New opportunity: fully funded PhD position within the Cluster of Excellence HUMAN ORIGINS Investigate experimentally the evolutionary significance of transformative Stone Age techniques in this project on cognitive demands, and explore the probability of their success. Deadline: 15 September 2026.
Happy #FossilFriday! 🦴👣 A few moments from our recent fieldwork in Baringo, Kenya 🇰🇪 Exciting things ahead! Many thanks to our team members and to the local partners whose support and assistance were invaluable throughout the fieldwork. 🙏🏼✨️ @humanorigins.bsky.social
Great piece by @ecallaway.bsky.social A “window into the minds of some of Europe’s earliest Homo sapiens” www.nature.com/articles/d41...
40,000-year-old bird carvings provide clues to how ice age humans flourished
Newly discovered figurines point to skills that might have helped shape early humans’ expansion across Europe.
nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41... "We can almost look through the eyes of the Aurignacian people and see how they viewed the environment around them,” says Amy Clark, a palaeolithic archaeologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts."
40,000-year-old bird carvings provide clues to how ice age humans flourished
Newly discovered figurines point to skills that might have helped shape early humans’ expansion across Europe.
nature.com
Light as a feather, heavyweight research impact: #HumanOrigins spokesperson Nicholas Conard and Ria Litzenberg presenting two new bird figurines from Hohlefels Cave at the annual press conference at Urmu museum Blaubeuren. (Press report below) 🏺
Informationsdienst Wissenschaft - idw@idw-online.de · last wk.Two bird figurines found in World Heritage Site of Hohle Fels are declared „Find of the Year” Press release of the Museum of Prehistory and Ice Age Art and the University of Tübingen: Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen identify... weiterlesen
Congrats to our speaker @katharv.bsky.social, who was just announced as the winner of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science!
Katerina Harvati erhält den Albert Einstein World Award for Science
idw-online.de
❗️Starting soon ❗️ Join our HUMAN ORIGINS lectures by Dr. Antoine Souron via Zoom!
HUMAN ORIGINS - Cluster of Excellence@humanorigins.bsky.social · 3w ago10:15 am: „Tout est bon dans le cochon! Reconstructing the context of human evolution using African wild pigs (Suidae)“ zoom.us/j/9871114304..., PW 675849 14:15 pm: „ What were Pumbaa‘s relatives eating? Insights from multi-proxy approaches“ zoom.us/j/9901381539...
HUMAN ORIGINS is welcoming Dr. Antoine Souron (University of Bordeaux) for two! Lectures this Thursday, July 16th! Invitation to join via Zoom, links below.
🚨Our new article in the series of papers on the paleoenvironment of the Middle Pleistocene Megalopolis Basin (Greece) is now published! Congratulations to Ines Bludau and team!✨🎉 #openaccess #humanevolution @sgn.one @dfg.de @erc.europa.eu @humanorigins.bsky.social
Drilling the Marathousa palaeo‐lake in Greece (Peloponnese): inferring the environmental context of a Middle Pleistocene archaeological site
The Megalopolis Basin is located in the central Peloponnese (Greece), a region that is situated along one of the primary Pleistocene biogeographical corridors for intracontinental hominin migration. ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
🐘 check out our newest paper from Liang Bua! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Did H. floresiensis hunt Stegodon? 🔪 Did they also had control use of fire? 🔥 We tested these early claims of complex behavior using taphonomy, experimental archaeology, and zooarchaeology of the Stegodon assemblage.
doi.org
Bigger brains made us human... but did evolution actually select for them? 🧠 This exciting new study challenges one of the classic assumptions about human evolution 🤯 Definitely worth a read. Congrats @katharv.bsky.social!
Evolutionary drivers of encephalization and facial reduction in the genus Homo - Nature Communications
This study tests the evolutionary processes shaping the cranial morphology of the genus Homo. The authors report a limited role of gradual directional selection and underscore the importance of stabil...
nature.com
great read and a great test of assumptions regarding the drivers of encephalisation in our genus - congrats!
Katerina Harvati@katharv.bsky.social · last mo.Happy to finally see this paper published! Thank you to the @dfg.de and all the institutions who supported me and this research! 🎉 @erc.europa.eu @humanorigins.bsky.social Open access, download freely at the link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This is a truly exciting #zooarchaeology paper! Beyond its major implications for the “Hobbit” debate 🧠, it showcases a brilliant experimental archaeology design and is a major contribution to the zooarchaeology of the Pleistocene tropics and taphonomic research. Really, really cool! 🦣🏺🧪
Taphonomic analysis at Liang Bua reveals the behavioral and technological capabilities of Homo floresiensis
Homo floresiensis scavenged Stegodon and did not use fire, challenging previous claims of advanced behavior.
science.org
Happy to finally see this paper published! Thank you to the @dfg.de and all the institutions who supported me and this research! 🎉 @erc.europa.eu @humanorigins.bsky.social Open access, download freely at the link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Harvati Lab@harvatilab.bsky.social · last mo.📢 New #openaccess paper out! Exploring the evolutionary drivers of encephalization and facial reduction in the genus Homo. 🧠💀 Check it out here: rdcu.be/fsgmj Congrats to Mark and Katerina @katharv.bsky.social for this work! ✨️ #humanevolution @humanorigins.bsky.social
Congrats also to our Postdoctoral Researcher @emilypigott.bsky.social, we’re happy to have you here!
Emily Pigott@emilypigott.bsky.social · last mo.I defended my PhD at @univie.ac.at at the end of March. But it was really nice to also have a formal ceremony, in between lab work at Vienna University for my new postdoc position at @unituebingen.bsky.social 🧪🎓🦴
Congrats to our spokesperson @katharv.bsky.social on their new paper published today! 🏺 #paleosky
Harvati Lab@harvatilab.bsky.social · last mo.📢 New #openaccess paper out! Exploring the evolutionary drivers of encephalization and facial reduction in the genus Homo. 🧠💀 Check it out here: rdcu.be/fsgmj Congrats to Mark and Katerina @katharv.bsky.social for this work! ✨️ #humanevolution @humanorigins.bsky.social
Likely no hunters of Elephants nor masters of fire - new paper on taphonomic analysis challenges former assumptions on Homo floresensis. Congratulations to Grace Veatch, who recently started her position as an Independent Junior Research Group Lead at Human Origins! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Taphonomic analysis at Liang Bua reveals the behavioral and technological capabilities of Homo floresiensis
Homo floresiensis scavenged Stegodon and did not use fire, challenging previous claims of advanced behavior.
science.org
Happening now: our Spokesperson Prof. Christopher Miller is presenting an Introduction of the Cluster of Excellence HUMAN ORIGINS at the annual Geosymposium and Quenstedt Celebrations at @unituebingen.bsky.social.
🎙️ TERRAnauts Kira Rehfeld & Andreas Schweiger join „Exzellent erklärt" to talk soils, plants and climate — and the one-of-a-kind field experiment „Diversitorium". 🎧 exzellent-erklaert.podigee.io (German Language) | terra-cluster.org #exzellenterklaert #TeamTERRA #podcast
🚨Deadline approaching 🚨 for this fully funded PhD position in Human Origins Experimental Archaeology Lab! For this fantastic opportunity to get involved with our Cluster of Excellence as well as with the enigmatic site of Liang Bua! More info on our website!
HUMAN ORIGINS - Cluster of Excellence@humanorigins.bsky.social · 2mo ago✨New opportunity✨ Fully funded PhD position in our Experimental Archaeology Lab lead by @egveatch.bsky.social! Find all necessary information on our website: uni-tuebingen.de/en/research/... #HumanOrigins #EarlyCareerArchaeologists
Starting soon: Lecture by Prof. Dr. Andrzej Wiśniewski on "Open-Air Sites of the Keilmessergruppe: The Example of Pietraszyn 49a, Poland". Join us today, 10:15 a.m. CEST via Zoom, link below. #paleosky
HUMAN ORIGINS - Cluster of Excellence@humanorigins.bsky.social · 2mo ago📣 Lecture announcement 📣 Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology Colloquium, sponsored by HUMAN ORIGINS On June 18th, 10:15 a.m., Prof. Dr. Andrzej Wiśniewski is giving a lecture at the Castle Hohentübingen on "Open-Air Sites of the Keilmessergruppe: The Example of Pietraszyn 49a, Poland".
Our fellow Cluster of Excellence Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science is offering a fantastic career opportunity, which is explicitly open for applications by Early Career Researchers with a background in Archaeology, Paleoanthropology, Geoscience and adjacent subjects! #paleosky
ML for Science@ml4science.bsky.social · 2mo agoWe are recruiting several Early Career Research Group Leaders for Machine Learning in Science (m/f/d; E14 TV-L, 100%) in Tübingen! Open to researchers directly after their PhD or with postdoctoral experience. Application deadline: July 15, 2026. More info: uni-tuebingen.de/en/128980#c2... 1/2
📣 Lecture announcement 📣 Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology Colloquium, sponsored by HUMAN ORIGINS On June 18th, 10:15 a.m., Prof. Dr. Andrzej Wiśniewski is giving a lecture at the Castle Hohentübingen on "Open-Air Sites of the Keilmessergruppe: The Example of Pietraszyn 49a, Poland".
It‘s #EuropeanArchaeologyDay 🏺, and at the Cluster exciting things are happening! The first fieldwork projects of HUMAN ORIGINS are underway, and one of it is Yerevan-1. Armenia is a place of stunning landscapes, and potentially of new insights into the time Neanderthals disappeared. #paleosky
Starting soon: Dr. Grace Veatch on Human Evolution and Biogeography of Flores island. Zoom link below!
HUMAN ORIGINS - Cluster of Excellence@humanorigins.bsky.social · 2mo agoLecture Announcement! Dr.Grace Veatch, Independent Junior Research Group Leader at Human Origins, on „An Unexpected Journey: Human Evolution and Island Biogeography on Flores, Indonesia“. Join us this Friday, June 12th, at 10:15 a.m. , live on site or via Zoom: zoom.us/j/9643057107... 🏺 #paleosky
Lecture Announcement! Dr.Grace Veatch, Independent Junior Research Group Leader at Human Origins, on „An Unexpected Journey: Human Evolution and Island Biogeography on Flores, Indonesia“. Join us this Friday, June 12th, at 10:15 a.m. , live on site or via Zoom: zoom.us/j/9643057107... 🏺 #paleosky
❗️Reminder❗️ Lecture today, 10:15 am CEST, also on Zoom!
HUMAN ORIGINS - Cluster of Excellence@humanorigins.bsky.social · 2mo ago📣Lecture Announcement📣 How did environmental changes across Africa over the past ~300,000 years shaped population structure, connectivity, and isolation? And how did these dynamics contributed to the evolution of Homo sapiens and to present-day human diversity?
📣Lecture Announcement📣 How did environmental changes across Africa over the past ~300,000 years shaped population structure, connectivity, and isolation? And how did these dynamics contributed to the evolution of Homo sapiens and to present-day human diversity?
✨New opportunity✨ Fully funded PhD position in our Experimental Archaeology Lab lead by @egveatch.bsky.social! Find all necessary information on our website: uni-tuebingen.de/en/research/... #HumanOrigins #EarlyCareerArchaeologists
Cluster of Excellence HUMAN ORIGINS
uni-tuebingen.de
