Dr Duncan Berryman

Archaeology often challenges assumptions about listed buildings. This Leicestershire house was thought to be 17th century until a survey revealed evidence that it was mediaeval.

On 26 Feb I'll be speaking online about Reinterpreting Listed Buildings:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reinterpre...

A leftie who talks the same language as the electorate. No wonder the tax-dodging billionaires who own the media and the other political parties are shitting themselves.

Also, if you borrow an author's book from a library in the UK, that author gets more than 12 pence per loan in Public Lending Rights. Any author can earn up to £6,600 per year this way.

I have been reading about the history of Gaza lately. Apparently they minted very early coins from the mid-5th century based on the Athenian silver drachm, but with the bearded head of their own deity rather than Athena. Unfortunately the ROM doesn't have one so I stole this image from the internet!

The price of almost everything electronic is going to soar over the next decade so AI companies can create buildings that will make climate change worse to cram AI into things where we don't it.

The Caveman’s Lament   me think about her when sun rises me think about her when sun sets me say to her how much me love her she tell me love invent not yet   me make cave all warm and cosy me lie bearskin on cave floor me play song of love on bone flute she choose cave of Tim next door   me no more go out hunt mammoth me throw spear too short or long me sit in cave me paint her picture  she say me got perspective wrong   me cook meal to show me love her — diplodocus with fried beans — she say food anachronistic me not know what this means   stone age mighty hard for lovers yet rub two flints look what you get small sparks lead to big inferno but she say love invent not yet homo unrequitus

To mark Valentine’s Day, here is what is believed to be the world’s oldest surviving love poem, written 1.5 million years ago by one of our earliest ancestors, homo unrequitus.

A medieval illustration of a hedgehog with grapes skewered on its spines

It was believed in medieval times that hedgehogs had spikes so they could roll over fruit to carry home to their children, which is not true but is a really cute idea

A life‑sized taxidermied hippopotamus, fully wrapped in protective plastic, is suspended by straps and chains as it is lifted through a wide, newly opened section of a brick wall.

Q: How do you get a 🦛 hippo out of a museum?
A: Very, very carefully. 👀
Go behind the scenes with Anna Massignan to see how thousands of specimens were safely moved during the Dead Zoo decant.
👉: www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collec...
#NaturalHistory #MuseumLife #Museumology #NaturalHistory #NMIBlog

New report urges broader definition of “open research" to include arts, humanities and social science practices As Open Research gains traction across the research landscape, a new report challenges funders and institutions to expand their understanding of openness to better reflect arts, humanities and social ...

“Without coordinated action, [open research] frameworks shaped largely around STEM research could further marginalise AHSS disciplines and leave researchers without the support needed to put openness into practice.”

A morbidly inclined sheep, who likes to hang around in graveyards, detests parties and owns original pressings of the entire classic run of Leonard Cohen LPs from 1967-1974.

THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent sheep I have met on walks.

You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.

A sketch of Roman coins, jet pin and spindle whorls

A sketch of Roman pot sherds Roman coins, spindle works and a jet pin against a background of cliffs sea and two curious circular structures

So that is the last of this series of #diggingforbritain you may not be surprised that I’m drawing the Buckspool fort which we dug with @henebtwa.bsky.social Channelling my inner Rose Ferraby with a collage of finds - Thanks to @toriherridge.bsky.social for being fab! #drawingdiggingforbritain

Image shows brightly coloured Lego pieces including dragons and sharks as well as cutlasses and an octopus, all laid out on pale brown clock patterned paper with handwritten captions in italics

13th February 2026 marks the 29th anniversary of the Great Lego Spill, when nearly five million pieces of Lego fell into the ocean after a cargo ship laden with goods was hit by a storm.

Medieval Heresy will be the first single off the new record Ancestral Images by the Hangmen of England; released on The Demon's Brood label.
#AccidentalBands
#HistoryIsTheNewRocknroll
#BigRockShow

This is such an important question. It is baffling to me that every newspaper – including ones here in Ireland – saw fit to publish ill-informed swill from a total gobshite.

Rich people's opinions on things outside of their area of expertise are of no more value than anyone else's.

Ανοιχτή επιστολή σχετικά με τις εξελίξεις στην European Association of Archaeologists - Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Αρχαιολόγων Ανοιχτή επιστολή σχετικά με τις εξελίξεις στην European Association of Archaeologists Κατόπιν της ομόφωνης απόφασης των μελών του…

The Association of Greek Archaeologists has published an open letter withdrawing its participation from the EAA Athens advisory committee 🍉
archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...

Folkoresky Has anyone heard of a superstition, possibly Tudor in date, of putting spoons out on the table upside down (with the back of the bowl facing upwards) to keep evil spirits away from the table?

Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943-) is a Northern Irish physicist who, while conducting research for her doctorate, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. This discovery earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974, but not to her - the prize was awarded to her (male) supervisor. #CelebratingWomen

Post a banger, not in English.

Uiseog by Huartan

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zanp...

a huge and healthy ancient oak in some woodland

the same ancient oak, chopped to pieces

A beautiful and healthy 400 year old oak tree near my house was mysteriously assessed as “dying” and cut down after surveyors said it was thriving

probably a coincidence that the landowner wants to let a local football club pave over the site but couldn’t bc of the tree

D. Valeriani's depiction of Stolas a massive owl with stork-like legs walking through a Bosch-esque swamp with serpents and demons around it, its demon symbol above it, a crown on its head, its tongue sticking out.

Stolas is the boss owl, a goetic demon and Great Prince of Hell known for his crown, long skinny legs, and knowledge of precious minerals and herbs. He can teach you astronomy, and commands 26 legions of demons. Look out, Neil deGrasse Tyson. #MythologyMonday

🖼: D. Valeriani

It is a traditional English custom for such museums to meet on flat plains once in a while to determine who gets to take home the ultimate prize. This is awarded based on the number of absolute units on a side and/or the pleasing tones of their chorus of excited pigs and cows.

An unknown artist's depiction of La Lechuza, a woman in a white robe of owl feathers, a stick coming out from beneath the robe but the woman otherwise invisible. The head is hawkish and owl-like all at once yet has a mop of black hair.

La Lechuza is a white owl who is in fact a witch, appearing as a massive raptor who preys on souls at night from the Rio Grande Valley on down. Any white owl could be her: so beware. #MythologyMonday

✨ An Evening with National Trust Archaeologists ✨

Ever wondered what archaeology looks like behind the scenes at National Trust places?

Join the CBA for a free online evening exploring the archaeology cared for by National Trust, including community digs, hilltop enclosures and Roman gold mining.

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 26, the Book of Fenagh. This 16th C manuscript is the work of a skilled scribe, on good quality vellum, and contains both prose and verse. The writing is in double columns and some of the capitals are filled in with red pigment.

Good morning. The President of the United States was in the middle of the most serious child sex trafficking ring of the last quarter century.

He is referenced not a dozen times in the case files. Not 100 times. Not 1,000 times. He’s referenced 38,000 times.

NEW EPISODE!!! This week on BBC You’re Dead To Me, we explore the dramatic life and death of famed ancient mathematician (and first woman in STEM!) Hypatia of Alexandria

I’m joined by Professor @edithmayhall.bsky.social and comedian Olga Koch

Listen on BBC SOUNDS, or on Radio 4 tomorrow at 10am

A view of an archaeological trench with a group of archaeologists in hi-viz clothing, located at the bottom of a stone and vegetated cliff with the historic castle at the top

A group of archaeologists in a small trench with a possible stone pathway in the foreground. A camera operator is filming their work

There's a double helping of excavations at National Trust places on #DiggingforBritain this week!

Wednesday 4th: Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire
Thursday 5th: St Michael's Mount, Cornwall

You can watch the episodes at 8pm on BBC Two, or on BBC iPlayer: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

#MemorialMonday #Tenby

#MemorialMonday rare readable brass #Tenby

Whilst I’m in my photos of the National Museum in Copenhagen, you’d better have this 360 of the Gundestrup Cauldron. Found in 1891 in a Jutland peat bog, there are more questions hanging over this silver Iron Age vessel than answers…only its shocking beauty is uncontested.
#FindsFriday