Dr. Walter Crist

Roman rock-crystal icosahedron (20-sided dice) used in fortune-telling.
Each face has a Latin letter on it and a corresponding Roman numeral, then matched with pre-prepared oracle answers in a divination handbook.
Currently at the Louvre.
#Witchsky

One of the Lewis Chessmen - currently on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Found in 1831 on a beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the Chessmen dates to the late 12th or early 13th century. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #LewisChessmen #NMS

*Almost* true. Cats ambled into Europe millennia earlier then demanded to be let out again.

In response to the deluge of messages on casting in The Odyssey:

Helen was born from an 🥚 Don’t talk to me about historical veracity.

🤔🤔 Could be possible! I’ve seen that kind of decoration on lots of bone artifacts cross-culturally, though. Would probably have to be just for dice; I doubt it would be big enough to hold enough counters for something like ludus latrunculorum or duodecim scripta.

Glass marbles in various colours, deformed and melted into clusters by fire.

Melted marbles from Moria, the largest migrant camp in Europe, which burnt down in 2020.
The material culture of border crossings is often intentionally erased. Preserving and studying it is essential to understanding this contemporary #archaeology 🏺

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

Erich von Däniken, Swiss writer who spawned alien archaeology, dies at 90 Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose books on the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him both fame and scorn, has died at age 90.

He laid out the m.o. of modern pseudo-archaeology, i.e., repeat false claims and never correct them: " “Chariots of the Gods” was followed by more than two dozen similar books, spawning a literary niche in which fact and fantasy were mixed together against all historical and scientific evidence."

🚨Urgent‼️ The EAA has doxxed members who have been working to reestablish justice, democracy and accountability in the association. This is a chilling move. We must take action. ALL EAA MEMBERS OUT FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING THIS FRIDAY JAN 9TH! #EAAforDemocracy

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Archaeologists discover unique mosaic patolli board at Guatemalan Maya city In a study published in Latin American Antiquity, Dr. Julien Hiquet and Dr. Rémi Méreuze analyzed the remains of a unique mosaic-style patolli game board discovered in the Classic Period city of Naach...

Archaeologists discover unique mosaic patolli board at Guatemalan Maya city.
phys.org/news/2025-11...

Archaeologists discover unique mosaic patolli board at Guatemalan Maya city In a study published in Latin American Antiquity, Dr. Julien Hiquet and Dr. Rémi Méreuze analyzed the remains of a unique mosaic-style patolli game board discovered in the Classic Period city of Naach...

Le patolli est un des plus vieux jeux de société d’Amérique. Le premier plateau de patolli en mosaïque jamais trouvé vient de l’être à Naachtun, une cité maya du Peten. Daté du Ve siècle ap. J.-C., il était intégré au sol d’une résidence
phys.org/news/2025-11...

I love this; it’s a testament to how, even in a past that to us is harsh, full of toil and uncertainty, and more difficult than we usually experience, people still found time to play games and enjoy themselves.

This fragment of #gaming board & counters were found at the #Trimontium fort site. Probably used by #Roman soldiers to play Latrunculi or Ludus Latrunculorum, the counters are made of recycled Samian ware & glass.

📷
Board & counters, Trimontium Trust
Ludus latrunculorum, Spain CC BY-SA 4.0

We are glad to announce that the calls for our grant scheme have been published on our website.
Find there all information about the application process for:
-ITC Conference Grant
-Short Term Scientific Missions
-Dissemination Grants
-Young Researchers and Innovators Conference Grant

Link below

Screaming this from the mountaintops! (or the biggest hill i can find in NL)

🚨IOF STEALING HERITAGE
The IOF stormed the town of Al-Maza'a Al-Sharqiyah in the West Bank and stole an ancient column from it!
Does the leadership of @asor-research.bsky.social - who had no problem hosting and partying with many 🇮🇱 archaeologists at their congress 2 weeks ago - have anything to say?

We found a game board on top of the Temple of Taffeh at @rmoudheden.bsky.social 😁

Verleden verteld | Onderzoek op de tempel - Rijksmuseum van Oudheden Conservator Daniël Soliman en onderzoekers Aris Politopoulos en Walter Crist gaan het dak op van de Egyptische tempel in het museum.

𝗪𝗮𝘁 𝘇𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗸 𝗱𝗮𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝗸?

Ism Daniel Soliman (RMO) troffen archeologen @apolitopoulos.bsky.social & @waltros.bsky.social (@unileiden.bsky.social) een bordspel aan op het dak van de tempel @rmoudheden.bsky.social

🎙️In deze podcast vertellen ze over de ontdekking⤵️

@leidencity.bsky.social

Academia Wrapped, 2025:

Survived. Barely.

Also:

The Spartans

Great doctoral student funding opportunity here that includes those who research on Cyprus. 🏺

yesssssss it was wayyyy back in 2002

Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild

Moufflon (Cyprus)
Diamondback rattlesnake (Arizona)
Humpback whale (Massachusetts)
European hedgehog (Netherlands)
American black bear (New York)

Hard to find decent turkey here in NL so I settled for pork loin braised with apples and rosé, transcendent garlic mashed potatoes (thank you, French butter), hot honey glazed brussels sprouts and cranberries with gin and kumquats 😁

Will anyone at this year's conference ask for ASOR to be held to account for its active complicity with the archaeology-washing of apartheid and genocide in Palestine? How are they complicit, you might ask? Here's a refresher 🧵 1/

Happy Birthday!!

Two sets of dome-shaped game pieces are displayed on a gray surface, with each set containing 10 pieces. The arrangement of the pieces is loose.

Some 1,500 years ago, a child was buried with a set of game pieces made of animal bones.
Single game pieces are frequently found in early medieval graves in south-west Germany, but complete sets are rare.
Found in Herbolzheim, 500-550 AD.

📷 Landesmuseum Württemberg

🏺 #archaeology

Black American soldiers literally dug these WWII graves. Traumatic. To acknowledge that fact at a cemetery they helped construct is something the Heritage Foundation cannot accept. As Veterans Day approaches, never forget that this country both compels and disrespects Black military service. Always.

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

Poster titled BOYCOTT EAA-ATHENS, with a circle/slash crossing out the EAA 2026 Athens logo. This is an urgent call for all members of the archaeological community to join this boycott. Do not submit a session to the EAA until Eszter Banffy steps down as president of the EAA after her anti-democratic actions. There has been a concerted campaign of intimidation against individual members of the board, including large numbers of threatening and defamatory emails and individual participants, groups, and student volunteers have been intimidated. Even after close documentation of her shameful autocratic actions in the press and on social media, she refuses to step down. We cannot let this happen, this is not what we stand for as a community. Many departments and institutions already decided not to participate and submit sessions after it has become clear that the EAA has not resolved its issues. Do not submit a session until Banffy steps down. If you have already submitted a session, retract it.

BOYCOTT EAA-ATHENS 2026 🏺

This is not a BTC action but we are helping to disseminate this call, as the president of the EAA has shown great willingness for reprisals.

Please distribute widely, particularly to offline colleagues.