Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 7hInterestingly, 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 010
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 8hMuybridge 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 010
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 8hThe ‘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. 110
Reposted by Alison FiskAlison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22hSome 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 8548112
Reposted by Alison Fiskalaskan-dreams.bsky.social @alaskan-dreams.bsky.social · 20hThis is so cool...awesome 😎 0311
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22hLook at the lovely naturalistic detail of the face, with garnet inlaid eye and darker muzzle. Met record: www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... 06310
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22hSome 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 8548112
Reposted by Alison FiskDurotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Recreation 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 416943
Reposted by Alison FiskKevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 08/10/2026The 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 321838
Reposted by Alison FiskAndrew Curry @andrewcurry.com · 08/10/2026Wooden 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.orgscience.orgNeanderthals were skilled woodworkers, first-of-its-kind tool trove revealsFind in Spanish cave provides rare window into the domestic lives of our closest relatives 19931
Reposted by Alison FiskNina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Is #ThrowbackThursday still a thing? Just found this photo of me from 2011, taken during the excavation campaign at Marea/Philoxenite in #Egypt. Fond memories. 625917
Reposted by Alison FiskNina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Fascinating 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 732775
Reposted by Alison FiskNina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Everyday 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 628361
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026You can read about ancient writing tablets in the article on this link: itsallgreektoanna.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/w... 120
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Yes, 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.orgwriting-tablet | British MuseumWooden 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... 230
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I love that observation by the painter! I’d be turning away too! 120
Reposted by Alison FiskAlison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026This 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 321354324
Reposted by Alison FiskDr Jo Ball @drjeball.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Beware 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 1233056
Reposted by Alison FiskKevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The ‘rainbow arch’ and the remains of the 12th century church at Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island in Northumberland. 📸 My own. #MedievalMonday #LindisfarnePriory #HolyIsland #Northumberland 328838
Reposted by Alison FiskChapps @chapps.bsky.social · 05/10/2026These 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 38123
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I 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 190
Reposted by Alison FiskHudsonRiverCroc @hudsonrivercroc.bsky.social · 05/10/2026You just don’t want to believe in time travel 🤪 05611
Reposted by Alison FiskNick Halliday @nickmhalliday.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Think he is asking AI to write an adventure story about men going to war over a woman... 1193
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Here’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... 211111
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026This 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 321354324
Reposted by Alison FiskNina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Prehistoric 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 726648
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026continued …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”. 110
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Hi 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…. 110
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Such great details on a small object! I love this one too Pat! 🦔❤️ 010
Reposted by Alison FiskAlison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Happy weekend! 🦔 ❤️ Here’s a lovely ancient Egyptian blue faience hedgehog made some 3,800 years ago! Neues Museum, Berlin 📷 by me #Archaeology 13804164
Reposted by Alison FiskKevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The 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 225550
Reposted by Alison FiskNina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Fascinating 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 🏺 10519148
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Because 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... 0545
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Happy weekend! 🦔 ❤️ Here’s a lovely ancient Egyptian blue faience hedgehog made some 3,800 years ago! Neues Museum, Berlin 📷 by me #Archaeology 13804164
Reposted by Alison FiskCat Hughes @celticqueen13.bsky.social · 02/10/2026A thing of Beauty #artifacts of wonder. 1261
Reposted by Alison FiskAlison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Ornate 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 5582123
Reposted by Alison FiskDurotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Some 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 621837