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Alison Fisk

@alisonfisk.bsky.social
16K followers 3.7K following 3.2K posts

Masters degree in Archaeological Practice at Birkbeck, University of London. Volunteer at Ham House, Richmond. Here to share my love of archaeology.

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 7h
Interestingly, the ‘flying gallop’ is an artistic convention used to convey speed and movement, rather than an accurate snapshot. Muybridge’s photos showed all four hooves do leave the ground simultaneously, but during this airborne phase the legs are gathered beneath the body, not out-stretched
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 8h
It’s a handle from either a fly whisk or light whip
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 8h
Muybridge showed that all four of a galloping horse’s hooves do leave the ground simultaneously, but during this airborne phase the legs are beneath the body, rather than stretched out. So the fully extended ‘flying-gallop’ pose does not accurately represent the airborne phase of a horse’s gallop
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 8h
The ‘flying gallop’ pose, in which an animal’s legs are stretched forwards and backwards as if flying, appears in Bronze Age art, including Egyptian, Minoan and Mycenaean. An artistic convention used to convey speed and movement, rather than an accurate snapshot of a galloping horse’s stride.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22h
Some 3,400 years ago, an Egyptian artisan captured a sense of speed and elegance in this beautifully carved handle in the shape of a horse! 🐴 ❤️ New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, c. 1390–1352 BC. The Met 📷 by me #Archaeology
My photo shows an ivory handle of a light whip or fly whisk carved in the shape of a horse. The ivory body of the horse is stained reddish-brown, and the mane and tail are black. The horse is seen in profile facing left. Its legs are outstretched in front and at the back in what scholars refer to as a ‘flying gallop' position, with a gracefully arched back. The eyes are inlaid with garnet, one of which is missing (not seen in my photo). It  is displayed on a vertical, thin metal stand in a museum display case. This beautiful object is dated to the New Kingdom period, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep IlI, c. 1390-1352 BC. Dimensions: L: 14.7 cm × H: 5.5 cm × W: 2 cm
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alaskan-dreams.bsky.social @alaskan-dreams.bsky.social · 20h
This is so cool...awesome 😎
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22h
Look at the lovely naturalistic detail of the face, with garnet inlaid eye and darker muzzle. Met record: www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
My photo shows the horse-shaped handle in 3/4 profile facing left with a better view of the horse’s face, with garnet inlaid eye, darker muzzle and mane, and small pointed ear. This photo also shows the small opening between the two forelegs where lightweight strands would have been attached to the handle for a fly-whisk or light whip
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22h
Some 3,400 years ago, an Egyptian artisan captured a sense of speed and elegance in this beautifully carved handle in the shape of a horse! 🐴 ❤️ New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, c. 1390–1352 BC. The Met 📷 by me #Archaeology
My photo shows an ivory handle of a light whip or fly whisk carved in the shape of a horse. The ivory body of the horse is stained reddish-brown, and the mane and tail are black. The horse is seen in profile facing left. Its legs are outstretched in front and at the back in what scholars refer to as a ‘flying gallop' position, with a gracefully arched back. The eyes are inlaid with garnet, one of which is missing (not seen in my photo). It  is displayed on a vertical, thin metal stand in a museum display case. This beautiful object is dated to the New Kingdom period, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep IlI, c. 1390-1352 BC. Dimensions: L: 14.7 cm × H: 5.5 cm × W: 2 cm
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Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Recreation of Richborough Roman coastal fort #Kent c AD 250 The fort enclosed an earlier triumphal arch Anyone who's read Rosemary Sutcliff's 1959 novel *The Lantern Bearers* will know the arch probably became a signal tower © Ivan Lapper 2001 (for the English Heritage guide) #RomanFortThursday
Aerial reconstruction painting of a rectangular Roman fort with a large white marble arch at the centre and buildings, some being demolished, surrounding the triple ditches and sea to the left
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The remains of Hardknott Roman Fort in Cumbria. Located on the western side of the Hardknott Pass at 800 ft, the fort was built between 120 and 138 AD. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain #Hardknott #Cumbria
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Andrew Curry @andrewcurry.com · 08/10/2026
Wooden tools crafted by Neanderthals at hunting sites have been found before. For the first time, there's now evidence from a domestic context too. “We know what was happening in the kitchen, in the sleeping areas,” says @iphes-cerca.bsky.social's M. Gema Chacón. “It’s like a snapshot.” @science.org
science.org
Neanderthals were skilled woodworkers, first-of-its-kind tool trove reveals
Find in Spanish cave provides rare window into the domestic lives of our closest relatives
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Is #ThrowbackThursday still a thing? Just found this photo of me from 2011, taken during the excavation campaign at Marea/Philoxenite in #Egypt. Fond memories.
A smiling woman wearing an orange headscarf and sunglasses rests her arms on a sunlit stone wall at an archaeological site under a clear blue sky.
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Fascinating world of ancient #glass: A #Roman glass beaker from Ehingen-Rißtissen, dating to the 1st century AD. It’s amazing how modern some ancient glass vessels still look today. On display at Landesmuseum Württemberg 📷 me
Blue translucent glass beaker, mounted on a black metal rod. The scratched and cracked surface is visible against a softly blurred background.
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Everyday objects are the real archaeological treasures! Birch bark is perfect for making containers and wrapping. This 7,500-year-old wrapping was X-rayed, but unfortunately, it didn't show anything. It probably held something perishable. From the Mesolithic settlement of Motala/Sweden. 🧵1/2 📷me
A compact, irregular item of folded birch bark with a rough, wrinkled surface in shades of reddish and brown, shown against a dark background.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You can read about ancient writing tablets in the article on this link: itsallgreektoanna.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/w...
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Yes, here’s a Roman-era wax writing tablet: www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... The British Museum gift shop also sells a Roman inspired wax writing tablet and stylus www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/inspired-by/...
britishmuseum.org
writing-tablet | British Museum
Wooden writing tablet with remains of wax and traces of writing. Exterior tablet of a polyptych with a recess for wax on only one side. Extensive damage from wood boring insects which appears to be an...
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
🎯
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I love that observation by the painter! I’d be turning away too!
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Thank you! 🥰
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This ancient Greek figure from the 2,500 year-old Douris Cup looks uncannily like someone working on a laptop! 😲 💻 He’s actually writing with a stylus on a hinged wax writing tablet! The technology has changed, the posture has not! 😂 Altes Museum, Berlin 📷 by me
My photo shows detail from an ancient Greek red-figure kylix (drinking cup) of a young man shown in profile seated on a stool facing right. He wears a knee length cloak (himation) over his left shoulder, which is shown in folds around his waist and upper legs. His right shoulder, chest, and arms are bare. His dark hair is short, and he wears a band around his head. He is looking down at an open rectangular wax writing tablet which he is supporting in his left hand above his lap. In his right hand he holds a metal stylus pen poised over the writing tablet. The wooden writing tablet is hinged like a book and, from this angle, resembles a modern laptop. The figure is part of a scene depicting school lessons in ancient Athens, painted by Douris around 480 BC. On display at the Altes Museum in Berlin.
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Dr Jo Ball @drjeball.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Beware of the dog! The Cave Canem entranceway from #Pompeii is such a timeless #Roman mosaic; the dog still symbolically protects his owner's house, nearly 2000 years after it was destroyed when Mt Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 🐶 #Archaeology #MosaicMonday #AncientBlueSky
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The ‘rainbow arch’ and the remains of the 12th century church at Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island in Northumberland. 📸 My own. #MedievalMonday #LindisfarnePriory #HolyIsland #Northumberland
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
What a view and fabulous sunset! Stunning!
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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
These two 1st-2nd c. CE Roman marble theatrical masks represent comedy and Melpomene, muse of tragic theater. They were discovered in the peristyle of a ruined Roman villa of La Estación in Antequera, Spain. Note the little face of the actor behind the large open mouth of the comedy mask! 😆 🏺 📸 me
Marble mask of the personification of comedic theater. It’s somewhat grotesque, the mouth opening in a large open and wide grin, with bugged-out eyes and deep laugh lines around the eyes and forehead. He has a pompadour hairstyle, taller than the face itself, and it falls to the level of the mask’s chin, with incised wavy lines. A small frowning face of an actor with a snub nose can be seen inside the large mouth.

Centro de Interpretación del Teatro Romano, Málaga, SpainMarble mask representing the personification of tragic theater. It’s the face of a woman, specifically Melpomene, muse of tragic theater, her eyes open wide and her mouth opening in a horrified scream. She has a two-tiered wig of wavy or ringleted hair with a center part. 

Centro de Interpretación del Teatro Romano, Málaga, Spain
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I do know what you mean! Thankfully the Altes Museum does a great job displaying some key red-figure pieces in their own display cases which are well spaced out and offer a 360 view, like this lovely kylix showing Achilles tending to the wounds of Patroclus
Front view of a red-figure Greek kylix showing Achilles tending the wounds of Patroclus. The interior sides of the bowl are covered in black glaze. The interior base depicts Achilles sitting to the right of the scene wearing a plumed helmet, and facing Patroclus, carefully treating an injury on his arm. Both figures are rendered in red against the black-glazed interior of the cup. The cup is displayed on a perspex stand at head-height in its own glas display case in the centre of the gallery
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HudsonRiverCroc @hudsonrivercroc.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
You just don’t want to believe in time travel 🤪
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
😂😂😂
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Nick Halliday @nickmhalliday.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Think he is asking AI to write an adventure story about men going to war over a woman...
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🤣🤣🤣
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
😂😂😂
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Always a pleasure Robert! 😃
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Here’s my photo with a full view of the outside of this Athenian red-figure kylix painted by the artist Douris (he signed the interior of the cup). It shows four schoolroom scenes of boys at their lessons. Here’s a link to the Altes Museum object record: search.smb.museum/en/object/ob...
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This ancient Greek figure from the 2,500 year-old Douris Cup looks uncannily like someone working on a laptop! 😲 💻 He’s actually writing with a stylus on a hinged wax writing tablet! The technology has changed, the posture has not! 😂 Altes Museum, Berlin 📷 by me
My photo shows detail from an ancient Greek red-figure kylix (drinking cup) of a young man shown in profile seated on a stool facing right. He wears a knee length cloak (himation) over his left shoulder, which is shown in folds around his waist and upper legs. His right shoulder, chest, and arms are bare. His dark hair is short, and he wears a band around his head. He is looking down at an open rectangular wax writing tablet which he is supporting in his left hand above his lap. In his right hand he holds a metal stylus pen poised over the writing tablet. The wooden writing tablet is hinged like a book and, from this angle, resembles a modern laptop. The figure is part of a scene depicting school lessons in ancient Athens, painted by Douris around 480 BC. On display at the Altes Museum in Berlin.
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Prehistoric fridge! This approximately 4,000-year-old storage vessel once served as a kind of fridge. It was kept in a pit and sealed with a wooden lid, likely to store perishable food. Unfortunately, there weren't any residues left to tell us exactly what was stored inside. 🧵1/2 📷 me
A large, coarse pottery vessel with a rounded body, a wide opening, and a decorative band of regularly spaced perforations around its upper section. The beige surface is cracked and uneven, and the vessel is displayed against a dark background.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
continued …The brooch was probably made in western Scotland where the two traditions were joined, or perhaps in Ireland by a craftsman trained in foreign techniques”.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Hi Steve I’m not sure which brooch you’re referring to? Perhaps the Hunterston Brooch from Scotland which I posted some months back? According to National Museum of Scotland, “the style of the brooch has Irish parallels, while the filigree resembles metalwork from England….
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Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
#Hedgehog alert 🥰
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
👌
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Such great details on a small object! I love this one too Pat! 🦔❤️
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Happy weekend! 🦔 ❤️ Here’s a lovely ancient Egyptian blue faience hedgehog made some 3,800 years ago! Neues Museum, Berlin 📷 by me #Archaeology
My photo shows a small ancient Egyptian turquoise-coloured blue faience hedgehog figurine, shown in 3/4 profile facing right. Dimensions: Height x width x depth: 5 x 5.5 x 9.3 cm. It has a rounded body densely covered with small raised pointed spines each of which are emphasised with black paint. It has a small wide face with a pointed snout. The snout has a small chip at the end. The eyes are highlighted with black pigment. It has relatively long oval-shaped ears, either side of the face. It has short stubby front legs. It sits on a pale display case surface at the Neues Museum in Berlin.
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The Roman bridge at Pont-Saint-Martin in the Aosta Valley, northwest Italy. Dating to the 1st century BC, the bridge is one of many impressive Roman monuments in the area. 📸 My own. #RomanSiteSaturday #AostaValley
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Fascinating world of ancient #glass! #Roman dove-shaped vessels were used as perfume bottles. The liquid was sealed inside and the tip of the tail or the beak had to be broken to remove the perfume. This particular example, discovered in a first-century burial at Rovasenda, Italy, is...🧵1/2 🏺
A close-up of an undamaged, translucent glass vessel shaped like a dove. The vessel contains a clear liquid with a reddish sediment visible at the bottom.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
😁
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Me too!
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Sandra Schwab @scribblingsandy.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
#JoyScrolling
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Because hedgehogs reappear after hibernation, it’s thought they symbolised rebirth in ancient Egypt. Here’s a link to Neues Museum object record: search.smb.museum/object/obj-6...
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Happy weekend! 🦔 ❤️ Here’s a lovely ancient Egyptian blue faience hedgehog made some 3,800 years ago! Neues Museum, Berlin 📷 by me #Archaeology
My photo shows a small ancient Egyptian turquoise-coloured blue faience hedgehog figurine, shown in 3/4 profile facing right. Dimensions: Height x width x depth: 5 x 5.5 x 9.3 cm. It has a rounded body densely covered with small raised pointed spines each of which are emphasised with black paint. It has a small wide face with a pointed snout. The snout has a small chip at the end. The eyes are highlighted with black pigment. It has relatively long oval-shaped ears, either side of the face. It has short stubby front legs. It sits on a pale display case surface at the Neues Museum in Berlin.
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Cat Hughes @celticqueen13.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A thing of Beauty #artifacts of wonder.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Ornate Saxon copper disc brooch decorated with gold and garnets, AD 650-670. It must have been a treasured possession! From Floral Street, Covent Garden, once the heart of ‘Lundenwic’, the early Saxon town of London. Museum of London 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology
My photo shows a circular Saxon brooch made of copper, the front of which is ornately embellished with gold and garnets. There are five raised, circular, gold bosses which are outlined with inlaid garnet slabs, and each set with a central, round garnet. Four of the gold bosses are arranged around a fifth, larger, gold boss in the centre of the brooch. The central boss sits within a star-like, four-pointed geometric shape composed of a mosaic of inlaid garnet slabs. The outer edge of the brooch is decorated with two rows of tiny inlaid polished garnets. The eight gold sections at either side of the four smaller bosses are decorated with raised gold filigree which looks like looped, braided cord. Parts of the brooch are worn, with some chipped edges, and missing garnet stones. The brooch measures approximately 7 cm in diameter. It is displayed on a clear glass surface. It was excavated from a woman's grave by AOC Archaeology in 2000 ahead of development construction works. This type of brooch was a fashionable status piece amongst wealthy aristocratic Anglo-Saxon women in the AD 600s. The woman's grave also contained glass beads and silver rings.
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Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Some prehistoric bling for #FindsFriday 3 stone and 5 decorated glass beads found with the burial of a young Iron Age woman at Langton Herring now in #DorsetMuseum They may originally have been worn individually as amulets or together as a necklace (as shown here) 😍 📷 Sept 2026 #Durotriges
Eight circular beads of different size, 3 of stone and 5 of glass, threaded together for display in a museum case
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