Tom Higham
@tommyhigham.bsky.social
Professor at the Univ. of Vienna dating archaeological sites; bones, Neanderthals. Author of "The World Before Us" (http://tinyurl.com/2p873jy8). Kiwi.
ORCID: 0000-0002-5949-598X
https://highamlab.univie.ac.at
ORCID: 0000-0002-5949-598X
https://highamlab.univie.ac.at
Reposted by Tom Higham
We have a new episode of the #HEASPodcast on our YouTube and Spotify 👇
The first interview with Prof. Kate Britton from the University of Aberdeen and the second interview with Dr Dennis Wilken. Introduction is by @tommyhigham.bsky.social and interviews by Victoria Oberreiter
The first interview with Prof. Kate Britton from the University of Aberdeen and the second interview with Dr Dennis Wilken. Introduction is by @tommyhigham.bsky.social and interviews by Victoria Oberreiter
Episode 10: Isotopes, Late Pleistocent Living Landscapes, Shipwrecks, and Geophysical Prospection.
YouTube video by HEAS
www.youtube.com
July 2, 2026 at 7:55 AM
We have a new episode of the #HEASPodcast on our YouTube and Spotify 👇
The first interview with Prof. Kate Britton from the University of Aberdeen and the second interview with Dr Dennis Wilken. Introduction is by @tommyhigham.bsky.social and interviews by Victoria Oberreiter
The first interview with Prof. Kate Britton from the University of Aberdeen and the second interview with Dr Dennis Wilken. Introduction is by @tommyhigham.bsky.social and interviews by Victoria Oberreiter
Reposted by Tom Higham
Scientific American is 180 years old. The most eminent science magazine for the general public.
And today, sold off as scrap to stop the staff from unionizing. Many top editors I've worked with for a decade on several articles have been fired.
What a disgrace @sciam.bsky.social
And today, sold off as scrap to stop the staff from unionizing. Many top editors I've worked with for a decade on several articles have been fired.
What a disgrace @sciam.bsky.social
June 23, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Scientific American is 180 years old. The most eminent science magazine for the general public.
And today, sold off as scrap to stop the staff from unionizing. Many top editors I've worked with for a decade on several articles have been fired.
What a disgrace @sciam.bsky.social
And today, sold off as scrap to stop the staff from unionizing. Many top editors I've worked with for a decade on several articles have been fired.
What a disgrace @sciam.bsky.social
Ancient DNA from 5,500-year-old burials in Siberia reveals the earliest known plague outbreak. Researchers found Yersinia pestis infected entire hunter-gatherer families, showing devastating epidemics struck small, mobile communities near Lake Baikal. 🧬☠️
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Ancient DNA provides evidence of earliest known plague outbreak
Discovery in Siberia suggests bacterium from raw marmots devastated hunter-gatherer tribes about 5,500 years ago
www.theguardian.com
June 18, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Ancient DNA from 5,500-year-old burials in Siberia reveals the earliest known plague outbreak. Researchers found Yersinia pestis infected entire hunter-gatherer families, showing devastating epidemics struck small, mobile communities near Lake Baikal. 🧬☠️
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Reposted by Tom Higham
The recording from this talk is now available on the #HEASVienna YouTube channel.
June 17, 2026 at 12:54 PM
The recording from this talk is now available on the #HEASVienna YouTube channel.
Reposted by Tom Higham
We are looking forward to welcoming #SahleselasieMelakuAzene to #HEASVienna for a #HEASTalk in the #UBB at @univie.ac.at this Thursday at 13:00 CEST.
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗.
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗.
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
HEAS Talk - Sahleselasie Melaku Azene - HEAS
We are very happy to welcome Sahleselasie Melaku Azene from the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa to Vienna for a HEAS Talk on Deep Roots in the Rift Ethiopia at the Cradle of Humanity taking p...
www.heas.at
June 16, 2026 at 10:31 AM
We are looking forward to welcoming #SahleselasieMelakuAzene to #HEASVienna for a #HEASTalk in the #UBB at @univie.ac.at this Thursday at 13:00 CEST.
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗.
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
More information and registration on our website. 👇🔗.
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Reposted by Tom Higham
New Publication!
New Article by #HEASVienna members @emesevegh.bsky.social @barbarahorejs.bsky.social @tomhigham.bsky.social et al. on 'Tiny Hopes─Assessing Protein Preservation in Collagen-Depleted Bones'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
New Article by #HEASVienna members @emesevegh.bsky.social @barbarahorejs.bsky.social @tomhigham.bsky.social et al. on 'Tiny Hopes─Assessing Protein Preservation in Collagen-Depleted Bones'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
June 15, 2026 at 12:58 PM
New Publication!
New Article by #HEASVienna members @emesevegh.bsky.social @barbarahorejs.bsky.social @tomhigham.bsky.social et al. on 'Tiny Hopes─Assessing Protein Preservation in Collagen-Depleted Bones'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
New Article by #HEASVienna members @emesevegh.bsky.social @barbarahorejs.bsky.social @tomhigham.bsky.social et al. on 'Tiny Hopes─Assessing Protein Preservation in Collagen-Depleted Bones'
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/research/pub...
Today at 1030 am CE time! If you're into teeth and archaeology, this is for you!
Registration for online below:
Registration for online below:
We are looking forward to welcoming #AlessiaNava to #HEASVienna for the #HEASSeminar in #ArchaeologicalScience.
More information and registration is on our website 👇🔗
More information and registration is on our website 👇🔗
HEAS Seminar Series - Archaeological Science - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Archaeological Science, Alessia Nava from the Sapienza University of Rome will give a talk on Reconstructing individual life histories: dental histology coupled w...
www.heas.at
June 8, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Today at 1030 am CE time! If you're into teeth and archaeology, this is for you!
Registration for online below:
Registration for online below:
Reposted by Tom Higham
New Publication!
New Article by #HEASVienna member #NicoleGrunstra on Humans are not unique: difficult birth is common in placental mammals.
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/activities/n...
New Article by #HEASVienna member #NicoleGrunstra on Humans are not unique: difficult birth is common in placental mammals.
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/activities/n...
Human childbirth is not uniquely difficult among mammals - HEAS
By Nicole Grunstra Human childbirth is widely believed to be uniquely difficult and risky in the animal kingdom. The dominant evolutionary explanation attributes this to the combination two human-defi...
www.heas.at
May 29, 2026 at 3:01 PM
New Publication!
New Article by #HEASVienna member #NicoleGrunstra on Humans are not unique: difficult birth is common in placental mammals.
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/activities/n...
New Article by #HEASVienna member #NicoleGrunstra on Humans are not unique: difficult birth is common in placental mammals.
#HEASPublications
www.heas.at/activities/n...
Busy week here in Vienna with our Palaeolithic seminar series speaker Ariane Burke kicking things off. We have a HEAS Workshop on Geomorphology at the ÖAW today and tomorrow and then on Thurs Thaís Pansani on the peopling of the Americas.
Online and in person. Register:
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Online and in person. Register:
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
HEAS Seminar Series - Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic, Ariana Burke from the Université de Montréal will give a talk on Adapting ecological modelling techniques to investigate the...
www.heas.at
May 18, 2026 at 6:34 AM
Busy week here in Vienna with our Palaeolithic seminar series speaker Ariane Burke kicking things off. We have a HEAS Workshop on Geomorphology at the ÖAW today and tomorrow and then on Thurs Thaís Pansani on the peopling of the Americas.
Online and in person. Register:
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Online and in person. Register:
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Nice recent article in Nature about sediment DNA and its impacts on human evolution and archaeology, featuring two of our great colleagues here in Vienna, Pere Gelabert and Ben Vernot
@heasvienna.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How DNA in dirt is shaking up the study of human origins
Researchers are pulling clues from genetic material in ice age soils and rewriting chapters of human history.
www.nature.com
May 7, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Nice recent article in Nature about sediment DNA and its impacts on human evolution and archaeology, featuring two of our great colleagues here in Vienna, Pere Gelabert and Ben Vernot
@heasvienna.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
We are looking for a DNA lab manager! The position is for a Senior Scientist (maternity replacement) in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology here in Vienna. Come and work with us in the wonderful fields of ancient DNA and archaeology!!
🧬💀
Link below:
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Senior-S...
🧬💀
Link below:
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Senior-S...
Senior Scientist (Ancient DNA lab)
Senior Scientist (Ancient DNA lab)
jobs.univie.ac.at
May 4, 2026 at 2:29 PM
We are looking for a DNA lab manager! The position is for a Senior Scientist (maternity replacement) in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology here in Vienna. Come and work with us in the wonderful fields of ancient DNA and archaeology!!
🧬💀
Link below:
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Senior-S...
🧬💀
Link below:
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Senior-S...
Reposted by Tom Higham
We have a new #HEASBlog on our website!
#HEASVienna member #ThomasBeard writes about the MicroStratDNA Group visit to the ESRF over the Easter break this year.
@stahlschmidtmc.bsky.social
www.heas.at/activities/b...
#HEASVienna member #ThomasBeard writes about the MicroStratDNA Group visit to the ESRF over the Easter break this year.
@stahlschmidtmc.bsky.social
www.heas.at/activities/b...
The MicroStratDNA Group visits the ESRF - HEAS
By Thomas Beard What is the ESRF?: The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a circular particle accelerator that is capable of a varied range of radiation-based analyses, which in the E...
www.heas.at
April 29, 2026 at 9:57 AM
We have a new #HEASBlog on our website!
#HEASVienna member #ThomasBeard writes about the MicroStratDNA Group visit to the ESRF over the Easter break this year.
@stahlschmidtmc.bsky.social
www.heas.at/activities/b...
#HEASVienna member #ThomasBeard writes about the MicroStratDNA Group visit to the ESRF over the Easter break this year.
@stahlschmidtmc.bsky.social
www.heas.at/activities/b...
Reposted by Tom Higham
We should be learning from other countries...
April 17, 2026 at 10:44 AM
We should be learning from other countries...
Reposted by Tom Higham
Lush.
The Beths - "Til My Heart Stops" (Official)
YouTube video by The Beths
youtu.be
April 18, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Lush.
Reposted by Tom Higham
My favorite scene from the Bible
April 17, 2026 at 2:27 PM
My favorite scene from the Bible
It's wonderful to live in an era where you can extract ancient genomes from lake sediments and obtain this kind of information! Amazing what can be revealed with sedaDNA.
Very excited to share our study of an ancient environmental genome extracted from lake sediment! It originates from a brown bear that lived around 9,600 years ago close to the last ice-sheet remains in northern Sweden, and has an unexpected mitochondrial haplogroup. 1/7 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Ancient environmental genome reveals a migratory brown bear individual in Early Holocene Scandinavia | PNAS
After the last ice age, species migrated into a newly deglaciated Scandinavia. Brown
bear recolonization is thought to have occurred from two direc...
www.pnas.org
April 15, 2026 at 6:46 AM
It's wonderful to live in an era where you can extract ancient genomes from lake sediments and obtain this kind of information! Amazing what can be revealed with sedaDNA.
Reposted by Tom Higham
New study of the effects of micro-CT scanning on ancient DNA preservation in ancient bones: no significant effect on conventional preservation metrics.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
µCT scanning effects on aDNA and a multi-step workflow for archaeological petrous portions
The petrous portion of the temporal bone (often informally referred to as the “petrous bone”) is a key element in human evolutionary studies due to its exceptional preservation of biomolecules and mor...
journals.plos.org
April 14, 2026 at 5:18 PM
New study of the effects of micro-CT scanning on ancient DNA preservation in ancient bones: no significant effect on conventional preservation metrics.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Reposted by Tom Higham
A few years ago, using palaeoproteomics, we identified a tiny hominin bone from Denisova Cave and named it Denisova 17 (D17).
A rather unremarkable sliver.
At the time, I wondered, could it be Denny’s sibling (the Neanderthal/Denisovan hybrid we had just reported)?
Well, turns out: no. 🧵1/4
A rather unremarkable sliver.
At the time, I wondered, could it be Denny’s sibling (the Neanderthal/Denisovan hybrid we had just reported)?
Well, turns out: no. 🧵1/4
April 1, 2026 at 9:56 PM
A few years ago, using palaeoproteomics, we identified a tiny hominin bone from Denisova Cave and named it Denisova 17 (D17).
A rather unremarkable sliver.
At the time, I wondered, could it be Denny’s sibling (the Neanderthal/Denisovan hybrid we had just reported)?
Well, turns out: no. 🧵1/4
A rather unremarkable sliver.
At the time, I wondered, could it be Denny’s sibling (the Neanderthal/Denisovan hybrid we had just reported)?
Well, turns out: no. 🧵1/4
Reposted by Tom Higham
PhD defended @univie.ac.at @vdsee-univie.bsky.social @heasvienna.bsky.social 🎓
What a time the last three years has been at the Higham/Douka Lab under the supervision of @tommyhigham.bsky.social 🧪
I am eternally grateful for everyone who was part of my journey 🦴
What a time the last three years has been at the Higham/Douka Lab under the supervision of @tommyhigham.bsky.social 🧪
I am eternally grateful for everyone who was part of my journey 🦴
April 1, 2026 at 3:19 PM
PhD defended @univie.ac.at @vdsee-univie.bsky.social @heasvienna.bsky.social 🎓
What a time the last three years has been at the Higham/Douka Lab under the supervision of @tommyhigham.bsky.social 🧪
I am eternally grateful for everyone who was part of my journey 🦴
What a time the last three years has been at the Higham/Douka Lab under the supervision of @tommyhigham.bsky.social 🧪
I am eternally grateful for everyone who was part of my journey 🦴
Kick off your week with the latest #HEASVienna seminar, this time in Ancient Genomics, with Dr Elena Zavala who will be talking about sediment DNA and humans! Can't wait! Tomorrow 1030 am CE time!
More information and registration below: 👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
More information and registration below: 👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
HEAS Seminar Series - Ancient Genomics - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Ancient Genomics, Elena Irene Zavala from the University of Copenhagen will give a talk on Human Identification with Sediment DNA on the 23rd February 2026 at 10:...
www.heas.at
February 22, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Kick off your week with the latest #HEASVienna seminar, this time in Ancient Genomics, with Dr Elena Zavala who will be talking about sediment DNA and humans! Can't wait! Tomorrow 1030 am CE time!
More information and registration below: 👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
More information and registration below: 👇
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
Reposted by Tom Higham
I see the University of York is offering a fixed-term post in public history for the same salary (£37k) I earned for a fixed-term post in public history, also in Yorkshire, in 2012. Had the rate risen with inflation it would now be £53k.
February 21, 2026 at 12:05 PM
I see the University of York is offering a fixed-term post in public history for the same salary (£37k) I earned for a fixed-term post in public history, also in Yorkshire, in 2012. Had the rate risen with inflation it would now be £53k.
Reposted by Tom Higham
More than just a one-night stand.
We May Now Know Where Humans And Neanderthals Hooked Up – And It Was All Over The Place
Tracing the Neanderthal–Modern Human hybrid zone using paleogenomic data 🏺🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We May Now Know Where Humans And Neanderthals Hooked Up – And It Was All Over The Place
Tracing the Neanderthal–Modern Human hybrid zone using paleogenomic data 🏺🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
February 20, 2026 at 4:30 PM
More than just a one-night stand.
We May Now Know Where Humans And Neanderthals Hooked Up – And It Was All Over The Place
Tracing the Neanderthal–Modern Human hybrid zone using paleogenomic data 🏺🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We May Now Know Where Humans And Neanderthals Hooked Up – And It Was All Over The Place
Tracing the Neanderthal–Modern Human hybrid zone using paleogenomic data 🏺🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Link to our new paper on the 14C chronology of Bulgarian site of Kozarnika. We focused on lyr 6/7, the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, and found it dated from 48,500–44,050 cal BP. It contains Homo sapiens remains as well as Levallois lithics of Mid Pal origin.
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
paleoanthropology.org
February 20, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Link to our new paper on the 14C chronology of Bulgarian site of Kozarnika. We focused on lyr 6/7, the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, and found it dated from 48,500–44,050 cal BP. It contains Homo sapiens remains as well as Levallois lithics of Mid Pal origin.
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
Reposted by Tom Higham
Cartoon by Mike Luckovich.
February 19, 2026 at 11:51 PM
Cartoon by Mike Luckovich.