A real banger

Counterpoint (though I hate to argue with Pratchett): sometimes it’s rather important to dig up things that might not want to be buried again

"If you’re an adjunct or non-tenure-track, go ahead and finish off the bottle." ...in this economy?

Glad to know that fat tailed sheep are so widely admired

Congrats to @tatepaulette.bsky.social! Yesterday was a big day in the Paulette/Grossman household :)

I tenure at NC State today! I am so thankful to all the colleagues who supported me along the way.

Everyone’s dunking on this article for the headline, but it’s hilarious (intentionally so) and some great writing and reporting. Give it a read.

Thanks to Lauren Dogaer for inviting me to chat about beer in ancient Mesopotamia on her new podcast Drunk on History

The best little doggies

MidEast/Eastern Med Landscape Archaeology job at Southampton with great colleagues

Our usual Sunday-morning walk to the local bakery, Boulted Bread. Waiting for @kategrossman.bsky.social to emerge with the goods

Found an additional graphic that gets even more of these quotes together. I've kept "I hate myself, I hate clover, and I hate bees" pinned above my desk since I first started studying evolutionary biology as an undergraduate. So relatable to get extremely frustrated with your study system.

Maybe they were building the first zooarchaeology comparative collection.

More than 43,000 years ago, Neanderthals spent centuries collecting animal skulls in a cave; but archaeologists aren't sure why www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Good morning with a brand spanking new episode! All you wanted to know about the first beer! An interview with @tatepaulette.bsky.social Author of "In The Land of Ninkasi - A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia" all about first beers! Enjoy! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Not sure if any single part of academia felt more like a weird cheat code than Interlibrary Loan. Like, I just say a book I want, basically any book, and this crack team of experts just *get it*????

Congrats to Tate on the second award for his book this year!

Another new Hamoukar publication! This time, on my excavation of Early Bronze levels at the site.

Please share widely!

My department is hiring an archaeology post-doc to create GIS databases of archeology, ethnography, historic structures, and cultural landscapes at Gettysburg, Valley Forge, and Richmond NPs. Good salary, 3 year position, cool project, working with great people. jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...

Hot off the presses - new article on the faunal remains from Hamoukar! Big thanks to co-authors Max Price, Diana Fennimore, Salam Al Kuntar, and Clemens Reichel for helping get this out into the world.

Renowned cryptologist Robert Langdon waited by his phone. Surely, the French authorities would call him, a renowned cryptologist, to solve this mystery he thought in italics.

📕#BookReview Hannah Chazin's 'Live stock and dead things' reconsiders the idea that domestic herd animals were passive economic resources in the past, investigating how living and working with animals shaped society, economy, ritual and politics 1/2 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

I feel like they’re trying to tell me something … something about … breakfast?

This is why I love studying cities. Dense urban living requires that you think about the needs of others. The materiality of that concern is baked in to urbanism.

Sunday evening walkies with @kategrossman.bsky.social and the floofs at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary, NC

Every time I find myself staring at a blank page I picture a faceless person asking why I don't just use ChatGPT and then I picture myself replying "fuck you, I can find my own damn words" and I start to type.

Thanks to all of our students and staff for a successful 2025 field season at Makounta-Voules-Mersinoudia in western Cyprus. @kategrossman.bsky.social

Just finished up our first week of excavations at Makounta-Voules-Mersinoudia in western Cyprus. Here's @kategrossman.bsky.social introducing our field school students to the site and a visit to Aphrodite's Rock to cap off our end-of-week field trip

Site visit with @kategrossman.bsky.social and staff before the hordes (students) arrive later today. At Makounta-Voules-Mersinoudia in western Cyprus in the foothills of the Troodos mountains

Papers delivered! Now one more day to hang out in Lyon before heading off to Cyprus

Are all muppets the same species just with wildly different phenotypes like dogs or are there a lot of different species of muppet

In Lyon with @kategrossman.bsky.social to give 2 joint papers. Tues, 5pm, "Makounta-Voules-Mersinoudia, 2017–2024: Results from a Chalcolithic–Bronze Age Site on the Northwest Coast of Cyprus." Fri, 2:30pm, "Grain standing in her furrow: Toward an animist archaeology of agriculture in Mesopotamia."

Making the most of my day in London so far with @kategrossman.bsky.social: a stroll through Highgate Cemetery, a swim at the Highgate Men’s Bathing Pond, and cask ales (and roast pork baps) at The Southampton Arms

Thanks to the "Bible & Archaeology" podcast for inviting me to chat about beer in ancient Mesopotamia. youtu.be/DD6UoU2Zh48?...

London friends, @kategrossman.bsky.social and I are in London next weekend for one day. Arrive at 7am. Staying at The Bull and Last on Hampstead Heath and having dinner there. Suggestions for best nearby spots for cask ales? Should we visit the bathing ponds? Golders Hill deer/lemurs? What else?

This is cool. I’m on board.

Max is getting into the rhythms of the household

It can often be difficult to tell Sheep (right) and Goats (left) apart, but to the trained eye there's an obvious difference: While both commit Crimes, only Goats are aware that their actions are wrong, and are thus capable of Sin.

A real banger from @katewagner.bsky.social

Our new family member!

Celebrating 15 years married to @kategrossman.bsky.social. The first "official" wedding was in Orvieto, Italy. These photos are from our second wedding a month later in Syria during the 2010 excavation season at Hamoukar

Always a good day when a new podcast episode about Mesopotamian beer drops

To get us out on the town, @kategrossman.bsky.social always asks her students if they’re in any plays or performances. This semester she got one yes: METAL HAMLET. It did not disappoint.

I have a new article out today on animal husbandry practices at Roman period Aila (modern Aqaba), Jordan! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/AWXSH...

Happy National Beer Day! 🍻 Did you know beer's history is ancient? Dr. Tate Paulette @tatepaulette.bsky.social shared lectures on Mesopotamian brewing at CU Boulder & Yale, even with replica beer tastings! 🤯 History in a glass! aeon.co/essays/mesop... peoplingthepast.com/2022/02/18/b...

Happy to see Tufts writing in support of Rümeysa Öztürk. www.tufts.edu/president/sp...

Converting my 401K into cartons of cigarettes for barter before the market opens tomorrow.

We're back to balmy temps (78F/25C) here in North Carolina, but it was so nice to be able to swim straight through the winter in this heated outdoor pool a short bike ride away at the Southeast Raleigh YMCA