A Tocharian mural in Maya Cave shows men scarring their foreheads at the Buddha’s funeral. Bede mentions scarring the face after the death of a loved one, it’s possible that the practice of scarifying the face in memory of fallen kinsmen originated with the Proto Indo-Europeans.

Just a reminder that this type of technology is nearly invisible in the archaeological record

The American Race, Pt. 4: Massachusetts The heart of the American Revolution and birthplace of our republic famously got its start in November of 1620 when the brave Mayflower pilgrims set anchor off the coast of Plymouth.

One way anthropologists can tell if an ancient population was farming is to look for cavities. Corn (maize) is the worst for dental health, and apparently rice is by far the best

The Argead male is apparently R-L151 according to Göran.

@Arkotherion Ugur Ilgın There's 2 male Danish authors & 1 English. Frei likely did the isotope analysis. Schroeder specializes in aDNA and has developed anticontamination techniques. Brown is also a highly accomplished biomolecular archaeologist. Contamination from them seems unlikely but possible

More evidence of what looks to be intergroup violence in the paleolithic. Single victim, multiple projectile impacts resulting in skeletal traumas and no evidence of healing.

Closest ancient samples to Argead dynasty member from new study.

1. Early in development, the presence of a Y chromosome triggers development of the testes, which then secrete testosterone, which then shunts fetal development to a male phenotype. But I was curious: beyond gonads & hormones, do XX and XY contribute to sex differences? 🧵

New piece of mine for The Guardian Long Read on the most ancient possibly hominin fossils ever discovered; the two-decade fight over the bones and their meaning; and what we know—and what we don't, and maybe won't—of the deep origins of humanity. theguardian.com/science/2025/m…

There is seasonality in human births but it doesn’t seem to follow a pattern. Europeans have more births in the first half of the year and Asians/new worlders in the second half. No idea why

Yes but it is worth noting that men are not attracted to peak fertility but peak reproductive value x.com/h2ner/status/1…

Amazing new paper from Qiaomei Fu et al. confirms that the Harbin skull is indeed a Denisovan! Incredibly exciting

I think this is an impoverished view of human motivation and history. I've also found it striking that a great deal of the art and costumes and structures men build across societies they've done as part of all male groups in religious/ritual contexts away from women

In South America's Southern Cone, genetics have the largest association with geography followed by skull shape and then language onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aj…