By amazing coincidence, my offering for #HillfortsWednesday was already lined up when I saw the post below: the opposite view of the bench on which @pottedhistory.bsky.social is sitting! I believe there is a hillfort lurking in the distance on the right (Lordenshaws).

Thursday 13 Nov is our next talk. This one is a bit special because our Chair, Mike Haken, is talking about A New Digital Map of Roman Britain: how to access it, how to use it and what comes next. It's a huge step forward that's taken a decade to develop

A 2,000-year-old 'Tomb of Cerberus' with stunning frescoes discovered in #Italy The fresco portrays the moment in the #myth of Heracles, where he captures Cerberus as part of his twelve labors. 📸 Credit: Ministry of Culture, Italy #TombTuesday #Archaeology #art

For this #MosaicMonday, continuing to look at the fascinating fragments from Dinnington. A bird's head above centre is easy to recognise, but what is in the fragment below left? Seems to be figured work with two tiny red triangles. Ideas very welcome! 1/2 #AncientBlueSky 🏺

Happy Halloween, Cerberus!

For #AdoorableThursday, doors don't come any more adorable than this! Spotted at the top of Castle Street (wonder where they got that name ...) in Warkworth. A quick look online suggests that this is one of many fairy doors in the town. 🧚🪄

#HillfortsWednesday wasn't on my mind when taking these photos last month, but it transpires that Dunbar Castle started life as a hillfort. Takes some imagination, especially as the harbour entrance was blasted through the ruins in 1844! 1/2

A certain site in Dorset has been in the news this week for its imminent TV appearance, so for #EpigraphyTuesday here is evidence that those Durotriges got everywhere! In the wonderful museum at Chesters on Hadrian's Wall, recording their building work. 1/3

A splash of colour for the first Monday after the clocks went back (in the UK). Wells Cathedral (with blue sky) from the Bishop's Palace Garden and from the Market Place (with rainbow), taken on Friday. #MedievalMonday

Cambridge’s #Archaeology journals are publishing an increasing amount of #openaccess (OA) #research. Read the latest articles here: ▶️ https://cup.org/3We1oBR @antiquity.ac.uk @saa-aap.bsky.social @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social @prehistoricsociety.bsky.social#Archaeology

A great anecdote about the well-known Rudston mosaics. They can be seen in the Hull and East Riding Museum. If you haven't been, it's definitely worth a visit. #MosaicMonday

Oops - forgot: #AncientBlueSky 🏺 [Is it still useful to people to include this?]

Continuing a look at the Dinnington fragments for #MosaicMonday. This is part of Daphne, identified by her hand turning into leaves. On display in the excellent Museum of Somerset but my photo was taken in 2005 at the time of excavation.

To celebrate #MoleDay here is the Ashmole mole :) MS. Ashmole 1511 (The Ashmole Bestiary), folio 36r. England, early 13th c. Illuminated manuscript on vellum. Bodleian Libraries digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/faef...

All the (Epic) Rage: Free Tools for Reading Homer's Iliad sententiaeantiquae.com/2025/10/25/a...

Callanish yesterday , big rainbow 🌈 #StandingStoneSunday

The sun is shining (though not sure for how long ...) and it's #PhallusThursday 😀, so here's an exceptional example in the wonderful Chesters Museum on Hadrian's Wall - a favourite collection for many of us. 1/2

Mercury, one of the reliefs at Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott's house near Melrose, said to come from Old Penrith. CSIR l.4 Scotland lists this under 'Aliena' since Old Penrith is not in Scotland, rather than 'Falsa', but is that face a bit suspect? And what a large purse! #ReliefWednesday

I'm not a regular contributor to #EpigraphyTuesday, but this caught my eye. According to RIB, it's a door jamb rather than an altar (decoration only on the right side). The dedication includes Mars Thincsus and the two Alaisiagae, who appear to be fierce Germanic goddesses. 1/3

Hare riding a hound with a trained snail of prey Pontifical of Guillaume Durand, Avignon, before 1390

#MosaicMonday - Mosaic panel of the Three Graces from Narlıkuyu in Mersin, southern Turkey: ca. 4th Century AD. The panel originally graced (see what I did there?) a Roman bath complex, which the inscription indicates was established by one Poimenios. #Myth #Archaeology 🏺

For #MedievalMonday, part of the extraordinary chantry chapel to Prior Leschman (1480-1491) in Hexham Abbey. Note the bagpiper lower left!

A fragment from the intriguing villa at Dinnington. Usually regarded as cupid with a wing but there's something odd about that face! Why is the hair shown frontally but the face apparently not? Thoughts welcome. 1/2 #MosaicMonday #AncientBlueSky 🏺

Roman mosaic depicting Bacchus, dated to 300-30 BC. Found from the Greek island of Melos. #MosaicMonday

For #SundaySheep, these are not just any sheep in a field, but they're studying the environs of Corbridge Roman Town. This one neglected her studies to pose obligingly. Church tower in Corbridge just visible in background.

Fragments of painted wall plaster from a Roman villa site at Hunsbury in Northamptonshire. Now part of the collections at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. 📸 My own. #FrescoFriday #RomanBritain #Hunsbury #Northampton

An early and archaeological entry for #SheepSunday.

Spot the phallus! A cheeky little reused example lurking in a drain near the tribunal in the principia at Vindolanda. Wonder how many visitors walk over this without noticing? Second part of post is a close-up view. 1/2 #PhallusThursday

🦔🦔🦔 Prompted by discussion in another post, sharing this link to an article in case others are also interested in #hedgehogs and hedgehog-head boats in Ancient Egypt. Contains cute pictures! www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/11... @sdecasien.bsky.social @chapps.bsky.social

For #HillfortsWednesday, a serendipitous view of North Berwick Law: stopped for petrol on a recent trip and saw this on the way out of the garage! (Did a tour of the supermarket car park and stopped specially - of course. 😉)

Mars, one of the reliefs at Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott's house near Melrose, said to come from Old Penrith. CSIR l.4 Scotland lists this under 'Aliena' since Old Penrith is not in Scotland, rather than 'Falsa', but that spear looks odd! #ReliefWednesday

A fun mosaic raising important #hedgehog queries: a hedgehog in the picture on the left, upper left of centre; a porcupine in the upper left of the picture on the right; and an owl in the owl/hedgehog discussion in the comments?! We need to know ...

Prompted by the glimpse @moleymole.bsky.social recently gave us of his well-stocked bookshelves, I'm sharing this display seen recently in the excellent bookshop at Vindolanda. Made my day to see my first book looking so happy! 1/2 #MosaicMonday

Following last week's #MosaicMonday post, this is another modern mosaic I enjoyed on a recent trip. It repays close looking and should raise a smile! By the late Maggy Howarth, with design input from local schoolchildren, decorating the small Millennium Garden at Ravenglass in Cumbria.

Reposting for #SundaySheep.

A fascinating study: thank you, @anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social! #classicalreception

wull, f.n: wool. (WULL / ˈwʌl) Image: Sheep in a bestiary; England, c. 1225-1250; @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Bodley 764, f. 34r. #OldEnglish #WOTD

#Hedgehog alert!

The battle of Cat and Mouse BL Harley 6563; Book of Hours; c.1320 CE-c.1330 CE; England, S. E. (London); f.72r

Just in time for #SundaySheep: look who I met this afternoon at the lovely Tetbury Wool Fair.

For #StandingStoneSunday, remembering a wonderfully atmospheric visit to the incomparable Castlerigg stone circle recently. The wisps of cloud in the valley added to the mystique.

For #RomanSiteSaturday, the South and East Gates at Birdoswald fort on Hadrian's Wall, looking towards the interior of the fort. Although largely unexcavated, it's a charming site with a small museum and extensive stretches of the Wall on either side.

A good start to Friday: #hedgehog alert! (With thanks as ever to @arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social for bringing this to my attention.)

I've been travelling and have a feast of phalli to share over the following weeks! We'll start with an old favourite. This one often appears here, but I've added some photos showing its context for those who might not have the chance to visit. 1/2 #PhallusThursday

#NationalBadgerDay: #ItalianRenaissance artist Il Sodoma (b. Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, 1477-1549) stuck a self portrait with his pet #badgers into his Stories of St. Benedict fresco cycle! 😂 Scene 3: Benedict Repairs a Broken Colander Through Prayer (Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Tuscany, 1505-8)

“Bear with a banner” medieval tile - 14th Century In 1382, Jean de Berry employed Spanish craftsmen to decorate his residences with armorial floor tiles at Mehun-sur-Yivre, Bourges & Poitiers. A skill then unknown in France. #TilesOnTuesday

Reposting this link, a little early, for #TextileTuesday. A spectacular survival.

For this #MosaicMonday, a mosaic I've enjoyed seeing recently: not ancient, but a superb goat by the late Maggy Howarth at Levens Hall showing an accomplished continuation of this ancient art form. Note the wonderful choice of pebble for the eye! 1/3 #AncientBlueSky 🏺(though this isn't!)

Photo of interest for #MosaicMonday

An early/late entry for #MosaicMonday. This is spectacular.