Madam Archaeologist

These perforated shells are thought to be beads and the oldest known jewellery in the world, made by early Homo sapiens. Traces of red pigment suggest that they were originally decorated. Found at Bizmoune Cave, Morocco and dated to ~142,000 years ago.

The main reasons I’ve heard are that 1) geneticists don’t take into account the perspectives of archaeologists and 2) that they don’t consider the political implications of their findings. 1 couldn’t be further from the truth and with regards to 2, it should be the truth we’re after (or getting as close to it as possible), not rewriting our findings to please a certain group of people or to align with our personal views. I think that some archaeologists are worried that ancient DNA will undermine the discipline of archaeology, but that’s not going to happen. The perspectives are complementary, and ancient DNA can shed light on aspects of the past that we can’t understand from looking at artefacts/monuments/bones alone, and it also has the potential to solve many debates in archaeology (especially those pertaining to demic vs cultural diffusion).

David Reich on how much ancient DNA evidence has overturned so much consensus thinking how ancient cultures spread. "It wasn't peaceful, it wasn't friendly, it wasn't nice. Some of our archaeologist co-authors were just really distressed."