Passionate about archives, archaeology and the medieval past.
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Ogham Stone • Dingle Peninsula • Kerry In the graveyard of Kilmalkedar Church on the Dingle Peninsula, you can find this holed ogham stone. It bears an inscription: ANM MAILE INBIR MACI BROCANN, translated to ‘the soul of Mael-Inbir, son of Brocán’ (Ogham in 3D Project). #Ireland #Archaeology 🏺
Dunmail Raise cairn Cumbria. According to tradition, Dunmail was the last king of Cumbria when it was part of Strathclyde, Scotland and is buried beneath the cairn. Dunmail Raise, meaning ‘Dyfnwal’s Cairn’, may well be named after the historical Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde. #TombTuesday
Inside the one of the three dolmens at Mané-Kerioned in Brittany can be found a number of intriguing carvings. They were uncovered, along with many pottery fragments, when the site was excavated in 1866. #TombTuesday
For #TombTuesday, continuing an exploration of the Temple of Deen aka Laraghirril Court Tomb - see previous posts #Scape #IrishArchaeology #Archaeology #Megalithic #Photography #Black&White #Monochrome #PhotographersOfBluesky #Art #BlueSky #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #ClassicMono #Inishowen #Donegal
#EpigraphyTuesday 🏺 First known mention of #Roman Londoners - Londiniensium - on late 2nd/early 3rd C AD Turkish marble tablet of Tiberinius Celeranius a trader from Beauvais. From important Tabard Square site in #Southwark excavated by @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social In new London Museum expected 2026
![Turkish marble tablet with Latin text, translated as: To the spirits of the Emperors and to the god Mars Camulus, Tiberinius Celeranius, Citizen of the Bellovaci, Mortix of the people of London, first...[set up this monument]. Mars was an important god of place in Rheims, near Beauvais (Bellovaci). A mortix was a position related to trading or shipping.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gxh2f6hbu7q7qoydsjply6md/bafkreib6vzgsvjt46t23eswgpjqossbddpoupcxktz2zo77jauumrffh44@jpeg "Click to view full size")
#Roman tile - 10th legion Late 2nd Century CE Inscription: LEG(lo) X G(emina) P(ia) F(idells) Found in bath complex Burgstall hill, Mušov, Czech Republic. Such buildings suggest planning for long term Roman control. Marcus Aurelius exhibition - Rheinisches Landesmuseum, #Trier #TilesOnTuesday
I would be endlessly grateful if you were to support this crucial fundraising effort for Govan Old's 1,500-year-old graveyard and the @govanstones.bsky.social museum! 💲❤️ tghts.enthuse.com/cf/graveyard...
✨The Saxon baptistry at St. Peter, Barton-upon-Humber might be even older than the C10th tower. Both were built (in part) with Roman stone transported by river from Yorkshire. Many burials beneath are older than the church.
Sept 23: Feast of Adomnán mac Rónáin (627-704), abbot of Iona. He wrote The Life of Columba, and championed Rome’s dating of Easter. His Lex Innocentium, ‘Law of the Innocents’, protected women, children and clergy, especially during warfare. Conamail mac Faílbi succeeded him. #medievalsky
Ælfwald I, king of the Northumbrians, was assassinated at Scythlecester (perhaps Chesters), near Hadrian’s Wall #OTD in 788. It was the result of a conspiracy formed by his leading courtier Sicga, who later killed himself. The murdered king was buried at Hagustaldes ham (Hexham). #medievalsky
Trewavas Cliff Chambered Cairn: The remains of a clifftop chambered cairn, possibly once a Scillonian entrance grave. You can see one capstone in position, one misplaced capstone and one stone of the kerb. #TombTuesday #prehistory #cornwall More 1/
Looking forward to the next two days of #RomanArchaeology – and that right in my hometown Rottweil/Arae Flaviae: LIMITES ET RIPAE III – Research on the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Germany. 11th Colloquium of the German Limes Commission. #archaeology🏺
The ‘Whispering Knights’ - the remains of an early Neolithic burial chamber in Oxfordshire. The chamber is part of the Rollright Stones complex, with stone circle and standing stone nearby. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Oxfordshire #RollrightStones
1st century AD building stone inscribed with the name of the 20th Legion from Maryport Roman Fort in Cumbria. New part of the collections at Senhouse Roman Museum. 📸 My own. #EpigraphyTuesday #RomanBritain #Maryport
Surviving medieval floor tile fragments from Dorchester Abbey in Oxfordshire. 📸 My own. #TilesOnTuesday #Oxfordshire #DorchesterAbbey
One torc in the collection of the #BritishMuseum stands far above the others: the Snettisham Great Torc. Eight topes of twisted gold alloy threads are capped with large ornamented hollow terminals. Found by farmers in a field in Snettisham, Norfolk, in 1950. 🏺 1/ Iron Age, 150-50 BCE. 📸 me
The condition of fabrics from pile dwelling and wetland settlements is amazing. This charred ball of thread was found at the site of Marin-Epagnier/Préfargier. It was made of hemp or lime fibres, and dates about 3900 to 3300 BC. The thread measures a total of about 10 m in length. 📷 Laténium 🏺
Rottweil - my beautiful hometown 😍
A carved face from the 12th-century Prior's Door at Ely Cathedral, which quite accurately reflects my Monday mood #MedievalMonday #MondayMood
#MosaicMonday River #Nile scene, detail of Ducks, a Cobra snake and a Mongoose. The mosaic currently resides in Naples’ National Archaeological Museum, with inventory references connecting it to Pompeii and Casa del Fauno #Italy #romanarchaeology #Art #History #Roman #Archaeology
This #MosaicMonday we are drawn to the knowing stare of this figure, identified as a genius of the year who was originally surrounded by the four seasons. Knowing gaze ✅ Fruity wreath ✅ What look like grape earrings ✅ This gent is clearly here for serious seasonal business! #AncientRome
#MosaicMonday - A mythological panel showing Perseus, holding the head of Medusa, as he defeats the sea-monster Ketos. From the central peristyle of the House of the Fountains at Conimbriga, Portugal: ca. Late 3rd Century AD. #Myth #Archaeology 🏺 Image: Conimbriga Monographic Museum
The mosaic from the Stibbe site just north of Ratae's forum in Leicester. The fine townhouses the mosaic was found from dated to the later Roman period after AD 250. The floor showed complex multicolour geometric patterns. Now in the Jewry Wall Experience. #MosaicMonday
It's not a peacock. It's a rocket-propelled goose. #MosaicMonday
That magical moment when the pumice is gently cleared away revealing, for the first time in nearly 2000 years, a white mosaic. #MosaicMonday #Pompeii
#mosaicMonday Saturday I was asked to speak to a brilliant local charity - I don't think they are on here - Restore Hope Latimer. Their buildings and carpark are on top of Latimer Villa, excavated by Keith Branigan in the 60s. They are the proud curators of a fragment of mosaic floor!
Spectacular octopus from the floor of the women’s changing room at the Central Baths in ancient Herculaneum. This magnificent #Roman monochrome mosaic makes quite an impact! 📷 by me #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
The Autumnal Equinox is close at hand as the world continues to turn and turn again.... BL Add 18856; Guyart des Moulins, Bible historiale; c.1420 CE; France, Central (Paris); f.5v
This detail from a Danish hymnal from c.1200 serves to illustrate today's varied tasks for a medievalists in the fjords. As I'm putting together a presentation for an upcoming conference, I have also helped getting the boat out of the fjord & into winter storage. [Sveriges Riksarkiv Fr 25548]
The central part of the 4th century AD ‘Hare Mosaic’ from Roman Cirencester (Corinium). The mosaic was discovered during 1971 at Beeches Road in Cirencester, and is now on display in the fabulous Corinium Museum. 📸 My own. #MosaicMonday #RomanBritain #CoriniumMuseum
Vicar’s Close in Wells, Somerset. The street was built in the 14th century for the Vicars Choral (Cathedral Choir) who sang daily worship at the Cathedral. The chimneys were added in the 15th century. 📸 My own. #MedievalMonday #Wells
A Welsh mountain landscape to start the working week ⛰️ Low cloud over the summit of Cader Idris, from Llyn Cau 📷 My own, 4th September
An Anglo-Danish force stormed York #OTD in 1069, tearing down its two Norman castles, killing hundreds of Frenchmen and taking sheriff William Malet captive. Edgar Ætheling, ealdormen Waltheof and Gospatric, Mærle-Sveinn and Siward son of Æthelgar led the English. 📸Terry Ball #medievalsky
#StandingStoneSunday This set of standing stones, also known as the Llanfechell Triangle, stands at a prominent location overlooking the village of Llanfechell. It is unique on Anglesey in having three standing stones erected together as a triangle.
Irelands largest stone circle is the Grange Lios embanked stone circle in Lough Gur, County Limerick. It was occupied in the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Early Christian, Medieval, Early Modern and Modern periods. It consists of 113 stone with a diameter of 46 m. #StandingStoneSunday
Roman advertisement for wine! 🍷 At the entrance to a bar in ancient Herculaneum, this fresco with four coloured jugs, and the text ‘Ad Cucumas’ / ‘To the vessels’, was preserved by volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago! 📷 by me #AncientSiteSunday #Archaeology
#StandingStoneSunday A year ago on Ynys Môn / Anglesey, visiting the incredible Penrhosfeilw Standing Stones 😮🤩 These 3m tall stones somehow survive in modern pasture towards the western tip of Holy Island; while legend says they once formed part of a circle, they seem pretty complete as a pair
#AncientSiteSunday with Wolstonbury Hill in Sussex, a hillfort with a late Bronze age origin see more of the Hillforts of the South Downs in the new episode >>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dsE...
Striking vaulted #SundayCeiling of 12th C @carlislecathedral.bsky.social. Replaced c.1400 after devastating fire in 1292. Decorative scheme follows medieval original w detailed design and colour (angels and stars) the work of top artist Owen Jones in restoration of 1853-6.
The 3,000-year-old gold Shropshire sun pendant was dicovered in 2018. Crafted with incredible skill and decorated with intricate geometric patterns, it symbolizes the importance of the sun in Bronze Age society. As scientific analysis has indicated, the pendant...🧵1/2 📷 me #archaeology 🏺
Linked arm’ carving from St. Peter’s Church at Hanwell in Oxfordshire. Dating to around 1340, the style is representative of a ‘North Oxfordshire School’ of carving. 📸 My own #StoneworkSunday #Hanwell #Oxfordshire
One of the stone rows at Ballymeanoch - part of the remarkable prehistoric landscape at Kilmartin Glen in Argyll. 📸 My own. #StandingStoneSunday #Prehistory #Argyll
13th century roundel from Dorchester Abbey in Oxfordshire depicting the consecration of St. Birinus before his mission to convert the West Saxons to Christianity during the early 7th century. 📸 My own. #StainedGlassSunday #DorchesterAbbey #Birinus
#Silchester #amphitheatre looking through one of the entrances. A stone revetment wall contained the seating banks which were probably fitted with wooden seats. The visible remains belong to the early 3rdC AD but at least 2 predecessors lie underneath. #RomanBritain #Archaeology #RomanSiteSaturday
#RomanSiteSaturday - Located in Bulla Regia, Tunisia, the House of the New Hunt boasts rooms arranged around a peristyle and a hunting mosaic that lends the house its name, showing the owner and his servants on a hunting expedition. Downstairs, a five-column hall boasts a swirling geometric floor.
New post this week, part two on ancient Kos! This week's post details the large Western Archaeological Zone with its mosaics and frescos as well as the city's 1st-2nd century CE odeon. www.roamintheempire.com/index.php/20... #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology #AncientBlueSky 🏺
St. Albans near London was the Roman city of Verulamium. It was already in the Iron Age the centre of the Catuvellauni. The main Roman road Watling Street passed through the city. It became a munipicium in AD 50. Its walls were built between AD 265 and 270. #RomanSiteSaturday
#RomanSiteSaturday 🏺 From this year's visit to Volterra here are both C1 BC #Roman theatre cut into slope of hill and 3C bath complex built when theatre out of use. Discovered in 1950s, theatre featured fantastic views, 16m high stage, statues of Augustus+Livia. Some seats bear local family names.
Yesterday, at a very warm St Peter's, Coton. #steepleSaturday #churchcrawling
All Saints Church in the village of Wroxton in North Oxfordshire. #SteepleSaturday #SaturdaySteeple #Churches #Photography #Oxfordshire
Church of St Gregory, #Dawlish, #Devon A #Medieval #Perpendicular west tower of red sandstone. It has an octagonal turret, crenellated crockets & waterspouts. The rest of the church was rebuilt in the 19th Century. #SteepleSaturday
#SteepleSaturday Iona Abbey, yesterday.
Ring-shaped flask 4th Century The flask, with missing base, was probably made in the Rhine workshops or imitated their productions. It has the then fashionable drinking quotations, - “Hostess, fill my flask ….” Found Rue des Ursins, Paris Now Musée Carnavalet, #Paris #RomanSiteSaturday
The Roos Carr figures are dating to the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age. They were inadvertently unearthed by laborers during ditch maintenance at Roos Carr in 1836. Approximately two meters beneath the surface, the workers discovered a collection of well-preserved...🧵1/3 📷 me #archaeology 🏺
The amazing Roman pharos (lighthouse) at Dover, still standing after almost 2,000 years! 🤩 The tallest surviving Roman structure in Britain, and one of only three surviving lighthouses from the former Roman Empire! Dated 1st-2nd century AD. 📷 by me #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology
Harald (III) Sigurðsson, king of Norway, and Tostig Godwineson, former ealdorman in Northumbria, defeated the brothers Morcar and Edwin, ealdormen in Northumbria and Mercia respectively, at the Battle of Fulford, near York, #OTD in 1066. 📸British Museum #medievalsky
St. Roche's hill in West Sussex rises to 206 metres and commands views across the coastal plain to the south and the Weald to the north. ⠀ The hill is famous for the Iron-Age hillfort on its summit called the Trundle (Old English: Tryndel, meaning "circle").
The remains of the south-west range of North Leigh Roman Villa in Oxfordshire. The villa went through various stages of construction between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, and was probably the centre of a large agricultural estate. 📸 My own. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain
Detail from the 15th century chancel screen of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul at Church Hanborough in Oxfordshire, with original paintwork. 📷 My own. #ScreenSaturday #ChurchHanborough #Oxfordshire
All Saints’ Church at Burton Dassett in Warwickshire - a really interesting church located in the Burton Dassett Hills. The tower dates to the 14th century; while the main body of the church dates to the 13th and 14th centuries. 📸 My own. #SteepleSaturday #BurtonDassett
Roman coins from the #RiddlesdenHoard, found in 2014 by a detectorist and now on display in the nearby Cliffe Castle Museum, #Keighley. There hoard consists of 110 coins from 78-235. They are believed to be part of a larger hoard found in the C18 and later lost. #FindsFriday #RomanBritain #Yorkshire
A while since I posted a nice Iron Age #coin, so for #FindsFriday here's a silver quarter stater loosely attributed to the Baiocasses in Normandy. From the Le Câtillon hoard, #Jersey. Fine example of the human-headed horse on the reverse which dominates the coinage of this region. #numismatics 🏺
Glass vases from Leicester, presented in the Vine Street Courtyard House 'drum' in the Jewry Wall Experience. Did you know that the Romans manufactured glass in Leicester and Leicestershire? #FindsFriday
📜Under the terms of the Treasure Act 1996 "Any group of two or more metallic objects of any composition of prehistoric date that come from the same find" finds.org.uk/treasure/adv... ⚱️💫 More prehistoric Treasure from Wirral, votive offerings. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #Wirral
#FindsFriday Among star finds from #Saxon Prittlewell Prince burial in Essex were #glass beakers w trailed lattice decoration. Beautiful and rare, so similar they were likely made as a pair, in Kent. Few other examples are known, almost all in high status burials. Southend Museums #Ancientbluesky 🏺
York's Norman garrison torched a number of buildings #OTD in 1069, fearing the approaching Anglo-Danish force would use the wood to fill the moats. Unfortunately the fires spread, destroying much of the city including St Peter's Church (today's York Minster). 📸Terry Ball #medievalsky
For #FindsFriday the extraordinary Late Bronze Age Arthog bucket, a huge & rare 35 litre vessel discovered at the foot of Cader Idris mountain in Eryri/Snowdonia in 1826 🥰 Now on display in the St Fagans archaeology galleries of National Museum Wales 🤔👉 museum.wales/collections/... 📷 My own
#FindsFriday: A #Roman amber flask, from Aquileia, dating 1st/2nd c. AD. Aquileia's position at the end of a main amber trade route resulted in its becoming a centre for the carving and distribution of Baltic amber across the Roman Empire. 📷: Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Aquileia
A goddess for #FindsFriday In 1882 antiquary Edward Cunnington dug at the #Roman temple at Maiden Castle hillfort in #Dorset Sadly his excavations were never published although one important find was this copper alloy plaque with repoussée figure, possibly Minerva Now in @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social
For #FindsFriday I offer the gold plaques from the hoard from Ashwell, Hertfordshire. Deposited in the Roman period they bear the name Senuna, a local deity previously unknown. My 📷 objects in the British Museum
Timeless design! Incredibly, these beautiful fibre baskets are about 9,500 years old! 🤯 Look like they were made yesterday rather than by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers! From the Cueva de Los Murciélagos (Cave of Bats), Spain. Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology
‘Spong Man’ - the lid of a burial urn which dates to the 5th century AD. The piece was discovered during excavations in 1979 at Spong Hill - a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery, near North Elmham in Norfolk. Now part of the collections at Norwich Castle. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday
Palaeolithic flint hand axe that was found at South Cerney, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. The axe is part of the collections at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, and is around 250,000 years old! 📸 My own. #FlintFriday #Prehistory #Cotswolds #CoriniumMuseum
The 12th century lead font of Dorchester Abbey in Oxfordshire. The font is the only one belonging to a monastic church to survive the Reformation. 📸 My own. #FontsOnFriday #DorchesterAbbey #Oxfordshire
#FindsFriday What's he got in his pocket today? Fresh from the ground in East Anglia. (It's only an inch and a half long)
#FindsFriday #2 A cheeky bit of Roman Pottery Pareidolia
The southern stone of the Devil's Arrows 👿 - the 2nd tallest standing stone in the British Isles. Nobody knows how old it is, but it probably dates to the Neolithic, so time time between 4000 and 2500 BC... #archaeology #prehistory #ancient #Yorkshire🏺
In 53AD Marcus Ulpius Traianus was born in the province of Hispania Baetica to the south of Spain. He is remebered as a good Emperor and he ruled from 98 to117 AD. He married Plotina but, although their was a happy marriage, they did not have children of their own.
So thrilled to announce that Echolands is the 2025 winner of the Ellingworth Award 🥇 🥳 set up by fabulous Kett’s Books to celebrate East Anglian writing. Just had a lovely evening talking to Em Kuntze about writing the book & a wonderful audience who asked lots of brilliant questions!
For #RomanFortThursday a carved pedestal from the headquarters building of the legionary fortress at Mogontiacium, present-day Mainz, depicting two #Roman legionaries. Dating 2nd half of the 1st century AD. On display at Landesmuseum Mainz. 🏺 📷 me
Haraldr (III) Sigurðsson, king of Norway, and Tostig Godwineson, former ealdorman in Northumbria, sailed up the River Ouse with a fleet of 300 ships #OTD in 1066. Before entering the Humber they had harried the Northumbrian coast, setting Scarborough ablaze. #medievalsky
Riccall, North Yorkshire. Richale 1086. 'Nook of land of a man called Rīca'. Old English personal name + halh. Source: Oxford Dictionary of British #PlaceNames. It is where Haraldr Sigurðsson and Tostig Godwineson moored their ships with their eyes on nearby York in 1066. 📸Reedy #medievalsky
Remains of the south west corner of Lanchester Roman Fort (Longovicium) in County Durham. The fort was originally built in around AD150 by the 20th Legion, and served as part of a chain of defensive forts along Dere Street. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain
Theodore, archbishop of Cantuarabyrg (Canterbury), convened a council at a place called Haethfeld #OTD in 679. The English Church declared against monotheletism, reaffirming its faith in the orthodox belief that Christ had two wills. Christ in Majesty from the Codex Amiatinus #medievalsky
Like a scene from "Ben Hur": For #ReliefWednesday a terracotta relief depicting an accident at a chariot-race at the Circus Maximus. The famous circus in #Rome can be recognised due to the seven movable dolphins on the central dividing barrier, the... 🧵1/2 🏺 #archaeology
More details here: arkeonews.net/bronze-age-s...
Beacon Hill, Burghclere. Within the hillfort is the grave of the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon, who had co-discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun! #HillfortsWednesday
#HillfortsWednesday Castell Henllys is an archaeological site near Nevern in north Pembrokeshire, #Wales. The Iron Age hillfort has been the subject of an ongoing excavation since the start of the 21st century, accompanied by an exercise in reconstruction #Archaeology #History
The contour-hugging Iron Age hillfort of Chalbury #Dorset Still surprising unwary motorists as they round a bend in the Coombe Valley Road heading south to Weymouth Formidable, intimidating and utterly magnificent 📷 January 2022 #HillfortsWednesday
King Arthur's Downs Circular Enclosure - Possible Henge?: What looks to me like a henge with an entrance at the NNE and another half (finished) henge to the SE, After seeing this on the LiDAR I looked on Heritage Gateway and even though they'd recorded the place they mention everything but a henge!!
'I' is for Imperator BL Royal MS 6 E VII/2; James le Palmer, Omne Bonum; c.1360 CE-c.1375 CE; f.243v
Relief from Aquae Sulis (Roman Bath) depicting the Roman god Mercury and Rosmerta - a Celtic goddess known at the ‘great provider’. Now part of the museum collections at The Roman Baths in Bath. #ReliefWednesday #RomanBritain #Bath
Medieval wall painting of St. Christopher and the Christ Child from St. Wilfrid’s Church at Ribchester in Lancashire. 📷 My own. #WednesdayWallpainting #Ribchester
The 16th century upper storey of the half timbered south porch of the Church of St. John the Baptist at Berkswell in Warwickshire. 📸 My own. #Woodensday #Berkswell
#OTD AD16 Julia Drusilla was born in Abitarvium (now Koblenz), Germany. She came from the #Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was beloved by her brother, #Caligula, who named her his heir. This made her the first woman to be named a legal heir of the #Roman Empire. 📷 Julia Drusilla, Glyptothek, Munich
A stone depicting a bearded warrior was found during an archaeological dig at Govan Old Churchyard #OTD in 2023. The fragment is c.C9th. The dig was led by the University of Glasgow's Professor Stephen Driscoll and Clyde Archaeology. 📸Govan Heritage Trust #medievalsky
Sept 16: Feast of Nynia (Ninian) (C5th), British bishop and apostle associated with early church Candida Casa / Hwit Aerne, 'White House’, (Whithorn, Galloway). His shrine remains a popular pilgrimage-place. 📸AOC Archaeology #medievalsky
For #EpigraphyTuesday an amazing #Roman gold fibula (a decorative pin for fastening garments/a brooch) carrying the Latin inscription VTERE FELIX - use this happily, one of the most common inscriptions on Roman finger rings and fibulae. From Ostrovany, Slovakia, late 3rd c. AD 📷 KHM Wien 🏺
Nether Largie South Cairn at Kilmartin Glen in Argyll. The cairn dates to the late Neolithic and Bronze Age, and is one of many impressive prehistoric monuments in the area. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Kilmartin #Argyll
Well worn, but still rather beautiful, 14th century floor tiles from All Saints’ Church at Burton Dassett in Warwickshire. 📸 My own. #TilesOnTuesday #BurtonDassett #Warwickshire
