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Nicolas Martin

@nclsmartin.bsky.social
501 followers 224 following 29 posts

Biological anthropologist | PhD Interested in the population history of North Africa (Late Pleistocene - Holocene) | Dental anthropology - Bony labyrinth morphology

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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 04/09/2026
Using inner ear morphology from 148 individuals, this study reveals 40,000 years of human evolution, interaction, and isolation. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @nclsmartin.bsky.social @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social @pacea.bsky.social @univbordeaux.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social
nature.com
Bony labyrinth morphology reveals deep population history and isolation among Homo sapiens in prehistoric northeastern Africa (44–3 ka) - Nature Communications
Little is known of the Homo sapiens population history in late prehistoric northeastern Africa. Using inner ear morphology from 148 individuals, this study documents 40.000 years of human evolution, i...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
In case you missed it over the summer, take a look at our latest study the #prehistory of northeastern #Africa ! A thread below ⬇️ Out now in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Bony labyrinth morphology reveals deep population history and isolation among Homo sapiens in prehistoric northeastern Africa (44–3 ka) - Nature Communications
Little is known of the Homo sapiens population history in late prehistoric northeastern Africa. Using inner ear morphology from 148 individuals, this study documents 40.000 years of human evolution, i...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Jérôme Isle de Beauchaine @jibeauchaine.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Just published my first paper ! 😊 In the AJBA, we present new data on the dental morphology of an Aurignacian mandible from Les Rois, in Southwest France 🦷🔍 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The Dentition of the Aurignacian Mandible Les Rois 2, France: New Data and Taxonomic Reassessment
Objective This study provides new dental phenotypic data on the Aurignacian mandible Les Rois 2 (southwestern France). A former study of its dental morphology concluded that its taxonomic assignment...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Isabelle Crevecoeur @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
‼️ Huge congrats to @nclsmartin.bsky.social for this paper showcasing the excellence of his PhD work 👏👏! I couldn't hope for a better outcome after years of great collaboration with our international partners! ⚠️⬇️ A must-read on #Prehistory & human population dynamics in #Africa #Paleoanthropology
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
🚨 New paper out in @natcomms.nature.com! We used bony labyrinth morphology to reconstruct over 40,000 years of human population history in northeastern Africa, a region where ancient DNA is almost entirely unavailable. A thread 🧵 ⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/11
nature.com
Bony labyrinth morphology reveals deep population history and isolation among Homo sapiens in prehistoric northeastern Africa (44–3 ka) - Nature Communications
Little is known of the Homo sapiens population history in late prehistoric northeastern Africa. Using inner ear morphology from 148 individuals, this study documents 40.000 years of human evolution, i...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Huge thanks to all 26 co-authors, curating institutions across Africa, Europe and America, and the many colleagues who provided access to collections. @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social @pacea.bsky.social @univbordeaux.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social 📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 11/11
nature.com
Bony labyrinth morphology reveals deep population history and isolation among Homo sapiens in prehistoric northeastern Africa (44–3 ka) - Nature Communications
Little is known of the Homo sapiens population history in late prehistoric northeastern Africa. Using inner ear morphology from 148 individuals, this study documents 40.000 years of human evolution, i...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
This study shows that bony labyrinth morphology can yield remarkable insights into population history even where ancient DNA is unavailable, opening new avenues for research across Africa and beyond, where molecular preservation remains a major obstacle. 10/11
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Together, these findings highlight northeastern Africa as a region of deep population complexity: not a simple corridor for human movement, but a mosaic of interconnected yet distinct groups shaped by climate, geography, and social dynamics over tens of thousands of years. 9/11
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
These conditions can be genetically encoded and highly heritable. We link this elevated frequency in Early Holocene forager groups with periods of reduced population connectivity, small effective population sizes, and possible endogamy under climatic constraints during the late Pleistocene. 8/11
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Perhaps our most striking finding: a subgroup of 13 individuals, mostly Early Holocene foragers from the Middle Nile Valley, show unusual inner ear morphology AND congenital pathological changes (enlarged vestibular aqueducts, cochlear nerve canal stenosis) 👂 7/11
Individuals with unusual bony labyrinth morphologies (left) and congenital pathological changes seen in several individuals (right).
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
We also highlight that individuals from the Horn of Africa and Central Africa show major morphological diversity, similar to the differences seen between populations further north. This hints at complex population substructure and dynamic histories in these regions during the Holocene. 6/11
Disparity metrics of some population studied. In particular the Central African and Horn of Africa samples show high disparity.
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Despite this discontinuity, Middle Nile Valley foragers show remarkable continuity with Late Pleistocene African fossils dating 44-20 ka. These groups may represent deeply divergent African lineages, possibly related to the "ghost Green Saharans" suggested by ancient DNA studies. 5/11
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Our first result: a clear biological discontinuity at the Neolithic transition (~8,000 years ago) in the Middle Nile Valley. The first food producers were biologically distinct from the preceding foragers, confirming a major demographic shift, likely linked to migrations towards the region. 4/11
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The bony labyrinth carries a strong phylogenetic signal. Its shape varies between populations and is remarkably stable through an individual's lifetime. We therefore analysed this structure in 148 individuals spanning 44,000 years across northeastern Africa and Eurasia. 3/11
3D model of a fossil skull and bony labyrinth (left), and location of the regions studied (right).
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Northeastern Africa was a key crossroads for human dispersals in and out of Africa. But ancient DNA from the region is extremely scarce. So how do we reconstruct its prehistoric population history? We turned to a fascinating proxy: the bony labyrinth of the inner ear 🦴👂 2/11
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
🚨 New paper out in @natcomms.nature.com! We used bony labyrinth morphology to reconstruct over 40,000 years of human population history in northeastern Africa, a region where ancient DNA is almost entirely unavailable. A thread 🧵 ⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/11
nature.com
Bony labyrinth morphology reveals deep population history and isolation among Homo sapiens in prehistoric northeastern Africa (44–3 ka) - Nature Communications
Little is known of the Homo sapiens population history in late prehistoric northeastern Africa. Using inner ear morphology from 148 individuals, this study documents 40.000 years of human evolution, i...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
2026 is off to a great start 🚀 Some exciting new results on northeastern Africa have just been resubmitted, and a brand-new postdoc project is launching with @nhm-london.bsky.social, supported by the @fondationfyssen.bsky.social. Stay tuned for more soon ✨
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Open access alert! 📝 Our paper is now free to read. Take a look if you haven't yet: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Well... here we are, I guess! Just submitted my PhD and it feels pretty unreal! So proud of this journey! More exciting data on the Nile Valley is coming, plus some new projects to announce soon. Stay tuned, this adventure is far from over! 👀 @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social @pacea.bsky.social
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Enrico R. Crema @ercrema.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
⚠️Paper Alert!⚠️ Excited to share this paper with @roccoro.bsky.social where we examined whether ceramic technology in Saharan Africa was the result of a single or multiple episodes of innovation & diffusion rdcu.be/eJi3g
rdcu.be
Bayesian analyses of radiocarbon dates suggest multiple origins of ceramic technology in Early Holocene Africa
Nature Communications - Several possible points of origin have been proposed for the spread of ceramic technology in Saharan Africa between 11–10,000 years ago. Here, the authors...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
#ESHE2025 Super talk by @nclsmartin.bsky.social ‘Bony labyrinth morphology reveals 40,000 years of settlement history and population isolation in NE Africa’ Nile Valley: pop discontinuity in late Up Ple – endogamy? AHP pop connectivity Horn: also ~biol isolation, pathologies! huge variation
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Thrilled to be once again at #ESHE2025, this year in Paris! 🇫🇷 Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be presenting our latest findings on the population history of Northeastern Africa 🌍 — with new data on continuity, isolation, and the inner ear. 👂 Stay tuned!
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Isabelle Crevecoeur @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
‼️📣Extremely proud to see this great collaborative work out! Oldest Shell Ornament Workshop in Western Europe at Saint-Césaire: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1... #Prehistory #Archaeology #Chatelperronian #Shells #Beads #Homosapiens #Neandertal #Ornament Details of discovery & implications ⏬ 🧵 1/20
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Michelle Langley @michellelangley.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
New paper out! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org
Cultural, economic, and settlement shifts over the last 9,000 years at Kakapel Rockshelter, Western Kenya
The spread of food production in sub-Saharan Africa involved multi-directional dispersals of domesticated plant and animal species, often associated with major migrations. The Lake Victoria Basin of e...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Société d'Anthropologie de Paris (SAP) @sapanthropologie.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
It is with deep sadness that the SAP announces the passing of Jaroslav Brůžek, Professor at the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague and Emeritus Research Director at the CNRS. The scientific community has lost a pillar; the SAP has lost a dear friend.
Jaroslav Brůžek at the SAP conference
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Arev P. Sümer @arevsumer.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
SAfA 2025 in Faro is starting in 2 days! I will be presenting our preliminary results from Hattab II Cave on Tuesday afternoon at session 43. Come see my presentation if you are interested in the possible late persistence of the Iberomaurusian at this site :) #AncientDNA
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Tomos Proffitt @tomosproffitt.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Very happy to announce that a new postdoctoral position on the New ERC funded Western Rift Archaeology and Palaeoenvironment Project is open - if you're a geologist or geochronologist come and join us at @icarehb.bsky.social euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/358068 Feel free to share it around.
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
ANNOUNCEMENT INTERNATIONAL TENDER FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF A POST-DOCTORAL ASSOCIATE RESEARCHER
recruit one (1) ) post-doctoral assistant researcherresearcher to perform duties in the scientific area of Geochronology / Plio-Pleistocene Geology or related areas, under the research project “
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Journal of Anatomy @journalofanatomy.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
🦷 A common embryological, developmental, and genetic background is shared between dentine and cortical bone. @mathilde-augoyard.bsky.social and team found coordinated variation between their volumes in human limb bones and teeth, suggesting shared factors influencing their postnatal development 🦴
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
🚨14.000 years of population history revealed!🚨 What happened to the late prehistoric populations in the Nile Valley? Our new study uncovers major migrations, population replacement and regional mobility at the Neolithic transition! 1/7🧵 👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Enamel–dentine junction morphology reveals population replacement and mobility in the late prehistoric Middle Nile Valley | PNAS
Transitions from foraging to food-production represent a worldwide turning point in recent human history. In the Middle Nile Valley this cultural s...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 24/04/2025
Read highlights in this week’s issue of PNAS: We uncover the prehistoric population history of the Middle Nile Valley, explore Pacific cupped oysters and hitchhiking invaders, and analyze how an antibody prevents fertilization at the egg-sperm interface. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Pictured is a mustached monkey (Cercopithecus cephus) at ZooParc de Beauval, France. Rayhane Nchioua et al. investigated the origins of unusually high cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) dinucleotide levels in simian immunodeficiency viruses found in mustached monkeys and mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona).

CREDIT: ZooParc de Beauval.
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 08/04/2025
A look at the enamel–dentine junctions of the teeth of ancient Egyptians suggests that foraging people were replaced by farmers during the 6th millennium BCE, rather than taking up farming themselves. Some foragers persisted in Sudan. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Enamel–dentine junctions of late prehistoric individuals from the Nile Valley. 

CREDIT: Nicolas Martin
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
MPI-EVA Leipzig @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Ancient genomes from the Green #Sahara. Study led by @nadasalem.bsky.social, @hringbauer.bsky.social & Johannes Krause reveals a long-isolated North African human lineage in the Central Sahara during the African Humid Period over 7,000 years ago. tinyurl.com/43maxc7k & www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
A great summary of our latest article has just been published by our colleagues at the @unikarlova.cuni.cz. Thanks so much for this! www.ff.cuni.cz/2025/04/food... 📃Access to the original paper 📃: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social @pacea.bsky.social
ff.cuni.cz
Food Production Was Brought to the Nile Valley by New Populations. Czech Scientists Help Unravel Migration Events Dating back Eight Thousand Years | Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy
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CNRS Écologie & Environnement @cnrsecologie.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
#RésultatScientifique🔎 Une étude menée par le laboratoire PACEA révèle des découvertes inédites sur le peuplement de l'Égypte et du Soudan, grâce à l'analyse de dents humaines vieilles de 4 000 à 18 000 ans. ▶️ www.inee.cnrs.fr/fr/cnrsinfo/...
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HEAS @heasvienna.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
We are looking forward to welcoming Matthew Skinner @matthewskinnerphd.bsky.social to Vienna next week for a #HEASSeminar in #HumanEvolutionandthePalaeolithic. Registration for online and in-person participation is on our website 🔗👇 www.heas.at/events/heas-...
heas.at
HEAS Seminar - Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic - HEAS
As part of the HEAS Seminar Series in Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic, Matthew Skinner from Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology will give a talk on How hidden structures of bones a...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
This work results from a long-term collaboration of researchers from international institutions and support by the local authorities. Thanks so much to all co-authors, including @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social, @clement-zanolli.bsky.social, @fredericsantos.bsky.social !
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
This research was funded by @univbordeaux.bsky.social, @cnrs.fr, @cnrsecologie.bsky.social, @agencerecherche.bsky.social, @unikarlova.cuni.cz, Czech Science fondation, @ncn.gov.pl @pacea.bsky.social 7/7
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Want to read more about these exciting new data? Read the full paper here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 📃 6/7
pnas.org
Enamel–dentine junction morphology reveals population replacement and mobility in the late prehistoric Middle Nile Valley | PNAS
Transitions from foraging to food-production represent a worldwide turning point in recent human history. In the Middle Nile Valley this cultural s...
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
We also discovered evidence of mobility along the Wadi Howar river during the Neolithic period: some individuals from the desert show a "Nilotic-like" signal, while individuals from the Southern Dongola Reach (along the Nile) show a forager/desert-like ancestry - suggesting regional exchanges.🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ 5/7
Map showing the location of the mid-Holocene samples included and their respective population (colors) and cultural affinities (dashed lines). Mobility and interactions along the Wadi Howar
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Interestingly, while the new food-producing population replaced the previous hunter-gatherers along the Nile, we identified a forager-related population in the Eastern Sahara. This suggests that Neolithic newcomers did not extend further into the desert margins and settled along the Nile only. 4/7
Schematic synthesis of the settlement processes and population history of the Nile Valley from the Late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
We found significant morphological differences between the last foragers and first food-producers in the region. Considering the extremely high phylogenetic signal of the EDJ, this provides clear evidence of biological discontinuity and migration towards the valley at the Neolithic transition 🔄 3/7
Schematic representation of the chronological variation in the morphology of the enamel-dentine junction (UM1)
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
We analyzed the enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) -a highly reliable proxy for population affinities- of 88 individuals from Late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene sites in Sudan and Southern Egypt. We focused on the first and second upper molars of these individuals. 🦷 2/7
Digitization of a first upper molar (Left) and views of the enamel dentine junction of two individuals (Right)
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
🚨14.000 years of population history revealed!🚨 What happened to the late prehistoric populations in the Nile Valley? Our new study uncovers major migrations, population replacement and regional mobility at the Neolithic transition! 1/7🧵 👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Enamel–dentine junction morphology reveals population replacement and mobility in the late prehistoric Middle Nile Valley | PNAS
Transitions from foraging to food-production represent a worldwide turning point in recent human history. In the Middle Nile Valley this cultural s...
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Reposted by Nicolas Martin
Sam Tipper @sntipper.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Are you a PGR or ECR working on research to do with Sudan, South Sudan or Egypt? The Sudan Studies Research conference cfp is open for abstract submissions! Deadline is the 31st March www.sudan-conference.com #sudan #southsudan #egypt #law #policy #education #science #heritage #archaeology
Cfp for Sudan studies conference
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a-urciuoli.bsky.social @a-urciuoli.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
🧵 1/2 PhD Opportunity! Join my new HEAR lab @ the University of Zurich (Sept 2025) to research hominin hearing evolution. 4yr contract, SNSF funded. Focus: cochlear anatomy, computational modeling, fossil hearing. shorturl.at/ohH44
shorturl.at
Open PhD position on Biomechanics and Anatomy of the Ape and Hominin Organ of Hearing
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European Society for the Study of Human Evolution @eshesociety.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
ESHE 2025 goes to Paris, France! Join us in person for talks and posters from Sept 25–27, with a public keynote on Sept 24. Excursion details are coming soon. More info on the meetings page this March! #ESHE2025
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Isabelle Crevecoeur @isabellecrevecoeur.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Last field season at Hara Idé 3 #Djibouti. Great team and PSPCA program led by @jessiecauliez.bsky.social. Lets now focus on publishing our results on this unique Late Pleistocene archaeological site ! #LSA #HornofAfrica #Afar #Prehistory #Paleoanthropology @cnrs.bsky.social @pacea.bsky.social
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Thomas Perrin @tperrin.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
On continue de parler de nous dans la presse !-) Continuez à signer, les membres de l'ESR et à faire signer : on vient de passer les 7500 signataires 👍 www.challenges.fr/politique/de...
challenges.fr
« Décision déplorable », « consternation »… le CNRS face à une fronde des chercheurs - Challenges
Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique fait face à une fronde inédite de ses chercheurs. Ils dénoncent la politique élitiste de leur PDG, Antoine Petit, qui veut labelliser et promouvoir une ...
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Katerina Harvati @katharv.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Another article on the JHE resignations: www.wired.com/story/editor... (image from article, emphasis added) Could not agree more. The PaleoAnthropology journal is peer reviewed, copyedited by humans, open access, community-owned, no publication fees. Time to move forward www.paleoanthropology.org
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Nicolas Martin @nclsmartin.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
🚨 This is your New Year reminder to submit an abstract if you're interested in participating to our session at the next #SAfA2025 meetings (session #18). The deadline is on Jan. 31st
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