We're going to keep on looking at swords for today's Viking camps #FindsFriday - or, more specifically, sword hilts. A surprising number of hilt fittings were found at our Great Army camps: pommels and guards, separated from swords. This pommel is Torksey DB 2582, recorded as LIN-D69EBE on the PAS.

For #FindsFriday a fabulous set of Carolingian sword belt mounts found near Deventer in 2022. Long ago while writing my PhD I drew how they were worn. portable-antiquities.nl/pan/#/ensemb...

✨☀️ A bit of inspiration for the dark days: sunrise at York Minster.

I haven't managed a Viking camps #FindsFriday for weeks: it's time to get back to it! We left off looking at weapons, so I thought we'd pick up again there. Inspired by @nybjorn.bsky.social's post on a find from Risby yesterday, we'll look at these sword pieces Aldwark, particularly the blade. /1

I haven't managed a Viking camps #FindsFriday for weeks: it's time to get back to it! We left off looking at weapons, so I thought we'd pick up again there. Inspired by @nybjorn.bsky.social's post on a find from Risby yesterday, we'll look at these sword pieces Aldwark, particularly the blade. /1

Archaeodeath public talk! 💀📢 Unearthing 'Sad and Sepulchral Pitchers': The Untold History of Cremation' 1pm-2pm - Friday 30th January 2026, Leeds Library Book your ticket(s) here: events.humanitix.com/unearthing-s...

Such an honour to be on the same shelf as my academic supervisor 2018-2022, @danelawdawn.bsky.social, @juliandrichards.bsky.social and @trixranderson.bsky.social's fab Life In The Viking Great Army

A much-deserved reissue for this volume. I got my copy at Govan Old in 2018 and it's been heavily thumbed since then...

Next week is the 18th anniversary of the discovery of the Vale of York Hoard. It was acquired by the Yorkshire Museum where it is currently on display as part of the Viking North exhibition. Cake courtesy of Amy Downes, the recording FLO. #FindsFriday finds.org.uk/database/art...

My Christmas present to myself - a reproduction of the Valle Prestegard boss (UNIMUS C30540), exquisitely made by Storvarra. It's more of a 'massive self-indulgence' than any sort of 'treat'... but I can honestly say that it's the closest I've ever seen to holding an original in my hands.

Ooh, books as academic origin stories? I guess Tolkien's a running constant amongst medievalists, and his work unquestionably influenced me... but this book definitely pulled my imagination toward a very specific subject.

Our Boxing Day walk - the annual St. Stephen's Day pilgrimage (and subsequent carol service) from Ripon Cathedral to Fountains Abbey. I haven't done it since I was in my teens, and it was everything memory wanted 😊

I've been missing in action on here the last few weeks: life got in the way, so apologies for the lack of Viking-themed FindsFridays and general Yorkshire archaeology. I'm going to ease back in with a few pictures of one of our Christmas preparations, gathering greenery on the banks in Durham -

"I saw great Cobbett riding, The horseman of the shires; And his face was red with judgement And a light of Luddite fires" Not the only lines which are there rent-free... but ones which keep coming up recently.

Oh man... It's not the years - it's the mileage.

Just in time for Halloween, a new Pictish vision of hell In PSAS 153, 2024 @socantscot.bsky.social Jane Geddes argues the weird 'beehive' surrounded by headless corpses on Sueno's Stone, Forres, is the furnace of the damned Nice shout-out to #CrucibleOfNations as a bonus doi.org/10.9750/PSAS...

Honestly don't know if there was an album which had more impact on my teenage self than this one...

Metal detecting has completely transformed what we know about it Viking Age England in the past few decades BUT only because the information is accessible! Objects’ significance/value can’t even be determined without that collaborative project of figuring out what it all means in the big picture

Our eldest Little Viking at an event at Murton Park, York, last weekend - with his nose buried in a book, as usual. It was his umpteenth re-read of his prised signed copy of the latest Loki by @louiestowell.bsky.social, courtesy of www.papercatbookshop.co.uk (We posed him a bit to hide his face)

As others have said today: nothing beats a good bead! I thought we'd take a pause from Viking camps and instead look at a North Yorks assemblage which I helped lift last year - and which Rebecca Griffiths @yorym-flo.bsky.social posted about last week. I watched these beauties come out the ground...

As others have said today: nothing beats a good bead! I thought we'd take a pause from Viking camps and instead look at a North Yorks assemblage which I helped lift last year - and which Rebecca Griffiths @yorym-flo.bsky.social posted about last week. I watched these beauties come out the ground...

Do you like archaeology? Do you like horror? Do you like archaeological horror?* I have the book for you. Ten stories, £5.99 for the paperback or £1.49 for the ebook. blackshuckbooks.co.uk/shadows-37/ *different from horror archaeology like a winter watching brief in the snow, finding nowt.

Carrying on our theme of weaponry, I thought we'd take a short look at spearheads for today's Viking Camps #FindsFriday. Why just a short look? Because we really don't have many spears, and they're all only from one camp. This is DB1423, one of the three possible spears from the camp at Torksey. /1

Howard @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social and I have developed a cute little series on the archaeology and history of death and burial in the Viking age. I simply love these sessions and hope more people will discover us :D #vikingsky #medievalsky youtu.be/hi2MQG6ChXM

Carrying on our theme of weaponry-related artefacts, we're going to look at these two Carolingian sword-belt mounts for our Viking Camps #FindsFriday today. People have been known to duck and run for cover when I start talking about strap fittings... so I promise I'll contain my enthusiasm! /1

Carrying on our theme of weaponry-related artefacts, we're going to look at these two Carolingian sword-belt mounts for our Viking Camps #FindsFriday today. People have been known to duck and run for cover when I start talking about strap fittings... so I promise I'll contain my enthusiasm! /1

An excellent piece of work by Ny Björn here - and it goes to show how these things can just sit happily in finds reports, waiting for the right moment to finally be identified...

Hwæt! 🐉 Ever wondered what the epic poem Beowulf sounds like spoken in Old English? #NationalPoetryDay

I'm late getting to my Viking camps #FindsFriday today: I was enjoying myself at the 'Words on the Wave' exhibition at Dublin yesterday and the morning's been a little slow! We're going to talk about this little artefact today - database number 115 from the camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire. /1

For #FindsFriday the jewellery from the Féchain hoard, found in 1967 but still unpublished so not as well known as it should be. 441 Carolingian coins, the most recent of Odo and Arnulf, date it to c. 890. Image from Périn and Feffer, La Neustrie.

Hunting for the Viking Great Army with Trix Randerson @trixranderson.bsky.social youtu.be/qO10bpuU8p0

I'm late getting to my Viking camps #FindsFriday today: I was enjoying myself at the 'Words on the Wave' exhibition at Dublin yesterday and the morning's been a little slow! We're going to talk about this little artefact today - database number 115 from the camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire. /1

An older but nonetheless very nice Norwegian find for #FindsFriday: An ornamented (and burnt) bone fragment from Reistad in Levanger, Trøndelag. Found 1935 in a burial mound. The pelleted body implies Mammen-style (c. ~1000 CE). More here: www.unimus.no/portal/#/thi... (📸: CC BY-SA 4.0)

Exciting book launch event!! Dr Victoria Whitworth: The Book of Kells: Unlocking the Enigma is finally out, and you can celebrate it (and snag a copy) at the Tarbat Discovery Centre on 11 October. Tickets at www.tickettailor.com/events/tarba... (1/2)

I think we'll spend the next few weeks looking at weapons for our Viking camps #FindsFriday posts: for all our talk of the 'Great Army', there are surprisingly few weapons from the sites. We'll start with these two pieces - Torksey finds DB 130 and 804. Both are broken ferrules from sword grips. /1

I think we'll spend the next few weeks looking at weapons for our Viking camps #FindsFriday posts: for all our talk of the 'Great Army', there are surprisingly few weapons from the sites. We'll start with these two pieces - Torksey finds DB 130 and 804. Both are broken ferrules from sword grips. /1

It's a brave person who invites me to talk on any topic I'm interested in - but I had a grand time with Howard last week, chatting to my heart's content about Viking camps and the Great Army. It was a hugely enjoyable hour-and-a-half for me: the link's below if you'd like to watch or listen 😊

It's a brave person who invites me to talk on any topic I'm interested in - but I had a grand time with Howard last week, chatting to my heart's content about Viking camps and the Great Army. It was a hugely enjoyable hour-and-a-half for me: the link's below if you'd like to watch or listen 😊

Answer time. A is detected find from Brampton, within area of Torksey Viking winter camp - it's recorded as being likely early medieval. B is from Snettisham & is secure Iron Age find - typical of IA. So are both these again Iron Age, with Piece A thieved? Who knows, but we can't rule it out.

Here we go folks, another brain teaser for you. Two bits of gold wire. Piece A is 1.2-1.7mm thick. Piece B is 2.6-3.2mm thick. Is one? Both? Neither? Iron Age or Viking??? Answers later today...😘 #Archaeology 🏺

Ok, answer time! Piece A is from Viking Watlington hoard & B comes from Iron Age Snettisham site. However, I (& @trixranderson.bsky.social) suspect both could be Iron Age & that Watlington piece could be more evidence of Viking theft!! But piece A is very small so it's difficult to be certain...

Pop quiz: Viking or Iron Age? A or B? 😂 (With @trixranderson.bsky.social for Viking balance! 🤣😂🤣 ) #Archaeology 🏺

Coming next spring ... yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Well, I've had two weeks away - so I'd better get back with another Viking camps #FindsFriday! We're going to look at ringed pins today - starting with this find, DB entry 1627 from Torksey. This was probably a cloak pin, with a cord tied to the swivelling ring used to hold it in place. /1

Well, I've had two weeks away - so I'd better get back with another Viking camps #FindsFriday! We're going to look at ringed pins today - starting with this find, DB entry 1627 from Torksey. This was probably a cloak pin, with a cord tied to the swivelling ring used to hold it in place. /1

This was an excellent and informative talk by @tessmachling.bsky.social and @trixranderson.bsky.social - also do check out Tess's website bigbookoftorcs.com

TONIGHT! ... and there's still a handful of FREE tickets available for this online lecture where you can hear myself and @trixranderson.bsky.social talking torcs and Vikings! See you there! 😊 #Archaeology 🏺

The whirlwind of school holidays means I'm late shouting about this - but I'll be joining the great @tessmachling.bsky.social this coming Thursday to talk about the Great Army, gold, and Vikings chopping up bits of shiny metal. The lecture's online for the YAHS: tickets available through the link!

One of the difficulties in presenting Viking camps is that many of the finds aren't much to look at: they don't hold the eye the same way as they grab the mind. Today's #FindsFriday piece is very much like that. This is Aldwark DB1712 - a rather tatty piece of lead, incised with a faint design. /1

One of the difficulties in presenting Viking camps is that many of the finds aren't much to look at: they don't hold the eye the same way as they grab the mind. Today's #FindsFriday piece is very much like that. This is Aldwark DB1712 - a rather tatty piece of lead, incised with a faint design. /1