Tom Higham
@tommyhigham.bsky.social
Professor at the Univ. of Vienna dating archaeological sites; bones, Neanderthals. Author of "The World Before Us" (http://tinyurl.com/2p873jy8). Kiwi.
ORCID: 0000-0002-5949-598X
https://highamlab.univie.ac.at
ORCID: 0000-0002-5949-598X
https://highamlab.univie.ac.at
Reposted by Tom Higham
Enough already.
On a two-word scientific paper, and a fascinating (heated) exchange
I’ve blogged before about the shortest scientific papers. Very short papers (a handful to a few dozen words) are usually amusing, but they’re often not very effective at communication. But I’ve jus…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:13 AM
Enough already.
Reposted by Tom Higham
Every American needs to watch this:
February 5, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Every American needs to watch this:
Several exciting PhD opportunities here in the University of Vienna STEM-call. In our department fully funded positions in biomolecular zooarch, Pleistocene felid diversity and admixture, sedaDNA and popgen, and archsci and AMS 14C dating.
Apply below now!
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...
Apply below now!
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...
careers.univie.ac.at
February 6, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Several exciting PhD opportunities here in the University of Vienna STEM-call. In our department fully funded positions in biomolecular zooarch, Pleistocene felid diversity and admixture, sedaDNA and popgen, and archsci and AMS 14C dating.
Apply below now!
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...
Apply below now!
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...
My dad and I published this paper this week in Archaeometry. It shows how you can avoid old wood effects when dating charcoal by using a bespoke Bayesian outlier model developed by my friends Mike Dee and Chris Ramsey a few years ago. We applied it to a Thai site.
doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70105
doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70105
Dealing With Inbuilt Age: A Bayesian Approach to Radiocarbon Dating of Rice, Bamboo and Charcoal From Non Ban Jak, Thailand
New radiocarbon determinations from rice grains and bamboo have been obtained from Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand. These, along with charcoal, date a late Iron Age building sequence. The results com...
doi.org
January 31, 2026 at 1:19 PM
My dad and I published this paper this week in Archaeometry. It shows how you can avoid old wood effects when dating charcoal by using a bespoke Bayesian outlier model developed by my friends Mike Dee and Chris Ramsey a few years ago. We applied it to a Thai site.
doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70105
doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70105
We have a new paper out in Rapid Comms in Mass Spectrometry about 14C dating bone using a minimally destructive approach.
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Bone
Rationale
Bone is commonly used in radiocarbon dating in archaeology and other disciplines. Despite advances in collagen extraction protocols, the process remains destructive, requiring sawing, dril.....
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 31, 2026 at 6:52 AM
We have a new paper out in Rapid Comms in Mass Spectrometry about 14C dating bone using a minimally destructive approach.
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Tom Higham
We are looking forward to welcoming #RobinAllaby to #HEASVienna for the #HEASSeminar in #AncientGenomics taking place online and in-person in the #UBB at @univie.ac.at
Registration and more information on our website 🔗👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Registration and more information on our website 🔗👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
HEAS Seminar Series - Ancient Genomics - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Ancient Genomics, Robin Allaby from The University of Warwick will give a talk on Evolutionary genomics of Andean maize on the 26th January 2026 at 10:30 CET in S...
www.heas.at
January 21, 2026 at 11:24 AM
We are looking forward to welcoming #RobinAllaby to #HEASVienna for the #HEASSeminar in #AncientGenomics taking place online and in-person in the #UBB at @univie.ac.at
Registration and more information on our website 🔗👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Registration and more information on our website 🔗👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Fully funded PhD studentship here with @katerinad.bsky.social on palaeoproteomics. Apply below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/PhD-Stud...
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/PhD-Stud...
jobs.univie.ac.at
January 10, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Fully funded PhD studentship here with @katerinad.bsky.social on palaeoproteomics. Apply below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/PhD-Stud...
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/PhD-Stud...
Reposted by Tom Higham
Female researchers: interested in a postdoc at @univienna in #sedaDNA, #metagenomics or #ancientDNA? Apply via the E-STEEM fellowship through my group. Projects are flexible and can be shaped together!
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
careers.univie.ac.at
January 6, 2026 at 8:02 AM
Female researchers: interested in a postdoc at @univienna in #sedaDNA, #metagenomics or #ancientDNA? Apply via the E-STEEM fellowship through my group. Projects are flexible and can be shaped together!
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
Reposted by Tom Higham
New Publication!
New Article by #HEASVienna members #AnnetteOertle, @katerinad.bsky.social et al. on 'New collagen peptide markers from New Guinea fauna: identifying archaeological bone in the tropics'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
New Article by #HEASVienna members #AnnetteOertle, @katerinad.bsky.social et al. on 'New collagen peptide markers from New Guinea fauna: identifying archaeological bone in the tropics'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
New collagen peptide markers from New Guinea fauna: identifying archaeological bone in the tropics - HEAS
Oertle, A., Peters, C., Summerhayes, G., O’Connor, S., Gillespie, R., Douka, K., 2025. New collagen peptide markers from New Guinea fauna: identifying archaeological bone in the tropics. Royal Society...
www.heas.at
December 22, 2025 at 11:02 AM
New Publication!
New Article by #HEASVienna members #AnnetteOertle, @katerinad.bsky.social et al. on 'New collagen peptide markers from New Guinea fauna: identifying archaeological bone in the tropics'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
New Article by #HEASVienna members #AnnetteOertle, @katerinad.bsky.social et al. on 'New collagen peptide markers from New Guinea fauna: identifying archaeological bone in the tropics'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
Reposted by Tom Higham
It's always lovely to see where the #HEASBottle ends up - here is #JustusErusEdung from the #NationalMuseumsinKenya who was gifted the bottle from HEAS Speaker @martamlahr.bsky.social using it on TransEvol fieldwork led by HEAS Speaker #AurelienMounier with #HEASMember #MarjoleinD.Bosch.
December 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
It's always lovely to see where the #HEASBottle ends up - here is #JustusErusEdung from the #NationalMuseumsinKenya who was gifted the bottle from HEAS Speaker @martamlahr.bsky.social using it on TransEvol fieldwork led by HEAS Speaker #AurelienMounier with #HEASMember #MarjoleinD.Bosch.
Tasty and archaeological! Our super postdoc Matthias Blessing baked biscuits in the shape of the Vogelherd horse!
December 9, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Tasty and archaeological! Our super postdoc Matthias Blessing baked biscuits in the shape of the Vogelherd horse!
Reposted by Tom Higham
We are looking forward to welcoming #EmmaPomeroy to #HEASVienna next week as part of the #HEASSeminar series in #HumanEvolutionandthePalaeolithic
More information and registration on our website 🔗👇
More information and registration on our website 🔗👇
HEAS Seminar Series - Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic, Emma Pomeroy from University of Cambridge will give a talk on Neanderthal life and death at Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan o...
www.heas.at
November 27, 2025 at 3:38 PM
We are looking forward to welcoming #EmmaPomeroy to #HEASVienna next week as part of the #HEASSeminar series in #HumanEvolutionandthePalaeolithic
More information and registration on our website 🔗👇
More information and registration on our website 🔗👇
Reposted by Tom Higham
We are looking forward to welcoming #IanKuijt to #HEASVienna next week as part of the #HEASSeminar series in #ArchaeologicalScience.
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗
HEAS Seminar Series – Archaeological Science - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Archaeological Science, Ian Kuijt from the University of Notre Dame will give a talk on Rethinking “The Neolithic Revolution”: Thoughts on the Evolutionary Transi...
www.heas.at
November 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
We are looking forward to welcoming #IanKuijt to #HEASVienna next week as part of the #HEASSeminar series in #ArchaeologicalScience.
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗
Still time to register for our HEAS Seminar in Archaeological Science on Monday with Assoc. Prof. Jane Kershaw on the origins of the Viking age. 1230 CE Time today! @heasvienna.bsky.social
Link below!
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Link below!
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
HEAS Seminar Series - Archaeological Science - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Archaeological Science, Jane Kershaw from the University of Oxford will give a talk on How lead isotope analysis of silver sheds new light on the origins of the V...
www.heas.at
November 24, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Still time to register for our HEAS Seminar in Archaeological Science on Monday with Assoc. Prof. Jane Kershaw on the origins of the Viking age. 1230 CE Time today! @heasvienna.bsky.social
Link below!
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Link below!
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
The sad thing is that it was all so incredibly obvious this would be the outcome.
Rachel Reeves says there’s a “hole” in the public finances.
A new decade-long Brexit study explains it:
a 6–8% hit to GDP – that's £180bn-£240bn a year – means less tax, less investment and less money for everything else.
Brexit made Britain poorer. Much poorer.
A new decade-long Brexit study explains it:
a 6–8% hit to GDP – that's £180bn-£240bn a year – means less tax, less investment and less money for everything else.
Brexit made Britain poorer. Much poorer.
New: Boris Johnson’s ‘Brexit Titanic success’ was half right
Nearly ten years on, the first full assessment of Brexit confirms what millions warned: Britain made itself poorer
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 7:10 AM
The sad thing is that it was all so incredibly obvious this would be the outcome.
Reposted by Tom Higham
We are looking forward to welcoming Maria Avila Arcos @paleogenomics.bsky.social to #HEASVienna for a #HEASSeminar in #AncientGenomics next Monday at the later than normal time of 11:45 CET.
@peregx9.bsky.social
Registration for online and in-person participation in on our website 👇🔗
@peregx9.bsky.social
Registration for online and in-person participation in on our website 👇🔗
HEAS Seminar Series - Ancient Genomics - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Ancient Genomics Maria C Avila-Arcos from National Autonomous University of Mexico will give a talk on Paleogenomic evidence of patogen introductions to Mexico fo...
www.heas.at
November 12, 2025 at 11:12 AM
We are looking forward to welcoming Maria Avila Arcos @paleogenomics.bsky.social to #HEASVienna for a #HEASSeminar in #AncientGenomics next Monday at the later than normal time of 11:45 CET.
@peregx9.bsky.social
Registration for online and in-person participation in on our website 👇🔗
@peregx9.bsky.social
Registration for online and in-person participation in on our website 👇🔗
Looking forward today to the “Paleoenvironmental DNA and Human Evolution” Symposium here in our department, featuring talks by Viviane Slon, Mikel Pedersen, Karina Sand, Ben Vernot, Pere Gelabert, Mareike Stahlschmidt and Susanna Sawyer. sedaDNA, so exciting! @univie.ac.at @heasvienna.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Looking forward today to the “Paleoenvironmental DNA and Human Evolution” Symposium here in our department, featuring talks by Viviane Slon, Mikel Pedersen, Karina Sand, Ben Vernot, Pere Gelabert, Mareike Stahlschmidt and Susanna Sawyer. sedaDNA, so exciting! @univie.ac.at @heasvienna.bsky.social
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 29, 2025 at 9:17 AM
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
HEAS Seminar this morning! 1030 CE Time. Bence Viola will talk about Denisovans!
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
October 6, 2025 at 7:11 AM
HEAS Seminar this morning! 1030 CE Time. Bence Viola will talk about Denisovans!
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Reposted by Tom Higham
We are looking forward to welcoming @benceviola.bsky.social back to Vienna for the first #HEASSeminar in the 2025-2026 series in #HumanEvolutionandthePalaeolithic.
@univie.ac.at
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
@univie.ac.at
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
HEAS Seminar Series - Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic Bence Viola from the University of Toronto will give a talk on Teeth, Genes, and Taxonomy – fifteen years of Denisovan discov...
www.heas.at
October 2, 2025 at 8:03 AM
We are looking forward to welcoming @benceviola.bsky.social back to Vienna for the first #HEASSeminar in the 2025-2026 series in #HumanEvolutionandthePalaeolithic.
@univie.ac.at
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
@univie.ac.at
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
So excited to announce the lineup of speakers here @heasvienna.bsky.social for the 2025/6 academic year! We have some outstanding speakers for our three seminar series in Archaelogical Science, Ancient Genomics and Human Evolution & the Palaeolithic. All hybrid! Register now at HEAS.at
October 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
So excited to announce the lineup of speakers here @heasvienna.bsky.social for the 2025/6 academic year! We have some outstanding speakers for our three seminar series in Archaelogical Science, Ancient Genomics and Human Evolution & the Palaeolithic. All hybrid! Register now at HEAS.at
PhD Studentship alert!
I'm looking for a motivated student to work here in Vienna @vdsee-univie.bsky.social on my ERC grant "DISPERSE". It's a fulltime scholarship (working in 14C and #archsci in Palaeolithic archaeology in Eurasia.
Details in the link below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...
I'm looking for a motivated student to work here in Vienna @vdsee-univie.bsky.social on my ERC grant "DISPERSE". It's a fulltime scholarship (working in 14C and #archsci in Palaeolithic archaeology in Eurasia.
Details in the link below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...
University assistant predoctoral 1
University assistant predoctoral 1
jobs.univie.ac.at
September 15, 2025 at 3:00 PM
PhD Studentship alert!
I'm looking for a motivated student to work here in Vienna @vdsee-univie.bsky.social on my ERC grant "DISPERSE". It's a fulltime scholarship (working in 14C and #archsci in Palaeolithic archaeology in Eurasia.
Details in the link below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...
I'm looking for a motivated student to work here in Vienna @vdsee-univie.bsky.social on my ERC grant "DISPERSE". It's a fulltime scholarship (working in 14C and #archsci in Palaeolithic archaeology in Eurasia.
Details in the link below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...
Talk at 10 CE time this morning online and in person :
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
September 15, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Talk at 10 CE time this morning online and in person :
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
Great job opportunity here in Vienna at the Natural History Museum. @nhmwien.bsky.social
jobs.nhm.at/Curator-for-...
jobs.nhm.at/Curator-for-...
Stellenangebot Curator for the osteological collection of human remains (m/f/d) bei Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
Forschung, wissenschaftliche Tätigkeit in Wien
jobs.nhm.at
September 8, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Great job opportunity here in Vienna at the Natural History Museum. @nhmwien.bsky.social
jobs.nhm.at/Curator-for-...
jobs.nhm.at/Curator-for-...
If you are in the UK, BBC4 tonight at 8 pm "The Lost Neanderthals". A doco about the site of Mandrin (Fr) and the work there of Ludovic Slimak and team. You might spot a glimpse of me too - I have been lucky enough to work with them on the site chronology for several years.
tinyurl.com/4uenwr7c
tinyurl.com/4uenwr7c
BBC Four - The Lost Neanderthals
The secrets of the Neanderthal discoveries in the Mandrin Cave in France are revealed.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 5:10 AM
If you are in the UK, BBC4 tonight at 8 pm "The Lost Neanderthals". A doco about the site of Mandrin (Fr) and the work there of Ludovic Slimak and team. You might spot a glimpse of me too - I have been lucky enough to work with them on the site chronology for several years.
tinyurl.com/4uenwr7c
tinyurl.com/4uenwr7c