Sheriff Hutton Castle near York. Once the grandest castle in Northern England and favourite residence of King Richard III.

Examine the nature of human life in society through our Master's programmes in Social Anthropology! Learn to relate different versions of the world to each other: politics, religion, economic development & more. Deadline for MSc & MPhil: 9 Jan (midday UK time). https://ow.ly/9rln50XMATJ

It has been said that the transition to agriculture was our species’ first big mistake (= life expectancy fell, disharmony with nature, resource competition, less free time, stratification of society etc etc). Interesting that it may have been a decision/ process made “under the influence”…

Huge thanks to @chrisgpackham.bsky.social for his rallying talk at the APPG for Climate, Nature and Security at the House of Commons on Monday. He spoke on the topic of biodiversity and national security and urged action, collaboration and communication.

Lots to think about here. www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/disq...

Cold, wet, hot and dry Roman food… www.historyextra.com/period/roman...

Soldiers from the Sky exhibition at the historic Grantham House opens to the public today. Artefacts, films, artworks, information on locations used by airborne forces in Lincolnshire during World War II and much more.   Exhibition: lnkd.in/euMjz7jh   Project website: lnkd.in/eXK8i7aj

Editor copies of ‘Reporting Heritage Destruction’ have arrived and look great! The e-book is available for free here - www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress...

Christmas top designed with archaeologists and seasonal bad weather in mind?

Want to study #archaeology at graduate level in #Oxford? Join our tutors at 3pm Thurs 20 Nov on zoom for a cosy chat about our world-leading MSc Archaeology degree. Meeting link: zoom.us/j/9184876042...

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost”

📣'Reporting Heritage Destruction' just published by Endangered Cultural Heritage of the Global South (ECHGS) Hub. Exploring how cultural heritage destruction is reported - asking who reports, what is reported, how, and with what consequences. #openaccess www.archaeopress.com/.../missingP...

Delighted to announce ‘Reporting Heritage Destruction’ is now available for free download: www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress... The book explores who reports heritage destruction, how, why and with what consequences. It culminates in the #OxfordRecommendations for ethical reporting.

Participated at a climate change workshop at Oxford’s School of Engineering yesterday. Unexpected but welcome chance to see and hear about this year’s Formula Student car being built for Silverstone. This year the car is 100% battery powered.

Night time Oxford.

The “Major Oak” in Sherwood Forest. It’s at least 800 and possibly 1200 years old. A nice autumnal day for a visit.

Had the chance to see a bit of Budapest last week. The visit was linked to a forthcoming exhibition on the Museum of Ethnography’s Africa collection which I’m very excited to be involved with. More to follow.

More on the drunken monkey hypothesis… www.newscientist.com/article/2496...

Nice chop! (Palaeo- low taper fade?)

Interesting historical context. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Worrying findings but nice application of AI www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

Fascinating - ritual violence in the European Neolithic. Possibly the earliest evidence of conflict propaganda. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...

Nice find.

White stork - surprisingly graceful when airborne.

Haha! theonion.com/overwhelmed-...

Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire from the weekend. I always think certain heritage buildings photograph well in black and white. Maybe it speaks to the dimension of time.

Unexpected collision of climate change, culture & heritage. Bakewell tart, invented in the 1800s & quintessentially British. Bakers report disruption to almond supply & unstable prices. Extreme heat & declining water in California (= 80% of the global harvest) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...

A couple of shots whilst recharging - near Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales

The trees have eyes…

A few years ago, a friend visiting from Ethiopia said to me about the British countryside, ‘I did not know there were so many greens’. Great words and, despite trying, I can do no better.

Seal pup

Good grief. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pleased with this shot of a Welsh puffin from a few weeks back.

Oil painting by Winston Churchill, 1916 entitled 'Plug Street' (the British Army's nickname for Ploegsteert, in Flanders). The painting shows the building at Lawrence Farm where Churchill and other officers were billeted.

Woody is back.

Interesting. As the author notes, knowledge is not the same as understanding. However, the prospects of digital decipherment and the technologies that underpin it are huge. www.thetimes.com/article/88ea...

Tattoos are everywhere these days. (One student joked to me a few months ago that they weren’t getting one to be a bit different!) Research reminds us tattoos have been with us a long, long time. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

A photo from Parliament on Monday. Elizabeth I in the House of Commons: “With this ring I was wedded to the realm”. (The picture depicts her being petitioned by the Commons to marry.)

Nice that this could be done in front of a home crowd. It was a golden era of British 400m talent. www.reuters.com/sports/athle...

Fascinating day yesterday at Oxford University’s Endangered Cultural Heritage in the Global South (ECHGS) Hub’s Digital Heritage and the Global South conference. See link for more info on the hub and events www.arch.ox.ac.uk/echgs-hub-0

Fab. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New article with @chirikure.bsky.social - linked to a journal special issue we edited together on expressions of colonialism from within Africa. Full text available at link. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Big shoes to fill… The Dark Ages were to follow the Romans. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Novel take on AI as “normal technology” in contrast to utopian and dystopian visions (of the future) of AI which treat it akin to a separate, super-intelligent species. knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...

Last week was London Climate Action Week. Had the opportunity to speak about climate security risk & resilience at several events, including at EU Mission. Climate change impacts everything from geopolitics & military capabilities to economics & health security. We need to prioritise response.

📣📣 We are holding an online event on Digital Heritage & the Global South on 15 July looking AI & the value & challenges it presents. Registration is FREE - please follow 🔗👉🏻 events.teams.microsoft.com/event/92c52c... More info found👇🏻 www.arch.ox.ac.uk/echgs-hub-0#... @unioxarchaeology.bsky.social

Interesting thoughts on the age of augmented mentality. “We are racing towards a new era in which we outsource cognitive abilities that are central to our identity as thinking beings.” bigthink.com/the-future/w...

Very good.

Starlings getting in on the weekend’s fly pass