Waiting for one of my referees to submit a reference in support of my PhD application is killing me! I am only being slightly hyperbolic!

Another visit to Kilmartin, for a picture for #StandingStoneSunday

Glencoe being moody in the rain and mist

Small, local museums will always be my favourites. A couple of pics from today's jaunt to the Isle of Mull Museum in Tobermory...

🏺 With so much going on today, I guess I miss that it’s #InternationalArchaeologyDay, so here’s a reminder that you can find all of my archaeology-focused blogging over at my website (with links to my various publications too!). animalarchaeology.com

I explore this story in MIGRATIONS, my book on ancient dogs of the Americas. It’s a journey through genetics, archaeology, and myth—tracing the pawprints of the first friend to cross into the New World. #AncientDogs #DogHistory #Archaeogenetics #Migrations #CanineOrigins

#Zooarchaeology doesn't just study bones: it reconstructs relationships, emotions, and alliances. From the 'Stories of Millennary Dogs' series, In this episode, we follow the trail of ancient #dogs through excavations, myths, and millennia-old silences. #art #archaeology #ancientdogs

After a postponement due to a thankfully erroneous major health scare, followed by a week or so of checking if the application portal has opened, I have pressed submit on my PhD application!

My pooches new dating app profile picture! Carved rock art just south of Kilmartin. Yes, you can stand on it (although the universe did decide that I was taking too many photos and not looking enough, and I fell on my b*m)!

Had a great day wandering around one of my favourite islands, yesterday. Broch, castle, and 14th century grave markers on Lismore.

Kilmartin Glen

#StandingStoneSunday Sideways Scottish sunshine (this was about 1.30pm) giving an excellently dramatic look to the stones at Kilmartin.

Lovely day visiting Kilmartin Glen. Rock art, standing stones, and burial cairns.

What a brilliant trip to Edinburgh that was. The archaeology dept is gorgeous, and all the staff I met were really kind. I could happily spend months rummaging around in the NMS collections. Even spotted some canid bits from here in Oban!

A brand new website for the International Network for Contemporary Archaeology (INCA Scot) is launching soon! Join us on the 17th March for a virtual gathering to celebrate the new home for Contemporary Archaeology in Scotland. Click here for more information: bit.ly/41sRwaD

The sun is up, and I am reminded why I moved to Scotland. The temperature has plummeted as I have travelled inland, but it is astoundingly beautiful. (Apologies for poor quality photo - it was taken through the window of a moving train.)

About halfway through the morning's train journey; getting to grips with some reading (and a much needed flask of coffee!)

Check out our #Zooarchaeology collection, with tons of FREE and #OpenAccess content such as: 🐎 Iron Age horse sacrifice in Siberia 🐓 The first chickens in Europe and north-west Africa 🦴 Bone tool production in Neolithic China & more! 🔗 https://buff.ly/4hDdjCg

Very early start to catch the 5.11am train, but I am off to Edinburgh for the day! I am going to be exploring the archaeology department and the NMS collection centre. Very sleepy. Very excited!

I am very proud of my little sister for winning 2nd place for Best Novel Opening!

Everything is going to be ok! I have spoken to my potential supervisor, and the key differences that I have identified are sufficiently... well... different! Thunderbirds are GO!

'The Neolithic mind is unknowable. We are so like and yet so unlike those people. We can walk within their buildings, pick up their tools, look out over the same water and hills as they once did, and yet how they saw their world, on a deeper level, is beyond us.' 🏺🧪

Your dog is more than a pet, companion or best friend. He or she is your evolutionary partner in a conjunctive venture stretching over millennia through glaciers, floods, pestilence, famine, war, migration and domestication. wp.me/p3vuOO-3k1

Looking forward to reading this. It could be game changing for archaeological practice and how we treat archaeological remains. "Rather than collecting material, she maps and studies each item in place" #ethicalcuration #zooarchaeology #museums #archives #postexcavation

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.bsky.social

After a 10-minute meltdown, followed by a good old cuppa and a think, I've identified the key differences between what I want to do and what has already been done. I can build on this, which I guess is a lot of what academic research is. I'll discuss it with my supervisor-in-principle, tomorrow.

That sinking feeling when you come across an article, published a decade ago, which comes dangerously close to your proposed PhD topic. 🤔

Today's seriously excellent article! A VERY recently published look at large canids (wild and domesticated) in Alaska. Right up my street! 🐕🦴

It is a small thing, and only a start, but my research proposal draft is currently sitting at a very pleasing word count!

This is fascinating, if a little gruesome. Makes me think that Needham's fission horizon and integration of the Neo-EBA parallel communities wasn't a peaceful process. Looking forward to seeing more of the genetics!

Trabecular Bone Ontogeny of the Human Distal Tibia onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Today's reading was a discussion about changing the way that (dog) domestication is viewed, from a single event to an ongoing process. Really good! 'Domestication is not an Ancient Moment of Selection for Prosociality' by R.J. Losey (2022)

Today's port from the old place to this lovely app is a thread 🧵 about my favorite ancient pet! The Yasmina Dog 🐕 The scientific zooarchaeology study was made by Michael MacKinnon & Kyle Belanger This story about this cute lil' dog is a sad one, with a (sort of) happy ending /1 #AncientBlueSky 🏺🧪

Ancient Americans And Dogs Became Best Buddies 2,000 Years Earlier Than Thought’, (IFLScience, 04.12.24) www.iflscience.com/ancient-amer...

Happily reading = living my best life! I've been out of the loop for a few years: does anyone have any recommendations of publications/researchers I should especially read? Any seminal works on animal (especially dog) domestication in #zooarchaeology? Pic of my pooch for dog-tax 🏺🐕🩻🦴

Genuine question inspired by a lovely lazy day watching excellent cheesy tv... 🏺 How prevalent (if at all) were pseudoarchaeological ideas regarding the pyramids in Egypt being... (a) 10,000 years old (b) built by aliens ... before 'Stargate' was aired?

Hello everyone we've made it over to @bsky.app! Looking forward to connecting with followers old & new. We'll be posting about all things #archaeology & #heritage at #Edinburgh Uni. More info: hca.ed.ac.uk/archaeology

Throwback to when I met the great Jane Goodall at the PSGB 50th birthday conference

This is the paper by the way! www.nature.com/articles/s41... just had a quick look and super interesting. My totally non serious summation: ape in the front, human party in the back !?!? The dental equivalent of an evolutionary mullet 🙄😂 🤘

Just heard the news about the passing of Professor Colin Renfrew. His books on archaeological theory and practice were fundamental for my undergraduate degree. Sad times. 🏺

I am feeling a bit emotional and excited about potentially rejoining academia, and so want to immortalise this article. I'm writing my research proposal. If all goes well, this is the first publication I will read for my PhD!

For #StandingStoneSunday, here's an amusing photograph of me enjoying a great day checking out various standing stones in the vicinity of Mallerstang, Cumbria. This is basically my leaning tower of Pisa photo, but I got confused about the direction of the lean!

Excellent video from the excellent @flintdibble.bsky.social

Hey, do you like archaeology? And do you also listen to podcasts? Well of course you do! So why don’t you join us tomorrow to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Archaeological Podcast Network? #APN10 discord.gg/DbpGNquS

I have colour coded stationary. A PhD. will be easy now! Right?

Our Special Issue is out, fully #openaccess in PaleoAnthropology! 7 studies integrating #ZooMS and #Zooarchaeology, alongside an extensive introduction on challenges/potentials. Guest editors @geoffreymsmith.bsky.social, Karen Ruebens, Virginie Sinet-Mathiot, Frido Welker. 🏺🧪🦴 tinyurl.com/ya9js9xp

New to Bluesky? Love museums? We have you covered! We're constantly adding new museums, libraries, and arts orgs to our Arts & Culture Starter Pack. Today, we welcomed the @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social, @artukdotorg.bsky.social, and many more :) bsky.app/starter-pack...