Fantastic Seachange meeting in Mainz - exciting eDNA, super shells, interesting isotopes, inspiring ideas, creative colleagues! @seachange-erc.bsky.social @york-bioarch.bsky.social

Bookended by @chloebaldreki.bsky.social PhD celebration @nhm.org which was a lovely end to her project, given all the covid-craziness she had to endure! 🧪👩‍🔬🦏🐚

Been an exciting couple of weeks for the group - first off was Fazeelah Munir's successful PhD viva - part of the PUSHH network sites.google.com/palaeoproteo... - combining #palaeoproteomics with AA analysis in #quaternary tooth enamel 🦣🧪👩‍🔬 Thanks to examiners Mike Buckley & @pennybickle.bsky.social

Thanks to our funders @leverhulme.ac.uk & @erc.europa.eu pa.eu and our wonderful collaborators on this paper & in the EQuaTe project sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/e.... For more info: www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve... & www.science.org/content/arti...
#Quaternary #Palaeolithic #neanderthal

With other age evidence from this multinational study, suggests the spears & the horse hunting deposits are ~100,000 years younger than previously thought. But doesn’t diminish the importance of Schöningen; an incredible insight into sophisticated hunting strategies @leizarchaeology.bsky.social

When compared to other northern European sites, including a new framework worked on by Ellie Nelson @ellienelson12.bsky.social across Germany, the opercula amino acid geochronology points to a MIS 7 age (~200,000 years) for the spear horizon.

We’re really privileged to be part of this study: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/..., working on the exceptional Schöningen site to try to narrow down its age. We analysed Bithynia opercula from excavation blocks taken from the spear horizon, looking at their intra-crystalline amino acids. 🧵 1/5

Important paper from Debra Colarossi & the EQuaTe team doi.org/10.1016/j.ra..., showing that opercula can be handled in daylight for TL #dating; a critical advance as opens up museum archive material. #Quaternary #Pleistocene @helenrobertsosl.bsky.social sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/e...

So pleased to see Charlotte Blacka's first 1st author paper: innovation was to use tims-TOF #MS for rapid sex estimation method based on amelogenin #palaeoproteomics. At <20min per sample (including prep all the way to data processing), this enables far higher sample numbers: doi.org/10.1002/rcm....

The first daffodils braving the cold outside the Uni of York Chemistry department - "where flowers bloom, so does hope"

Congratulations Dr. Chloe Baldreki! Could not be prouder - locked down just as she was starting in the lab in year 1 of her PhD, Chloe took everything that was thrown at her during the pandemic in her stride and has just graduated with great papers and fantastic science - phenomenal! 🐚👩‍🔬🔬🧪🥼🦷🥳

A virtual Ellie Nelson @ellienelson12.bsky.social talking at the #QRA2025 about the time/temp complexities when AA dating across such a large region over the #Pleistocene - thanks to the @quaternaryra.bsky.social audience for the helpful ideas :-)

Marc Dickinson presenting his lovely amino acid dating work, successful on irradiated tooth enamel samples previously used for ESR 🦣🐎🦬 at the #QRA2025 meeting @quaternaryra.bsky.social

Fantastic ground-truthing of stanol data from Helen Mackay at the QRA @quaternaryra.bsky.social ADM, and what it means for the palaeorecord - great work!

Really thoughtful and inspiring EDI session at QRA ADM. So important that we have these conversations, thanks to @iceybethan.bsky.social @proftashabarlow.bsky.social Martin Siegert, Clare Warren, Rebecca McCerery @quaternaryra.bsky.social

Beautiful start to the week at York Chemistry 🌈

Look what clever Scholar Goggler made! scholargoggler.com

New paper led by Marc Dickinson on directly dating tooth Pleistocene tooth enamel: doi.org/10.1016/j.qu...
now working for elephants, mammoths, horse and bison! 🐘🐴🐮