Benjamin Utting
@benjaminutting.bsky.social
Palaeoecologist/Lithicist | Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History ☀️ | PhD from the University of Cambridge | National Geographic Explorer
https://sites.google.com/view/benjaminutting/
https://sites.google.com/view/benjaminutting/
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I have accepted the position of Independent Group Leader in Experimental Archaeology at the University of Tübingen! The program will focus on establishing a reference collection for taphonomic phenomena specific to Island Southeast Asia 😁
🐘🏝️🇮🇩🦴
🐘🏝️🇮🇩🦴
November 7, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I have accepted the position of Independent Group Leader in Experimental Archaeology at the University of Tübingen! The program will focus on establishing a reference collection for taphonomic phenomena specific to Island Southeast Asia 😁
🐘🏝️🇮🇩🦴
🐘🏝️🇮🇩🦴
A very fun Vice article on our discovery from northern Vietnam:
www.vice.com/en/article/h...
by @luisprada.bsky.social
www.vice.com/en/article/h...
by @luisprada.bsky.social
He Died 12,000 Years Ago. Now We Know It Was Murder.
TBH1 was a relatively healthy 35-year-old living in prehistoric Southeast Asia, presumably doing cave guy stuff like hunting and foraging.
www.vice.com
September 21, 2025 at 2:39 PM
A very fun Vice article on our discovery from northern Vietnam:
www.vice.com/en/article/h...
by @luisprada.bsky.social
www.vice.com/en/article/h...
by @luisprada.bsky.social
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Rock art from the Raja Ampat islands of Papua doi.org/10.70460/jpa...
Rock Painting Traditions around Waigeo Island, Raja Ampat, West New Guinea
Rock paintings around the western tip of New Guinea are extensive but poorly understood. This paper describes rock art around the northern Raja Ampat Islands, just off the coast of western New Guinea....
doi.org
September 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Rock art from the Raja Ampat islands of Papua doi.org/10.70460/jpa...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
The next CAA-UK will be hosted by @cam-archaeology.bsky.social ! Very much looking forward to hearing the latest research from the current and the next generation of computational and quantitative archaeologists (not just from the UK) : uk.caa-international.org/caa-uk-2025-2/ (deadline 29/9/2025)
Extended Call for Papers and Posters – CAA UK 2025 – CAA-UK
uk.caa-international.org
September 16, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The next CAA-UK will be hosted by @cam-archaeology.bsky.social ! Very much looking forward to hearing the latest research from the current and the next generation of computational and quantitative archaeologists (not just from the UK) : uk.caa-international.org/caa-uk-2025-2/ (deadline 29/9/2025)
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
👏👏 Congratulations to our colleague Marjolein D. Bosch on receiving an #ERC Starting Grant for her COPE project. She will explore how Ice Age hunters and gatherers responded to cold temperatures, resource scarcity 💦 🦌 🌱 , and environmental changes 30,000 years ago.
More info: buff.ly/EGicG8z
More info: buff.ly/EGicG8z
September 4, 2025 at 10:30 AM
👏👏 Congratulations to our colleague Marjolein D. Bosch on receiving an #ERC Starting Grant for her COPE project. She will explore how Ice Age hunters and gatherers responded to cold temperatures, resource scarcity 💦 🦌 🌱 , and environmental changes 30,000 years ago.
More info: buff.ly/EGicG8z
More info: buff.ly/EGicG8z
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
I'm delighted that the first publication from a National Science Foundation-funded study I led studying the development and implementation of teaching resources on human and non-human evolution in Alabama high school biology classrooms was published a few days ago! (1/2)
Teaching human evolution in Alabama high school biology classrooms: the LUDA project - Evolution: Education and Outreach
Background Multiple factors, including the context (human or non-human) in which evolution is learned and whether explicit efforts are made to try to reduce the conflict between evolution and religion...
evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com
August 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I'm delighted that the first publication from a National Science Foundation-funded study I led studying the development and implementation of teaching resources on human and non-human evolution in Alabama high school biology classrooms was published a few days ago! (1/2)
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Fabulous news that @martamlahr.bsky.social has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy 🍾🍾🍾
July 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Fabulous news that @martamlahr.bsky.social has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy 🍾🍾🍾
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Coverage of our recent paper on Pleistocene translocations of marsupials
Ancient people took wallabies to Indonesian islands in canoes
Humans established a wild population of brown forest wallabies in the Raja Ampat Islands thousands of years ago for their meat and fur in one of the earliest known species translocations
www.newscientist.com
June 28, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Coverage of our recent paper on Pleistocene translocations of marsupials
Amazing and much-needed paper!!
I'm happy to share this review article, where I attempt to ponder about missed opportunities in archaeological statistical modelling.
Statistical modelling in archaeology: some recent trends and future perspectives
This paper reviews the application of statistical models in archaeology in the last decade, focusing in particular on multilevel models, statistical t…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Amazing and much-needed paper!!
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
What can lithics tell us about key topics in archaeology - a few great articles already online in our special issue of @archaeometry.bsky.social and more articles to come:
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
What can lithics tell us about technological complexity? Reflections on and around the Hoabinhian phenomenon in the cobble world
For a long time, scientific discussions of the behavioral, technological, cultural, and cognitive complexity of Homo sapiens have been Europe- and Africa-centered for their abundant archaeological di...
doi.org
June 8, 2025 at 6:45 AM
What can lithics tell us about key topics in archaeology - a few great articles already online in our special issue of @archaeometry.bsky.social and more articles to come:
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
New paper on some of the first ancient genomes from New Guinea doi.org/10.1038/s415...
The impact of human dispersals and local interactions on the genetic diversity of coastal Papua New Guinea over the past 2,500 years - Nature Ecology & Evolution
New archaeological and ancient genomic data from humans in Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago shed light on regional human admixture and genetic isolation over the past 2,500 years.
doi.org
June 6, 2025 at 2:05 PM
New paper on some of the first ancient genomes from New Guinea doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
The Invertebrate Paleontology department at the AMNH is seeking a full-time Museum Specialist.
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
Museum Specialist - New York, NY 10024 - Indeed.com
American Museum of Natural History
www.indeed.com
May 22, 2025 at 5:38 PM
The Invertebrate Paleontology department at the AMNH is seeking a full-time Museum Specialist.
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Professor Anna Källén, Umeå University, speaking around her new book The Trouble with Ancient DNA: Telling Stories of the Ancient Past with Genomic Science (The University of Chicago Press, 2025)
@ucph-soa.bsky.social
@ucph-soa.bsky.social
May 13, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Professor Anna Källén, Umeå University, speaking around her new book The Trouble with Ancient DNA: Telling Stories of the Ancient Past with Genomic Science (The University of Chicago Press, 2025)
@ucph-soa.bsky.social
@ucph-soa.bsky.social
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Had a lot of fun writing this piece for The Conversation. Much different than writing an academic article. The editors were amazing to work with and super helpful! 🏺🏺
theconversation.com/was-it-a-sto...
theconversation.com/was-it-a-sto...
Was it a stone tool or just a rock? An archaeologist explains how scientists can tell the difference
With a little guidance and a lot of practice, even you can make stone tools the way our oldest ancestors did – and learn to recognize the signs of a deliberately made tool.
theconversation.com
May 7, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Had a lot of fun writing this piece for The Conversation. Much different than writing an academic article. The editors were amazing to work with and super helpful! 🏺🏺
theconversation.com/was-it-a-sto...
theconversation.com/was-it-a-sto...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Merci pour tous les bons moments partagés. Tu vas nous manquer, Pierre.
Thank you for the wonderful moments we shared. We will miss you Pierre.
Thank you for the wonderful moments we shared. We will miss you Pierre.
April 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Merci pour tous les bons moments partagés. Tu vas nous manquer, Pierre.
Thank you for the wonderful moments we shared. We will miss you Pierre.
Thank you for the wonderful moments we shared. We will miss you Pierre.
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Scoop: DOGE officials met with leadership at the National Gallery of Art this week to discuss the museum's legal status www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
DOGE Visits National Gallery of Art to Discuss Museum’s Legal Status
The move is the latest from Elon Musk’s unofficial cost-cutting agency to exert influence beyond traditional federal agencies.
www.bloomberg.com
April 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Scoop: DOGE officials met with leadership at the National Gallery of Art this week to discuss the museum's legal status www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
"What we need to fix this thing is rational hope." - Katharine Hayhoe
Our chief climate scientist, @katharinehayhoe.com,
inspires us to stay hopeful and take action against climate change. Discover her optimistic approach and how we can all contribute to a sustainable future.
Our chief climate scientist, @katharinehayhoe.com,
inspires us to stay hopeful and take action against climate change. Discover her optimistic approach and how we can all contribute to a sustainable future.
Despite the increasingly gloomy news about climate change, scientist Katharine Hayhoe offers skeptics a sunny attitude
Texas Tech scientist Katharine Hayhoe has spent the last 20 years grappling with the question of how to convince skeptics that global temperatures are rising and that climate change poses a threat to ...
www.yahoo.com
April 14, 2025 at 2:46 PM
"What we need to fix this thing is rational hope." - Katharine Hayhoe
Our chief climate scientist, @katharinehayhoe.com,
inspires us to stay hopeful and take action against climate change. Discover her optimistic approach and how we can all contribute to a sustainable future.
Our chief climate scientist, @katharinehayhoe.com,
inspires us to stay hopeful and take action against climate change. Discover her optimistic approach and how we can all contribute to a sustainable future.
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
This paper will be in our forthcoming #Lithics special issue: What can lithics tell us about hominin technology's ‘primordial soup’? An origin of stone knapping via the emulation of Mother Nature
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#EarlyView #OpenAccess
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#EarlyView #OpenAccess
April 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
This paper will be in our forthcoming #Lithics special issue: What can lithics tell us about hominin technology's ‘primordial soup’? An origin of stone knapping via the emulation of Mother Nature
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#EarlyView #OpenAccess
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#EarlyView #OpenAccess
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Incredibly proud that our paper on the #palaeoproteomics analysis of the Penghu mandible, led by @tsutatsuta.bsky.social and in collaboration with Chun-Hsiang Chang, Enrico Cappellini and co, is out now in
@science.org! doi.org/10.1126/scie...
@science.org! doi.org/10.1126/scie...
A male Denisovan mandible from Pleistocene Taiwan
Denisovans are an extinct hominin group defined by ancient genomes of Middle to Late Pleistocene fossils from southern Siberia. Although genomic evidence suggests their widespread distribution through...
doi.org
April 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Incredibly proud that our paper on the #palaeoproteomics analysis of the Penghu mandible, led by @tsutatsuta.bsky.social and in collaboration with Chun-Hsiang Chang, Enrico Cappellini and co, is out now in
@science.org! doi.org/10.1126/scie...
@science.org! doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Disparition inquiétante de Pierre Noiret, professeur en préhistoire à l'université de Liège, Belgique
www.police.be/avis-de-rech...
www.police.be/avis-de-rech...
Pierre NOIRET
Le vendredi 4 avril 2025, Pierre NOIRET, un homme âgé de 59 ans, a été vu pour la dernière fois à l’Université de Liège située Place du Vingt Août à Liège. Depuis, il ne s’est plus manifesté. Pierre m...
www.police.be
April 8, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Disparition inquiétante de Pierre Noiret, professeur en préhistoire à l'université de Liège, Belgique
www.police.be/avis-de-rech...
www.police.be/avis-de-rech...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Very excited to share our new paper on Fire Use during the LGM at Korman'9, Ukraine! Check it out!
#geoarchaeology, #micromorphology, #pyrotechnology, #LGM, #Paleolithic, #archaeology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#geoarchaeology, #micromorphology, #pyrotechnology, #LGM, #Paleolithic, #archaeology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Fire Use During the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence From the Epigravettian at Korman' 9, Middle Dniester Valley, Ukraine
The Last Glacial maximum (LGM), spanning from 26.5 to 19 thousand years before present (ka bp), is a period of extreme climatic degradation associated with reduced biomass production and resource str...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Very excited to share our new paper on Fire Use during the LGM at Korman'9, Ukraine! Check it out!
#geoarchaeology, #micromorphology, #pyrotechnology, #LGM, #Paleolithic, #archaeology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#geoarchaeology, #micromorphology, #pyrotechnology, #LGM, #Paleolithic, #archaeology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Our new paper reports a complete Quina technological system in the 60-50 ka assemblage at Longtan, Southwest China
Ruan, Q. et al. (2025) Quina lithic technology indicates diverse Late Pleistocene human dynamics in East Asia doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🆓 faculty.washington.edu/bmarwick/PDF...
Ruan, Q. et al. (2025) Quina lithic technology indicates diverse Late Pleistocene human dynamics in East Asia doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🆓 faculty.washington.edu/bmarwick/PDF...
March 31, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Our new paper reports a complete Quina technological system in the 60-50 ka assemblage at Longtan, Southwest China
Ruan, Q. et al. (2025) Quina lithic technology indicates diverse Late Pleistocene human dynamics in East Asia doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🆓 faculty.washington.edu/bmarwick/PDF...
Ruan, Q. et al. (2025) Quina lithic technology indicates diverse Late Pleistocene human dynamics in East Asia doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🆓 faculty.washington.edu/bmarwick/PDF...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
We polled Nature readers to ask if they were thinking of leaving the US for jobs abroad. Three-quarters of them (who said they were US-based scientists) said yes. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving
More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.
www.nature.com
March 27, 2025 at 2:19 PM
We polled Nature readers to ask if they were thinking of leaving the US for jobs abroad. Three-quarters of them (who said they were US-based scientists) said yes. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Benjamin Utting
Here, we propose a new perspective on early stone tool technology: emulation of naturally occurring sharp-edged stones (naturaliths) instead of inventing via 'Eureka!' moments. Nature provided the blueprint; hominins took it further.
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
#Archaeology #Stonetools
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
#Archaeology #Stonetools
March 17, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Here, we propose a new perspective on early stone tool technology: emulation of naturally occurring sharp-edged stones (naturaliths) instead of inventing via 'Eureka!' moments. Nature provided the blueprint; hominins took it further.
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
#Archaeology #Stonetools
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/arcm...
#Archaeology #Stonetools
Happy to escape the US to Panama City for a science communication/policy workshop! 🇵🇦🇵🇦🇵🇦
February 25, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Happy to escape the US to Panama City for a science communication/policy workshop! 🇵🇦🇵🇦🇵🇦