ArchaeoPlays

Ahhhh!!! Just LOOK at these little guys!!! Which one's your favourite? Is it even possible to choose???

Adding 🏺for more archaeology peeps 🦛🦛🦛🦛

A tile with well-preserved surface impressions: three distinct outline of shoes with hobnail patterns in the center, a animal paw prints nearby, and a rectangular maker's stamp with worn lettering and an imprint of a foot. And finger lines. The tile surface shows additional small impressions and chips.

Like a time capsule: a #Roman tile marked with #finger lines, hobnail #shoe prints, #dog's paw prints, and a #stamp of the LEG(io) XIIII G(emina). Tiles with imprints are very common, since tiles were laid out to dry in the open air ahead of firing, where...🧵1/2

#TilesOnTuesday 🏺

Archaeologists excavating in a trench in Area 5 of the MOWAA excavations.

NEW Excavation at Benin City's historic palace, looted and destroyed by the British in 1897, provides an unprecedented glimpse into pre-colonial West African urban development and artisanal crafts, including the famous Benin Bronzes.

#AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology

I would LOVE to recreate the smell of a Pictish byre-house!

Yes, animals might make it a bit stinky, but there were SO many places to hang herbs and such from, and the Picts cared quite a bit about hygiene. And the FOOD!! I feel like a Pictish house would smell rather nice, even with the animals!

I'm a SMALL channel, so sometimes people question why I bother. Then I point out my videos average at least 200-300 views, and public lectures often get much less.

That, and the number of folks who find my content and it's the first archaeological thing that's EVER caught their interest? Countless.

I gave a presentation on exactly this at the Canadian Archaeological Association this Spring and another at the BC Archaeology Forum two Saturdays ago.

When the overwhelming majority of archaeological reporting in Canada is dry, data-heavy technical reporting, accessibility through film is crucial.

Oh cool! I need to find the time to actually try it... maybe over the winter...

BIG ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS! 💫

A new section of Hadrian’s Wall has been discovered! The furthest west bit found yet - and it is glorious! 🤩

Reported by the great WC21. Link to his full video here: youtu.be/VfVvl3A_sO4?...

#archaeology #history #Roman

If only, if only! Unless we all take all the batteries out of every clock in the world? 😆

Seriously, if any of you know the secret to stopping time, or at least slowing it down a little, please share 😂

Slide from a presentation. Header is 'But why use Video for Archaeology?' Six symbols are spread actross the page, with a description of each. 1: 'A modern Deliverable that you can offer to your client'. 2: 'Showcases your hard working and competent staff - can hook in potential clients and/or new hires'. 3: 'It's a quicker method of getting information to the wider public'. 4: 'Gives an opportunity to focus on a specific find/site'. 5: 'Can populate your website, social channels, blogs forever - leaving a direct link for clients and interested public to see the amazing work your company is doing'. 6: 'Relatively cheap when you consider what you get back'.

Excellent talk this morning by @rubiconarchaeology.bsky.social about social media in archaeology. Honestly, I've been meaning to work more on creating shorts from my longer videos, I just need to find the time! 😅

The reimagined manuscript pages created by Thomas for our #NLHF funded #StoriesOnSkins project are amazing pieces or art, using techniques as close as possible to how manuscript pages would have been made at Portmahomack.

Two archaeologists in the sea, performing water screening.

Archaeologists investigating the seafloor off the southern coast of Belize found the earliest evidence of ancient #Maya salt production, dating from AD 250–550. It was likely produced on a household level, suggesting long-distance salt trade came later 🏺 #Archaeology

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🚨 Just a few days left to submit for #NordicTAG2026!

Submissions are welcome that critically examine the environmental impact of archaeological practices: both digital and physical 🏺

🔜 Deadline: 22 October
🔸 More: atrium-research.eu/news/call-fo...

Excavation within the mausoleum, annotated with different preserved wooden features identified.

NEW How advanced were the resource networks of ancient China?
Analysis of timber from the mausoleum of the first emperor indicates sophisticated logistical planning and resource mobilisation even at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty.

🧵 #AntiquityThread 1/12

🏺 #Archaeology

The Aberdeen Bestiary, One of the Great Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts, Now Digitized in High Resolution & Made Available Online For thousands of years, ordinary people all over the world not only worked side-by-side with domestic animals on a daily basis, they also observed the wild fauna around them to learn how to navigate a...

This #medieval illuminated manuscript has been digitized and is now available online #openaccess !

🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #medievalsky 🏺

www.openculture.com/2025/10/the-...

Bronze figurine of a walking skeleton with elongated limbs and detailed ribcage, shown against a dark gradient background.

Halloween is near! It's time to post this marvellous articulated Roman skeleton, presumably meant to be a reminder to enjoy life to the fullest, since pleasure ends irrevocably with death.
In Petronius’ Satyricon, the host of a dinner party brings out a small skeleton with moveable...🧵1/2

Adding 🏺 and #archaeologysky just in case they haven't made the rounds in those circles, yet!

Reposting with the correct link :)

archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/blog/writing...

YouTube video by ArchaeoPlays Step into Medieval Scotland and Meet the Ancient Picts | Carved in Stone (Ep. 1)

And if you weren't aware of my Minecraft content... Hi! Hello, I teach archaeology through Minecraft. You might enjoy my videos, like this one that turns Minecraft into early medieval Scotland: youtu.be/iAyh4PJYXQ0

ArchaeoPlays I’m an archaeologist. I also play a lot of games and when I do, my inner archaeologist can't help but think about them in relation to the past. So if you're interested in archaeology chat while playin...

Morning! If you enjoy my Minecraft content, I've got a question for you over on YouTube!

www.youtube.com/@ArchaeoPlay...

A mammoth figurine carved from ivory, its surface weathered with age. The shape captures the essence of the animal, with a prominent trunk and sloping back. The figure is displayed on a metal stand against a dark background.

I just have to post this #iceage masterpiece from time to time: A tiny (3.7 cm) but amazing figurine of a woolly mammoth carved in mammoth ivory some 40,000 years ago.

Found in the Vogelherd cave on the Swabian Jura, south-west Germany.

📷 me
🏺

Had the pleasure of chatting to the archaeoViz folks for our session at WAC-10 - definitely worth attending if you're able!

12,000-Year-Old Life-Sized Camel Etchings Reveal a Lost World in the Desert Camels in ancient Arabia may have led hunter-gatherers through deserts once thought uninhabitable

Rock Art Discovery Reveals Unknown Arabian Nomads from 12,000 Years Ago www.scientificamerican.com/article/rock...

Two copper cymbals, green from oxidation, viewed from above and the side.

~5000-year-old copper cymbals from Bronze Age Arabia for #InternationalMusicDay

They share parallels with Mesopotamian and Indus Valley examples, indicating music connected these three ancient civilisations.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Close-up image of a sand coloured stone, with a diagonal crack. The sand rock has a textured surface, and small spots of blue can be seen towards the centre of the stone. The background is grey.

Microscopic photo of the blue spots, that are irregular in shape and size and positioned diagonally across the image. The rest of the photo shows the rough sand coloured texture of the stone.

Time to update your Palaeolithic palettes... 🔵

Very proud to share our new research on the OLDEST use of blue pigment! We identified traces of azurite - a vibrant blue mineral - on a stone object around 14-13,000 years old. Why is this so exciting? 👇🏺

doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

Carved in Stone A storyteller's guide to Pictland. Available now for pre-order!

I wrote a massive TTRPG setting guide encyclopaedia about the ancient Scotland and the Picts who lived in it. It covers everything scholars currently know about life in the 7th century, from landscapes to kingdoms to faith, magic, settlements, and so much more.

Check it out!
carvedinstone.scot

But I’m not the only textile nerd here - what would YOU do for textile magic in early medieval Scotland?

The magic for each spell could be imbued in the yarn, as I mentioned for naalbinding, OR you could put decorative beads on the ends to differentiate between spells… but I swear I’ll leave the bead rabbit hole for another day!

You could also cut off each strand as you use the spell, if you want to mimic a magical object with charges. But I also feel badly cutting off the fringe piece by piece!