Hugo Anderson-Whymark

Great to see this story - a fantastic site I am proud to have excavated - but slightly confused by slide #5. The 'v' profile ditch shown is the LBA ditch, which was backfilled with the timber laced rampart built on top. It was the 'U' shaped IA ditch that contained saxon finds in its upper fills.

2025 Orkney Archaeology Review published The annual Orkney Archaeology Review, published by Orkney Archaeology Society, has been arriving through members' letterboxes this week.

The annual Orkney Archaeology Review, published by Orkney Archaeology Society, has been dropping through members' letterboxes.
#archaeology #orkney

New paper klaxon: pre print now available OA: muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

Thanks to everyone at @ria.ie for their work on this, and most importantly to Chantal for collaboration on the paper.

A short 🧵 on what we argue...

@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social
@ucddublin.bsky.social
@eaapam.bsky.social

Puzzling but precise – intrigued by impressions on pottery sherds We find fingerprints, cord, basketry and other impressions left in damp pottery while pieces were made in the Neolithic but a new example has left us puzzled and intrigued.

We find fingerprints, cord, basketry and other impressions left in damp pottery while pieces were made in the Neolithic but some new examples have left us puzzled and intrigued.
#archaeology #Orkney #Neolithic #Ceramics #NessOfBrodgar

Hooray! Our paper on kinship in Neolithic Ireland is out. Such a pleasure to write this (and draw fancy maps) with a team of fabulous and inspiring prehistorians: Neil Carlin, Jess Smyth, @cjfrieman.bsky.social, Dani Hofmann, @pennybickle.bsky.social, Kerri Cleary and @prehistorian.bsky.social:

Lovely. They're surprisingly common. I was once offered 3 for £30 each - a bargain but I chose my marriage!

The Early Neolithic of northern Europe @ Sidestone Press In Britain, Ireland and Southern Scandinavia, the Early Neolithic is characterised by monumental constructions (e.g. causewayed enclosures, dolmens) and by specific traditions of depositional practice...

OUT NOW!
The Early Neolithic of Northern Europe: New approaches to migration, movement and social connections. www.sidestone.com/books/the-ea...

#prehistory #monuments #NeolithicScandinavia

Wonderful flintknapping!

The fundraiser to reopen Tomb of the Eagles is at 80%. Can you help get it over the line? www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tomb-of-th...

Talk: Further discoveries at Blomuir Passage Grave, Holm By Hugo Anderson Wymark National Museums Scotland In 2023 a new Neolithic passage grave was discovered at Blomuir, Holm. Excavations in 2024 fully excavated the chamber and side cells, revealing fu…

Orkney Archaeology Society's next public talk is an online event with Dr Hugo Anderson-Whymark, outlining further discoveries at Blomuir Passage Grave, Holm. The talk will be on 20th March, starting at 7pm.

Get your free tickets here,
orkneyarchaeologysociety.org.uk/event/talk-f...

Well apparently we've been terribly woke at the museum too...

They look great on a wall (Liz does not agree)

Nice. I have on on my office wall at home. I'm currently in Tenerife and they used round basalt pebbles in their threshing sledges... often seen in restaurants too

A threshing sledge (tribulum) with lovely flint teeth. Still made in parts of Turkey until the 1970s

The Lithic Studies Society is now on Bluesky, for all your stone tool lovers: @lithicstudiessoc.bsky.social #lithics #flint

Collecting Environmental Change: Case Studies from Scotland and Europe This symposium explores how museums are collecting objects that represent the impact of and response to environmental change.

Free one day symposium @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social exploring case studies of Collecting Environmental Change, 13 March. More info and booking here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/collecting... 📜 #envhist

I love your illustration!

Digging for Britain do their own models for the show, but I do have some nice high resolution versions I'll release soon

Blomuir Neolithic passage grave, Holm, Orkney, under excavation in 2024

Tonight's the night that Blomuir #Neolithic Passage Grave in #Orkney is on #DiggingForBritain - BBC 2 8pm. Victorian diggers removed enough stone for a house, but still left us some amazing archaeology!

'Digging for Britain' episode featuring Orkney excavations online now - Archaeology Orkney The Digging for Britain programme featuring the Orkney excavations at The Cairns and Blowmuir is now available on BBC iPlayer.

All of the new Digging for Britain episodes have dropped on Iplayer, so you can catch up on new discoveries at Blomuir Passage Grave!

Well, that's my Twitter/X account deleted for good. I've imported my old tweets across as there are a few good images

Digging for Britain promotional flyer, new series from 7 January 2025

I'm looking forward to the new series of Digging for Britain, which starts tomorrow! But you've have to wait until Thursday for news of exciting new discoveries in our Neolithic passage grave at Blomuir, Orkney

A heart shaped flint facing stone, with the words 'renowned Brandon flint' pecked in the surface, c.1930

Some objects speak for themselves! This heart shaped facing stone of finest 'Brandon black' flint dates from c.1930. #flintfriday

And all flint knappers will be jealous of the flint nodule Fred Snare is holding! #flintfriday

Fred Snare's gunflint work c.1910. As the demands for gunflint fell, building flints became an important part of the business - the patterns in this postcard show some of the intricate designs they produced

Herbert Edwards knapping gunflints in Brandon, Suffolk

Herbert Edwards knapping gunflints behind the Flintknappers Arms, #Brandon, Suffolk, c.1940s. #flintfriday

Thanks, I didn't see that note. It would be interesting too add as it's often said that there's a disproportionate amount of excavation in Orkney

An interesting distribution map of archaeology in Scotland, though I'm not sure the work on Orkney is accurate

Lucille Rodrigues excavating at the Ness of Brodgar

Yet more! Lucille Rodrigues started her SGSAH CDA project last month, working with me, @hugowhymark.bsky.social, and Dr Nyree Finlay. She will be looking at collections at the NMS and a series of regional museums to characterise lithic traditions in Orkney, Northeast Scotland, and The Borders.

A postcard of a toad in a hollow flint nodule, found at Lewes in 1898

An early postcard of a toad discovered in a flint nodule aka the 'toad in the hole'. Found by Charles Dawson in 1898, who went on to excavate Piltdown Man. I'll let you decide if it's genuine! #flintfriday