I love your posts - especially the blue hippos. Am returning to Cairo next week and am excited to visit the GEM again (was there in August, before it was fully open).

✨✨Seasons Greetings!✨✨ Here’s a selection of my favourite ancient Egyptian blue hippos seen on my travels. Now where’s William? 🦛❤️ 📷 by me #Archaeology

Happy St. Stephen’s Day! 14th century wall painting fragments from St. Stephen’s Chapel - the Royal Chapel at the Old Palace of Westminster, largely destroyed by fire in 1834. The fragments are now part of the collections at the British Museum. 📷 My own. #StStephensDay

The remains of a Neolithic chambered cairn at Stockie Muir in Stirlingshire. The ‘Clyde type’ cairn is some 20m in length and 11m across, and probably built between 4000 to 3000 BC. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Archaeology

A very apt #HillfortsWednesday Oswestry in all its majesty in the snow ❄️❄️❄️ Merry Christmas all 🎄❤️🎁 #Archaeology #History

Bringing out the special plates for Christmas Dinner? 🍗 Prehistoric people had crockery for special occasions too! In Neolithic Arabia, imported Mesopotamian Ubaid Ware was an item of prestige, whereas locally-produced Coarse Red Ware more commonplace 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄🌟 We all love a good reindeer at Christmas! These ones were painted in Font-de-Gaume cave in France 18,000 years ago! Rudolph the Red-backed Cave deer? 🎶🦌 #RockArtThursday #archaeology 🏺

A Bronze Age horned helmet from Brøns Mose at Viksø, decorated with bosses and adorned with eyes and a beak. The helmet was found with an identical one in a bog. They were probably used at religious ceremonies. Later on, they were deposited in the bog as offerings. 🧵1/2 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

From c. 3,600 years ago, an ancient Egyptian bead in the form of a hedgehog curled-up in a ball! 🦔❤️ Blue faience, c. 1985 -1650 BC. National Museum of Scotland www.nms.ac.uk/search-our-c... 📷 by me

From c. 3,600 years ago, an ancient Egyptian bead in the form of a hedgehog curled-up in a ball! 🦔❤️ Blue faience, c. 1985 -1650 BC. National Museum of Scotland www.nms.ac.uk/search-our-c... 📷 by me

I wish a joyous Christmas to all who celebrate. May you have a truly wonderful time 🎄🎅. This #Roman glass spherical bottle would make great #Christmas bauble, but it was used to hold perfume and loose powder. The contents were sealed inside the delicate cosmetic container, and...🧵1/2 📷 me

Gorgeous

Bee-autifully crafted gold ornament in the form of a little bee 🐝 ❤️ Length 1.90 cm. From Minoan Crete, circa 1700-1600 BC. 📷 British Museum www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... #Archaeology

This small ribbed bowl is a fine example of early Imperial Roman glassmaking. It was produced in the 1st century AD and found in Trier. The vessel was formed from coloured glass with a striking marbled effect in dark and yellow tones. Such vessels were prized tableware,...🧵1/2 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

Something exciting is happening- In support of keeping the Chilterns Heritage & Archaeology Partnership afloat (DEFRA monies only go so far), I have been encouraged to launch a lecture series. (and yes, I asked Sir Baz sometime ago about basing this on his book, so I haven't just nicked the title😅)

Happy Winter Solstice! On midwinter’s day, the sun sets between the pair of stones that form the largest trilithon at #Stonehenge Farewell to the shortest day of the year, as we look forward to lighter days ahead! ☀️ #StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology

Yes, the Romans *did* have a sense of whimsy.

Over 2,000-year-old Hjortspring boat study reveals Baltic origins and advanced seafaring long before the Viking Age A new scientific study is now casting fresh light on one of Scandinavia’s most famous prehistoric vessels... More information: archaeologymag.com/2025/12/2000... #archaeology

Bedd Arthur in the Preseli Hills for #StandingStoneSunday. Happy Solstice everyone.

For a slightly later than planned Standing Stone Sunday, a picture from the series 'Searching for the Geminids' courtesy of Farrukh Swamibu #StandingStoneSunday #Megaliths #Stonehenge #Neolithic

Happy Winter Solstice! On midwinter’s day, the sun sets between the pair of stones that form the largest trilithon at #Stonehenge Farewell to the shortest day of the year, as we look forward to lighter days ahead! ☀️ #StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology

For #StandingStoneSunday The megaliths of Avebury, Wiltshire splendidly reimagined as festive decorations in the newly reopened (and rather excellent) @nationaltrust.org.uk Manor House 😍🎄 📷 Dec 2025 Happy #WinterSolstice #HalfwayOutOfTheDark

The Mare and Foal Standing Stones - the only visible remains of a Bronze Age stone circle which is located close to Hadrians Wall, just off the B6318 in Northumberland. 📸 My own. #StandingStoneSunday #Prehistory #Archaeology #Northumberland

Here's to longer days ..🌞🍻🥳 #StandingStoneSunday A crowded Winter #Solstice at Stonehenge in 1990, giving some rare human scale to the enormous sarsen stones & lesser - but still massive - bluestone monoliths 📷 My own

Astronomical #winter starts today. It's the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight with the sun starting to set later each day until Summer Solstice. The mosaic depicts the dancing Genii (protective spirits) of the four seasons. The Genius of winter is wrapped in a heavy cloak.🧵1/2 #Solstice

The remarkably well-preserved York Helmet, dated AD 770-775, is one of only six surviving helmets from Anglo-Saxon Britain. A Latin inscription bears the name ‘Oshere’. Discovered by a digger operator in York in 1982. Iron and copper-alloy. Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology

Yooo this is so cool

Something lovely for the weekend! A 1,800 year-old Roman glass flask shaped like a mouse! Squeak squeak! 🐭❤️ 📷 by me www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... #Archaeology

Reader, we purchased it #SorryNotSorry #WinterSolstice #Christmas #Stonehenge #Archaeology

Delos or Dilos is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Between 900 BC and 100 AD, Delos was a major cult centre. In 166 BC, the Romans converted Delos into a free port. It was abandoned around the eighth century AD #RomanSiteSaturday

Colchester Castle is built on the foundations of a Roman temple and its structure includes much recycled Roman building material. One staircase includes this chunk of ancient tile which features the prints of a Roman hobnail boot (my own foot for scale) #RomanSiteSaturday @colmuseums.bsky.social

The remains of a butcher’s shop and house - part of the town (vicus) that developed around the Roman Fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland. 📸 My own. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain #Vindolanda #Northumberland

New batch of handmade stratigraphy earrings, this time in shades of blue and a hint of green. 🛍️ tephraarts.etsy.com/listing/4428... 🪨💚 #geology #geologist #stratigraphy #archaeology #geoscience #earthscience #geodiva #rocks #minerals #fossil #paleontology

Two finely crafted bone combs from the early 6th c. AD, found in a grave at Dittigheim. To protect their delicate tines, they were carefully kept in a custom-made case. In the Early Middle Ages, long, well-groomed hair was more than a fashion choice, it was a symbol of status and identity. 1/2 📷me

Twinsies!

I love to see ancient glasswork. It feels whimsical and modern in a way the pottery never does.

Something lovely for the weekend! A 1,800 year-old Roman glass flask shaped like a mouse! Squeak squeak! 🐭❤️ 📷 by me www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... #Archaeology

#FindsFriday: A 'dragonesque' brooch from the British Museum. Its belly is inlaid with coloured enamel, and the pin (missing) would have fitted on the back between the two necks. These wonderfully sinuous brooches were popular in the decades after the Roman invasion. #RomanBritain 📸 me

It was found in a bog at Coggalbeg, Roscommon in 1945, and consists of a #gold lunula (a crescent shaped "little moon") and two small gold discs, of a type known from other examples, decorated with a cross motif within two circles. #Ireland #Archaeology #History #FindsFriday

It's #Saturnalia ! Here's the satyr Silenus, companion to Bacchus the god of wine, who's inebriated face appears on this 3rd century AD #Roman copper alloy wine jug Found beneath Dorchester Marks and Spencers in 1936 and now @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social 📷 May 2021 Happy #FindsFriday #FridayFeeling

‘Buddo’ - a rare representation of a human figure from the British Neolithic, dating to around 2900-2400 BC. Discovered at Skara Brae in the mid-C19th, it was re-discovered amongst the archaeological collections at Stromness Museum in 2016. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #Archaeology

Dear Santa - I've been a good boy this year (mostly) and think I deserve a replica of this gorgeous 4th c. CE cobalt blue glass head flask. Remarkable to see the typical Late Roman/Byzantine features - large almond shaped eyes and flowing locks of hair - rendered in glass. 🏺 #MetMuseum 📸 me

Ahead of Christmas, it feels fitting to share this Roman fibula - a decorative pin once used to fasten garments - shaped like a stag. In my Christmas-influenced imagination, it looks rather reindeerish! 🎄 Is it Dasher, Dancer, or maybe Rudolph? 🎅 From the Roman Villa at Borg, 2nd c. AD 📷Villa Borg

The remarkably well-preserved York Helmet, dated AD 770-775, is one of only six surviving helmets from Anglo-Saxon Britain. A Latin inscription bears the name ‘Oshere’. Discovered by a digger operator in York in 1982. Iron and copper-alloy. Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology

Here’s a new public crowdfunder to raise £450,000 to keep a ship’s flag from the Battle of Trafalgar in the UK Save the Battle of Trafalgar Union Jack www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-b...

Bubo 💙

Owl of Athena! 🦉❤️ Silver tetradrachm coin minted in Athens c. 475-465 BC. Photo Getty Museum: www.getty.edu/art/collecti... #ReliefWednesday #Archaeology

Also featured on the medal awarded annually by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Geldgeschichte - www.gig-geldgeschichte.de/pages/Ehrenp...

They put this design on the back of modern Greek €1 coins. It's neat.

Owl of Athena! 🦉❤️ Silver tetradrachm coin minted in Athens c. 475-465 BC. Photo Getty Museum: www.getty.edu/art/collecti... #ReliefWednesday #Archaeology