Tom Higham
@tommyhigham.bsky.social
Professor at the Univ. of Vienna dating archaeological sites; bones, Neanderthals. Author of "The World Before Us" (http://tinyurl.com/2p873jy8). Kiwi.
ORCID: 0000-0002-5949-598X
https://highamlab.univie.ac.at
ORCID: 0000-0002-5949-598X
https://highamlab.univie.ac.at
Looking forward today to the “Paleoenvironmental DNA and Human Evolution” Symposium here in our department, featuring talks by Viviane Slon, Mikel Pedersen, Karina Sand, Ben Vernot, Pere Gelabert, Mareike Stahlschmidt and Susanna Sawyer. sedaDNA, so exciting! @univie.ac.at @heasvienna.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Looking forward today to the “Paleoenvironmental DNA and Human Evolution” Symposium here in our department, featuring talks by Viviane Slon, Mikel Pedersen, Karina Sand, Ben Vernot, Pere Gelabert, Mareike Stahlschmidt and Susanna Sawyer. sedaDNA, so exciting! @univie.ac.at @heasvienna.bsky.social
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 29, 2025 at 9:17 AM
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
HEAS Seminar this morning! 1030 CE Time. Bence Viola will talk about Denisovans!
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
October 6, 2025 at 7:11 AM
HEAS Seminar this morning! 1030 CE Time. Bence Viola will talk about Denisovans!
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
More information and registration on our website 👇🔗
www.heas.at/events/heas-...
So excited to announce the lineup of speakers here @heasvienna.bsky.social for the 2025/6 academic year! We have some outstanding speakers for our three seminar series in Archaelogical Science, Ancient Genomics and Human Evolution & the Palaeolithic. All hybrid! Register now at HEAS.at
October 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
So excited to announce the lineup of speakers here @heasvienna.bsky.social for the 2025/6 academic year! We have some outstanding speakers for our three seminar series in Archaelogical Science, Ancient Genomics and Human Evolution & the Palaeolithic. All hybrid! Register now at HEAS.at
Talk at 10 CE time this morning online and in person :
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
September 15, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Talk at 10 CE time this morning online and in person :
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
César Méndez and Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on "Discontinuous archaeological records and the peopling of West Patagonia".
Register here: www.heas.at/events/heas-...
@heasvienna.bsky.social
This was a great talk by Prof. Necmi Karul on an incredible site - Karahantepe. Watch for the video soon on our HEAS YouTube channel.
June 29, 2025 at 2:49 AM
This was a great talk by Prof. Necmi Karul on an incredible site - Karahantepe. Watch for the video soon on our HEAS YouTube channel.
So fun to see a box of books arrive. The Korean translation! #TheWorldBeforeUs
April 14, 2025 at 12:55 PM
So fun to see a box of books arrive. The Korean translation! #TheWorldBeforeUs
I enjoyed writing about the Penghu mandible from Taiwan in my book "The World Before Us". I am really glad that biomolecular evidence has now confirmed that this amazing little jaw, fished out of the sea by a fishing boat, is a Denisovan!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
April 12, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I enjoyed writing about the Penghu mandible from Taiwan in my book "The World Before Us". I am really glad that biomolecular evidence has now confirmed that this amazing little jaw, fished out of the sea by a fishing boat, is a Denisovan!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A few hours in Oxford... How nice to see old friends and old haunts on a beautiful spring day! (@lorenabecval.bsky.social)
April 12, 2025 at 1:16 PM
A few hours in Oxford... How nice to see old friends and old haunts on a beautiful spring day! (@lorenabecval.bsky.social)
My MSc student gave me this t-shirt after his viva! His project was about extracting collagen from some Palaeolithic bones which has virtually zero collagen! Nice work Leslie!
April 9, 2025 at 7:39 AM
My MSc student gave me this t-shirt after his viva! His project was about extracting collagen from some Palaeolithic bones which has virtually zero collagen! Nice work Leslie!
A mass grave of around 130 Roman soldiers has been excavated just to the south of us in Vienna's Simmering district. The remains are all aged between 20 and 30 years old and were exclusively males who appeared to have been killed in battle. Dates indicate ~80-120 AD.
www.dw.com/.../mass-rom...
www.dw.com/.../mass-rom...
April 3, 2025 at 8:15 AM
A mass grave of around 130 Roman soldiers has been excavated just to the south of us in Vienna's Simmering district. The remains are all aged between 20 and 30 years old and were exclusively males who appeared to have been killed in battle. Dates indicate ~80-120 AD.
www.dw.com/.../mass-rom...
www.dw.com/.../mass-rom...
Congratulations to Katharina Luftensteiner on passing her defensio today with flying colours! Very proud of you.
April 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Congratulations to Katharina Luftensteiner on passing her defensio today with flying colours! Very proud of you.
Yes. We've dated this human tooth using the ND method. We suspended only the tooth root in water, leaving the crown out, and managed to extract enough collagen for dating. We are testing more teeth, but we can certainly try smaller ones to see how they go in terms of collagen content...
March 30, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Yes. We've dated this human tooth using the ND method. We suspended only the tooth root in water, leaving the crown out, and managed to extract enough collagen for dating. We are testing more teeth, but we can certainly try smaller ones to see how they go in terms of collagen content...
Here's a picture of some of the collagen yields obtained from bones we have analysed.
This was work done as part of a Masters research project by Katharina Luftensteiner in our lab in Vienna (highamlab.univie.ac.at)
This was work done as part of a Masters research project by Katharina Luftensteiner in our lab in Vienna (highamlab.univie.ac.at)
March 29, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Here's a picture of some of the collagen yields obtained from bones we have analysed.
This was work done as part of a Masters research project by Katharina Luftensteiner in our lab in Vienna (highamlab.univie.ac.at)
This was work done as part of a Masters research project by Katharina Luftensteiner in our lab in Vienna (highamlab.univie.ac.at)
In the paper we present a novel non-destructive method for radiocarbon dating bone. Routine techniques are destructive. They involve drilling or crushing of bone and teeth. We employed an extraction in hot water at 75-90 C to solublise collagen from archaeological bones without any visible damage.
March 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
In the paper we present a novel non-destructive method for radiocarbon dating bone. Routine techniques are destructive. They involve drilling or crushing of bone and teeth. We employed an extraction in hot water at 75-90 C to solublise collagen from archaeological bones without any visible damage.
We are looking forward to welcoming Prof. Marie Soressi to Vienna next week as part of our @heasvienna.bsky.social seminar series. This is hybrid event.
Register here: www.anthropology.at/teaching/hea...
And sign up for our newsletter too!
Register here: www.anthropology.at/teaching/hea...
And sign up for our newsletter too!
March 12, 2025 at 2:30 PM
We are looking forward to welcoming Prof. Marie Soressi to Vienna next week as part of our @heasvienna.bsky.social seminar series. This is hybrid event.
Register here: www.anthropology.at/teaching/hea...
And sign up for our newsletter too!
Register here: www.anthropology.at/teaching/hea...
And sign up for our newsletter too!
Job alert!
@katerinad.bsky.social and I are looking for an archaeologist/archaeological scientist to join us on a 4 year post-doc, helping to manage and participate in field and lab work on 2 ERC grants in our group. We would love to hear from you via the link! 👇
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Postdoct...
@katerinad.bsky.social and I are looking for an archaeologist/archaeological scientist to join us on a 4 year post-doc, helping to manage and participate in field and lab work on 2 ERC grants in our group. We would love to hear from you via the link! 👇
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Postdoct...
March 12, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Job alert!
@katerinad.bsky.social and I are looking for an archaeologist/archaeological scientist to join us on a 4 year post-doc, helping to manage and participate in field and lab work on 2 ERC grants in our group. We would love to hear from you via the link! 👇
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Postdoct...
@katerinad.bsky.social and I are looking for an archaeologist/archaeological scientist to join us on a 4 year post-doc, helping to manage and participate in field and lab work on 2 ERC grants in our group. We would love to hear from you via the link! 👇
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Postdoct...
How cool to have a PhD scholarship, and one funded by Lorde.
February 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM
How cool to have a PhD scholarship, and one funded by Lorde.
A busy week with TWO HEAS @heasvienna.bsky.social talks.
Today Oliver Pryce from the CNRS talking about the origins of the SE Asian Bronze Age.
Wednesday it's Lisa-Marie Shillito from Newcastle Uni talking about her work in geoarch! @archaeologylisa.bsky.social
These are hybrid! Register below!
Today Oliver Pryce from the CNRS talking about the origins of the SE Asian Bronze Age.
Wednesday it's Lisa-Marie Shillito from Newcastle Uni talking about her work in geoarch! @archaeologylisa.bsky.social
These are hybrid! Register below!
February 10, 2025 at 4:44 AM
A busy week with TWO HEAS @heasvienna.bsky.social talks.
Today Oliver Pryce from the CNRS talking about the origins of the SE Asian Bronze Age.
Wednesday it's Lisa-Marie Shillito from Newcastle Uni talking about her work in geoarch! @archaeologylisa.bsky.social
These are hybrid! Register below!
Today Oliver Pryce from the CNRS talking about the origins of the SE Asian Bronze Age.
Wednesday it's Lisa-Marie Shillito from Newcastle Uni talking about her work in geoarch! @archaeologylisa.bsky.social
These are hybrid! Register below!
Very proud and pleased to see my book out today in Persian.
Thank you to Elham Ghasidian for translating it and doing everything to get it published.
Thank you to Elham Ghasidian for translating it and doing everything to get it published.
February 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Very proud and pleased to see my book out today in Persian.
Thank you to Elham Ghasidian for translating it and doing everything to get it published.
Thank you to Elham Ghasidian for translating it and doing everything to get it published.
Some holiday time with the family near Salzburg on the slopes.
February 3, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Some holiday time with the family near Salzburg on the slopes.
We just finished our first 3 week practical course in AMS dating! 10 MSc students spent time pretreating samples of ancient bone and extracting the collagen for combustion, graphitisation and AMS dating. They completed our Bayesian workshop and presented their results.
highamlab.univie.ac.at/news/
highamlab.univie.ac.at/news/
January 31, 2025 at 7:04 AM
We just finished our first 3 week practical course in AMS dating! 10 MSc students spent time pretreating samples of ancient bone and extracting the collagen for combustion, graphitisation and AMS dating. They completed our Bayesian workshop and presented their results.
highamlab.univie.ac.at/news/
highamlab.univie.ac.at/news/
Latest member of the lab.
January 15, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Latest member of the lab.
Thank goodness for @michaelemann.bsky.social on channel 4 news tonight spelling out the science of climate change wrt to the Cali fires. 🔥
January 10, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Thank goodness for @michaelemann.bsky.social on channel 4 news tonight spelling out the science of climate change wrt to the Cali fires. 🔥
Happy festive season from all of us at the Douka/Higham lab - University of Vienna! Have a safe and happy Christmas break wherever you are! See you in 2025 for more 14C, palaeoproteomics, DNA and arch-sci fun!
🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️
@katerinad.bsky.social
highamlab.univie.ac.at
doukalab.univie.ac.at
🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️
@katerinad.bsky.social
highamlab.univie.ac.at
doukalab.univie.ac.at
December 21, 2024 at 9:43 PM
Happy festive season from all of us at the Douka/Higham lab - University of Vienna! Have a safe and happy Christmas break wherever you are! See you in 2025 for more 14C, palaeoproteomics, DNA and arch-sci fun!
🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️
@katerinad.bsky.social
highamlab.univie.ac.at
doukalab.univie.ac.at
🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️🔔🎄☃️❄️
@katerinad.bsky.social
highamlab.univie.ac.at
doukalab.univie.ac.at