Thomas Higham

Biographic Data

ID	73420
NAME	Thomas Higham
GIVEN NAMES	Thomas
FAMILY NAME	Higham
SIGNATURE	HIGHAM T
AFFILIATIONS	University of Oxford
VERIFIED	No
TOTAL WORKS	69
TOTAL CITATIONS	1670
AUTHOR COUNT	68
EDITOR COUNT	1
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR	1834
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR	2026
H-INDEX	17

Younger Dryas reindeer in northwest Europe: A multi-isotope study of the palaeoecology and mobility of Chelm’s Combe fauna, Britain
Open AccessR E Stevens, Hazel Reade et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Environments and Humans2026
Reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ) played a central role in the subsistence strategies of Late and Final Palaeolithic populations across northern Europe, particularly during the Younger Dryas (c. 12,850–11,650 cal BP). However, while reindeer are known from securely dated Younger Dryas faunal contexts in Britain, they are not associated with archaeological assemblages, and there is currently no conclusive evidence for human presence in Britain at the…
Cold and arid climates experienced by Central European hunter-gatherers at Stránská skála IV during the Last Glacial Maximum
Open AccessR E Stevens, Hazel Reade et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2025References: 4
Several studies have argued that human presence in Central Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) may have been restricted to brief periods of climate warming. In particular, Greenland Interstadial-2 (GI-2, c.23,300–22,800 BP), a brief warm event recorded in Greenland ice-core stratigraphy, has been associated with human activity at Central European sites such as Kastelhöhle-Nord and Y-Höhle (Switzerland), and Kammern-Grubgraben (Austria). …
Investigating the co-occurrence of Neanderthals and modern humans in Belgium through direct radiocarbon dating of bone implements
Open AccessGrégory Abrams, Thibaut Devièse et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2024Cited by: 7References: 42
A refined chronology for the Middle and early Upper Paleolithic sequence of Riparo Mochi (Liguria, Italy)
Open AccessMarine Frouin, Katerina Douka et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2022Cited by: 11References: 70
The Riparo Mochi rock shelter, located on the Ligurian coast of Italy, is one of the most important early Upper Paleolithic sites on the Mediterranean rim. Its ∼10-m-deep stratigraphy comprises a Mousterian sequence, followed by various development stages of the Upper Paleolithic. A series of radiometric dates on marine shells bearing traces of human modification has provided a chronological framework for the final Mousterian and the Proto-Aurign…
Examining collagen preservation through glutamine deamidation at Denisova Cave
Open AccessSamantha Brown, Maxim Kozlikin et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2021Cited by: 3References: 12
Early Upper Palaeolithic occupation at Gelimgoush cave, Kermanshah; West-Central Zagros mountains of Iran
Open AccessSaman Heydari-Guran, Saman Heydari‐Guran et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science…2021Cited by: 3References: 22
The Tempo of Cultural Change in the Kostenki Upper Paleolithic: Further Insights
Open AccessRob Dinnis, A Bessudnov et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2021Cited by: 3References: 27
The Kostenki-Borshchevo site complex (Voronezh region, Russia) serves as the foundation of Eastern Europe’s Upper Paleolithic chronocultural framework. Here we present new radiocarbon dates for three Kostenki sites. Dates of ∼27.5–27 ka BP for Kostenki 15 suggest that its archaeological layer accumulated over a short period. These results help to confirm that the site is unrelated to Aurignacian assemblages. New dates for the Kostenki-Avdeevo Cul…
Dating the last Middle Palaeolithic of the Crimean Peninsula: New hydroxyproline AMS dates from the site of Kabazi II
Open AccessLuke Spindler, Daniel Comeskey et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2021Cited by: 10References: 45
Two Probable Cases of Infection with Treponema pallidum during the Neolithic Period in Northern Vietnam (ca. 2000–1500 B.C.)
M Vlok, Marc F Oxenham et al.ARTICLEBioarchaeology International2020
Skeletal evidence of two probable cases of treponematosis, caused by infection with the bacterium Treponema pallidum, from the northern Vietnamese early Neolithic site of Man Bac (1906–1523 cal B.C.) is described. The presence of nodes of subperiosteal new bone directly associated with superficial focal cavitations in a young adult male and a seven-year- old child are strongly diagnostic for treponemal disease. Climatic and epidemiological contex…
A refined chronology for the Gravettian sequence of Abri Pataud
Open AccessKaterina Douka, Laurent Chiotti et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2020Cited by: 17References: 44
A late Neanderthal tooth from northeastern Italy
Open AccessMatteo Romandini, G Oxilia et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2020References: 93
Challenges in sample processing within radiocarbon dating and their impact in 14C-dates-as-data studies
Open AccessLorena Becerra-Valdivia, Rodrigo Leal-Cervantes et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2019Cited by: 7References: 75
The Middle and Upper Palaeolithic at La Crouzade cave (Gruissan, Aude, France): New excavations and a chronostratigraphic framework
Open AccessT Saos, Sophie Grégoire et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2019Cited by: 7References: 30
The Gravettian child mandible from El Castillo Cave (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain)
Open AccessM D Garralda, José-Manuel Maíllo-Fernández et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2019Cited by: 9References: 45
OBJECTIVES: This article documents an incomplete child's mandible found in H. Obermaier's excavation campaign (in 1912) in El Castillo Cave, Spain. This fossil was assigned to what was then considered a phase of the "Aurignacian-delta". MATERIALS AND METHODS: We exhaustively analyzed the original Obermaier documents, with particular attention to those corresponding to the year of the discovery. We extracted a bone sample to radiocarbon date the f…
New data for the Early Upper Paleolithic of Kostenki (Russia)
Open AccessRob Dinnis, Alexander Bessudnov et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2019Cited by: 42References: 90
The genomic history of southeastern Europe
Open AccessIain Mathieson, Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg et al.ARTICLENature2018
The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe
Open AccessIñigo Olalde, Selina Brace et al.ARTICLENature2018
Newly discovered Aurignacian engraved blocks from Abri Cellier: History, context and dating
Open AccessRandall White, Raphaëlle Bourrillon et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2018
Nitrogen content variation in archaeological bone and its implications for stable isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating
Open AccessEileen Jacob, Diletta Querci et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2018Cited by: 11References: 7
Histories of deposition: Creating chronologies for the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transition in Southern Britain
Kate Waddington, Alex Bayli et al.ARTICLEArchaeological Journal2018Cited by: 4References: 8
The Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age midden sites of Southern Britain are amongst the richest archaeological sites in the country. The organic accumulations contain substantial quantities of animal bone, decorated ceramics, metalwork and other objects; the often deep stratigraphy allows for changes in material culture and depositional practices, food production and consumption, and shifts in social identities, to be traced through time. The well-st…
AMS Dating of the Late Copper Age Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria
Open AccessThomas Higham, Vladimir Slavchev et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2018Cited by: 5References: 17
The Varna I cemetery, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, is one of the most remarkable sites in European prehistory, with the world’s earliest large-scale assemblage of gold artifacts. Modeling of the first series of 14 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates yielded a duration of occupation at the site of ca. 150 years, ~4600–4450 cal BC. However, there were insufficient paired human–animal dates for a full consideration of the question of the …
Feeding ancient cities in South Asia: Dating the Adoption of Rice, Millet and Tropical Pulses in the Indus Civilisation-Corrigendum
Open AccessCameron A Petrie, J Bates et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2018References: 1
The Kostënki 18 child burial and the cultural and funerary landscape of Mid Upper Palaeolithic European Russia
Open AccessNick Reynolds, Rob Dinnis et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2017Cited by: 30References: 19
Dating the Middle Paleolithic deposits of La Quina Amont (Charente, France) using luminescence methods
Open AccessMarine Frouin, Christelle Lahaye et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2017Cited by: 16References: 56
El Castillo (Cantabria, northern Iberia) and the Transitional Aurignacian: Using radiocarbon dating to assess site taphonomy
Open AccessRachel Wood, Federico Bernaldo De Quirós et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2016Cited by: 49References: 30

The Oriental annual, or, Scenes in India /
James Baylis Allen, James Charles Armytage et al.BOOK1834
which arrested our gaze as we passed them, required no ordinary steadiness of brain, and the road A THUNDERSTORM.
Radiocarbon Age Assessment of a New, Near Background Iaea 14 C Quality Assurance Material
Open AccessA G Hogg, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon1995Cited by: 6References: 2
The 14 C Quality Assurance Programme coordinated by the IAEA (Rozanski et al. 1992) prepared a set of five new intercomparison materials, including 40–50 ka old subfossil wood excavated from New Zealand peat bogs (IAEA C-4 standard). Statistical analysis of 79 14 C measurements made on the wood indicated considerable variation in the results, with a marked skewness toward more modern values. The wide range of results and the possibility of inhomo…
The prehistoric chronology of Raoul Island, the Kermadec Group
Open AccessThomas Higham, T F G Higham et al.ARTICLEArchaeology in Oceania/Archæology…1997Cited by: 1References: 14
Raoul, the largest of the Kermadec group of islands, has been investigated twice by archaeologists and radiocarbon dating of the south‐east end of the Low Flat site has resulted in 10th century AD age estimates. We have re‐dated the critical south‐east end of the lower settlement horizon and the overlying upper settlement horizon at Low Flat using shell samples. We conclude that the two horizons represent a short term settlement sequence. In addi…
Dating the first New Zealanders: The chronology of Wairau Bar
Open AccessThomas Higham, T F G Higham et al.ARTICLEAntiquity1999Cited by: 10References: 19
The first colonization of New Zealand is a much debated issue. The lack of appropriate absolute dating has meant chronology has been poorly understood. New 14C dating of materials from archaic Polynesian graves and occupation levels provides important precision and understanding of early exploitation on New Zealand
Bone Diagenesis and Radiocarbon Dating of Fish Bones at the Shag River Mouth Site, New Zealand
Open AccessFiona Petchey, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2000Cited by: 14References: 12
An early modern human from the Peştera cu Oase, Romania
Open AccessE Trinkaus, Oana Moldovan et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2003
The 2002 discovery of a robust modern human mandible in the Peştera cu Oase, southwestern Romania, provides evidence of early modern humans in the lower Danubian Corridor. Directly accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ( 14 C)-dated to 34,000–36,000 14 C years B.P., the Oase 1 mandible is the oldest definite early modern human specimen in Europe and provides perspectives on the emergence and evolution of early modern humans in the northwester…
Towards High-Precision AMS: Progress and Limitations
Open AccessChristopher B Ramsey, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2004Cited by: 89References: 11
Precision and accuracy in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating relies on the systematic reduction of errors at all stages of the dating process, from sampling to AMS measurement. With new AMS systems providing much better precision and accuracy for the final stage of the process, we need to review the process as a whole to test the accuracy of reported results. A new High Voltage Engineering Europa (HVEE) AMS system was accepted at Oxford i…
Improvements to the Pretreatment of Bone at Oxford
Open AccessChristopher B Ramsey, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2004Cited by: 175References: 3
Bone is one of the most widely used materials for dating archaeological activity. It is also relatively difficult to pretreat effectively and new methods are an area of active research. The purpose of the chemical pretreatment of bone is to remove contaminants present from burial and to do so in a way which does not add any additional laboratory contaminant. To some extent, these two aims must be balanced since, on the whole, the more complex the…
Reassessing the chronology of Biblical Edom: New excavations and14C dates from Khirbat en-Nahas (Jordan)
Open AccessT E Levy, Russell B Adams et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2004Cited by: 17References: 17
An international team of researchers show how high-precision radiocarbon dating is liberating us from chronological assumptions based on Biblical research. Surface and topographic mapping at the large copper-working site of Khirbat en-Nahas was followed by stratigraphic excavations at an ancient fortress and two metal processing facilities located on the site surface. The results were spectacular. Occupation begins here in the eleventh century BC…
Diet-Derived Variations in Radiocarbon and Stable Isotopes: A Case Study from Shag River Mouth, New Zealand
Open AccessThomas Higham, A Anderson et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2005Cited by: 2References: 22
Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) determinations of rat bones from natural and cultural sites in New Zealand have produced ages at odds with the accepted date for early human settlement by over 1000 yr. Since rats are a human commensal, this implies either an earlier visitation by people or problems with the reliability of the AMS determinations. One explanation for the extreme ages is dietary variation involving movement of depleted radiocarbo…
Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze Age 1700-1400 B.C.
Open AccessW Manning, Sturt W Manning et al.ARTICLEScience2006
Radiocarbon (carbon-14) data from the Aegean Bronze Age 1700–1400 B.C. show that the Santorini (Thera) eruption must have occurred in the late 17th century B.C. By using carbon-14 dates from the surrounding region, cultural phases, and Bayesian statistical analysis, we established a chronology for the initial Aegean Late Bronze Age cultural phases (Late Minoan IA, IB, and II). This chronology contrasts with conventional archaeological dates and c…
Response to Beavan Athfield's “Comment on ‘Diet-Derived Variations in Radiocarbon and Stable Isotopes: A Case Study from Shag River Mouth, New Zealand’”
Open AccessA Anderson, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2006References: 1
Beavan Athfield (2006) has commented on our recent paper in this journal (Higham et al. 2005). In our opinion, both in her response and in Beavan Athfield (2004) she misrepresents the evidence and conclusions presented by Anderson (2000). She claims (Beavan Athfield 2006:117) that Andersons (2000) Figure 6, which is reproduced as Beavan Athfields (2004) Figure 1, shows that ages of ancient rat bone gelatin in 1995-1996 (NZA numbers 4000-6000) wer…
St David of Wales: Cult, Church and Nation
Joan Evans, J Wyn Evans et al.BOOKSt David of Wales2007
Quality Assurance of Ultrafiltered Bone Dating
Open AccessFiona Brock, Christopher B Ramsey et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2007Cited by: 82References: 11
Ultrafiltration of bone collagen provides a method of purification that can be very effective in reducing environmental contamination from soil-derived amino acids as well as removing degraded collagen or other short-chain proteins. The Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) first implemented ultrafiltration in the pretreatment of bone material for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating in 2000. However, the filters themselves…
Late Neandertals in Southeastern Iberia: Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, Murcia, Spain
Open AccessMichael Walker, Michael J Walker et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2008
Middle Paleolithic fossil human remains from the Sima de las Palomas in southeastern Iberia (dated to ≤43,000–40,000 calendar years before present) present a suite of derived Neandertal and/or retained ancestral morphological features in the mandibular symphysis, mandibular ramus, dental occlusal morphology, and distal hand phalanx. These traits are combined with variation in the mandibular corpus, discrete dental morphology, tooth root lengths, …
High-precision radiocarbon dating and historical biblical archaeology in southern Jordan
Open AccessT E Levy, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2008
Recent excavations and high-precision radiocarbon dating from the largest Iron Age (IA, ca. 1200–500 BCE) copper production center in the southern Levant demonstrate major smelting activities in the region of biblical Edom (southern Jordan) during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. Stratified radiocarbon samples and artifacts were recorded with precise digital surveying tools linked to a geographic information system developed to control on-site spa…
Immunological evidence of Plasmodium falciparum infection in an Egyptian child mummy from the Early Dynastic Period
Open AccessRaffaella Bianucci, Grazia Mattutino et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2008Cited by: 9References: 2
Problems with radiocarbon dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy
Open AccessThomas Higham, T F G Higham et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Science Reviews2009
L’art aurignacien dans la décoration de la Grotte de Fumane
Open AccessAlberto Broglio, Mirco De Stefani et al.ARTICLEL Anthropologie2009
New data on the late Neandertals: Direct dating of the Belgian Spy fossils
Open AccessPatrick Semal, Hélène Rougier et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2009Cited by: 105References: 19
In Eurasia, the period between 40,000 and 30,000 BP saw the replacement of Neandertals by anatomically modern humans (AMH) during and after the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. The human fossil record for this period is very poorly defined with no overlap between Neandertals and AMH on the basis of direct dates. Four new 14 C dates were obtained on the two adult Neandertals from Spy (Belgium). The results show that Neandertals survived to …
A new chronological framework for prehistoric Southeast Asia, based on a Bayesian model from Ban Non Wat
Open AccessC Higham, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2009Cited by: 43References: 17
The authors offer a new chronological framework for prehistoric Southeast Asia, based mainly on the Bayesian modelling of 75 radiocarbon dates from well-stratified excavations at Ban Non Wat. The results are revolutionary. Neolithic practice now begins in the second millennium and hierarchical state-forming activity is dated to a 'starburst' around 1000 BC. The authors reflect on the social implications of the new model - and on the criteria for …
The Influence of Pretreatment Chemistry on the Radiocarbon Dating of Campanian Ignimbrite-Aged Charcoal from Kostenki 14 (Russia)
Open AccessKaterina Douka, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2010
The presence of an independently dated marker in an archaeological site offers rare opportunities for assessing the reliability of radiocarbon dates, especially when these are close to the age limit of the technique. Two different pretreatment protocols (routine ABA and more rigorous ABOx-SC) were employed in the chemical preparation of the same charcoal sample from a layer closely associated to the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra at the Russian Pala…
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Châtelperronian
Open AccessThomas Higham, T F G Higham et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2010
There is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of Neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into Western Europe, around 35,000–40,000 B.P. The site of the Grotte du Renne (at Arcy-sur-Cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among Neanderthals. A range of ornaments and tools usually associated with moder…
Radiocarbon Dating, Stable Isotope Analysis, and Diet-Derived Offsets in 14 C Ages from the Klin-Yar Site, Russian North Caucasus
Open AccessThomas Higham, Rebecca Warren et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2010Cited by: 18References: 37
The influence of geothermally derived carbon on the radiocarbon dating of human bone from archaeological sites is poorly understood and has rarely been rigorously examined. This study identifies a previously unknown reservoir effect at the archaeological site of Klin-Yar in the Russian North Caucasus. AMS-dated human bones yielded results that were older than expected when compared with dates of coins found in the same grave contexts. We investig…
Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)
Open AccessFiona Brock, Thomas Higham et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2010Cited by: 254References: 41
In this paper, we summarize the main chemical pretreatment protocols currently used for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, updating the protocols last described by Hedges et al. (1989)