"...subsequent ancient DNA analysis revealed the specimens were in fact from a North Pacific Right whale and a Minke whale." Adopted “mammoths” from Alaska turn out to be a whale's tale - Wooller - Journal of Quaternary Science - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

This is such a cool finding--the oldest direct evidence of poisoned arrows. Poisoned hunting weapons were a game-changing innovation for our ancestors. Absolutely incredible that researchers found traces of plant toxins on these tiny arrowheads from 60,000 ago 🤯🏹 🧪

I know we’ve all got our eyes on that carnyx 👀, but meanwhile in Sunderland we’ve got OVER 800(!) Roman whetstones and seemingly the largest whetstone production site ever found 🤯 We’ve been cautious for months about the date, but the OSL is now in, and yes, it’s Roman 🤩

Wow! This is probably the closest we are ever going to get to finding something equivalent to Excalibur!

@profaliceroberts.bsky.social !! I know you said there was a spectacular Iron Age fund, but you could have warned us!!! @theduncanmackay.bsky.social and me are going to be fit for nowt today!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Also generally* the women characters are well developed, have interiority and are not there as walking dolls for the male protags *i actually think in this instance the show does this better than the books

Teaser for my current book: Quick Magazine, October 12th, 1949, "Hollywood Uncovers Male Appeal,":“Beefcake is the new Hollywood name for the male equivalent of female cheesecake. Only recently has Hollywood realized the full box-office potential of unencumbered views of their screen idols’ torsos.”

speaking of, I’d love to talk to you if you’re a non-fiction literary agent, or knows one who might want to talk to me

Colorado out here just breaking the curve for the rest of the league. Everyone in the Pacific definitely going to have to retake the final exam....

A reminder we’re accepting abstracts and registrations for the first #AusTAG conference to be held 22-23 May in Adelaide. Call for Papers: austag.org/2025/11/04/a... Registration: events.humanitix.com/austag-confe... Can’t wait to see a bunch of archaeology folks there!

Been hearing rumblings about this one for a while from my brilliant anu colleagues who are co-authors - really glad to see it published!

Friends, i know I've said this before but you should read this book

A reminder we’re accepting abstracts and registrations for the first #AusTAG conference to be held 22-23 May in Adelaide. Call for Papers: austag.org/2025/11/04/a... Registration: events.humanitix.com/austag-confe... Can’t wait to see a bunch of archaeology folks there!

2025 proved what we can achieve together. 2026 is about going further. 👉 Be part of something bigger. Join NTEU today: nteu.au/join

Folks Tal is extremely correct. it's stellar read aloud. Get an unabridged audiobook - this is my face because the narrator (Anthony Heald) really captures the humour and the camp Also shout out to my fellow moby dick tattoo havers 🐳

If you haven’t seen it, I feel you should see my youngest kid’s Moby-Dick cake from their second-grade Moby-Dick themed party. All credit to my husband, who bought the sea cake and made the scene on top.

With no disrespect to the post below, this is another inaccurate map of the Roman road network of Wales. Both this and the recently publicised digital atlas of ancient roads leaves out roads confirmed in Wales 30 years ago Still old (2011) - but better is this map... cadw.gov.wales/sites/defaul...

Literally every pair of loxy's earrings i wear gets comments every time i wear them

V’ahavta by Aurora Levins Morales www.auroralevinsmorales.com/blog/vahavta

Venezuelan War update has posted at the mothership. Unlike the daily Ukraine war updates, this is NOT going to be a regular thing.

One of the chief virtues of the book is that it’s nearly the only remaining form of media that isn’t constantly being interrupted by ads. Between the covers is the last place on earth where no one is trying to sell you shit, a place where you can still be a human being rather than a mark.

The good news: Over 500 items still left to get on my website for 75% off. Most expensive item is $7.50. The bad news: I am still not shipping to the US. But Europe, UK? The price is VERY right for you. (The price is also good for Australia, just close to par.) loxythemaker.com

what a terrible loss to the commonwealth www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

NEW #Neolithic axe-heads from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney. One of the most iconic tools of Europe's first farmers, macroscopic wear analysis reveals they were treated in diverse ways, used for cutting wood, chiselling stone, scraping hides and more. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Thomas Paine began 1776 with _Common Sense_ and the call to reject monarchy, and ended with _The American Crisis_, warning that "these are the times that try men's souls." Like many in my field, I've spent the last dozen years preparing for 2026, sure that the fullest histories serve us best. 1/

📢 We're hiring a postdoc (33 months) in human evolutionary genomics / paleogenomics / statistical genetics, Paris 🇫🇷 Project on selection on disease-associated variants, integrating ancient genomes, GWAS, and Ancestral Rec. Graphs. Start May 2026 (flexible). Apply here: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Just a reminder, my next novel, Radiant Star, is available for pre-order wherever fine books are, uh, pre-ordered!

...absolute bullshit of course. Politicians by and large use academics' ideas, insofar as they do, to legitimise decisions already made or to bolster what they think is a course likely to succeed with key elite groups and enough voters as they need. /5

The best thing to ever happen to me is that my family and partner are all extremely offline and blissfully unaware of social media

Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over

A soft, small, hopeful thing.

briefly i was concerned that, as a millennial, i would have no way to process this information

In a primary school history lesson involving Viking role-play, girls were told that they couldn't be warriors. Grandson, then 7yo, stood up, banged his fist on the desk and shouted "Why are women and children always written out of history". Love that boy 👍

Penguinhenge!

Happy New Year, Bluesky.

Mothers and infants are generally underrepresented in historical accounts. Examining mother and infant burials from Iron Age and Roman England allows us to observe the multi-generational impact of Roman occupation on health #WednesdayWisdom 🏺 #Archaeology 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

Stupendous stuff from @samleggs22.bsky.social - meta analysis of human strontium and oxygen stable isotope data from southern Britain in 2nd half of 1st Millennium AD. Too rich to summarise but if your are into complex early medieval mobility, this one’s for you. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I didn't realise my ginger cat was doing bits online now

Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research. A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans. futurism.com/health-medic...

For those that want to tackle Moby-Dick we're starting A Month of Dick 2026 on Thursday! 🐋

This is a neat new study using LIDAR to document pre-colonization raised agricultural beds along the Menominee River that separates Wisconsin from Michigan, north of Green Bay. “massive field systems like these were much more common than previously recognized” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The flag of the Capital Territory is not bad, but i do think it's got a rather over inflated sense of self

Guess I'm in the NHL (Yes i am reading the books that show is based on... I'm about ready to DNF and just watch the show though, romance without conflict isn't really my genre)

You get sprung

Dear American academics, UBC is part of Canada’s poaching plan for strategic research areas (including enviro, climate, water, Arctic): research.ubc.ca/federal-rese... Applications due JAN 15, so hustle.

THIS THIS THIS. ALL OF THIS THIS is why faculty resist technological strategies for teaching. There is no engaging with Edtech without this context

Sharing some personal reflections on Jewish safety after Bondi: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

“The tribes now own the massacre site that for generations was in the hands of the Czywczynki family, which had previously operated a trading post and museum on the property. The tribes purchased the land in 2022 and now have had it placed permanently in their hands through the federal legislation.”