Toba eruption – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

Articles on Toba eruption

September 11, 2025

A massive eruption 74,000 years ago affected the whole planet – archaeologists use volcanic glass to figure out how people survived

Jayde N. Hirniak, Arizona State University

Researchers can study volcanic deposits at archaeological sites to piece together how ancient people responded to catastrophic events.

July 20, 2021

Ben Black, Rutgers University and Anja Schmidt, University of Cambridge

Toba eruption caused temperatures to plummet by up to 10°C in some regions – but not where most humans lived.

February 25, 2020

Chris Clarkson, The University of Queensland and Michael Petraglia, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

An archaeological site in India sheds new light on how ancient humans dispersed from Africa across the world.

Ben Black
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University
Michael Petraglia
Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University
Chris Clarkson
Chair professor, Griffith University
Anja Schmidt
Interdisciplinary Lecturer in Climate Modelling, University of Cambridge
Jagannath Pal
Professor of Archaeology, University of Allahabad
Jayde N. Hirniak
Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University