Trevor Wiley

"This book is not just a celebration of one of the most interesting medieval historians of our time; it is a working through of the radical implications of her work.” Mark Gardiner @lincolnmedieval.bsky.social. And it has a tremendous cast list...

Crowds on the Halifax waterfront.

December 1917 - Fully embroiled in the First World War Halifax was quickly evolving into a world class port and major base of naval operations. /thread #HalifaxExplosion

I’ve been thinking about the intellectual and affective labor involved in reading AI Generated student papers. I’m forecasting a little of the proposal that @cnygren.bsky.social and I advance in a piece that’ll be out soon but here’s where I’ve personally landed (o speak for myself not for us both):

It really is! I had my advisor send me a link to it just to urge me to start using some of its images in my presentation slides....

Carved in Stone by Stout Stoat A storyteller's guide to the Picts, and the ancient lands of 7th Century Scotland.

Taking a break from academic writing to pen a small one-shot adventure using the Carved in Stone guide to run for some friends...

At the end of the 7th c., friends travel across Scotland fulfilling their comrade's last wish - to seek the fabled treasure (a silver lion?) in an ancient Roman ruin...

People of the past: Building a future for Scotland’s archaeological human remains  | The Past National Museums Scotland holds one of the largest collections of archaeological human remains from Scotland. Following the creation of cutting-edge facilit ...

Hot off the presses! Thrilled to be a part of this important new initiative at National Museums Scotland:

People of the past: Building a future for Scotland’s archaeological human remains, in the latest @currentarchaeology.bsky.social magazine or with subscription at the-past.com/feature/peop...

The Isle of May.

Dec 2: Feast of Ethernan, holy man who may be the Itarnan whose death among the Picts in 669 is noted by the Irish annals. The shrine church on the Isle of May was dedicated to him, as were places of worship at nearby Pittenweem and Kilrenny. 📸William Starkey #medievalsky

That's what I always figure, and I'm very grateful for whoever cleared their desk!

Yes, always fun to be lucky like this! Thank you!

$25 total for them (I am bragging)

A lap of used books including Before France and Germany, From Memory to Written Record, and Communities of Violence.

Alright which one of you dumped a bunch of good stuff at your local used bookstore

3D reconstruction of the early medieval timber churches of Northumbrian-period Whithorn monastery, by Smart History, University of St Andrews, available on Open Virtual Worlds https://stage.openvirtualworlds.org/reconstruction-page/?itemid=4113

Me, tomorrow!

How to (re)build an early medieval church: new light on the Whithorn ‘minster’ and shrine

@firstmillennia.bsky.social 18:00, Tuesday 2 Dec
Sydney Smith Lecture Theatre, University of Edinburgh, Old Medical School, Teviot Place (enter via doorway 1)

A cormorant drying its wings

I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday, please enjoy this photo of a cormorant drying its wings

You really have to read this thread. The genius of Tom Stoppard, the fragility of memory, the magic of theatre — and the glorious stubbornness of a researcher who would not stop.

Finlaggan-fest @socantscot.bsky.social just wrapped - what a fantastic talk from David Caldwell covering over 1000 years of #archaeology & #history, & decades of digging & analyses 🏰 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⚔️ grab a copy of the monograph if you haven’t already! 📖 #Finlaggan #Islay #Scotland #medievalsky #skystorians

'Extraordinary discovery' at Orkney's Ness of Brodgar Neolithic site Archaeologists are to resume digging at the site after 3D radar technology uncovered a mystery find.

I'm hugely in favour of mysterious 'extraordinary' archaeological discoveries that are 'like nothing else ever found at the site' and which are shrouded in secrecy.

There's definitely nothing unnatural or spooky happening at Ness. Don't worry about it!

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

Tracing rebellion in the chemistry of Roman coins - Connecting Research

Britannia, 274 AD. A rogue general has defied Rome to form a splinter state and, somewhere in Wiltshire, 55,000 coins are buried in the dirt.

Now, analysis of their alloys is letting archaeologist @kmurphster.bsky.social track an empire's rise & fall

Read our blog 🔗 rdg.ac/4notWE9
#AncientSky

Now there's a soundscape!

There really is no bad version I've found!

open.spotify.com/track/1I6Yqx...

King Penda’s Apache Attack Helicopters: A poem in alliterative verse by Martin Vine ...weapons of wonder ‧ Weland crafted -- / with elven pilots, Penda’s gleaming / Apache attack ‧ helicopters ...

Here's a bit of alliterative humor from the redoubtable Martin Vine. #alliterative #poetry #medievalsky
alliteration.net/poetry/king-pendas-apache-attack-helicopters/

OTD in 680 CE Hild of Whitby died. Ever year I celebrate. This year by a) showing off my fabulous, specially commissioned snakestone cast in silver to wear as a lapel pin, silver jacket pin cast in silver, and her death
b) my imagined version of her grave marker

Absolutely! Every illustration was bursting with real-life vibrancy, and I was particularly taken by the image on p.45 of all the different people across the region showing the variability and individual intrigue. I'm so glad to see a game that proudly shows off all the color we know was there!

Of course, I was most taken by the little guy in one illustration noting how the Firth of Forth isn't really a barrier and his cousins on the southern side speak Pictish too, but every single bit was stunning.

Might have to set up a few digital one-shots to share the love!

Alright so I actually checked and realized I got the PDF advance copy and I did a quick read and wow, this is an absolutely essential book for anyone interested in the Picts. Combines the latest research with beautiful images and encourages RPG play as a way of understanding/interpreting the past!

And yes, I will be running Pictish one-shot adventures...

The ruins of the 13th-century Whitby Abbey.

Nov 17: Feast of Hild (c.614-680), abbess. She succeeded Heiu in charge of Heruteu (Hartlepool) before founding, or refounding, Streanæshalch (Whitby), where she championed the 'Irish' dating of Easter at the synod in 664. She later founded a monastery at Hacanos (Hackness). #medievalsky

Very excited for this - should be getting my copy soon!

Want to walk into and through an actual Iron Age house…and UP THE STAIRS?
Of course you bloody do.
Come with me.

Carn Liath broch, just sitting quietly beside the A9 as thousands whizz by without stopping. Their mistake.
Far too excited to wait for #HillfortsWednesday

A view of the University of Miami campus with lush tropical greenery and paths.

Saying goodbye to the beautiful venue of #Haskins2025 after two and a half days of brilliant papers and even better conversations over coffee and drinks. Eagerly looking forward to the next one.