Dr Rowan English

A collection of four carved gaming pieces in the form of resting lions, made from ivory

I was transfixed in the Petrie museum yesterday by these seated lion playing pieces. True works of art in Ivory!

A 12th-century depiction of Bede writing.

May 25: Feast of Bede (673-735), priest of Gyruum (Jarrow), biblical scholar. Wrote Ecclesiastical History of the English People. When news of his death reached missionaries, Boniface wrote ‘the candle of the Church, lit by the Holy Spirit, was extinguished’. Originally May 26. #medievalsky

Rhiannon Garth Jones on lessons from Rome – and why they’re bad A guest post from the author of "All Roads Lead to Rome: Why we think of the Roman Empire daily’.

I wrote something for @jonnelledge.bsky.social's excellent newsletter on meritocracy, linking the current US government, the British empire, the obsession with Rome, and what I think we're missing:

jonn.substack.com/p/rhiannon-g...

All Roads Lead to Rome: Why we think about the Roman Empire daily by Rhiannon Garth Jones Pre-order your copy now

Okay since people are now reading my book(!!!), I am going to remind myself of the lovely things the early reviewers said when they read it. And maybe also encourage more of you to order a copy and read for yourselves!

geni.us/AllRoadsLead...

A little spoonful of some of our favourite ancient utensils! 🥄

You can find the dog and duck spoons on display in Galleries 22 and 19.

🐕🥄 Spoon of carved hippopotamus ivory, Egypt, around 3325–3125 BCE. AN1895.902

The left side of a leopard carved in ivory is shown facing slightly away, with its jaws around prey in copper alloy. The leopard has spots incised into its body, and its tail is curling up around it's back right haunch. Links of a copper alloy chain are attached to the figure where the prey is placed.

#FindsFriday
One of most evocative #Roman London finds ever: leopard as ivory knife handle.
Tiny little thing <6cm long was buried 3-4 C in Southwark w 14 year old girl who originated from southern med.
Inspired @carolawrence.bsky.social time travelling kids' book. 🏺

📷 @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social

Today, I'm highlighting some of the historical people that feature in my book – that might give more a flavour than "not just Rome!"

Let's kick off with Constantine the Great, founder of New Rome (Nea Rhome in Greek, Nova Roma in Latin). More commonly known as Constantinople, or Constantine's city.

Sufjan Steven's Illinois with Robert Prevost over the Superman drawing in the original album cover

Data are everywhere…

“Here, we examine an unusual source of information: classic Chinese poetry. From 724 ancient poems containing references to the Yangtze finless porpoise (N. asiaeorientalis), we infer that the range of this subspecies has contracted by at least 65% over the past 1400 years.”

I am thrilled to have successfully defended my PhD thesis on Wednesday last week. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate and share this experience with friends & colleagues in Aarhus and beyond. If you'd be interested in reading about ivory & long-distance trade in late antiquity, get in touch.

Sunday Times headline: "I inherited my parents' house, now I'm classed as a second home owner."

Because you have two homes?

Longest Known Inscription in the Undeciphered Linear A Script of Minoan civilization, Found on an Ivory Scepter in Knossos A team of archaeologists has discovered in Knossos, on the Greek island of Crete, the longest Linear A inscription found to date. The script appears on a circular ivory object with an attached…

A new Linear A inscription just changed the game: long, ritual-rich, and no numerals—unlike the usual admin tablets. But the handle? Full of numbers. Ceremony meets record-keeping in one Bronze Age artifact. 🌀📜🪔 #LinearA #MinoanMysteries #Archaeology

Message me if you’re interested in the Zoom link

My PhD defence is happening two weeks today!

Image fo a seal - by someone that has not seen one - from Valenciennes, ms 0320, Thomas de Cantimpré, Albert le Grand. Liber de natura rerum, vers 1280, 230 × 156 mm. Folio 116, Image : IRHT https://patrimoine-numerique.ville-valenciennes.fr/ark:/29755/B_596066101_ms_0320 (http://initiale.irht.cnrs.fr/codex/7876).

The original colour of the skin (before it degraded) - but what is it? (image Elodie Leveque)

Mock-up of the original book binding by Elodie Leveque. Note that the fur is too dark in this mockup (image Elodie Leveque).

In 2016, the team in 2016 first confronted the collection at Troyes - but what are the bindings made of? Image of five people, one sitting, discussing a large bound medieval text held by supports in a modern library.

🧵 Is this a Dire wolf... 🤔?

No...

Our @erc.europa.eu Beasts to Craft team led by Élodie Lévêque uncovered the true identity of mysterious hairy covers on #medieval #Cistercian #manuscripts - they're ...
👇

Nitin Sekar says mammoth “de-extinction” is bad for conservation.

He’s the former lead for elephant conservation at WWF India and member of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) Studentship: ‘Material Networks: The Tower, London, and the World in the Late Medieval and Tudor Period’ at University of London At jobs.ac.uk, you can apply for a AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) Studentship: ‘Material Networks: The Tower, London, and the World in the Late Medieval and Tudor Period’. Explore our d...

PhD Studentship available! @ihr.bsky.social and Historic Royal Palaces AHRC CDP project on the Tower of London and Londoners, late medieval and Tudor. Focus on looking at everyday people supplying the Tower, especially migrants, also global commodities. Full fees + stipend - UK or international

History and Archives in Practice 25 Summer Seminars!

We join the TNA & @royalhistsoc.org in 3 online sessions across May, June & July celebrating VE Day 80, Romanian family photograph archives, & memory-making through photography in South Asia.

Register today via: www.history.ac.uk/search-event...

The ‘Shell Mosaic’ from Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex.

The ‘Shell Mosaic’ from Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex. Dating from the mid-third century AD, the mosaic depicts two scallop shells either side of the central panel. 📷 My own. #MosaicMonday #RomanBritain #RomanArchaeology #Fishbourne

A copy of Rowan English PhD thesis, with an image of an early medieval ivory ring bag and the title of the thesis. The thesis is coloured to resemble a late antique ivory diptych

I am very happy to say that my PhD thesis has been accepted for defence! It feels very good to hold the bound copy in my hand and feel the weight of my (sometimes) toil. The public defence will be in late April and available on zoom 😬

Faulty data overstates surge in UK economic inactivity, finds report Problems with ONS labour market survey have given ‘overly pessimistic picture’, says Resolution Foundation

For example, a supposed surge in economic inactivity has generated a long and often agonised political debate over getting people into work, but it may be a mirage, a statistical phantom driven by bad survey data. How many other things are we seeing wrongly or not at all? www.ft.com/content/f800...

Instead of using ChatGPT, why not just get a family member to lie to you while they set fire to a tree?

I’m finishing up an article this week on trade to early medieval England and how it’s shows extreme connectivity across the late antique world. Garnets especially seem to have extreme intentionality in their crafting and movement.

For most of the the past people make pretty mundane stuff from it, but I think it’s because it’s pretty tactile in a way that nothing else is, and not much to do with the elephant. Probably what attracted me to a PhD in it 🐘

Britain’s net zero economy is booming, CBI says Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy security

The CBI has found that the net zero sector is growing three times faster than the overall UK economy and grew by 10% in 2024, and generated £83bn in gross value added. The net zero economy is widely distributed around the UK.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

He could at least pretend to understand how coalitions work!

Kristie Higgs: ‘I’m not a bigot – I’m just an ordinary person fighting to tell the truth’ In a triumph for free speech, judges have ruled in favour of a Christian woman dismissed from her job at a school over her religious beliefs

‘The truth’ was her declaring that all LGBT+ people want to sexually assault children, something never once mentioned in this glowing profile and a belief that the tribunal directly refused to take prima facie as the common meaning of what she said, considering it mere hyperbole

Another wonderful position to work as an osteologist at UrbNet au.career.emply.com/ad/postdocto... on two very exciting new projects!

My mate has written a wonderful book about Rome and its ever enduring influence. I’ve had the pleasure of reading some of it; it’s really thoughtful and engaging! I can’t wait to get my hands on the real thing, and you should too.

Book cover for All Roads Lead to Rome by Rhiannon Garth Jones, in a mosaic frame like the one used on the book cover, with the text "Out May 2025"

I can't quite believe I'm saying this but: I wrote a book! And it's being published this May!

It's about Rome, its enduring appeal, the many different ways it has been interpreted, and how understanding this helps us see both the past and the world today more clearly.

geni.us/AllRoadsLead...