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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes Profile
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes

@LeMoustier

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Archaeologist, word-witcher, author of #KINDRED ( #PENHessellTiltman winner 2021), now writing #MATRIARCHA 1/4 @trowelblazers Rep @pew_literary

Body: Wales - Mind: 50,000 BP
https://t.co/VUxU5b43TR
Joined April 2010
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
๐Ÿ“ขSo here's some Big News... Immensely excited to announce my next book "MATRIARCHA: Prehistory Re-imagined" All the richness & intimate variety of womenโ€™s stories across 5 million years, from the dazzling to the devastating, the majestic to the macabre
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@thebookseller
The Bookseller
@thebookseller
2 years
"Rebecca Wragg Sykes is one of those rare historians who can really bring our most ancient past alive." @picadorbooks will publish Matriarcha by Rebecca Wragg Sykes ( @LeMoustier ), a re-telling of "hominin history" told through the female line. Read here:
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
The best thing about this story ๐Ÿ˜
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@ChrisStringer65
Chris Stringer
@ChrisStringer65
4 months
The beach where people keep finding human bones
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
I know this is serious archaeology but he just looks FURIOUS that someone tweezered his behind ๐Ÿ˜‚
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@chapps
Chapps
@chapps
3 years
I'm so impressed with the conservation job done on this bronze statue of #Mars , found in #Zeugma . Carried out by @CCA_Roma (these are their pics), conservation included stabilization in situ and in the lab. The patina that emerged is remarkable. #archaeology #Turkey
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Astonishing! Stunning new find, nearly lost in flash floods. Striking similarities with other mid-Upper Palaeolithic examples, inc detail on head, posture, physique & red pigment, but the first from Romania, and its dating is quite young, c. 20ka.
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@ChrisStringer65
Chris Stringer
@ChrisStringer65
2 years
A new Palaeolithic female figurine from Piatra Neamศ›, Romania
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
"So tell me more about this 'genetic admixture' thing... " ๐Ÿ˜ #Neanderthal #DeepNostalgia (Kennis brothers' @AdrieKennis Spy reconstruction) with thanks to @AdamRutherford for the inspiration ๐Ÿ˜‰
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Aaaand it's out! #Neanderthals made fine twine 45-50,000 years ago! I gave comments to the above article, and here's my more detailed thread (on THREAD) ๐Ÿ˜
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Oldest ever piece of string was made by Neanderthals 50,000 years ago

A piece of string found in a cave in France is the oldest ever discovered and shows that Neanderthals knew how to twist fibres together to make cords

www.newscientist.com
@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
PSA I have a VERY cool #Neanderthal archaeology thread waiting to be unleashed today ๐Ÿ‘€
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Maybe one of the hardest decisions about the book coming up... Which of @TomBjorklundArt 's stunning #Neanderthal reconstructions to include?
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
#Kindred Q&A thread! What is it? A definitive, 21st C book on Neanderthals. Is it academic? Stuffed with fascinating detail but totally accessible; will blow your mind without befuddling it. Tell me more! Little stories, poems & stunning artwork bring their world to life.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
5 years
Still convinced that somewhere, ice-clenched by 50,000 year old mud and permafrost, there's a #Neanderthal .
@DeepFriedDNA
Dr Ross Barnett
@DeepFriedDNA
5 years
#FossilFriday The Kolyma Woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis), the only complete permafrost preserved adult woolly rhino known. Images from Boeskorov 2012 and Vladimir Filipov
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Ooh I'm only 25 people away from hitting 10K! ๐Ÿ˜ฑ So let's have a giveaway: RT this/follow, and I'll send a signed copy of #Kindred (with a special little sketch) to my 10,000th follower, AND one other RT-er chosen randomly! ๐Ÿ˜Š
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
So #SecretsOfTheNeanderthals is out in ONE WEEK- I was a consultant for doc's producers @bbcstudios , and I'll be in @UCamArchaeology on 2nd May with Dr Emma Pomeroy (Shanidar team palaeoanthropologist) for a live watch-along 5-7pm BST & taking Qs on here!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
Are we still producing human evolution infographics in 2024 with more beards than women? And where everyone is white? Disappointing that nobody in the publishing chain picked up on this. Paper:
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
#Kindred has WON @CurrentArchaeo Book Of The Year! ๐Ÿคฉ๐Ÿ˜ฒ๐Ÿคฉ It's an honour that my brain can't process, and I'm just so happy that my work has connected with people. Gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who supported this book, from inception to voting.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Risks of bookworming no. 74: high tide (7 yr old deep in a @HollyKateWebb story)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Oh my god #Kindred is *BOOK OF THE WEEK* in todays print @thetimes ! ๐Ÿ˜ฏ๐Ÿ˜ญ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Hard disagree with pretty much everything in here including the unsavoury dominance tone... but then again it's written by a fossil snake/lizard expert? If you want to know what an actual archaeologist thinks, read #Kindred instead ๐Ÿ˜
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War in the time of Neanderthals: how our species battled for supremacy for over 100,000 years

Did Neanderthal military superiority delay our migration out of Africa?

theconversation.com
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
This. It's so telling that #AncientApocalypse ignores real Pleistocene ("ice age") archaeology. So much awesome stuff - villages with plastered floors 13 ka; huge mammoth bone structures 28 ka; even Neanderthal constructions 174 ka - but ODDLY Hancock prefers Atlantis fantasy...
@Patrick_Wyman
Patrick Wyman
@Patrick_Wyman
2 years
โ€œWhy arenโ€™t archaeologists, scholars working in a specialized discipline about which I know absolutely nothing, talking about (this thing thatโ€™s been exhaustively excavated and debated) that I just learned about three weeks ago?โ€
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
5 years
Hilarious but also fascinating from psychological perspective. Would they have still instinctively fledโ€“ rather than just jumpedโ€“ if they hadn't been primed by already seeing someone running away?
@gujonpyo
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@gujonpyo
5 years
Iโ€™ve been laughing for 10 mins straight๐Ÿ˜ญ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Pre-orders for KINDRED from here have the same discount as Amazon (and help me out a bit more ๐Ÿ˜Š)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Before I embark on book travels next week, here's my promised thread of the FANTASTIC #prehistory exhibitions at @MuseumMoesgaard , starting with the *gorgeous* @AdrieKennis sculptures on the stairs. Can't capture the way Jebel Irhoud's gaze follows you!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
5 years
I don't know any archaeologists working on any period who think this
@SAPIENS_org
SAPIENS
@SAPIENS_org
5 years
Many people, including archaeologists, still assume that paleolithic stone tools were strictly the domain of men.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
A new intriguing study... not read it yet! "The recovery of starch grains on a Mousterian grindstone at Bombrini suggests that the last Neanderthals not only consumed and processed plants but also made flour 43โ€“41,000 years ago."
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
I'm not keen on discourse here about how archaeologists aren't good at storytelling/communicating their work, hence existence of #AncientApocalypse . That isn't the problem. Astronomers inc NASA/ESA are great at engaging public outreach. It doesn't stop moon conspiracy fans.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
5 months
๐Ÿ‘€ New #Neanderthals doc coming this year, by BBC for Netflix - v excited about this one ๐Ÿ˜‰ (and not just because of Sir P ! )
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Sir Patrick Stewart's 'Secrets of the Neanderthals' Netflix Doc To Release in May 2024

The documentary originating from the United Kingdom will release globally on May 2nd, 2024.

www.whats-on-netflix.com
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Found my new fav #Neanderthal reconstruction #paleoart , just STUNNING ๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธby @TomBjorklundArt in @MuseumMoesgaard exhibition catalogue #FossilFriday
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Also ๐Ÿ˜
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
He doesn't, in fact, because there isn't any ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ
@BBCEarth
BBC Earth
@BBCEarth
4 years
Exactly why the Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago is still greatly debated, but evolutionary biologist Nicholas Longrich looks at the evidence for a war between them and modern humans. @BBC_Future ย investigates.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
This is an absolutely *immense honour* (and my mind is still processing it)! Huge gratitude to @englishpen and judges @ShahidhaBari @WandaWyporska & @sameerahim for recognising the #Neanderthals ' on their own terms as part of humanity's history.
@englishpen
English PEN
@englishpen
3 years
Weโ€™re delighted to announce that Rebecca Wragg Sykes has won the #PENHessellTiltman Prize 2021! Chair of judging panel Professor Shahidha Bari described Kindred as โ€˜a staggeringly ambitious work, full of discovery, enquiry, empathy and imagination.โ€™ โžก๏ธ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Absolutely absurd that @nationaltrust simply researching the economic history of its properties can be spun as going "out of their way to divide people" ๐Ÿ™„
Commission chief tells charities not to be 'captured' for politics

Former Conservative Tina Stowell accused of drawing charities into culture war over โ€˜woke agendaโ€™

www.theguardian.com
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
#InternationalCatDay ... #Neanderthal -style European wildcat, famed for their elusiveness and massive grumpiness. Letโ€™s go back 55,000 years to explore one catโ€™s story, with a sneak peek where it features in #Kindred . 1/6 ๐Ÿ“ท Scottish Wildcat Action
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
#Kindred Paperback #Giveaway IS HERE! Iโ€™m thrilled to collaborate with @neandertal_UK perfumiers, to create 3 AMAZING prizes:ย  1 x 90mlย Neandertalย 'light' + book 1 x 90mlย Neandertalย darkย + book 1 x sample set (4 scents) + bookย ย  To enter, just... - RT AND REPLY More info โฌ‡๏ธ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Oh my GOSH 1st new #Neanderthal skeleton in +20 years This is BIG stuff: plenty of bits & pieces found in that time plus vital re-examination of old claimed burials, but what's been missing is a new mostly-complete find we can use 21stC methods on [off to read paper]
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@tomosproffitt
Dr Tomos Proffitt
@tomosproffitt
4 years
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Incredibly honoured to be able to say that @RoyalAnthro have awarded me the 2022 Public Anthropology Award!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Today I'm honoured to be speaking at @RoyalAnthro AGM about my work!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
"Britain" did not exist as a nation 1000 years ago, nor even half that. These people are not illiterate or ignorant about history, which means they're simply liars, and their defining identity is based on a fake story. Ask yourself why
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Absolutely delighted to reveal that these two beautiful, newly updated #Neanderthal reconstructions by @TomBjorklundArt are the ones I chose for #Kindred !
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Maybe one of the hardest decisions about the book coming up... Which of @TomBjorklundArt 's stunning #Neanderthal reconstructions to include?
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
#SecretsOfTheNeanderthals is out TODAY on @netflix - feat Shanidar โ›๏ธ ๐Ÿ’€, Bruniquel ๐Ÿชจ๐Ÿ”ฅ & more! I'm in @UCamArchaeology with one of the doc's ๐ŸŒŸs Emma Pomeroy, we'll be doing a live watch-along from c. 5pm BST & taking your Qs on here!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
11 months
@IanDunt Hi from actual Wales where the world has not ended and life feels exactly the same albeit taking a whopping 10-15 seconds extra time to get into town ๐Ÿ™‹ ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
#Kindred is out TOMORROW!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
SHEANDERTHAL : me on the lives of #Neanderthal women, for @aeonmag ?
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 months
Sorry but it's not just artistic imagination that allows us to represent #Neanderthals as thoughtful, considered or possessing sensibility & potential for kindness, rather than "snarling" beasts. It's ARCHAEOLOGY that shows us how they lived.
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@ChrisStringer65
Chris Stringer
@ChrisStringer65
3 months
'The reconstruction of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal womanโ€™s face makes her look quite friendly โ€“ thereโ€™s a problem with that' via @ConversationUK
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
11 months
#Naledi & #Sediba hominins in space... a short pondering๐Ÿงต Strong negative reaction from colleagues, so what are actual risks? - loss of fossils from flight failure - damage from radiation - perceived impact on professionalism of discipline
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Today is #TransDayOfVisibility , so please meet my brother โค๏ธ. Ignore loud voices hyping phobia - irrational fear - & fuelling 'culture war'. Trans people are just everyday humans, part of loving families like mine. (My kids? They know everything & aren't bothered one bit)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
Been pondering a lot since the new #HomoNaledi articles & #CaveOfBones film came out. While Iโ€™m thinking of writing something longform, am also now sharing specific thoughts on #RisingStar interpretations as a ๐Ÿงต: - Access - Fire - Burial - Aesthetics
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
๐Ÿ‘‹ Bye to the people who've unfollowed me this morning; unsure whether they don't like Neanderthal mortuary behaviour or trans people ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
7 years
Doing some obsidian geology research, and found this: a literally uncanny valley entirely of pumice, in Russia
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Oh look a *white men* graphic... BBC please ask experts for help in your sci comm (also #GrotteMandrin evidence is not that there was long coexistence, since H. sapiens signal in W Europe then *goes extinct* at 54ka for + 10 more millennia!?)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Very happy to announce that I've been awarded an Honorary Fellowship in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at University of Liverpool @LivAncWorlds ! Excited to work with so many fab colleagues including @preshitorian @Hommel_bee @J_C_French
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
I'm one of today's 38,000 newly confirmed UK covid cases. Caught last week from my youngest, who got it at school. It's floored me for 5 days & counting, sickest I've been in yrs (ever?). I still feel incredibly lucky, to have vax & not be *seriously* ill. Keep safe everyone x
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Railing against racists, violence or whatever by calling them #neanderthals is lazy. It's inaccurate in archaeological terms, but much more importantly it's a handy way to dissociate from the fact that this ugliness threaded though society, top to bottom.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Remember that idea about a #Neanderthal cooking show I mentioned a few weeks ago ? Having a meeting this morning about making it happen!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
New bio of #MaryAnning arrived today, it is SUPERB, stuffed with historical details. Fav facts so far: Mary's 1st fossil customer and the person who gave her the 1st geology book she read (aged 14) were both women. (former unknown name; latter Charlotte Stock)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Omg the lovely Jersey Museum team have made an entire #Kindred display ๐Ÿคฉ (I'm only having a smidge of prosecco before my talk ๐Ÿ˜)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Wonder if Wales has legal powers to just let people in and deal with UK govt's visa restriction afterwards?
@BBCWalesNews
BBC Wales News
@BBCWalesNews
2 years
Wales should be a 'nation of sanctuary' for Ukraine refugees, says Mark Drakeford
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Had the nicest time with my brother visiting but am glad he doesn't live in UK, since rampant transphobia here is so utterly grim. (And it IS same as homophobic panic from 30 yrs ago in that both were/are about FEAR that overtakes rationality & results in prejudice)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
12 days
Love seeing people taking my book away as their holiday reading - still feels totally surreal in a way, but wonderful!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
Huge new paper on #Neanderthal birch tar just dropped! New images & scans of the two Kรถnigsaue pieces, plus lots of v. exciting results, with the headline being: - chemical analyses = *both* made using trickier oxygen-restricted, underground methods
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Unexpected side effect of covid vaccine: you may start bawling in public immediately afterwards from relief and gratitude ๐Ÿ˜ญ (think I set the guy off who did mine too ๐Ÿ˜ณ)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Anyone noticing the narrative that if things keep getting worse in next month then it's "our" fault, rather than govt's utter failure to do much or communicate seriousness of everything until about 7 days ago?
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
I'm betting on Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene
@TheOnion
The Onion
@TheOnion
4 months
Archaeologists Uncover Last Human To Die Happy
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
By me for @BBC : The Secret Life of #Neanderthal Children. (so pleased we could use the gorgeous Kennis brothers image, one of my favourites!)
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The secret lives of Neanderthal children

Among the growing collection of Neanderthal remains discovered are bones belonging to children. Now we are gaining unprecedented insights into what being a young Neanderthal was like.

www.bbc.com
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
It's very likely that, over humanity's entire history, most people have understood rivers as vital, animate entities, rather than the liquid flows of western scientific understanding. Here's one fast-rolling, many-voiced character I met yesterday in the Cairngorms
@RobGMacfarlane
Robert Macfarlane
@RobGMacfarlane
4 months
Today I handed over the typescript of my new book Is A River Alive? to my editor & friend @HamishH1931 . It feltโ€”after 3+ yrsโ€™ workโ€”like a big moment. To mark it we walked up to the springs near my house, where a river is bornโ€”and the book begins & ends. More on the project below.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Much excitement at THE AWARD for @CurrentArchaeo 's Book Of The Year arriving! How beautiful it is! Thank you so much to CA, the award sponsors & most importantly *everyone* who voted for #Kindred !
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Loving everyone here defending #Neanderthals against unjust slander from Mr Biden ๐Ÿ˜‰ They were clever, innovative and took the best of whatever was around them whether stone, wood or animal species. #NeanderthalThinking got them through over 300,000 years!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
It cannot be consolation Yet still, it is
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
5 months
"Hold infinity in the palm of your hand..." 1.2 (ish) billion year old, before the land even bore moss or lichen, at the bottom of a gently wind-ruffled lake, the muds & sands (eroded from even more ancient, far-off mountains) gently settled into shape
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
It's HEEEEERRREEE Finally #Kindred is officially published! Thank you a thousand times to everyone who's already bought this book, reviewed it, and supported it in SO many ways. It's been a gigantic labour of love and I'm so happy to see it out!
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
New by me - a primer on key information about #Neanderthals (writing short review pieces like this is remarkably hard, I have massive respect for people like @DrKillgrove who do it all the time!)
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Who were the Neanderthals, our extinct human relatives?

Neanderthals are an extinct group of humans that emerged around 400,000 years ago and died off around 40,000 years ago. They are our closest known relatives and interbred with Homo sapiens.

www.livescience.com
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
If we're going to share scientific research abiut past peoples, let's not use unlabelled AI imagery along with it. Impossible for non-specialists to tell if anything at all here relates to actual archaeological finds
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
Nominating for prehistory edition the c. 15,000 yr old puppy buried with a mature woman, from an Early Natufian level at Eynan (Ain Mallaha), Israel, which I'm writing about in #Matriarcha
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@holland_tom
Tom Holland
@holland_tom
1 year
Woof woof! Huge excitement today as @TheRestHistory nominates HISTORY'S TOP 7 DOGS. First dogs, faithful dogs, Nazi dogs, unfairly beheaded dogs, looted dogs, nautical dogs, movie star dogs - we've got them all!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
6 years
Morning! I โค๏ธ it when people outside archaeology bring a pet theory to the Q of Neanderthal 'extinction'. [๐Ÿ™„ so hard it shifts the Milankovitch cycles]
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Jaw-dropping 2019 marble sculpture: โ€œSanta Luciaโ€, based on soft tissue modelling of the australopithecine Lucy ๐Ÿ“ท R. Campbell, G. Vinas, M. Henneberg, R. Diogo
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@robertosaezm
Roberto Sรกez
@robertosaezm
3 years
Interesantes reflexiones sobre las reconstrucciones de homininos con/sin determinados sesgos: Team reveals amazing reconstructions of our ancestors to correct mistakes of the past
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
New from me for @BBC_Future - Why exploring #Neanderthal minds, aesthetics & possible symbolic understanding of animals is so complicated... ๐Ÿฆฌ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ”ด๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ
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The puzzle of Neanderthal aesthetics

Surprising new insights into the minds of this extinct human species suggest they may have been far more cultured than their outdated brutish reputation once suggested.

www.bbc.com
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 month
Hey, come for an early walk with me, right now! 1 minute from my door, let's begin...
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
7 years
Neanderthals weren't evolved especially for an 'Ice Age' world. They also lived in forest environments, some warmer than today ๐ŸŒณ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Happy Christmas!๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŒŸ And thank you everyone who's bought, reviewed, talked about & supported #Kindred in 2022! If you've received it as a ๐ŸŽ, I hope you enjoy escaping into the Pleistocene alongside the reindeer ๐ŸฆŒ (FYI they return to 70,000 BP after flying round the world!)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Fantastic review in @thetimes ! "Rebecca Wragg Sykesโ€™s fact-packed but highly readable book puts us right with a superbly authoritative guided tour... If you read only one book about the Neanderthals, read this oneโ€
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
Fun thread about the 'Neander Thal' discovery, from the Feldhofer cave. Coda: when 21st C archaeologists went back to check the 19th C spoil heaps, they not only found more fossils - some incredibly refitting - but also confirmed there had been lithics there too.
@FossilHistory
Paige Madison
@FossilHistory
4 years
Because we could all use a mood booster, hereโ€™s a fun tale of confusion surrounding the discovery of the first ever recognized Neanderthal. A #histsci story-time thread about fossils, bribery, and beer for #SundayFunday : (1/n)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
๐Ÿ˜ this!
@FossilHistory
Paige Madison
@FossilHistory
3 years
The evolution staircase @MuseumMoesgaard contains layers and layers. Looking on through viewfinders above reveals the unique environment of each hominin species. A peak at the habitat of Nariokotome Boy, on the shores of Lake Turkana 1.6 million years ago: #fossils
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
6 months
The #DarwinDayLecture award last night captured wonderfully by my brilliant agent ๐Ÿคฉ A joy to receive from VP @theAliceRoberts & President Adam Rutherford (both former Darwin Day medallists too!)
@Walsh_e_Patrick
Patrick Walsh
@Walsh_e_Patrick
6 months
Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes being awarded the Darwin Day Medal tonight by Dr Alice Roberts after her superb lecture at the Humanists UK annual evening at Conway Hall in London. #DarwinDayLecture @Humanists_UK @theAliceRoberts
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Gorgeous #lithics refitting visualisation at the Terra Amata museum
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Then spent a good 20 mins enjoying being in the land of flint architecture! Trying to imagine what #Neanderthals would have made of such constructions with a material so familiar to them!
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
11 months
#Neanderthals in parts of Italy & Greece sometimes worked marine shell in similar ways to stone, but I've not heard of any freshwater species being knapped, nor any evidence of shell as weapon tips. Fascinating stuff (and LOOK at the binding still there! ๐Ÿ˜)
@brearkeologi
Secrets Of The Ice
@brearkeologi
11 months
Would you believe it!โค We have just found an incredibly well preserved arrow with a shell arrowhead. It looks like it was lost last year, but the arrow is around 3300 years old, from the Early Bronze Age!๐Ÿ˜ฎ It doesn't get much better than this๐Ÿ˜
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
๐Ÿ“ข NEW THINGS! My redesigned & updated website is finally live & looking gorgeous! ALSO #NewProfilePic ! (reflects the fact I now have hair ๐Ÿ˜‰)
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
STUNNING new #Neanderthal image by @TomBjorklundArt ๐Ÿ˜ In much palaeoart adult males aren't even shown touching children, much less carrying them with care. (This is Tom's 2nd vision of such a scene) *Evolutionary narratives matter*
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
5 years
Will never get over attitude that academics presenting research and talking to each other at conferences (whether professional or public) is noble and proper; but sharing ideas/papers/writing/whatever on twitter is a vulgar display of narcissism.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
1 year
V. happy to comment for Guardian on this new research. Mini-thread ๐Ÿงต Idea of Shanidar 'funeral bouquets' popularised by Ralph Solecki in 60s/70s was hugely influential in wider shift considering Neanderthals as another kind of human, vs clichรฉ of unthinking, unfeeling "brutes".
@guardianscience
Guardian Science
@guardianscience
1 year
Study casts doubt on Neanderthal โ€˜flower burialโ€™ theory
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
If anyone needed another example of the Tory vandalism committed against Britain in the past 12 years. Entirely avoidable. Would very much like to hear Labour policy on this mess.
@martinmbauer
Martin Bauer
@martinmbauer
2 years
The UK is *out* of all R&D programmes: Horizon, Copernicus and EUratom We had no science minister representing the UK at the meeting, because the position has been left unfilled for 77 days This will cause lasting, extraordinary damage to UK science!
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
Wonderful evening talking to colleagues & students at @UCamArchaeology about #SecretsOfTheNeanderthals & challenges of communicating archaeology in film - and how utterly magical to have both the stunning new reconstruction & the actual Shanidar Z skull both there!
@MartMLahr
Marta @MartaMLahr
@MartMLahr
4 months
๐Ÿ˜โค๏ธ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
My main issue with such theories is their prior assumption that hyper-violent, xenophobic, male dominant chimpanzees provide the best social model for hominins 300 ka (or any time period). Bonobos tell us other ways are possible.
@_alice_evans
Alice Evans
@_alice_evans
2 years
Did alpha male alliances institutionalise patriarchy over 300,000 years ago? I assess a ground-breaking new theory on the origins of human cooperation, trust, linguistic evolution, & institutional patriarchy. Blog: Podcast:
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 months
At this point I think we can say that hominins inc. #Neanderthals were capable of this, but the challenge archaeologically lies in finding *robust* evidence of use; consumption isn't always enough eg yarrow is medicinal but it's also a tasty herb.
@maxplanckpress
Max Planck Society
@maxplanckpress
4 months
Researchers have observed a Sumatran #orangutan in the wild repeatedly treating its own wound with a plant with several known medicinal properties - the first scientific record of this behaviour in a wild animal @IsabelleLaumer @carolschuppli
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Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
11 months
Someone needs to make a replica and take my money ๐Ÿ˜
@MAACambridge
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
@MAACambridge
11 months
Dredged from the River Cam in the 1920s this grey ware beaker may date to the Bronze Age. As it might have held ale or beer it's the perfect choice to mark the start of #Oktoberfest ! ๐Ÿ“ธZ 11491/Record 1 Beaker, (?)Bronze Age, Cambridgeshire. ๐Ÿ”—
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
2 years
Submitting this in all future writing deadline discussions
@maiyajambalaya
๐ŸŒ™
@maiyajambalaya
2 years
there are tears in my eyes LMFAOOOOOOOOOO
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Had a tiny little fire, sat out and wondered how many thousands of years you have to go back to find a time when nowhere on Earth was a pair of hands being warmed by a hearth ๐Ÿ”ฅ
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Recent claims/discussion on here that children manifest some human primal state of social "evil" and they must be shown how to behave with compassion are so severely lacking in wider knowledge of anthropology, archaeology and primatology it's embarrassing.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
WOW! Aside from its evolutionary significance, I am VERY HERE for hominin skulls & fossils like this with twisty historical 'afterlives'.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
3 years
Husband's new craft business of hand-made knives is starting well! Oak, bone and recycled tropical wood handle.
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@LeMoustier
Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@LeMoustier
4 years
New dates from Lascaux place it around 21 Ka. Part of a cool project bringing 21stC analysis to the rich archaeology of the site, including the pigment and famous sandstone lamps.
@PACEA_Bordeaux
PACEA
@PACEA_Bordeaux
4 years
New dates for a global reassessment of the highly controversial chronological framework of the Lascaux Cave #UNESCO #worldheritage , published by our team @INEE_CNRS @univbordeaux @CNRSAquitaine #archeology #evolution
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