Dr Hugh Thomas @hughs_news Twitter profile

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

SMDH‼️ Ok, let’s educate. (Hi, I’m Hugh. Actual archaeologist. 20+ years fieldwork experience). This tweet shows old mate has never visited an archaeological excavation or even understands the basics. Everything is wrong. So let’s address. 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

Ok- I will bite. This is the tweet of someone who knows nothing about excavation. This video shows a trench of 4 workers and a supervisor(those in the trench). 3 people excavating, one who will be moving the fill to a sieve(with more workers) and a supervisor(person in white). 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

-Their clothes are clean‼️Yes, sometimes archaeology is very dirty. First picture, my face after excavating a hearth a fireplace). Fine, black, silt. Stuck to everything. 2/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

Here is me on another site at the end of the day- I’m clean‼️ Why⁉️ Different type of site, different type of sediment, and I was going in between supervision and excavating. Guess what, washing machines also exist. 3/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

Ummmm...lots of ancient cultures could move huge stones without heavy machinery❓ Let’s address this question of stone moving the only way I know how- WITH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE! And for fun, lets do it with one single object you can visit today. 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

SHOCK‼️ OUTRAGE‼️ Apparently, archaeologists are in a cartel‼️ Why❓ Because governments have laws protecting archaeology from looting. So lets address it. Hi, I am Hugh. I just submitted an application for an excavation permit- cause I am a real archaeologist. Thread. 1/

Alaric The Barbarian

@0xAlaric

9 days

Archeology is a sort of cartel. You can dig for any other reason, in just about any country, with minimal paperwork… *except* if it’s for historical research. In that case, it’s highly illegal. [1/6]

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

Different tasks result in different levels of cleanliness. Sieving- very dirty(pretty obvious from this photo). Trench supervision- not as much. Let’s not even address that old mate is using a video taken at some distance away- but that/facts doesn’t seem to matter to him. 4/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

They are standing around‼️I addressed this in this tweet thread. There are different roles on a site, some people dig. Some people carry buckets, some people are supervisors- their literal job is to watch excavations most of the time! Why? What do they do? /5

Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

Ok- I will bite. This is the tweet of someone who knows nothing about excavation. This video shows a trench of 4 workers and a supervisor(those in the trench). 3 people excavating, one who will be moving the fill to a sieve(with more workers) and a supervisor(person in white). 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

So here I am, commenting on his post directly. With my 20+ years of experience. Trying to educate people in the realities of archaeology. I get it, the site is amazing. It is natural to want results and to know more. But its importance dictates we need to be careful. 10/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

So as always, I am happy to answer questions! Thanks for reading my thread. /Done

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

Supervisors watch excavations and take notes, write records, take photos, take measurements. Some sites have 2 or 3 levels of recording. Context sheets, log books, digital recording on tablets, or a combo of these, are all used to record every tiny bit of info. /6

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

(I mean all archaeology dictates we need to be careful). I recognise old mate is doing this to try get views. But archaeology is just so cool. So I post these threads hoping that if you are really interested in GT or history more generally, this may help you learn more. 11/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

This information is crucial. It tells us everything. The supervisor is in charge of the trench, they direct excavators. All the info is used to reconstruct the site. Why? So we can use science to tell us about the ancient past- see here for more info about that. 7/

Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Ok- let's do this one last time‼️ Why do archaeologists prattle on about technology and the future? Well to look at that, let's look at 'recent' developments in archaeology. If you are interested in learning more, this thread may help. 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

But who are the others watching- clearly guests of the excavation team. I mean the guy in the grey/black shirt on left is clearly talking. Guests visit all the time, VIPs, other archaeologists, lots of people. It happens. 2/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

Where are the shovels⁉️ Because archaeologists don’t always use them. Use them for bulk removal. However, If you are digging complex archaeology, like GT, a shovel is too big. You’ll miss things. You scale the tools for the excavation type. I.e I’d not use a shovel for a tomb. 9/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

"They have only excavated 5%." LOOK AT HOW MANY ARTEFACTS ARE IN THAT ONE BAG! And that is what we can see. Each artefact will be cleaned, studied, photographed, maybe 3d modelled. 20% of fieldwork is excavation. 80% of fieldwork is processing. This is a good example. 6/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

Supervisors will make things like plans, Harris matrix’s, reports, all so when people want to study the site, they have all the information they need to fully reconstruct the excavation. We also use total stations, photogrammetry, etc etc. 8/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

"It's so slow!!" Look at the bag here. Those will be artefacts. That is a BIG bag. Remember, there will be another massive bag at the sieve. 1: Going carefully means you don't destroy objects but smashing it with a shovel. Once broken- it's broken! 5/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

If you read some tweets of old mate conspiracy theory- he mocks this guy. 'He is hardly doing anything'. The guy is cutting back the fill that drops NEXT TO A BLOODY COLUMN. Look how rocky the soil is. A rock falls and hits column- it can chip. 3/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

If the dirt/fill the guy is digging falls to the right, it is out of context. Which means he can't be certain any artefacts he gets from there is actually from where he is digging. He is excavating properly and carefully. 4/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

This video was taken 4 days ago. The second image shows the same trench 6 days ago. They have gone down at least 0.3-0.4m (you can see original soil line on stone next to bag) but its mounds. A trench that looks maybe 5x4m(?)ish. That's about 6-8 cubic meters. 7/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

History itself states that this post is a load of junk. Archaeology and palaeontology isn’t new, in fact we have lots of evidence of it happening in the ancient world. Hi, I’m Hugh and I’m an archaeologist- join me as we look at the history of digging old stuff up. 1/

@AndTartary and antiquity

@andtartary2

13 days

As everyone knows, it is believed that humans appeared 2.6 million years ago and the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago. In other words, according to the official science, humans and dinosaurs could not meet, but the facts say otherwise History itself states that

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

This is what I managed to get from 1 x 16 second clip and one picture. Why? Because I am an actual archaeologist who works in the field. I am sure any believers of Jimmy will come back- Why only 5%? what about the trees? Those have all been addressed elsewhere. 11/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

but maybe before you comment about excavations and make yourself look like even more of an idiot- why not ask? Instead of mocking, just bloody ask. Oh- I am more than happy to take questions of people who are keen to learn- not just come up with conspiracies. Done! 12/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

That's not much is it? Yes- even low ball estimates is that is 6-7 metric tonnes of fill moved in 2 days (WITHOUT ROCKS). So even if I am wrong with my trench guess- its still a lot of fill. But Hugh- one trench? That is nothing! 8/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

They have at least 2 trenches. You can hear the stones moving in the original video. Let alone whatever else they are doing at the site. Also- look at the wood on the bottom right- that is their journey to the sieves- which are presumably out of the structure. 9/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

That means for every bucket of fill(dirt), someone needs to walk it along that path, to the sieves. I don't see wheelbarrows(presumably not safe with tipping), so every bucket MOVED BY HAND. 10/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Ok- let's do this one last time‼️ Why do archaeologists prattle on about technology and the future? Well to look at that, let's look at 'recent' developments in archaeology. If you are interested in learning more, this thread may help. 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

3 months

Can we as archaeologists agree to put this look to bed? Like I get it, media wants us to be Indiana Jones! Indy is so cool! He punches Nazi's, makes amazing discoveries, and loots sacred artefacts from indigenous populati... ohhhhh that's right... Maybe it is TIME TO MOVE ON.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

4 months

Graham isn't an archaeologist and yes, theories on Atlantis, or any form of mythical ancient culture that are used to suggest major technological advancements around the globe weren't done by their indigenous people, is strewn in racism.

Eric Abbenante

@EricAbbenante

4 months

ARCHAELOGIST BEEF: Graham Hancock confronts fellow archaeologist Flint Dibble (The one with the Indiana Jones hat) about his critiques of his work linking him to 'White Supremacist ideas' to get him canceled. "Archaeologist Flint Dibble says Hancock's claims reinforce White

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

Final thing, we have ethnographic evidence of more recent cultures moving big stones, with no heavy machinery. The people of Nias move huge stones, through jungle, uphill and they have photos of it. I guess if this photo didn't exist- it would also be a mystery. /Done

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

As someone recently said on a post I made, we need to stop thinking ancient people were “stupid”. They had a much better understanding of nature than most of us have today- cause they lived in it. More than I can say for pseudo-archaeologist keyboard warriors. 8/8

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

Ok, so this tweet thread is one of the more illogical I have read from pseudoarchs. Because it is effectively arguing that anyone should be allowed to dig any ancient site. No control. No permits. Just dig away! That is stupid! That is looting 2/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

Yep, 9000 years ago, a person/s in an arid region of Jordan, collected about 150 ammonite seashell fossils and arranged them carefully in lines, along with unusual stones. To date, this Neolithic collector is the earliest palaeontologist ever identified. Cool right!! 7/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

BUT SCHLIEMANN! How would he have ever found Troy! First, people worked at the site before Schliemann. Secondly- HE BLOODY DESTROYED THAT SITE! He excavated a huge trench through the middle of it, some say he used dynamite. He threw away material because it "wasn't old enough" 7/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

This is the Vatican. Notice that obelisk in the centre. It is from Egypt. It weighs 330 tonnes. It was raisedon September 10th 1586. Using modern 16th century technology, they moved and lifted the stone. You can see drawings of the event. But that’s not a mystery. 2/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

Boats! Big boats. Pliny the Elder writes about obelisks and how they were moved (Natural History, Book XXXVI). You can read about it (). The Roman’s made boats that were real.. well... big… they were ancient spectacles in themselves. 4/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

The whole point of archaeological excavations is we dig in a controlled manner, recording everything. Because once it is excavated- that's it. You can never put it back. Never recreate it. Nothing. Stuff it up and it's very hard to un-stuff it. 3/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

Guess what- they moved it the same way as the Romans. Boats. We know this, because they have images showing us these boats- with obelisks on them. We have descriptions from 15th century BCE too. Probably a lot more that I don't know about. 6/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

Me realising my excavation clothes are too clean and seeing a pseudoarchaeologist approaching.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

Troy is a mess. He treasure hunted gold and then smuggled it out of the country. Where is 'Priam's treasure'? Not in Turkey. To use him as your shining bastion of pseudoarchaeology shows how little you know about archaeology. 8/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

The Egyptians have lots of imagery of people moving big things. But we don’t question how the Roman’s did it? We don’t question how the Renaissance Italians did it? Why? Because they have documentation! But those damn primitive Egyptians…we just overlook their evidence right? 7/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

So the Romans moving something so massive across the Mediterranean is also not a mystery. But what about those damn primitive (interesting word use) Egyptians, surely THEY couldn’t have moved big stones without machinery? 5/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

So how did this obelisk get to Rome? It’s from a site called Heliopolis in Egypt. That’s a long way away. But Roman Emperor Caligula liked it, and so it got moved. A 330 tonne obelisk moved 2000km!! Across the sea!! How? 3/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

Now imagine allowing what this guy is saying. Any site, anywhere, can be excavated by whoever. Guess what, I think your grandmothers skeleton holds the key to Atlantis. I am digging it up. I am going to toss the bones away. I am going to take the jewellery. Done! 4/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

@mo0onmouse Archaeology is tough. We don’t get paid well. We spend long periods away from family. It’s physical labour for most roles. I take real issue with people like Jimmy belittling people just doing their job all cause he wants retweets and views.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

I mean some of old mates tweets are flat wrong. Egypt brought in an early permit system- to stop looting of artefacts- in 1835. The Egyptian Agency that protects sites was set up in the 1850s. The Greeks had permits by the 1930s. Why- to stop people destroying archaeology. 6/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

29 days

Instead of my sound cloud…

Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

29 days

Just thought I’d use this opportunity to promote my projects most recent paper- studying the Neolithic Domestic structures of N/W Saudi Arabia. Open source and free to read. Here is me photographing one prior to excavation in 2018.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

Yes, the Pyramids are amazing. Yes, they made them with big stones. But because we don’t have evidence that was describes the process EXACTLY- we question them? Even though we have lots of data/evidence and centuries later they move even heavier stones... 8/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

4 years

Khaybar. One of the most amazing archaeological landscapes in the world.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

That is why permits exist. An agency who runs this system can set rules:where you can dig, where the material goes, how it is excavated, how it is reported etc. To make sure information is recorded and shared. To stop people with like Alaric ripping tombs to shreds on a hunch. 5/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

I always find it interesting that people don't question how Mycenaeans lifted a 120 tonne stone up above a doorway. We have zero textual evidence for that, as far as I know. Well other than Cyclopes did it. 9/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

2 months

This is quite the mental gymnastics. As an archaeologist, I just wish that people like Jimmy would ask questions. From 1996-2001, they found 38,000 pieces of animal bone. It needs to be studied, catalogued, stored by specialists. That's ONE type of artefact. IT TAKES TIME.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

About 3200 years ago lived this Egyptian named Khaemweset. He was a son of Ramses II and oh boy did he like old stuff. He restored old building recognising their historical importance. He even carved an old statute with a sentence reading “so greatly did he love antiquity”. 2/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

But by issuing permits, the government CONTROLS ME! That is utter nonsense. Lets say I found Atlantis in Greece. Are you honestly telling me that they would hide one of the most significant archaeological discoveries because they are like 'Nah bro'. 9/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

17 days

Oh, and new evidence about how the Pyramids were built is coming out regularly. Here is two interesting posts from the last 10 years. 9/

The World's Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids

Ancient Egyptians leveraged a massive shipping, mining and farming economy to propel their civilization forward

www.smithsonianmag.com

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

29 days

I’d like to take this opportunity to promote our paper on the Funerary Avenues of Saudi Arabia. Dense networks of thousands of 5000 year old tombs. Open source and free to read: Here is my team surveying one tomb on an avenue.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

@Ethanberry19 Got a screenshot? I mean, if he was serious about it, I’d completely disagree. But I’d want to see the context in order to make up my own mind about what he said, i.e if he was joking. But other than seeing a few tweets of his, I’d not know him from a bar of soap.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

Couple of thousand years later was this cool ruler called Nabonidus. I like him as in the area near where I work, he carved his little symbol around(and I hope to find one). Old mate ran excavations looking for old structures and even tried determining the date of artefacts. 3/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

18 days

If you are an archaeologist or art history lover- please do not look at this tweet... or a lot of the comments.

Still🏝️Roaming

@roaming_rn

18 days

Nothing to see here…the closing ceremony of the Olympics has a headless angel with no arms.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

By my favourite ancient palaeontologist, well you gotta go back about 9000 years! Yep, 9000! In Jordan an awesome team of archaeologists excavated a structure, it had fun sculptures, an architectural plan for a kite, and hundreds of ammonite fossils. 6/

South Eastern Badia Archaeological Project. Art Destination Jordan

Archaeologists discover a unique Neolithic ritual site related to gazelle hunting with gigantic traps called

universes.art

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

2 years

I’ve excavated dozens of tombs. It is important to remember, that although they are dead- they are still people and should be afforded the same respect. Showing a warning in a lecture is standard practice as people have cultural, personal, and religious sensitivities.

The Telegraph

@Telegraph

2 years

Archaeology students have been warned they will be exposed to images of “human remains” and funeral rituals during their lectures

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

16 days

@BrightInsight6 OMG‼️ Are we giving cute nicknames to each other? Dork? Cute! Ok Turnip, so you acknowledge that the Egyptians (& Romans) could move obelisks like the Lateran(400+ tonnes). You also acknowledge they have images/text showing them moving big stuff. But 1000 tonnes- that's too much?

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

The Romans loved fossils. Pliny mentions that an aedile showed off a “sea monster” but was probs just a fossil. It’s suggested the Greeks saw extinct elephant skulls and thought it was a cyclops(although this is a bit sketch). 5/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

29 days

Just thought I’d use this opportunity to promote my projects most recent paper- studying the Neolithic Domestic structures of N/W Saudi Arabia. Open source and free to read. Here is me photographing one prior to excavation in 2018.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

Just to state, at the end of a project I will submit reports. I also send our academic articles to them too- so they have a copy of what is found in their own lands. But not once have I been told- "You are not able to publish that. Because... like... WEF says no!" 10/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

13 days

Now what about fossils? Firstly ARCHAEOLOGISTS DONT DO FOSSILS. But we often find them. For example, where I work in AlUla, KSA, we often find structures made out of stone with fossils in it. They loved them. See this, it’s fossilised shells used on a 7000 year old Mustatil 4/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

But old mate saved the silliest tweet till the end. He wants Trump to open up national archives etc. so what- you can just look at stuff in museums. But what does that even get you... most museums house their entire collection online anyway.. unless they are WEF MUSEUMS‼️ 11/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

@BrightInsight6 Jokes on turnip aside- we have rules and regulations for all parts of our lives. Archaeology is destructive. It needs to be done correctly. Governments also want to limit looting and the loss of their cultural heritage. Random people digging loses us historical knowledge 13/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

@BrightInsight6 Slight correction- a small bit of Priam's treasure is in Turkey... because Schliemann used it to bribe himself back into Turkey. Cool hero guys....

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

24 days

Congratulations to @jane_cmcmahon and the entire team on having the most talked about paper in archaeology! Super proud of the whole team and our local collaborators for all their hard work.

PAKEP

@PAKEP_KSA

24 days

Our paper on Standing Stone Circles is currently the highest trending paper in archaeology! If you want to know more- you can read the paper for free here:

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

4 months

As an archaeologist I can tell you that if you believe this, you are an idiot. What did they scrape off? What kind of test? Where did they publish it? Who are they? What recording did they do before? I mean we would never accept it anyway as it’s unscientific and illegal.

@AndTartary and antiquity

@andtartary2

4 months

The Pyramid of Cheops, following the official version of the scientific world, was built about 4,500 years ago. But two German archaeology students from the University of Dresden were obsessed with proving the pyramid's true age. They flew to Egypt, sneaked into the pyramid,

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

@WhittakerHelen I did do a thread on that… it was hijacked by people who REALLY disagreed. 😅

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

5 months

We had no idea what these were when we stumbled on them in 2018 or just how old they are. But years of excavation have revealed some wonderful discoveries about the Neolithic in N/W Saudi Arabia. Stay tuned for some tweet threads about these awesome structures.

PAKEP

@PAKEP_KSA

5 months

We are happy to announce that our first publication on the 'Standing Stone Circles' of #AlUla has been accepted for publication in the journal, Levant. It was led by Jane McMahon, who is doing her PhD on these amazing structures,some of which are almost 8000 years old.Stay tuned!

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

@BrightInsight6 I know people want more answers to ancient mysteries. Me too! That's why I am in this job! But rushing means we can't do cool science like this: I hope this helps some people understand why this was such a silly thread. Happy to answer questions. 14/14

Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Ok- let's do this one last time‼️ Why do archaeologists prattle on about technology and the future? Well to look at that, let's look at 'recent' developments in archaeology. If you are interested in learning more, this thread may help. 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

@Stuartindigo2 Wouldn’t be surprised. Has a director tour kinda vibe haha

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

@paulnamida @Ethanberry19 I mean they owned the land, they should be compensated. But land with orchards or groves demand higher compensation. It happens all over the place.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

29 days

I’d like to take this opportunity to promote our paper . It is open access and free to read. In this paper, my team publishes the results of our first excavations of Bronze Age tombs in Khaybar. Here is one of the tombs I excavated!

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

27 days

For anyone who is actually interested in #g öbeklitepe and how they are going- you can see an update to the trench I posted about this week. Clearly some WEF staff standing on the right making sure excavation will continue for 800 years and that the pillars are vaccinated.

Göbeklitepe Kazıları / Göbeklitepe Excavations

@GobeklitepeTeam

27 days

Our excavations now underway in Special Building B at #g öbeklitepe are focusing on the removal of a baulk covering the northern part of the structure. So far, finds from the fill deposits include, as expected, plenty of worked flint and fragmented animal bone

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

6 months

I can't begin to tell you just how much bone is coming out of this structure. In my 20+ years of archaeology, I have never seen anything quite like this. I can't wait for the ongoing analysis- which will take some time!

PAKEP

@PAKEP_KSA

6 months

The @PAKEP_KSA team have made a fantastic discovery. Over the last several days, we have been excavating a late Neolithic/Chalcolithic Collective Burial! Dating to at least 6,000 years old, we have identified at least 11 individuals inside. Excavation is continuing. 1/3

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

9 days

& he wants Trump to pressure Brazil to let 'eccentrics' excavate 'the Amazon'-a forest. Apart from this leading to looting I wouldn't trust Trump to do this.. wanna know why❓ EXPLOSIVE NEWS‼️TRUMP IS THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM‼️ @BrightInsight6 does Trump control Gobekli? 12/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Residue Analysis: Ok, lets get into the really cool science. Residue analysis lets us see what is left on stone tools or ceramics. It's awesome. It's been used at Göbekli Tepe on grind stones. Read about it here: 7/

Cereal processing at Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey

We analyze the processing of cereals and its role at Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Anatolia (10th / 9th millennium BC), a site that has aroused much debate in archaeological discourse....

journals.plos.org

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Firstly, who am I? To some I am an keyboard archaeologist who isn't in charge of sites. But my CV tells me I have been a field archaeologists for 20+ years and run a pretty major archaeological project, which uses many of the techniques listed below. 2/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Photogrammetry: In years gone past, when you find something the field- you'd pop a handful of photos and be done with it. Now we can also use Photogrammetry. We take dozens/hundreds of photos of a trench/feature and use it to make a highly accurate 3D model. Cool right? 3/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Why does this help? Well it means we can have an interactable 3D model of each context or in-situ object(or an object itself). In archaeology, you get one shot to do it right. That's why we say it's destructive. This gives us better recording. Here is me doing it at site. 4/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

3 months

We as a discipline need to have the guts that this should be our style!!

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Combined- this technique can speed up other processes. Like planning a site. So you can see the 3d model here, which was then used to make an illustration we can publish in journals/reports/online. This is a site in Australia. 6/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

By the way, drones are cool. So in the past, when you excavate a context you'd take photos. Now we can make a 3d model, take drone photos, and more. It is a little more time, but it preserves so much information for people to see/check. Here is me in Greece recording a site. 5/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

@Ethanberry19 Hi, the site was owned by locals until 2010ish. They planted the trees on the site. People do that as when land is acquired for archaeology, it raises the price.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

1 year

Apart from how insane this whole thing is- this photo also demonstrates that a lot of people are doing archaeology who don't understand basic recording practices. Firstly, two important bones in unmarked bags- no labels- nothing identifying what they are! THREAD

Lee R Berger

@LeeRberger

1 year

Two important ancient human relatives packed and ready to go where no extinct hominins have gone before! #neverstopexploring !

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

29 days

Just thought I’d take this opportunity to promote our recent paper on the excavations of a Neolithic Mustatil, 7000 year old monumental ritual structures in KSA. Open source and free to read: Here is an aerial photograph I took of mustatil prior to survey.

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

30 days

@HuubBellemakers @ArchaeologyGame 😀

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

They studied 7268(!!!!) grindstones etc. They worked out tonnes of stuff about what people ate. Bread and porridge and cool stuff like that. You can read a little more here: 8/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

@BrightInsight6 If anyone is actually interested in learning why this tweet is full of inaccuracies, I wrote a little thread here.

Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

20 days

SMDH‼️ Ok, let’s educate. (Hi, I’m Hugh. Actual archaeologist. 20+ years fieldwork experience). This tweet shows old mate has never visited an archaeological excavation or even understands the basics. Everything is wrong. So let’s address. 1/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Take Juukan Gorge cave, Australia let it be blown up for iron ore. A site that had 46,000 years of occupation(4 x longer than GT) was destroyed for mining. 27/

Rio Tinto blasts 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site to expand iron ore mine

Mining company was given permission to blast Juukan Gorge cave, which provided a 4,000-year-old genetic link to present-day traditional owners

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Until then, the safest place for archaeology to sit is in the ground, where it has sat for hundreds/thousands of years. Excavation will still go on, each year or two, new techniques will develop and those will tell us SOO MUCH MORE than today. Got questions- ask away. Thread Done

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

2 months

NEW PAPER IS OUT! Standing Stone Circles- We identified these sites in 2018 on our FIRST day in AlUla (see photo of me below). For the past 5 years, we have been excavating them. Research led by Jane McMahon who is studying SSC for her PhD. This is her first lead author paper!

PAKEP

@PAKEP_KSA

2 months

New Paper Out! This paper, led by @jane_cmcmahon , is on the Standing Stone Circles, a form of Neolithic domestic structure found in #AlUla . Read for free: Since identifying these structures in 2018, we have excavated lots of them-here is what we found 1/10

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

Archaeozoology: This isn't super new(just wait) where you analyse animal bones. Sites like Göbekli Tepe have tens of thousands of animal bones. So what- they hunted? But they can tell stuff like the people hunted gazelle between midsummer and autumn. 9/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

25 days

But for every bone we can identify, there are hundreds of flakes which we can't. Until recently!A technique called Zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMs) now can look at undiagnostic animal bones and tell us what species they are. 10/

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Dr Hugh Thomas

@hughs_news

4 months

@SenPaterson Hi, can you please provide instances that have been documented where people have been threatened? The University of Sydney has said there is no confirmed case of this. But if you have evidence, please share it?

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