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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab

@brusselsbioarch.bsky.social
1.6K followers 2.7K following 40 posts

BB-LAB was established in 2021 at Vrije Universiteit Brussel by @christophe-fire.bsky.social to increase the synergy between bioarchaeological researchers in Brussels and beyond! Based at @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Celebrating the start of the academic year with our @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social friends 🥼😎🎓🔥☀️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social
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Emma Legrand @emmalegrand.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
🗣️ New paper! 🗣️ The mobility patterns of the population of Gallo-Roman Tienen (Belgium) are keeping you up at night? Wondering if there is more than mobility reflected in these 87Sr/86Sr results? This is very relatable, and conveniently, I have the right paper for you! It's accessible right there 👇
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
We are on our way to @isba11.bsky.social 🚅 Ready for a week of archaeology and science 🏺🦴🦷🧪⚛️🥼🍝🍕
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Hannah James @toothdetective.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Our bioavailable strontium baseline for Corsica is out! ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ranges from 0.7075 to 0.7169 and was established from 245 plant & soil leachate samples from 125 sites. Check out the article here lnkd.in/e6pDJFCY and the dataset can be downloaded from the IsoArcH database here lnkd.in/eFNS5Xbw
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
This weekend our team traveled to Thessaloniki to celebrate the end of the #TEFRA project with two days of exciting conferences! 🔥🔥
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Rosalie Hermans @rosaliehermans.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Prepping for the Phytolith Morphometry Workshop at #IMPR2025 in Barcelona this July! We’ll dive into the some hands-on 3D modelling of phytoliths. 👉 For scholars attending the IMPR, please feel free to attend the workshop by registering before May 31!
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
📣 Data, data, data 📣 The BBLAB crew spent the day compiling our isotope data in the @isoarch.bsky.social version 3.0 database! Thanks @isotopistrachel.bsky.social & @tloeffelmann.bsky.social for teaching us the ropes 🧗🏻‍♀️ #openaccessdata #archaeology #fairandcare
Group of researchers sitting around table with laptops smiling at the camera.
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Rosalie Hermans @rosaliehermans.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
🔷 Join us on Friday (online)! 🔷 @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social @amgc-vub.bsky.social @open-phytoliths.bsky.social
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Anneminne Frère @anneminnefrere.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
📢 New paper alert! 📢 I’m really happy to share our latest publication in AJBA! We explore how sampling cremated petrous parts & teeth helps reconstruct life histories and cremation practices 🔥. You can find our paper through this link: doi.org/10.1002/ajpa... (1/6)
doi.org
Reconstructing Life Histories: New Insights Into Cremation Practices, Mobility, and Food Consumption Patterns Through Isotope and Infrared Analyses of Petrous Parts and Teeth
This graph shows the strontium results of the individuals from Herstal, Belgium.
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Elisavet Stamataki @elliestam.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Paper Alert 🔥 Want to learn more about Roman cremations? Can’t sleep because you keep thinking about how the Romans burned their dead? Then don't miss our latest paper & download it for free here: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
authors.elsevier.com
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Rosalie Hermans @rosaliehermans.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
🌿 I’m excited to be speaking at the upcoming Open Research Meeting. Join us to discuss how we can share phytolith images more openly within the community. 🗓️ 9 May, 16:00–17:00 UTC+1 💻 Online 🔗 Register: turing-uk.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
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Christophe Snoeck @christophe-fire.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
The LOCO project is looking for 2 PhDs and 2 Post-docs in (bio-)archaeology, history, geochemistry, and digital humanities. This joint project between VUB, KUL, and UGent looks at the mobility of people, materials, and ideas in the Low Countries. Apply before 30 April 2025 😀
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Join us in Belgium! Two PhD and two postdocs are available on the LOCO project. Its a great opportunity to work with a large interdisciplinary team examining the mobility of people, materials and ideas 💡
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Annals of Botany @annbot.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
🎉 Good news! The paper ‘Phytoliths in dicotyledons occurring in Northwest Europe: establishing a baseline’ by R. Hermans et al. is now #free for a limited time 1/7 👉 doi.org/pdrp @rosaliehermans.bsky.social @christophe-fire.bsky.social @caestromberg.bsky.social @tloeffelmann.bsky.social
Next time you feel the sharp sting of a nettle (Urtica), think of its fascinating stinging microhairs - here around 150–200 µm in length - with irritating chemicals stored in their bulbous heads. 
The study study investigates plant silica bodies (phytoliths), including these microhairs and other morphotypes, of extant dicotyledons prevalent in North-Western Europe, establishing a baseline for botanical, archaeobotanical, and palaeoecological research.
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Annals of Botany @annbot.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
🌿🏺This study lays the foundation for refining NW Europe's phytolith reference database. With more data, we can better reconstruct ancient environments and human-plant interactions. (7/7) 👉 doi.org/pdrp @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social @stromberglab.bsky.social @amgc-vub.bsky.social #AoBpapers
doi.org
Phytoliths in dicotyledons occurring in Northwest Europe: establishing a baseline
AbstractBackground and Aims. The absence of a modern plant-based ‘dicotyledon’ phytolith reference baseline impedes the accurate interpretation of fossil p
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
It was hard work…what can I say…..🤣
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
📞 Ypres calling! Special delivery📦🚚 Barbara, Martijn, and Charlotte visited the BAAC depot last Friday and collected the first batch of skeletons from the Sint-Maarten parish in Ypres🦴 But who were these medieval city-dwellers, and where did they come from..?🧪💀 Like for part 2?🤔 #Sr&O #osteology
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Great work by @rosaliehermans.bsky.social and team on developing an expanded baseline for NW Europe 🌱🔬🔥
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Rosalie Hermans @rosaliehermans.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 (1/5) Excited to share that our latest paper on dicotyledon phytoliths in NW Europe can now be found here! 🌱🔬 This study fills a gap by documenting and analyzing phytoliths from 74 dicot species. If you want a free access link to the paper, contact us! 📩
academic.oup.com
Phytoliths in dicotyledons occurring in Northwest Europe: establishing a baseline
AbstractBackground and Aims. The absence of a modern plant-based ‘dicotyledon’ phytolith reference baseline impedes the accurate interpretation of fossil p
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
This multiproxy analysis of the large Tilburg-Udenhoutseweg urnfield uncovered social networks! Local mobility and preferential land use was seen and nonadults & women were enjoying different diets than men! 🔥🦴🌿🍖
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Let’s explore the prehistoric landscapes of the Netherlands: enjoy our open access article www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Lively landscapes: Sex- and age-related differences in diet and land use characterising a Late Bronze-Early Iron Age community from Tilburg, the Netherlands
The Late Bronze-Early Iron Age (LBA-EIA)urnfield of Tilburg-Udenhoutseweg yielded 229 cremation graves with various features.This large cemetery is a …
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
BBLAB has so much to celebrate! 🎉 @christophe-fire.bsky.social's 10-year milestone at VUB and his recent PhD Supervisor Prize, plus the arrival of new members set the stage for an exciting 2025. Here’s to a year filled with research, isotopes and collaboration!
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Welcoming our newest postdoc Dr Danaé Guiserix with a morning of mass spec training! @isotopistrachel.bsky.social @christophe-fire.bsky.social @toothdetective.bsky.social @tloeffelmann.bsky.social @amgc-vub.bsky.social
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Fantastic paper on Medieval Ypres. Great job Rachel Spros and the rest of the team!
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Great work by our recent joint SHOC and AMGC PhD graduate @isotopistrachel.bsky.social on leading this comprehensive isotope study. As part of the Make-up of the City project, Dr Spros measured 🦷🦷🦷 from the inhabitants of medieval Ypres to uncover their mobility patterns! @amgc-vub.bsky.social
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
New paper out by @jbioarch.bsky.social on Legaire Sur (Álava, Spain), a Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic transition burial tomb. This period was a time of notable population expansion, technological advancement, as well as social and economic change. Isotopic analysis of 🦷& 🦴tells us more 🧵1/6
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ISBA11 Turin @isba11.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
ALERT! ⚠️🚨 The deadline for the ISBA11 abstract submission is quickly approaching - January 20th! CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT www.isba11.com/abstract-sub... #archaeology #biomoleculararchaeology #ISBA #ISBA11 #archaeologists @isbarchaeology.bsky.social @archaeobiomics.bsky.social
isba11.com
Abstract Submission – ISBA 2025
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
My new office for the next three weeks: researching New Kingdom skeletons at Gebel el-Silsila, Egypt @amgc-vub.bsky.social @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social
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Matthew Collins @matthewcollins.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
ISBA @isbarchaeology.bsky.social heads to Turin! 🇮🇹 Call for abstracts for biomolecular archaeology's premier conference, @isba11.bsky.social. Spotlight on ancient biomolecules, isotopes & their stories of the past 🧬 Human-environment interactions foodways, mobility & more 🏛️ Deadline: Jan 20, 2025
Panoramic view of Turin with the iconic Mole Antonelliana dome rising above the cityscape, backed by snow-capped Alps. Golden evening light illuminates the historic architecture and grand boulevards of this Italian city that will host ISBA 11. Image: Turin by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar, 31 March 2013, via Wikimedia Commons
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Massive congrats to @Christophe-fire.bsky.social on winning a VUB Brussel Excellent PhD Supervisor Award. Your support and enthusiasm mean the 🌍 to the team 🔥 @amgc-vub.bsky.social
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Rosalie Hermans @rosaliehermans.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
So excited to share our accepted manuscript! It sets up a dicot phytolith baseline for NW Europe. Phytolith researchers working on reference materials know how time-consuming this type of work is 🥵, I hope it will be useful to many. Happy reading soon and feel free to reach out!
academic.oup.com
Phytoliths in dicotyledons occurring in North-western Europe: Establishing a baseline
AbstractBackground and Aims. The absence of a modern plant-based ‘dicotyledon’ phytolith reference baseline impedes the accurate interpretation of fossil p
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Great work by @rosaliehermans.bsky.social & the team on developing a dicot phytolith baseline for NW Europe to make it easier accurately interpret archaeological and palaeoecological data! @tloeffelmann.bsky.social @christophe-fire.bsky.social @caestromberg.bsky.social @amgc-vub.bsky.social 🌱🌿
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Jacob I. Griffith @jbioarch.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
A recap of this year's research with the FWO. Plant sampling in Latvia with the team (inc. @christophe-fire.bsky.social / @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social ). Bring back the summer!
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Last week, @christophe-fire.bsky.social was in Trento, to attend the MOLA workshop, part of Dr Giacomo Capuzzo's MSCA post-doc fellowship. The first exciting results were presented, which use multi-isotope analyses of inhumation & cremations in the Italian Alps from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Archaeobotany practical. Thank you Frits and Annette! @amgc-vub.bsky.social @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social
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James Harland @jmharland.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Thanks to @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social and Femke Lippok for hosting a marvellous launch of ‘Cremation in the Early Middle Ages’! The whole volume can now be read for free Open Access or purchased in hard copy or pdf at www.sidestone.com/books/cremat...
sidestone.com
Cremation in the Early Middle Ages @ Sidestone Press
Cremation in the Early Middle Ages draws together the latest research and thinking on early medieval cremation practices. The book takes you on a journey through 19 chapters exploring cremation practi...
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Such a great achievement! Well done Amanda!
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
The first Belgium’s strontium isoscape is out now! Amanda Sengeløv & the team provide the first 604 plant samples from 220 locations, with more data coming soon! Paper here👇 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Dataset available on @isoarch.bsky.social 👇https://doi.org/10.48530/ISOARCH.2024.001
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
This month @elliestam.bsky.social and @osteolady.bsky.social have been working on the excavation of LBA/EIA cremation graves at Steenwijk in The Netherlands. The cremation depositions will come back to AMGC to be CT scanned and then micro-excavated!
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
What does research on the past bring to people living today? This was discussed live on national radio last Sunday, when @isotopistrachel.bsky.social was interviewed by De Ochtend on VRT Radio 1 about her research on medieval Ypres. Missed it? You find it here: www.vrt.be/vrtmax/luist...
vrt.be
VRT MAX
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
It's great to have you here with us!
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Sam Tipper @sntipper.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
We have 100 bioarchaeologists on the starter list 🤩 great to see so many of us here! #starterlist #archaeology #osteology #bioarchaeology go.bsky.app/N5yfURb
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
New BB-LAB paper out 👍🏻 Marta Hlad and the team identified and characterised patterns in cremation analysis practices through an online survey of those working on cremated human remains 👇 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org
Practitioner preferences in the analysis of cremation deposits in archaeology and biological anthropology: An overview of current osteoarchaeological practices with a focus on sex estimation
Osteological data, such as biological sex, constitute a base for research in paleodemography and palaeopathology, as well as for understanding past socio-cultural practices. Despite extensive research...
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Dr Barbara Veselka @osteolady.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Beautiful ring ditches….did you spot them? @amgc-vub.bsky.social @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social
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Elisavet Stamataki @elliestam.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself 🙋🏼‍♀️ I am from Greece 🇬🇷 but I live in Belgium🇧🇪I am a joint PhD researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and Université libre de Bruxelles. For my PhD I investigate how cremation was performed in past societies using infrared and isotope analyses.
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ISBA11 Turin @isba11.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Abstract submission for ISBA11 is now open! We look foward to all your submissions www.isba11.com/abstract-sub... #Archaeology #Biomoleculararchaeology #ISBA #ISBA11 #ISBAconference #archaeologists @archaeobiomics.bsky.social
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Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab @brusselsbioarch.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
A city with impact! @isotopistrachel.bsky.social's recently finished PhD work on Ypres is featured in Historiek historiek.net/hoe-middelee...
historiek.net
Hoe middeleeuws Ieper zijn bevolking voedde: nieuwe inzichten uit skeletonderzoek
Uit nieuw onderzoek blijkt dat de rijkere Ieperse bovenlaag van de stadsbevolking tamelijk honkvast was. Deze rijkere inwoners hadden het tamelijk goed en lieten hun vlees geregeld van ver aanvoeren.
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Archaeology, Environmental Changes & Geo-Chemistry @amgc-vub.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Time & Space! At this years Wetenschapfestival Brussel, our @amgc-vub.bsky.social team presented themes of both archaeology and cosmo chemistry under one roof, presenting samples, creating art, and giving out free (temporary) tattoos 🦷🦴🔥☄️🌘🪨🚀 Well done to the whole team!
@jbio
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