is taking us through kinship and aDNA in the LBK cultural world, teasing out some key questions posed by ethnographic concepts of kinship that might be answered through the archaeological record #NSGKinship
November 4, 2025 at 9:02 AM
What a fantastic day yesterday was! Such a rich set of data and perspectives on kinship. I learnt so much. Huge thanks to everyone who made it happen. Also good showing from @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social with my paper, and Sophie Charleton speaking later on about the curious site of Banbury lane.