Love this review of my new book Mythopedia in @harpers.bsky.social by Dan Piepenbring “I can’t say that Mythopedia deepened my relationship to the land, but it has shaken and shifted it like so many toads in a tornado.” harpers.org/archive/2025...

Dan Piepenbring in a review in the new Harper’s of Cory Doctorow’s “Enshittification.”

Mythopedia coming out Oct 7, 2025, preorder now! "Mayor draws on the new field of geomythology to explain the historical background & science behind 53 legends and myths of the earth. A fascinating catalog of ancient cultures and unique geological events" ―Kirkus Reviews

see @amayor.bsky.social's work demonstrating that even the mythical beasts in Herodotus are often based on archaeological or paleontological finds by people at the time in the region

delighted to see this extensive article about my book on Biological Warfare in Antquity in Haaretz www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...

Amazons in the heat of battle! details, lace-up fur-lined boots, leopard skin capes, gold armbands, lost cap and shields on ground... Baltimore Painter, Florence Museum

Who is the Amazon in the Wolfskin Cap? ancient coin of Amisos, during the reign of Mithradates VI of Pontus, first century BC

thrilled to have this enthusiastic review of my new book Mythopedia from Kirkus Reviews! www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Elegant Amazon rider, Etruscan bronze

Elegant Amazon rider, Etruscan bronze

Very much looking forward to this one. Adrienne's books are always excellent

18/28 This Greek vase represents the Trojan monster: the fossilized skull of a prehistoric animal - perhaps a Samotherium. It is also the cover of "The First Fossil Hunters" by Adrienne Mayor, which greatly helped me build this thread.

11/28 these fossilized bones combining to form the image of the griffin, as described by the Scythian nomads, then by the Greeks, Romans, and other later cultures.

10/28 20th-century palaeontologists like Roy Chapman Andrews then followed caravan routes through China to the Gobi Desert and discovered fossilized remains of Protoceratops (lion-sized) and Psittacosaurus ("parrot-beaked lizard"),

9/28 Similarly, in the 13th century, the Chinese in Turfan and Lop Nur also feared the surrounding deserts (formerly Issedonian lands), believed to be haunted by demons and dragons.

8/28 In 675 BCE, when Aristaeus of Proconnesus, a Greek traveller, visited the Scythian nomads in the Gobi Desert, they told him about a region beyond Issedonia where griffins, lion-sized creatures with curved beaks like eagles, were guarding a treasure.

1/28 New thread ! This time we discuss the connections between my various passions: palaeontology, archaeology, and history, or how ancient civilizations (Pharaonic Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman period) dealt with fossils and extinct animal bones #Paleosky ⚒️🧪🏺

Original study: A. Fernández-Fernández et al., Significance of #fossils in #Roman times: the first #trilobite find in an early Empire context, Archaeol Anthropol Sci 17, 166 (2025). 🔓 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

And, as always in such cases, here is the obligatory reference to @amayor.bsky.social's essential book on the subject: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

thrilled to have this enthusiastic review of my new book Mythopedia from Kirkus Reviews! www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Astounding Griffin with astragalus, ankle bone, like the sheep ankle bones used in ancient Greek games. Gold and crystal ring 5th c BC Suggests one might be extra lucky with a Griffin knucklebone?

Astounding Griffin with astragalus, ankle bone, like the sheep ankle bones used in ancient Greek games. Gold and crystal ring 5th c BC Suggests one might be extra lucky with a Griffin knucklebone?

Check out the original article (Open Access) in Geoheritage link.springer.com/article/10.1... and watch for her new book this Fall.

My latest for National Geographic on @amayor.bsky.social's excellent article on toxins in the Styx and the rumors Alexander the Great was poisoned. www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

Mythopedia is “[an] engaging & accessible volume” of @amayor.bsky.social’s favorite myths & legends from around the world, “coupled with scientific & historical discoveries that explain the phenomena in the tales.” Read more in @libraryjournal.bsky.social: www.libraryjournal.com/review/mytho....

Amazons about to kill a Greek warrior note shield and cap on ground to indicate heated battle Full frontal face of Greek is rare, signals imminent death ancient Greek vase, Baltimore Painter

Can Geology explain why the Styx River was so deadly & suggest why Styx poison was associated with the death of Alexander the Great? you can now read my article in Geoheritage link.springer.com/article/10.1...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Cc: @amayor.bsky.social

This latest video takes a look at the fascinating theory that the legend of the griffin originated with sightings of protoceratops fossils in Asia: youtu.be/INU6QnIclsw?...

Reading "The First Fossil Hunters" by @amayor.bsky.social and it is a blast. She studies the Classical myths about giants and legendary creatures like griffins, and shows convincingly how real fossils were almost certainly the basis for these stories.

Pausanias is fun because he is both a skeptic and a believer. As @amayor.bsky.social says in her book, he is sure that the bones found in what's now modern Turkiye are not the bones of mythical monster Geryon. But only because he knows for sure that Geryon's bones were found in Spain!

Reading in "The First Fossil Hunters" how eagerly Greek towns fought for "relics" from the Heroic Age. Including fossils taken to be the bones of heroes and demigods. Like the whitened "ivory" shoulder blade of Pelops, probably a mammoth bone. All fascinatingly Medieval & Saint-y.

Back into @amayor.bsky.social's "First Fossil Hunters" after a long weekend out of town. I love her central premise/challenge -- the overwhelming evidence that ancient Greeks found, collected, & revered huge fossils was missed by Classicists for so long because they worked in academic silos.

Can Geology explain why the Styx River was so deadly & suggest why Styx poison was associated with the death of Alexander the Great? you can now read my article in Geoheritage link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Unicorns from my talk on natural evidence mistaken for mythic creatures

Greek mythology has a warning about AI and robots! my interview in Greek magazine Newsbomb urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

for more accurate information on Aristotle's musings about automatons and slaves, see my book Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines and Ancient Dreams of Technology, translations in German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Arabic

Fossil marvels in my new book #Mythopedia Tuareg monster Jobar = sauropod Jobaria discovered by Paul Sereno Mysterious tunnels in Brazil made by giant sloths World's smallest dinosaur skull trapped in amber, discovered by Lida Xing drawings by Michele Angel

look at the sweet face of this horse! with Castor, armed with sword and two spears ancient Greek vase painting 5th c BC, Louvre

“One surprising observation is that #finches and #sparrows collect cigarette butts. The #nicotine kills #mites in #BirdNests.": buff.ly/YdcpL6A from @amayor.bsky.social

Wonderful to see @amayor.bsky.social's Gods and Robots featured in @smithsonianmag.bsky.social! Read the piece: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/was-...

Delighted to appear in this exciting French TV documentary on the history & archaeology of "Amazons: Warrior Women" Trailer here: zed.fr/en/catalog/a...

Civic courage is making a comeback! Thanks to Josiah Ober and team news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

How did the ancient Greeks discover and explain fossils? www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/heroes-...

Two Amazons overpower a pair of Greek hoplites Combat takes place in a barren wilderness Note iconic dead tree & unique sandy ground under the fallen Greek ancient Greek vase painting

“The #animal chewed the leaves of a liana vine – a #plant not normally eaten by apes. Over several days, the #orangutan ..applied the juice to its #wound, then covered it w a paste of chewed-up liana. The wound healed with only a faint scar”: buff.ly/nkrvMfS via @amayor.bsky.social #NaturalRemedy