Tim C

Wild chimpanzees may get mildly intoxicated from alcoholic fruit Chimpanzees are consuming significant levels of alcohol from their diet of ripe fruit and the finding may help explain the origins of humans’ taste for alcohol

More on the drunken monkey hypothesis…

www.newscientist.com/article/2496...

Nice chop! (Palaeo- low taper fade?)

The East Sussex soldiers who were not allowed to fight in World War One Soldiers from the British West Indies Regiment were housed in Seaford and given non-combat roles.

Interesting historical context.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

AI satellite survey challenges long-standing estimates of Serengeti A pioneering study led by the University of Oxford in collaboration with international partners has applied AI for the first time to count the Great Wildebeest Migration from satellite images.

Worrying findings but nice application of AI

www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

Ritual sacrifice or propaganda? Oxford-led research uncovers Europe's A new study led by the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford has revealed what may be the earliest evidence of victory celebrations in European prehistory, offering a striking new

Fascinating - ritual violence in the European Neolithic. Possibly the earliest evidence of conflict propaganda.

www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...

Nice find.

White stork - surprisingly graceful when airborne.

Haha!

theonion.com/overwhelmed-...

Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire from the weekend. I always think certain heritage buildings photograph well in black and white. Maybe it speaks to the dimension of time.

Climate change ‘could kill off the traditional Bakewell tart’ Californian heatwaves and droughts threaten global almond supply

Unexpected collision of climate change, culture & heritage. Bakewell tart, invented in the 1800s & quintessentially British. Bakers report disruption to almond supply & unstable prices. Extreme heat & declining water in California (= 80% of the global harvest)

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...

A couple of shots whilst recharging - near Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales

The trees have eyes…

A few years ago, a friend visiting from Ethiopia said to me about the British countryside, ‘I did not know there were so many greens’. Great words and, despite trying, I can do no better.

Seal pup

Buoyant, the size of a lentil and almost impossible to recover: how nurdles are polluting the oceans Millions of the tiny plastic pellets are being washed up on the coast of Kerala in India in the latest in a series of global spills, as plastic treaty talks continue in Geneva

Good grief.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pleased with this shot of a Welsh puffin from a few weeks back.

Oil painting by Winston Churchill, 1916 entitled 'Plug Street' (the British Army's nickname for Ploegsteert, in Flanders). The painting shows the building at Lawrence Farm where Churchill and other officers were billeted.

Woody is back.

Digital archaeology is thrilling but does it bring past closer? There is a risk, surely, that the more efficient the retrieval, the less meaningful the encounter

Interesting. As the author notes, knowledge is not the same as understanding. However, the prospects of digital decipherment and the technologies that underpin it are huge.

www.thetimes.com/article/88ea...

Tattoos are everywhere these days. (One student joked to me a few months ago that they weren’t getting one to be a bit different!) Research reminds us tattoos have been with us a long, long time.

www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

A photo from Parliament on Monday. Elizabeth I in the House of Commons: “With this ring I was wedded to the realm”. (The picture depicts her being petitioned by the Commons to marry.)

British men collect world relay golds 28 years late Britain's men’s 4x400m relay team were presented with their gold medals from the 1997 World Championships at London's Diamond League meeting on Saturday having been elevated from silver after the belated disqualification of the U.S. team.

Nice that this could be done in front of a home crowd. It was a golden era of British 400m talent.

www.reuters.com/sports/athle...

ECHGS Hub conference, 15 Nov 2023 (online)

Fascinating day yesterday at Oxford University’s Endangered Cultural Heritage in the Global South (ECHGS) Hub’s Digital Heritage and the Global South conference. See link for more info on the hub and events
www.arch.ox.ac.uk/echgs-hub-0

Bayeux Tapestry to return to British Museum on loan after 900 years Bayeux Tapestry will be shown at the British Museum, which will lend treasures to Normandy museums.

Fab.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Introduction: is the human past a history of colonialism? This introduction sets out the rationale for this collection of papers by exploring the question what and how does colonialism from within Africa look like, and can it be compared to other forms? I...

New article with @chirikure.bsky.social - linked to a journal special issue we edited together on expressions of colonialism from within Africa. Full text available at link.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Northumberland Roman Fort mystery over large shoes Eight of the Roman shoes are at least 30cm (11.8in) long - the equivalent of a UK size 13 to 14.

Big shoes to fill… The Dark Ages were to follow the Romans.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Novel take on AI as “normal technology” in contrast to utopian and dystopian visions (of the future) of AI which treat it akin to a separate, super-intelligent species.

knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...

Last week was London Climate Action Week. Had the opportunity to speak about climate security risk & resilience at several events, including at EU Mission. Climate change impacts everything from geopolitics & military capabilities to economics & health security. We need to prioritise response.

📣📣 We are holding an online event on Digital Heritage & the Global South on 15 July looking AI & the value & challenges it presents. Registration is FREE - please follow 🔗👉🏻
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/92c52c...

More info found👇🏻
www.arch.ox.ac.uk/echgs-hub-0#...

@unioxarchaeology.bsky.social