A box of archaeological finds in bags and small boxes. Most are not visible but a Roman copper alloy brooch and a medieval buckly fragment are visible.

A Roman plate brooch. It is pear shaped and decorated with a background of blue enamel with a series of eight red circles surrounding it. It's still in a box lined with white foam.

A Roman copper alloy knee type brooch in a plastic box lined with black foam.

A Roman copper alloy bell, upside down, shown through the plastic bag it is still in.

Had a little furtle through the finds archive from Heslington East excavations in #York in a #YorkshireMuseum store.

Tasty little small finds from a mostly Roman site. A tiny selection of the 157 boxes of finds from this site.

Screenshot of a mobile webpage of the Spelling Bee Forum. There is a central image of a hoverfly on a yellow flower.

#spellingbee falling foul of poor image metadata here. That is a hoverfly, Eristalis tenax, not a bee (spelling or otherwise)

It's a honeybee mimic so would surely be delighted at succeeding in this deception!

#hoverfly
#entomology 🐝🐞

If I wanted to host a free public online talk as part of a local natural history society, what platforms are folks using for this sort of thing now?

Still Business zoom, Restream etc.?

Toddler stood in a tree lined path wearing a high-vis jacket and holding a large, red, foam hand

Thoroughly wholesome Sunday morning taking the 3yo to marshall at the local Junior #Parkrun. She's too young to run but a rockstar at helping.

Shout-out for Parkrun volunteering - it's easy, quick, has no long term obligations, and great outcomes for communities. 🫶

What a class act, thank you ❤️👌

To hear about protective amulets, creepy curses, and all sorts of freaking weird and wacky bits of Roman archaeology from right here in Britain, check it out.

Mostly I wrote the first draft on my phone over a few months whilst up during the nights with Orla waiting for her to go TF back to sleep as I sat on the stairs. So if it reads like it was written by a maniac at 3am, there is some truth in that.

It boils down a 100k word thesis into a straightforward 20k word introduction to the concept - a coffee table book on the materiality of magic in Roman Britain for people who probably like Roman history but haven't read about magic before.

Magic in Roman Britain Lavishly illustrated throughout, this fascinating book reveals the true story of magic in Roman Britain.

In the world post-PhD I've been doing various writing projects, some of which are about to see the light of day. Top of the list is Magic in Roman Britain, with Amberley.

www.amberley-books.com/current-mont...

Oh wow, this looks terrific! I think I hit the order button so hard I broke my phone

Thanks so much for the post sir, very kind of you

Hope it lives up to expectations!

Hey, Natural Science folks - come work with us in the #YorkshireMuseum

Associate Collections Curator- Biology
£26.7-£28.5k, FT, 6months

www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/about-us/our...

🦆🦌🐒🍄🌿🌴🌷

Awesome! What a great addition to the series. Love it. And well done Ben 👌

At Far Ings NNR moth club this morning. Good result of 6 species. 1 knot grass, 1 ruby tiger, 1 Muslin, 2 clouded drab, 2 Hebrew character, and 14 Common Quaker.

With the warm patch we are about a month ahead of last year's cold damp spring.

@lincswildlife.bsky.social
🦋🐝🐛🦗🪲🪳

Still thinking about the #RomanEmpire umpteen times a day, and writing about it too.

Exhibition review: Legion: Life in the Roman Army, British Museum and Women Doing Everything, Everywhere, all at Once, Verulamium Museum.

doi.org/10.1017/eaa....

🏺 #AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky

Sincere thanks 🙏

Sincere and heartfelt thanks to all who have donated to our cause already, via the crowfunder or in the museum, shared or liked the post ❤️

Momentum is on our side here!

Fine choices 👌👌
Happy Hull-ing folks!

The Trinity markets next to it is also excellent for tasty foods.

The cake is excellent there 👍

Please do come see it!

Lots of the images are subject to copyright currently, but you can find Creative commons versions of more object images can be found on the #PAS record:

finds.org.uk/database/art...

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Objects from the Melsonby Hoard displayed on plinths in a museum case.

Objects from the Melsonby Hoard displayed on plinths in a museum case.

Objects from the Melsonby Hoard displayed on plinths in a museum case.

Some close ups of the objects on display!

7/

A museum display case titled Save the Melsonby Hoard

There are parts of the hoard on public display FOR THE FIRST TIME in the foyer case of the Museum. 13 beautiful pieces of Iron Age metalwork finally in the public domain.

On display for 10 weeks.
(Also in front of the pay barrier so free to see!)

6/

... famously the seat of Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes.

The international connections displayed in the hoard makes us look with fresh eyes about the wealth and power of what we already knew were a powerful IA tribe.

Im not saying its Cartimandua chariot... But I'm not NOT saying it either.
5/

The hoard is a bit nuts from being what looks like a funerary deposit with no funeral remains. Lots of bits broken or burned or broken AND burned. Something BIG happened on this day at Melsonby in the early first century AD.

Worth mentioning that the site is right next to Stanwick hillfort...

4/

Copper alloy bridle bit comprising a linked pair of annual rings with internal open work decorations

Detail of the enameling of the bridle

Detail of a ring-and-cross on the bridle with enamel detail

I've been SO lucky to be able to play with some it and am constantly in awe of the incredible metalwork here. It's all massive, fancy and intriguing.

The hoard is mostly vehicle parts and fittings and horse harness gear.

3/

Iron Age Hoard Discovery Alters Our Understanding of Life in Britain 2,000 Years Ago | Historic England The Melsonby Hoard, a vast deposit of more than 800 items, provides an archaeological time capsule from the Iron Age around 2,000 years ago.

ICYMI:

A new hoard of over 900 late iron age objects was found by MDs in North Yorkshire. It was then exc by Durham University.

It's the largest Iron Age metalwork hoard in Great Britain!

historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/ne...

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A decorative strap junction from the iron age Melsonby hoard. It's a 20cm long figure of eight shape with openwork decorations and fragmentary coral beads all across its surface.

It's been so great to finally talk about the Melsonby Hoard. The important message missing from some of the press is the #YorkshireMuseum needs support to secure and conserve it!

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www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-m...