Ben Marwick
January 25, 2021
Ancient food scraps provide clues to past rainfall in Australia’s Northern Territory
A new study led by the University of Queensland and involving the University of Washington provides a glimpse into the Australia’s ancient climate and early human occupation.
November 18, 2020
UW introduces new minor in data science
Responding to the burgeoning amounts of data being generated across disciplines, and the development of new tools for working with these data, the University of Washington now offers a minor track for non-STEM students in data science. It’s one of the first such programs in the country.
August 29, 2019
Crowdsourced archaeology shows how humans have influenced Earth for thousands of years
A new map synthesized from more than 250 archaeologists worldwide, including from the University of Washington, argues that the human imprint on our planet’s soil goes back much earlier than the nuclear age.
November 19, 2018
The ‘Swiss Army knife of prehistoric tools’ found in Asia, independent of ancient African or European influence
A study by an international team of researchers, including from the University of Washington, determines that carved stone tools, also known as Levallois cores, were used in Asia 80,000 to 170,000 years ago. With the find — and absent human fossils linking the tools to migrating populations — researchers believe people in Asia developed the technology independently, evidence of similar sets of skills evolving throughout different parts of the ancient world.
July 19, 2017
Artifacts suggest humans arrived in Australia earlier than thought
When and how the first humans made their way to Australia has been an evolving story. While it is accepted that humans appeared in Africa some 200,000 years ago, scientists in recent years have placed the approximate date of human settlement in Australia further and further back in time, as part of ongoing questions…
May 25, 2017
UW anthropologist: Why researchers should share computer code
For years, scientists have discussed whether and how to share data from painstaking research and costly experiments. Some are further along in their efforts toward “open science” than others: Fields such as astronomy and oceanography, for example, involve such expensive and large-scale equipment and logistical challenges to data collection that collaboration among institutions has become…