Mark Altaweel
@maltaweel.bsky.social
Professor of Near East Archaeology and Archaeological Data Science. Vice-Dean Innovation and Enterprise
https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/32234-mark-altaweel/about
https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/32234-mark-altaweel/about
The second volume of the series “Exploring Assur” presents the results achieved at ancient Assur chiefly in its New Town, through fieldwork and analyses undertaken in 2024 by the Assur Excavation Project. Out on open access and available for purchase: www.pewe-verlag.de?page_id=3198
ExA-2 | PeWe-Verlag
www.pewe-verlag.de
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The second volume of the series “Exploring Assur” presents the results achieved at ancient Assur chiefly in its New Town, through fieldwork and analyses undertaken in 2024 by the Assur Excavation Project. Out on open access and available for purchase: www.pewe-verlag.de?page_id=3198
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
🚨 Job Alert 🚨
Research Fellow in Environmental Archaeology (Amazonia)
📆 Closing Date 10-Nov-2025
📲 bit.ly/475fr2U
#LocalAndGlobal
Research Fellow in Environmental Archaeology (Amazonia)
📆 Closing Date 10-Nov-2025
📲 bit.ly/475fr2U
#LocalAndGlobal
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
bit.ly
October 21, 2025 at 11:17 AM
🚨 Job Alert 🚨
Research Fellow in Environmental Archaeology (Amazonia)
📆 Closing Date 10-Nov-2025
📲 bit.ly/475fr2U
#LocalAndGlobal
Research Fellow in Environmental Archaeology (Amazonia)
📆 Closing Date 10-Nov-2025
📲 bit.ly/475fr2U
#LocalAndGlobal
Our in-review preprint on the origin of sands used in the foundation of the Ishtar temple at Assur can be found here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Results show sands came from near Assur along the Zagros-Lower Zab but suggesting southern Mesopotamian influence in the cult of Ishtar.
Results show sands came from near Assur along the Zagros-Lower Zab but suggesting southern Mesopotamian influence in the cult of Ishtar.
The Sand Deposit underneath the Ishtar Temple in Assur, Iraq: Origin and Implications for the Foundation of the Goddess’s Cult and Sanctuary
This study presents the first-ever systematic mineralogical investigation of sands from an archaeological context in Iraq, establishing a methodological precede
papers.ssrn.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Our in-review preprint on the origin of sands used in the foundation of the Ishtar temple at Assur can be found here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Results show sands came from near Assur along the Zagros-Lower Zab but suggesting southern Mesopotamian influence in the cult of Ishtar.
Results show sands came from near Assur along the Zagros-Lower Zab but suggesting southern Mesopotamian influence in the cult of Ishtar.
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
Hot off the presses! Here’s a new article that I co-authored with my Lagash Archaeological Project colleagues on a geoarchaeological study of what we believe to be evidence of hydrological warfare in the Third Millennium BCE.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
The Flooding of Lagash (Iraq): Evidence for Urban Destruction Under Lugalzagesi, the King of Uruk and Umma
High-resolution remote sensing, magnetometry, and trench stratigraphy identify a significant flood event at Lagash (modern Tell al-Hiba) during the late Early Dynastic period (ca. 2400–2350 BC). Sate...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 26, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Hot off the presses! Here’s a new article that I co-authored with my Lagash Archaeological Project colleagues on a geoarchaeological study of what we believe to be evidence of hydrological warfare in the Third Millennium BCE.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Nice to see this book out: heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/view.... We have a chapter on population and wages in the 1st mill. BCE-1st mill CE in the Near East where we demonstrate wages mostly declined during this time and converged to similar wages across the Near East for unskilled labour.
Economies of the Edge
| Heidelberg University Publishing
heiup.uni-heidelberg.de
October 2, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Nice to see this book out: heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/view.... We have a chapter on population and wages in the 1st mill. BCE-1st mill CE in the Near East where we demonstrate wages mostly declined during this time and converged to similar wages across the Near East for unskilled labour.
Our new work demonstrates the relationship between increased moisture and the beginning of urbanism in Mesopotamia: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Early urbanism in Mesopotamia coincided with increased moisture between 6500 to 5500 years BP
Climate change is thought to have played a significant role in the rise and demise of complex Mesopotamian societies throughout the mid- to late Holoc…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 12, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Our new work demonstrates the relationship between increased moisture and the beginning of urbanism in Mesopotamia: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Job in Ireland for a Geomatics expert: www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/pre...
European Dynamics - View CfT Workspace
www.etenders.gov.ie
June 24, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Job in Ireland for a Geomatics expert: www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/pre...
We are advertising a lab manager post at UCL's IoA, details here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
June 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
We are advertising a lab manager post at UCL's IoA, details here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Here is a two-year teaching cover at UCL Institute of Archaeology, with a focus on Quantitative Approaches and European Archaeology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
April 27, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Here is a two-year teaching cover at UCL Institute of Archaeology, with a focus on Quantitative Approaches and European Archaeology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
The National Heritage Science Forum is holding a poster session on July 10th showcasing areas related to heritage and science-based methods as applied to heritage. For those interested, see: www.heritagescienceforum.org.uk/what-we-do/2...
Posters | National Heritage Science Forum
www.heritagescienceforum.org.uk
April 22, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The National Heritage Science Forum is holding a poster session on July 10th showcasing areas related to heritage and science-based methods as applied to heritage. For those interested, see: www.heritagescienceforum.org.uk/what-we-do/2...
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
🚨 3rd Job Advert of the Week 🚨
Applications for a full-time (36.5 hours per week) Research Fellow @ucl.ac.uk IoA within the @erc.europa.eu Synergy project ‘MEDGREENREV: Re-thinking the “Green Revolution” in the Medieval Western Mediterranean (6th-16th centuries).
📲 bit.ly/4lso8t3
Deadline 2nd May
Applications for a full-time (36.5 hours per week) Research Fellow @ucl.ac.uk IoA within the @erc.europa.eu Synergy project ‘MEDGREENREV: Re-thinking the “Green Revolution” in the Medieval Western Mediterranean (6th-16th centuries).
📲 bit.ly/4lso8t3
Deadline 2nd May
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
bit.ly
April 11, 2025 at 12:20 PM
🚨 3rd Job Advert of the Week 🚨
Applications for a full-time (36.5 hours per week) Research Fellow @ucl.ac.uk IoA within the @erc.europa.eu Synergy project ‘MEDGREENREV: Re-thinking the “Green Revolution” in the Medieval Western Mediterranean (6th-16th centuries).
📲 bit.ly/4lso8t3
Deadline 2nd May
Applications for a full-time (36.5 hours per week) Research Fellow @ucl.ac.uk IoA within the @erc.europa.eu Synergy project ‘MEDGREENREV: Re-thinking the “Green Revolution” in the Medieval Western Mediterranean (6th-16th centuries).
📲 bit.ly/4lso8t3
Deadline 2nd May
Dear all, please see this call for papers I am involved with. If you are interested, please consider submitting.
Call for papers: new Nature HSS collection! articles on computational analysis of #western-asia from when writing emerged c. 3500 BCE till 1500CE! #DANES @geophilologist.bsky.social @maltaweel.bsky.social
www.nature.com/collections/...
www.nature.com/collections/...
From bits of history to bytes of data: AI and the study of the ancient Near East
This Collection aims at examining the computational and digital study of “greater Western Asia” and its epistemological implications.
www.nature.com
March 17, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Dear all, please see this call for papers I am involved with. If you are interested, please consider submitting.
New palaeoclimate results from Iraq, where we demonstrate that the mid-Holocene was ancient Mesopotamia's wettest period during the Holocene, at about the time urbanism first began: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Mid-Holocene hydroclimatic optimum recorded in a stalagmite from Shalaii Cave, northern Iraq
In Mesopotamia, climate is regarded as an important contributing factor to major socio-cultural transformations. However, the scarcity of Holocene pal…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 13, 2025 at 11:38 AM
New palaeoclimate results from Iraq, where we demonstrate that the mid-Holocene was ancient Mesopotamia's wettest period during the Holocene, at about the time urbanism first began: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
New research by an international team of researchers incl. Prof Nick Barton & Dr Stacy Carolin suggests that the #Sahara experienced wetter conditions during the African Humid Period between 8700-4300 years ago!
Remember, 'c' for 'ceiling' and 'g' for ground! #Caves scitechdaily.com/ancient-cave...
Remember, 'c' for 'ceiling' and 'g' for ground! #Caves scitechdaily.com/ancient-cave...
Ancient Cave Discovery Reveals That 8,000 Years Ago, the Sahara Was Green
Analysis of Moroccan stalagmites reveals that the Sahara received increased rainfall between 8,700 and 4,300 years ago, supporting early herding societies. This rainfall, likely driven by tropical plu...
scitechdaily.com
March 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
New research by an international team of researchers incl. Prof Nick Barton & Dr Stacy Carolin suggests that the #Sahara experienced wetter conditions during the African Humid Period between 8700-4300 years ago!
Remember, 'c' for 'ceiling' and 'g' for ground! #Caves scitechdaily.com/ancient-cave...
Remember, 'c' for 'ceiling' and 'g' for ground! #Caves scitechdaily.com/ancient-cave...
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
NEW Eridu is traditionally considered the earliest city in southern #Mesopotamia. Discovery of thousands of irrigation canals in the Eridu region provides a rare direct example of intense agricultural management in ancient Mesopotamia.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 <a href="/hashtag/Archaeology" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link">#Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 <a href="/hashtag/Archaeology" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link">#Archaeology
March 3, 2025 at 10:15 AM
NEW Eridu is traditionally considered the earliest city in southern #Mesopotamia. Discovery of thousands of irrigation canals in the Eridu region provides a rare direct example of intense agricultural management in ancient Mesopotamia.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 <a href="/hashtag/Archaeology" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link">#Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 <a href="/hashtag/Archaeology" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link">#Archaeology
Donald Trump has been invited to a state visit to the UK. We should not be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate this man. Agree? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no...
No second state visit for Trump
Unbelievable. Keir Starmer has handed Donald Trump a letter from King Charles, inviting him for a second state visit to the UK. It’s totally unprecedented, and should not go ahead.
This is the...
you.38degrees.org.uk
March 2, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Donald Trump has been invited to a state visit to the UK. We should not be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate this man. Agree? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no...
More jobs :)
Five Philip Leverhulme Prizes are available for extraordinary researchers in Archaeology. Deadline 14 May 2025 https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/philip-leverhulme-prizes
February 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM
More jobs :)
Another job! This one as a two year research fellow in paleobot for the ERC DREAM project I am happily advising on: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
February 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Another job! This one as a two year research fellow in paleobot for the ERC DREAM project I am happily advising on: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Website for the project, about state institutional capacity, is now also up: www.origins-project.com
Home page
www.origins-project.com
February 14, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Website for the project, about state institutional capacity, is now also up: www.origins-project.com
Sever post-doc possibilities for Mesopotamia archaeologists and with expertise in the region based in Bologna for a project I am involved with: www.origins-project.com/open-positions
Open Positions
Postdoc in Archeology of Bronze Age Mesopotamia
www.origins-project.com
February 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Sever post-doc possibilities for Mesopotamia archaeologists and with expertise in the region based in Bologna for a project I am involved with: www.origins-project.com/open-positions
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
🚨 Research Fellow in #Archaeobotany Job Klaxon 🚨
All info here on the @ucl.ac.uk jobs page:
📲 bit.ly/ABOTRF25
📆 Deadline 25th February 2025
Applications are now being sought for a Research Fellow to support the ERC-awarded and UKRI-underwritten project DREAM
#LocalAndGlobal
All info here on the @ucl.ac.uk jobs page:
📲 bit.ly/ABOTRF25
📆 Deadline 25th February 2025
Applications are now being sought for a Research Fellow to support the ERC-awarded and UKRI-underwritten project DREAM
#LocalAndGlobal
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
bit.ly
February 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM
🚨 Research Fellow in #Archaeobotany Job Klaxon 🚨
All info here on the @ucl.ac.uk jobs page:
📲 bit.ly/ABOTRF25
📆 Deadline 25th February 2025
Applications are now being sought for a Research Fellow to support the ERC-awarded and UKRI-underwritten project DREAM
#LocalAndGlobal
All info here on the @ucl.ac.uk jobs page:
📲 bit.ly/ABOTRF25
📆 Deadline 25th February 2025
Applications are now being sought for a Research Fellow to support the ERC-awarded and UKRI-underwritten project DREAM
#LocalAndGlobal
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨 LECTURER IN HERITAGE 🚨 DEADLINE 26 FEB 2025🚨 We are hiring a *Lecturer in Heritage* (1 year, FT), on a 40(research)-40(teaching)-20(admin) contract. The post holder will work in @edinburgharchaeo.bsky.social @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social & @uoe-sps.bsky.social! Info: shorturl.at/PjRRs
Lecturer in Heritage at The University of Edinburgh
Discover an exciting academic career path as a Lecturer in Heritage at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!
shorturl.at
January 31, 2025 at 9:00 AM
🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨 LECTURER IN HERITAGE 🚨 DEADLINE 26 FEB 2025🚨 We are hiring a *Lecturer in Heritage* (1 year, FT), on a 40(research)-40(teaching)-20(admin) contract. The post holder will work in @edinburgharchaeo.bsky.social @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social & @uoe-sps.bsky.social! Info: shorturl.at/PjRRs
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
I'm not sure what lump sum this could be or what mortgage they'd have, or what their situation with dependants is.
This would be a luxurious, privileged position I see in zero of my colleagues under 60 and very few over. Not really the biggest worry unless this is just Plan A
This would be a luxurious, privileged position I see in zero of my colleagues under 60 and very few over. Not really the biggest worry unless this is just Plan A
Let's face it, everyone in universities older than c57-58 is going to go. If you get offered a year's salary on light taxes to stop and your lump sum and pension is due in just 5 or 6 years, you would. So a whole cohort and generation will unplug, to everyone's loss. www.ft.com/content/77f7...
Severance spending at top UK universities surges
FT analysis shows drop-off in overseas enrolments pushed redundancy payouts up by more than a fifth in 2024
www.ft.com
January 19, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I'm not sure what lump sum this could be or what mortgage they'd have, or what their situation with dependants is.
This would be a luxurious, privileged position I see in zero of my colleagues under 60 and very few over. Not really the biggest worry unless this is just Plan A
This would be a luxurious, privileged position I see in zero of my colleagues under 60 and very few over. Not really the biggest worry unless this is just Plan A
Reposted by Mark Altaweel
The Durotriges
An Iron Age people with women at the centre of power, kinship and land ownership
A great report on our joint @tcddublin.bsky.social @bournemouthuni.bsky.social research project by @spoke32.bsky.social in @science.org 😊👍
www.science.org/content/arti...
An Iron Age people with women at the centre of power, kinship and land ownership
A great report on our joint @tcddublin.bsky.social @bournemouthuni.bsky.social research project by @spoke32.bsky.social in @science.org 😊👍
www.science.org/content/arti...
Part of ancient Britain was a woman’s world, burials reveal
2000-year-old graves suggest women wielded as much—and sometimes more—power than men in some Celtic tribes
www.science.org
January 16, 2025 at 7:56 AM
The Durotriges
An Iron Age people with women at the centre of power, kinship and land ownership
A great report on our joint @tcddublin.bsky.social @bournemouthuni.bsky.social research project by @spoke32.bsky.social in @science.org 😊👍
www.science.org/content/arti...
An Iron Age people with women at the centre of power, kinship and land ownership
A great report on our joint @tcddublin.bsky.social @bournemouthuni.bsky.social research project by @spoke32.bsky.social in @science.org 😊👍
www.science.org/content/arti...