This is an absolute travesty. Northwestern has, probably, the 2nd best library collection for African History/Studies in the USA (behind Yale and ahead of MSU, UCLA, etc). A self-inflicted wound that is absolutely, 100% unnecessary given the massive wealth of Northwestern--north of $15 billion.

SCOOP: Northwestern moves to close Program of African Studies

thepurplewire.beehiiv.com

Just a reminder that this project is partially funded by Elon Musk. Where money comes from matters. Remember that DOGE fired hundreds & cancelled grants for hundreds more. I just can’t care about a carbonized scroll when it’s funded by fascism. hyperallergic.com/why-is-there...

Dr Naomi Scott@drnaomiscott.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A lot of media coverage of the ‘AI’ reading of the Herculaneum scrolls really fails to understand what’s happened here. There’s no language processing happening, the AI/ML is not trained on a corpus of texts or language. It can detect ink to see shapes. HUMAN EXPERTS are then transcribing the text.

Scholars long thought that Great Zimbabwe, the iconic African fortified site, ruled a medieval kingdom with centralized, despotic power. Now, archaeologists are discovering the story was likely much different. archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2026/features/inside-africas-houses-of-stone/

helpful coverage from @elpais.com english.elpais.com/usa/2025-08-...

In the heart of the Miccosukee, the Native American tribe that shut down Alligator Alcatraz

The community found refuge from white persecution deep in the Everglades swamps centuries ago. Together with environmental groups, they succeeded in forcing the closure of the immigration detention ce...

english.elpais.com

Rebecca Nagle@rebeccanagle.bsky.social · 2mo ago

BREAKING: Alligator Alcatraz has officially closed. A lot of outlets won’t report on this, but the Miccosukee Tribe played a key role in the fight.

How long have we loved the refreshing star of summer—the watermelon? Archaeologists sequenced the genomes of seeds dating back 6,000 years; they found the modern melon originated from an unexpected species. archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2025/collection/poisonous-picnic/a-passion-for-fruit/

I’d love it if you’d sign this. It might not prevent me and my colleagues losing our jobs, but it will draw attention to the ideological vandalism being perpetrated by the wealthy execs running our university. Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter - sign the petition below! c.org/NpvY4sR9gH

Sign the Petition

Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter

c.org

Statement by @sciamunion.bsky.social on Springer Nature's sale of Scientific American and massive editorial layoffs right before a successful union vote is counted. www.wgaeast.org/wgae-scienti...

WGAE-Scientific American Union Statement on Springer Nature’s Sale and Layoffs | Press Room

The following is a statement from Writers Guild of America East members at Scientific American on today’s decision to sell Springer Nature and lay off staff: “Earlier today in an all-staff meeting we ...

wgaeast.org

“We should call this action what it is—blatant union-busting. But there’s worse: we also have reason to believe that the sale was motivated by fear … that our attempts to doggedly report on the crisis facing science in America today would lead to repercussions from the Trump administration.”

Laura Helmuth@laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Statement by @sciamunion.bsky.social on Springer Nature's sale of Scientific American and massive editorial layoffs right before a successful union vote is counted. www.wgaeast.org/wgae-scienti...

Lynn at her finest. Especially timely given the far right’s obsession with certain narratives of the past - & big tech’s financial investment in particular types of archaeology

Scott D. Haddow@sdhaddow.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"The past is both a tool and a target in modern warfare, prompting us to rethink how heritage is increasingly exploited as an instrument of power, coercion, and security." 🏺 "Ruin Warfare: How and Why We Weaponize the Past" by Lynn Meskell www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

I'm very much over the moon to share this new publication - an anarchist approach to the archaeology of inequality. Huge kudos to my brilliant co-authors @apolitopoulos.bsky.social @leilaar.bsky.social Nika and James

Anarchist Theory and Inequality in Archaeology

This article considers anarchist archaeologies and how an approach to inequality shaped by anarchist values and modes of analysis can help us narrate more complex pasts and build more equal futures. T...

annualreviews.org

John Schofield of York University on the value of archaeology - it’s not just about the past. theconversation.com/six-reasons-...

Six reasons to save archaeology from funding cuts

The government plans to cut university subsidy for teaching archaeology by 50%, yet it’s never been more relevant to society.

theconversation.com

From me: Chaco Canyon listed as 'endangered' as tribes, feds spar over drilling

Chaco Canyon listed as 'endangered' as tribes, feds spar over drilling

The Chaco Canyon area was recognized as an endangered historic place as a debate continues over new drilling and mining claims.

azcentral.com

In our new article, @somiyagawa.bsky.social introduces the Database of Medieval Nubian Texts (DBMNT), a comprehensive digital archive of over 4,500 texts from Christian Nubian kingdoms (6th–15th c.). Read more on our website! 🔗 digitalorientalist.com/2026/05/15/t...

30 experts from a range of disciplines have responded in print to a Science study published in March that questioned the 14.5kyo date of Monte Verde in Chile. 🏺🧪

'Speculation' and 'egregious failure': 30 researchers publish scathing critiques of study that questioned date of early human occupation of Monte Verde in Chile

Dozens of scientists have banded together to pen scathing research letters to the journal Science about the publication of a study claiming the 14,500-year-old Monte Verde archaeological site in Chile...

livescience.com

❗LIFE LINE FOR MANY PEOPLE IN SUDAN❗ 🚨 Numerous families depend on this to live, buy medicine, rent as well as a community that feeds a huge number of people daily. Your help is urgently needed, please donate any amount you can, even $5. chuffed.org/project/1403...

Remains of an archaeological storeroom at Amara West, Sudan, totally destroyed during the ongoing conflict. Not only devastating to civilian life, the war has led to the destruction of many museums, cultural heritage sites and archaeological projects. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

NEW Experimental reconstructions of religious and royal outfits from medieval Christian Nubia, based on church murals. Initially showing strong influence from Byzantium, later outfits display a return to Indigenous Nubian styles. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

🚨🏺🩸🇱🇧 NEW: "Silence Is Not Neutral: An Archaeological Update from Lebanon" by Nelly P. Abboud: everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2026/04/02/s...

Silence Is Not Neutral: An Archaeological Update from Lebanon

by Nelly P. Abboud On April 1, 2026, in the context of Israel’s illegal invasion of Lebanon and criminal targeting of the country’s civilian populations and heritage sites, the UNESCO c…

everydayorientalism.wordpress.com

CHACO CANYON UNDER THREAT! Even this article hides the true urgency of this situation deep down in the article! "What You Can Do The scoping period ends April 7. That is not a typo. You have until Monday."

Sherri Godsey@sgodsey.bsky.social · 5mo ago

open.substack.com/pub/morethan... Saving our environment and our historically important parks, sites, and monuments is important. There is no way to retrieve an archaeological treasure once it’s destroyed. Contact your representatives (even the shit ones) and bury them in objections.

We are excited to announce our first seminar of 2026! Dr Marco Bernardi will reflect on approaches to teaching and historical fascism - vital for anyone negotiating pedagogical approaches to countering the far-right. For more details and to register: archaeologistsrfa.wordpress.com/events/.

What we suspected is, of course, true.

When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities

nytimes.com

The latest Pasts Imperfect is out, focused on the closing of humanities depts. & museums. @otavano.bsky.social discusses the U. of Ottawa, @mokersel.bsky.social on the DePaul Art Museum, @meirazk.bsky.social & @vox-magica.bsky.social on shuttering religious studies depts, & Justin Vorhis on U. Iowa.

Pasts Imperfect (3.5.26)

Across the world—from the United States to Canada to Australia—departments and museums within higher education are closing. This week, ancient historian Geoffrey Greatrex discusses the suspension of t...

pasts-imperfect.ghost.io

Sudanese who had applied for Chevening scholarships are reporting that they've been informed today their applications have been terminated due to new legislation. Just an unnecessarily cruel policy that will have a huge impact on people's lives.

Organizers have collected 14 lotion bottles, two deodorant bottles, and one AA Battery that detainees have thrown over the fences with notes attached to them. The full story: lataco.com/captive-loti... By Aisha Wallace-Palomares

Interested to see that the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo has digitised its records and photos of the work it undertook at Kalabsha during UNESCO's Nubian campaign in the 1960s: www.dainst.org/newsroom/nos... I wrote an article about those photos here: intellectdiscover.com/content/jour...

With the recent passing of Erich von Däniken, here's a short article from 1987 dissecting his claims about aliens in Chariots of Gods (1968). It's a reminder that archaeologists have been debunking pseudoarchaeology for nearly 40 years.

Expedition Magazine | “Scholars Will Call it Nonsense”

<p>In 1968 an obscure Swiss hotel manager published a book entitled Erinnerungen an die Zukunft. An English edition appeared under […]</p>

penn.museum

Pseudo-archaeology, pseudo-history and various strains of UFO belief can get … extremely racist and it’s something that doesn’t get covered competently in the mainstream press. www.splcenter.org/resources/ha...

Close encounters of the racist kind

The modern far right is crisscrossed with pseudo-scientific research into lost Aryan super-civilizations, biblical giants, ancient astronauts and the occasional inter-dimensional alien.

splcenter.org

So far, about 4,000 antiquities have been counted missing in Sudan. 700 pieces disappeared from museums in the cities of Nyala and El GeneinaI, where the museum’s curator was killed when the building was shelled www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Sudan preservationists struggle to restore country's shattered cultural treasures

The shattered remains of antique pottery and shards of ancient statues lie among broken glass and bullet casings at Sudan’s National Museum, not far from where the Blue and White Nile meet in the capital Khartoum.

reuters.com

I am absolutely thrilled to announce the upcoming international workshop Cities on the Edge: Documenting, Preserving & Teaching Endangered Urban Heritage in Egypt, Sudan & Palestine. Oct.31-Nov.1 AUC Tahrir, Cairo + on zoom. Join us! Details + rsvp here: shorturl.at/bnrIZ

Read the original research in Antiquity 🆓 'Duanfang’s Egyptian rubbings: the first Egyptian collection in Late Imperial China' - Tian Tian. doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 13/13 🧵

Duanfang’s Egyptian rubbings: the first Egyptian collection in Late Imperial China | Antiquity | Cambridge Core

Duanfang’s Egyptian rubbings: the first Egyptian collection in Late Imperial China

doi.org