Thread by @LittleMsFossil

Americans who caught my series ‘Neanderthal’ on PBS... THANKS so much. Sorry I never got round to responding to you all- hope to eventually. I wanted to recommend some leading researchers to follow:

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@chrisstringer65 is really the don of Neanderthal research and was our consultant on the show. He’s also a joy of a human being and his theories, opinions and collaborations are highly sought after.

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@jjhublin Another thought leader in the field, his use of technology within the field is particularly notable and revolutionary and he leads a group that really is at the cutting edge of the field.

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@MMartinonT If you think Neanderthals are contentious the period at the beginning or just before is hugely so and fascinating. Few understand & have theorised about the most significant site from this period (Atapuerca) like Maria. She's also my long suffering supervisor

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@tommyhigham If you are interested in the dating of Neanderthals and their sites
@johnhawks it is no longer about just bones with Neanderthals, it is also about genes. John is going to be the best at explaining how the two interact.

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There are a lot of interesting Neanderthal excavations around... @MarieSoressi & @CliveFinlayson head up quite different sites. Both of these directors have sites which are constantly churning out discoveries. If you are students there may also be spots on their excavations.

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-Interested in ancient genetics? Keep your eye on the analyses of @jfkelso
-I'm also excited by the work done analysing Neanderthal DNA by @David_Gokhman
-Not strictly specialising in Neanderthals but my undergrad supervisor @mt_genes is brilliant with evolutionary genetics

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-You know what method is exciting the bejesus out of me? ZooMS PLEASE keep your eye on what @Katerina__Douka is up to and finding out with this tech... & where her collaborations lead
-@FossilHistory is BRILLIANT at explaining the history of Neanderthal research

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SO many researchers who work on Neanderthals are missing from this list and so many incredible researchers aren't even on twitter but this is a start!

Also... while not Neanderthals @MDPetraglia is doing some fascinating work in Arabia & elsewhere with regards the human journey