Ruth Mace
@ruthmace.bsky.social
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, UCL
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Apply now to our next Summer School! 🤝
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
November 19, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Apply now to our next Summer School! 🤝
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
'The manosphere’s enthusiasm for evolution goes beyond appropriation and selective interpretation of existing research' New paper by LouisBachaud et al | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A hundred and two just-so stories: exploring the lay evolutionary hypotheses of the manosphere | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
A hundred and two just-so stories: exploring the lay evolutionary hypotheses of the manosphere - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
November 19, 2025 at 10:19 AM
'The manosphere’s enthusiasm for evolution goes beyond appropriation and selective interpretation of existing research' New paper by LouisBachaud et al | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
I love the British Library. Every day it is packed with people young and old. The architecture is great. The exhibitions are great. It is one of the best bits of cultural infrastructure that got built in the last few decades. It needs to be OK!
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:34 AM
I love the British Library. Every day it is packed with people young and old. The architecture is great. The exhibitions are great. It is one of the best bits of cultural infrastructure that got built in the last few decades. It needs to be OK!
Tomorrow Tuesday @UCLanthropology evo anth seminar: Eleanore Rolland. ‘Maternal styles in chimpanzees’ DFL 3.30-5pm followed by🍷 All welcome
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Tomorrow Tuesday @UCLanthropology evo anth seminar: Eleanore Rolland. ‘Maternal styles in chimpanzees’ DFL 3.30-5pm followed by🍷 All welcome
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
This is what many of us have been saying. Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is based on a myth: that we don't have enough homes because wildlife and green spaces are protected. It will solve nothing, and inflict terrible harm on our remaining ecosystems
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds
Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This is what many of us have been saying. Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is based on a myth: that we don't have enough homes because wildlife and green spaces are protected. It will solve nothing, and inflict terrible harm on our remaining ecosystems
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Hard to think of a better epitaph for a scientist than this: “She inspired us to see the world with both rigor and heart”
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
In Memoriam Jane B. Lancaster (1935–2025), a Pioneer in Anthropology
Click on the article title to read more.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Hard to think of a better epitaph for a scientist than this: “She inspired us to see the world with both rigor and heart”
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Just out - "Art Beyond Cognition: Reframing Neanderthal art through social connectivity and cultural transmission" by Straffon & Tennie
Art Beyond Cognition: Reframing Neanderthal art through social connectivity and cultural transmission | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Art Beyond Cognition: Reframing Neanderthal art through social connectivity and cultural transmission
www.cambridge.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Just out - "Art Beyond Cognition: Reframing Neanderthal art through social connectivity and cultural transmission" by Straffon & Tennie
Reposted by Ruth Mace
✨Check out this new publication✨
Using long-term data from the Tsimane, we show that the differences between boys and girls in how their object play develops are linked to the different subsistence roles of men and women.
Read the full article here:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Using long-term data from the Tsimane, we show that the differences between boys and girls in how their object play develops are linked to the different subsistence roles of men and women.
Read the full article here:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Object play in Tsimane children: implications for sex-specific division of labour | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Object play in Tsimane children: implications for sex-specific division of labour - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
✨Check out this new publication✨
Using long-term data from the Tsimane, we show that the differences between boys and girls in how their object play develops are linked to the different subsistence roles of men and women.
Read the full article here:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Using long-term data from the Tsimane, we show that the differences between boys and girls in how their object play develops are linked to the different subsistence roles of men and women.
Read the full article here:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
November 10, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
Reposted by Ruth Mace
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Tomorrow Tuesday @UCLanthropology evo anth seminar: Ozan Aksoy 'Hair speaks: social context and the interpretation of religious signals such as veiling and beards'. DFL 3.30-5pm followed by🍷 All welcome
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Tomorrow Tuesday @UCLanthropology evo anth seminar: Ozan Aksoy 'Hair speaks: social context and the interpretation of religious signals such as veiling and beards'. DFL 3.30-5pm followed by🍷 All welcome
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
FINALLY we understand why lactase persistance spread!
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans
Cox et al. combine polygenic scores and skeletal metrics to show that Neolithic Europeans
were not substantially shorter than earlier or later groups. They also show a strong
gene-environment interact...
www.cell.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:36 PM
FINALLY we understand why lactase persistance spread!
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement | Evolutionary Human Sciences | by George Brill and Mark Dyble. Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement | Evolutionary Human Sciences | by George Brill and Mark Dyble. Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
It's hiring season at @iast.fr!
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
September 20, 2025 at 9:15 AM
It's hiring season at @iast.fr!
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France
www.iast.fr/research-fel...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Funding for students!!
New £6k UCL Anthropology MSc Bursary for Home students:
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
You can also apply to the £10k UCL Bursary at the same time - so if you get both, it should cover all your fees & a chunk of living costs🤞
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
New £6k UCL Anthropology MSc Bursary for Home students:
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
You can also apply to the £10k UCL Bursary at the same time - so if you get both, it should cover all your fees & a chunk of living costs🤞
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
Julia Scott Memorial Bursary
The aim of the Julia Scott Memorial Bursary is intended to enable students in financial need to pursue their postgraduate studies in the Anthropology Department at UCL.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Funding for students!!
New £6k UCL Anthropology MSc Bursary for Home students:
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
You can also apply to the £10k UCL Bursary at the same time - so if you get both, it should cover all your fees & a chunk of living costs🤞
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
New £6k UCL Anthropology MSc Bursary for Home students:
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
You can also apply to the £10k UCL Bursary at the same time - so if you get both, it should cover all your fees & a chunk of living costs🤞
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Leiden looking good today ;-)
📢 Abstract submission will be open Nov 1st – Dec 15th for EHBEA 2026
⚡Present your research, connect & collaborate 14-17 April
📝 300 words (extendable to 800 after acceptance)
For more information & our full call for abstracts, check www.ehbea2026.com
📢 Abstract submission will be open Nov 1st – Dec 15th for EHBEA 2026
⚡Present your research, connect & collaborate 14-17 April
📝 300 words (extendable to 800 after acceptance)
For more information & our full call for abstracts, check www.ehbea2026.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Leiden looking good today ;-)
📢 Abstract submission will be open Nov 1st – Dec 15th for EHBEA 2026
⚡Present your research, connect & collaborate 14-17 April
📝 300 words (extendable to 800 after acceptance)
For more information & our full call for abstracts, check www.ehbea2026.com
📢 Abstract submission will be open Nov 1st – Dec 15th for EHBEA 2026
⚡Present your research, connect & collaborate 14-17 April
📝 300 words (extendable to 800 after acceptance)
For more information & our full call for abstracts, check www.ehbea2026.com
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Happy to announce that reflections on our workshop about non-biological kinship in Vienna last year is already published!
@anahcorral.bsky.social @sabinacvecek.bsky.social
www.sciepublish.com/article/pii/...
@anahcorral.bsky.social @sabinacvecek.bsky.social
www.sciepublish.com/article/pii/...
Beyond Genetics: Exploring Aspects of
Non-Biological Kinship in Prehistoric Times
This article explores alternative ways of
conceptualizing kinship in prehistoric contexts beyond the confines of genetic
reductionism. While ancient DNA research has revitalized interest in the
archae...
www.sciepublish.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Happy to announce that reflections on our workshop about non-biological kinship in Vienna last year is already published!
@anahcorral.bsky.social @sabinacvecek.bsky.social
www.sciepublish.com/article/pii/...
@anahcorral.bsky.social @sabinacvecek.bsky.social
www.sciepublish.com/article/pii/...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
'New proposals by Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage were sent to universities this week after their initial offers were decisively rejected by institutions in a sector-wide consultation run by Jisc,...negotiating jointly with Universities UK on behalf of universities.' 1/3
New offers from big five ‘still too costly’ for UK universities
‘Significant’ number of institutions predicted to drop deals with main scholarly imprints, leaving journal access much reduced
www.timeshighereducation.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:43 AM
'New proposals by Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage were sent to universities this week after their initial offers were decisively rejected by institutions in a sector-wide consultation run by Jisc,...negotiating jointly with Universities UK on behalf of universities.' 1/3
Check out the new 'most read' tab at EHS (Evolutionary Human Sciences), currently topped by this paper by @olkcampbell.bsky.social et al on sex ratio and violence against women
Skewed sex ratios correlate with violence against women from spouses, boyfriends and in-laws, but less so for honour-based violence from natal family @olkcampbell.bsky.social Maheen Pracha @ruthmace.bsky.social | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Skewed sex ratios and violence against women in Pakistan | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Skewed sex ratios and violence against women in Pakistan
www.cambridge.org
October 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Check out the new 'most read' tab at EHS (Evolutionary Human Sciences), currently topped by this paper by @olkcampbell.bsky.social et al on sex ratio and violence against women
'21st century resurgence of eugenics and scientific racism' @rebeccasear.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk Evolutionary Anthropology seminar. Tomorrow TUESDAY 3.30-5pm DFL followed by 🍷 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
'21st century resurgence of eugenics and scientific racism' @rebeccasear.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk Evolutionary Anthropology seminar. Tomorrow TUESDAY 3.30-5pm DFL followed by 🍷 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - William Baum and Pete Richerson www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
October 20, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - William Baum and Pete Richerson www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Researchers analyzed 102 “just-so” stories shared in online antifeminist spaces. 83% focused on sex differences and rarely acknowledged speculation. The authors call for renewed discussion and reflection on evolutionary hypothesizing.
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A Hundred and Two Just-So Stories: Exploring the Lay Evolutionary Hypotheses of the Manosphere | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
A Hundred and Two Just-So Stories: Exploring the Lay Evolutionary Hypotheses of the Manosphere
www.cambridge.org
October 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Researchers analyzed 102 “just-so” stories shared in online antifeminist spaces. 83% focused on sex differences and rarely acknowledged speculation. The authors call for renewed discussion and reflection on evolutionary hypothesizing.
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
In our new paper, we show why religious signals can serve as reliable markers of commitment: insiders perceive both cooperative and supernatural benefits in participation, but outsiders—who don’t share those supernatural expectations—see no comparable gains, making the signal not worhtwile
Our (with Pushkar Puryag, Radek Kundt & @martinlangcz.bsky.social ) study on the perceived costs & benefits of the Kavadi ritual in Mauritius was recently published in EHS.
👉 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
👉 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
October 17, 2025 at 10:24 AM
In our new paper, we show why religious signals can serve as reliable markers of commitment: insiders perceive both cooperative and supernatural benefits in participation, but outsiders—who don’t share those supernatural expectations—see no comparable gains, making the signal not worhtwile
Today Tuesday Claudia Wascher on communication in corvids @UCL Anthropology 3.30pm DFL followed by 🍷 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 14, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Today Tuesday Claudia Wascher on communication in corvids @UCL Anthropology 3.30pm DFL followed by 🍷 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Reposted by Ruth Mace
🚨𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026
Overview | EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:27 AM
🚨𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026