Lena Strid

Costumes, Period Dramas and Their Audiences: From the Late 19th Century to the Present This book considers the notion of “historical escapism” through both costume and fashion design, illustrating how one informs the other to produce different consumable representations of the past, to ...

If, like me, you remain devoted to the 1995 (BBC) adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice', you can learn about its costume design in this new book by fashion historian extraordinaire, Dr Lydia Edwards (Insta: @howtoreadadress). Preorder from @routledgebooks.bsky.social

www.routledge.com/Costumes-Per...

Earliest Animal Cranial Surgery: from Cow to Man in the Neolithic The earliest cranial surgery (trepanation) has been attested since the Mesolithic period. The meaning of such a practice remains elusive but it is evident that, even in prehistoric times, humans from this period and from the Neolithic period had ...

Trepanning on a Neolithic French cow.

My writing really does take me to some weird places.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

i'm proclaiming it officially Restocking Spring around here

(sorry for the sound on this one, it's my fume trap that keeps me from poisoning myself with flux fumes as i solder)

This is a good analogy. Very useful in carefully controlled settings for specific usages, but unfortunately being widely inserted into everything and used without training or PPE and poisoning a lot of things and people and we’re going to pay a tonne of money to remove it safely in the future

Title slide reading “Book covers but we added birds.” Smaller text notes "created by RSPB staff". A Gull wearing red reading glasses peers over an open book. The book is a bird-themed parody titled The Gull Who Played With Fire, with playful review quotes like “Brilliant”, “Talon-biting stuff”, and “A must-read”.

It’s #WorldBookDay!

Admittedly, not a particularly bird-related day.

Don’t worry. We’ve fixed that by asking RSPB staff to redesign their favourite book covers… with birds. 📚

Good morning! Yes, this is he

I’ll dm you my email!

For those who have missed it and are interested, my talk is now available online.

I would also be interested in your dissertation!

@elenarossi.bsky.social will present our next seminar on 10th. February. Elena will explore the emotional impact on family life when members travelled internationally for university in the Middle Ages.
To hear the paper, you may travel to London or listen online. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

*Knowing where to find* information relevant to your field of study is a central pillar of academic competency, and one of the skills a PhD imparts (although by no means confined to those with PhDs). Academics aren't just people who know stuff and have written stuff - they know where to find stuff.

the best history forum on the internet. because ... it's extremely well moderated to keep it appropriate and focused. That's the whole trick. I love it.

🏺 Humans: "Decorate* ALL THE THINGS!!"

*there's aesthetic beautification, but markings & their makings always hold potential for 'magics' as well

Just heard of another major British Palaeolithic site falling through the planning & protection net and being green-lit for development. That's 3 confirmed in 3 years, with 2 others I'm investigating. The failure to schedule Palaeolithic sites & the erosion of planning protections are to blame. 🚨🦣🏺

Extreme Long shot but, if anyone visited the Permanent Exhibition at the National Museum of Finland between 1995-2016 and has any pictures of the interpretation panels/display/presentation of the Suontaka sword then I'd be extremely grateful for copies!

Many thanks!

It's March 2026. It's been known that #SubstackHasANaziProblem since early 2022. It's four years, and many instances of Substack promoting Nazi newsletters to all subscribers, and so forth.

You can make sure you don't share Substack links by using this handy labeler:
bsky.app/profile/labe...

Medieval manuscript with a number of white spot blemishes on the right-hand side. Image source, Jiří Vnouček, "The Parchment of the Codex Amiatinus in the Context of Manuscript Production in Northumbria Around the End of the Seventh Century," Journal of Paper Conservation 20 (2019): fig. 13

A question for my #medievalsky manuscript friends: has anyone ever come across a manuscript with white spots on it, as in the image below? Or any other MS that seemed diseased? I'm particularly interested in early medieval British and Irish instances, but I'd love to hear about anything you've got!

Nearly full moon silhouetting catkins hanging from a tree.

Catkin Moon.

IT’S ON. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THE FISH DOORBELL IS ON.

#tinyjoys

Brits: Please scream. This is a Labour govt proposing to hand the property of individual British workers to largely US corporations.

@davidpintod.bsky.social

A white woman wearing a brightly patterned dress stands next to a large quilted piece of textile art, which is black handwritten scrawl on cream calico, increased in size.

Today I saw the Cromwell Textile Cloth - a representation of a list of textiles in Thomas Cromwell’s hand - hanging properly for the first time. In 22 years of quilting, I have made precisely two pieces I am completely happy with. This is one of them.

the year 2056:
my grandkids: what did you do to help fight fascism in the USA?
me: well kiddo...

Three connected cups from Roman Aldborough in Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum). Dating to the second century AD, the cups were possibly used as part of a religious ceremony. 📸 My own. #RomanBritain #Aldborough

BLM Announces Plan to Fell Oregon's Last Great Forests One billion board feet per year... 30 days to make your voice heard.

You only have a short time to comment. They are trying to destroy our forests to enrich a few logging company executives and the politicians they’ve paid off.
Leave your comment here:

eplanning.blm.gov/Participate-...

morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/blm-announ...

Love it! Not exactly "authentic Viking food" (because of the nature of our sources), but all the right flavors and textures and a great stab at reconstructing! Looks pretty tasty, too.

FOA: Drinks Historians:

Can anyone help me find an image of a 'Swiss Green Absinthe' bottle c.1800-1820?

actual object or illustration - either would be brilliant

[claws own face in research hell]

Excellent tour of Tarbat Discovery Centre with volunteer Gill. It has been on my bucket list for a while to come here #medievalsky #archaeology

Animals and multi‐species considerations of well‐being 500–1100 Much of the scholarship on early medieval English medicinal ingredients has focussed on herbal remedies and the role of plants in healing activities. This approach detracts from the significance of a...

New in Early Medieval Europe: what role did animals play in early medieval medicinal and well-being practices? A study by Holly Miller and Christina Lee (£)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Fascinating research, and a delightful illustration.

Men studying a dragon

ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP IN HISTORY OF SCIENCE
My home department at Uppsala University is advertising an endowed professorship in the history of science. This is the best position in the field in Sweden, and probably in all of Scandinavia. Apply before 30 April 2026. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...