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archadam.bsky.social

@archadam.bsky.social
595 followers 244 following 155 posts

Archaeologist, classicist, museum curator, runner, tea drinker, cake eater, nature watcher, tired parent. Curator bod at the Yorkshire Museum. Visiting Fellow at the Open University. And writing about Roman Magic, Roman Britain, and materiality.

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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
More excellent finding from the Seeing the Dead project at York Uni and #YorkshireMuseum Tyrian purple dyes identified in cloth preserved in the gypsum burials! www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
york.ac.uk
Rare imperial purple cloth found in Roman infant burials in York
Two infants buried in Roman York were laid to rest in costly purple cloth normally reserved for emperors and members of the aristocracy, new research reveals
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Continuing this work with a new biography on the Wiki. This time the tricky story of Fortunata, a young enslaved woman sold in Roman London, known from her deed-of-sale found in 1994. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortuna... #1day1woman #WomenInRed
en.wikipedia.org
Fortunata (enslaved person) - Wikipedia
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Happily back to doing some Wikipedia article creations for the Women's Classical Committee UK and the Women in Red #1day1woman project. Two northern Romano-British ladies, Julia Velva and Regina, welcome to Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_V... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_... 🏺
en.wikipedia.org
Regina (freedwoman) - Wikipedia
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
This might be the most depressing Valentine's card ❤️ you'll see today. But the UK's paternity leave is crap. So today I'm joining hundreds of people across the country putting these cards in shops to send a message to the government: we need longer, better paid paternity leave now.
A valentine's card with a broken heart balloon and the words "two weeks is not enough". The card is hidden in plain sight in a shop amongst other normal valentine's cards
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Had a lovely chilly day in Hamburg. So many bridges and therefore so many lovelocks! A modern folklore custom where Couples lock their relationship onto structures, Usually bridges, and then cast the key into the river to seal it forever. 🏺
An iron bridge railing with hundreds of differently coloured and sized padlocks locked into it.A tightly bunched group of padlocks locked into a steel railing next to the river elbeA large metal sign structure above a river with padlocks locked onto the accessible lower railing above the river. Hundreds of padlocks in tightly packed toruos on every available part of a ln openwork steel railing on a footbridge over the elbe.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
#BlueskyClassics Check out this nuts bit of Classical reception: The Dying Gladiator pub in Brigg, North Lincs. Opened in the 1860s it is, allegedly and unsurprisingly, the only pub named this in the world. With it's weathered copy of the Dying Gaul sculpture. Wild.
A closed pub with a weathered sandstone carving of the dying Gaul from the Capitoline museum in Rome.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Hey, come for a look around the lovely #YorkshireMuseum 👀 We're nearly 200 years old and have a really important collection of archaeology and natural sciences. Dead things and broken old stuff? Loads of that! 1/
The Yorkshire Museum. It's a neoclassical building made to look a bit like a temple - there is a central portico with four Doric columns and a triangular pediment, all in a pale limestone. The central portico, where the entrance is, is flanked by four broad windows. An additional extension is off to the left. It's all set in a botanical garden. This image shows the grass and rose garden in front of the museum on a bright day. The sky is blue and there are white clouds above.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Was working in @uoylibrary.bsky.social before #TAG2025 and nipped to the shop where I found this sign. What happened with the Party Cannons folks? What happened?
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
The #YorkshireMuseum just repatriated bits of an archaeological archive in York dug by Dudley Waterman, who took it all to Ireland. It includes this rather excellent Medieval vessel handle decoration depicting a fancy lady. It's made of Hambleton Ware, so 14th-15th century stuff. 🏺🏛️
A fragment of a medieval jar rim with a large boss on the handle. A low relief applique figure of a woman is depicted there in ceramic she appears to be wearing a headdress (with straight sides framing her face) and has one hand held at her bust and the other at her waist. The ceramic has a dark, glossy green  colored glaze. It is abraded in the surface to reveal a paler, white colour, beneath at the woman's face and hips.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
4 days into my toddler waking up at or before 5am I am becoming increasingly radicalized to abolish daylight savings time.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Found the Yorkshire 3 peaks! 🏺🏛️🪨 #YorkshireMuseum
Three neolithic barbed and tanged, each arrowheads labelled with a location label reading 'Peak' and an accession number. The edges of some other flint arrowheads are at each side.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Ah, this must be the official best flint arrowhead in the collection then 👀 #YorkshireMuseum 🏺🏛️🪨
A barbed and tangled flint arrowhead bearing the location name 'Peak' and an accession number.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Check out this latest research blog from the very excellent Seeing The Dead project in York. It's an account of what we found when removing the upper part of a Roman gypsum cast which hadnt been moved in 150years. seeingthedead.ac.uk/blog/excavat...
seeingthedead.ac.uk
Excavating a Roman gypsum burial
We've begun work on one of the project's most intriguing burials - a surviving gypsum casing inside a Roman sarcophagus. Find out what we discovered during our initial investigations!
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Had a little furtle through the finds archive from Heslington East excavations in #York in a #YorkshireMuseum store. Tasty little small finds from a mostly Roman site. A tiny selection of the 157 boxes of finds from this site.
A box of archaeological finds in bags and small boxes. Most are not visible but a Roman copper alloy brooch and a medieval buckly fragment are visible.A Roman plate brooch. It is pear shaped and decorated with a background of blue enamel with a series of eight red circles surrounding it. It's still in a box lined with white foam. A Roman copper alloy knee type brooch in a plastic box lined with black foam.A Roman copper alloy bell, upside down, shown through the plastic bag it is still in.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
#spellingbee falling foul of poor image metadata here. That is a hoverfly, Eristalis tenax, not a bee (spelling or otherwise) It's a honeybee mimic so would surely be delighted at succeeding in this deception! #hoverfly #entomology 🐝🐞
Screenshot of a mobile webpage of the Spelling Bee Forum. There is a central image of a hoverfly on a yellow flower.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
If I wanted to host a free public online talk as part of a local natural history society, what platforms are folks using for this sort of thing now? Still Business zoom, Restream etc.?
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Thoroughly wholesome Sunday morning taking the 3yo to marshall at the local Junior #Parkrun. She's too young to run but a rockstar at helping. Shout-out for Parkrun volunteering - it's easy, quick, has no long term obligations, and great outcomes for communities. 🫶
Toddler stood in a tree lined path wearing a high-vis jacket and holding a large, red, foam hand
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
In the world post-PhD I've been doing various writing projects, some of which are about to see the light of day. Top of the list is Magic in Roman Britain, with Amberley. www.amberley-books.com/current-mont...
amberley-books.com
Magic in Roman Britain
Lavishly illustrated throughout, this fascinating book reveals the true story of magic in Roman Britain.
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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Oh wow, this looks terrific! I think I hit the order button so hard I broke my phone
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Hey, Natural Science folks - come work with us in the #YorkshireMuseum Associate Collections Curator- Biology £26.7-£28.5k, FT, 6months www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/about-us/our... 🦆🦌🐒🍄🌿🌴🌷
yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk
Job Vacancies with York Museums Trust
Latest Job Vacancies with York Museums Trust
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
At Far Ings NNR moth club this morning. Good result of 6 species. 1 knot grass, 1 ruby tiger, 1 Muslin, 2 clouded drab, 2 Hebrew character, and 14 Common Quaker. With the warm patch we are about a month ahead of last year's cold damp spring. @lincswildlife.bsky.social 🦋🐝🐛🦗🪲🪳
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Dr Claire Millington ✍🏻🏺 @clairemillington.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Still thinking about the #RomanEmpire umpteen times a day, and writing about it too. Exhibition review: Legion: Life in the Roman Army, British Museum and Women Doing Everything, Everywhere, all at Once, Verulamium Museum. doi.org/10.1017/eaa.... 🏺 #AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky
doi.org
Exhibition review: Legion: Life in the Roman Army, British Museum (1 February – 23 June 2024), and Women Doing Everything, Everywhere, all at Once, Verulamium Museum (8 March – 4 July 2024) | European...
Exhibition review: Legion: Life in the Roman Army, British Museum (1 February – 23 June 2024), and Women Doing Everything, Everywhere, all at Once, Verulamium Museum (8 March – 4 July 2024) - Volume 2...
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Sincere and heartfelt thanks to all who have donated to our cause already, via the crowfunder or in the museum, shared or liked the post ❤️ Momentum is on our side here!
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
It's been so great to finally talk about the Melsonby Hoard. The important message missing from some of the press is the #YorkshireMuseum needs support to secure and conserve it! 1/ www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-m...
A decorative strap junction from the iron age Melsonby hoard. It's a 20cm long figure of eight shape with openwork decorations and fragmentary coral beads all across its surface.
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Rebecca Griffiths @yorym-flo.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
The Melsonby Hoard was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2021 & subsequently declared Treasure. The Yorkshire Museum aim to raise £500,000 to acquire & conserve the hoard, keeping it in a public collection. Help keep the hoard in Yorkshire & donate today at: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-m...
crowdfunder.co.uk
Save The Melsonby Hoard - Yorkshire Museum
Help us save, conserve and share the Melsonby Hoard – an incredible treasure of 900 Iron Age objects recently unearthed in North Yorkshire
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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 14/02/2025
The heart of the Hall will always belong to @romanpalace.bsky.social ❤️ ❤️
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
The latest free talk at the #YorkshireMuseum in support of Star Carr: Life after the Ice will be held on 5th March 2025, 6-7pm. Dr Andy Needham will be presenting "Mesolithic art and personal ornamentation: Insights from Star Carr and beyond" www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/whats-on/eve... 🏺⛏️
yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk
Mesolithic art and personal ornamentation: Insights from Star Carr and beyond | York Museums Trust
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I have two non-fictction #archaeology books in UK public libraries. Love that. You paid for people lending them yoo. 76 loans this year at 11.76p per loan. £8 for people lending my books 😀 If you are published sign up for #PLR and the ALCS! @alcs-uk.bsky.social @britishlibrary.bsky.social
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
It's a good day when two randoms from THE POT OF MANY SCREWS get drilled into a wall. The pot is pure potential. Pure chaos. And it provides!
A plastic pot containing a couple of hundred of random screws in all sizes, shapes, and colours. It's a jumbled mess.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
I can't tell you how pleased I am with how TRULY awful my new work mug is. Art.
A ceramic mug with a grotesque humanoid face moulded onto it. It has a heavy brow, a large wide nose and a broad, buck-toothed, grin.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
#Museum curators and removal companies- game gotta recognise game. This is an art work.
A removal van containing closely packed boxes and furniture.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Tfw you work in a #museum and are moving house 🏛️
Two cardboard boxes from a museum gift shop, the upper one read 'Heritage products from Westair' and the lower one 'Dinosaur baubles'
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Rebecca Griffiths @yorym-flo.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
This is a late Iron Age harness fitting. MacGregor describes roundel fittings with loops as a "form unique in British Iron Age metalwork but also in Continental chariot burials". Similar fittings were discovered in the Stanwick & Heck Hoard from North Yorkshire. #FindsFriday buff.ly/3Br8R9A
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Rebecca Griffiths @yorym-flo.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Button and loop fasteners are multi-purpose used with harness equipment & clothing. They are thought to be military objects, though PAS examples tend to be found on rural sites not specifically related to military activity #FindsFriday #StarshipEnterprise #BoldlyGo buff.ly/41oT2el
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The Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 08/12/2024
fakehistoryhunter.net/2021/12/03/c...
fakehistoryhunter.net
Coca-Cola did not create Santa
Every Christmas the same story goes around social media; Coca-Cola invented Santa or at least gave him a whole new look in the 1930s.They are the reason his suit is red, after all it’s the Co…
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Toddler's teddy bear picnic offerings are some real #BreathOfTheWild stuff. Strawberry and pizza? Of course. Toadstool and lemon? *Chefs kiss* #botw
Wooden food toys in a bowl. A red and white toadstool and a lemon. The bowl is white with a blue rim. A green blanket fills the background.A toy wooden pizza with a toy wooden half strawberry on it. Haute cuisine. A teddy bear picnic in which a toddler teaches into a plastic bowl..a pile of bowls is in the middle. A massive knitted turtle has it's head in one bowl. There are wooden fruits scattered.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
An excellent Viking silver penny, hand of god type, dating to c.915. It's one of three surviving coins (in the #YorkshireMuseum) of the many hundreds discovered in the Bossal-Flaxton Hoard. Also featuring hacksilver and jewellery, mostly now lost. #ArchaeologyBlusky #VikingBluesky 🏛️🥄
Silver penny with a partial Latin inscription around the edge (that the author doesn't remember, sorry). Central devise is a hand of god.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
If there was a moment I questioned my parenting it's when the toddler said, on approaching a cafe, "I just need a babycino". 😬
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
#York has some fun hidden archaeology. Like the Roman Bath in a pub basement. It's a small, private museum that does good things to advocate for the importance of heritage in the city. See also the gorgeous floor tile with three or four hobnails footprints on it. 🏛️🏺 #MuseumsBluesky #RomanBluesky
A hypocaust floor in the apsidal bath of a Roman Bath-house.A Roman floor tile with several hobnailed boot impressions on it, a little confusingly.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Free Mesolithic talk in #York tomorrow 👇👇 #ArchaeologyBluesky #PrehistoryBluesky 🏛️🏛️
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
My first week at work in York in December 2010. Working in an outbuilding cataloguing medieval stonework and assorted... things. Brrrr.
The River Ouse in York,.looking west from lendal bridge. The River is frozen and the banks are covered in thick snow.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Doing some real #Archaeology stuff this afternoon playing with silver from the Bedale Hoard and a copper styca of King Osberht of Northumbria. Look at the shiny! #ArchaeologyBluesky 🏛️🏺 #YorkshireMuseum
A Viking silver armband, broken in half as hacksilver. It has three twisted silver chains in the middle joined at one end with a rounded knop.A Viking silver ingot with four chisel marks in it from where it's about to be cut into hacksilver. A copper alloy 9th century coin of King Osberht of Northumbria. A central cross is surrounded by the letters of his name.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
A thing I wrote is out now. "Roman mosaics in the Yorkshire Museum" in the ASPROM journal. I explored a little about the history of collecting, conservation, and use of mosaics in the museum since it's foundation. As always, message me if a copy would be of interest.
The cover of the MOSAIc journal for December 2024. It is a pale blue A4 book with an image of a Roman mosaic on it.Picture of the title of the paper mentioned in the skeet.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Beautiful morning for a spot of urban #birding on #YorkWalls on my way to the museum. 15 species with Little Egret by the foss, and a Goldcrest on the walls the best of it. Also a FAR AWAY sparrowhawk in top of #YorkMinster. 🪶🦆🏺🏛️
A Goldcrest in a yew tree, looking top down onto the birds golden crestA view east from the western part of York city walls towards the minster. Trees and shrubs in the foreground mask a Georgian building.The east tower of York minster with the tiny dot of a sparrowhawk on one of the lightning conductors. The image is at the limit of the phone camera zoom
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
#Lincolnshire has some weird traditions but this one I enjoy - the annual Christmas tractor runs. Hundred massive tractors covered in lights and Christmas trees is just great craic. Toddler loved it.
A tractor with Christmas lights on it.
A tractor and trailer with Christmas lights on it.A tractor with a Christmas tree on a raised pallet.
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Rebecca Griffiths @yorym-flo.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Welcome to the Blue Sky world of finds recording and identification in North & East Yorkshire. Here are the kind of things you can look forward to seeing on our feed. There will be a healthy dose of best practice, finds care and conservation, and exciting research projects too.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Do you have a thing you wrote that's just pure wild? Totally out of canon for the rest of your work? Mine is this: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... (OA) "Finding love: The materialities of love-locks and geocaches", which is a material culture approach to #geocaching. Cos why TF not?
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
I know people keep saying it but it's so lovely to see friends,. acquaintances, colleagues and followers from the other place turning up here. May the migration continue.
media.tenor.com
a man wearing a captain 's hat says " welcome aboard "
Alt: a man wearing a captain 's hat says " welcome aboard "
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Chris 🎬🎧 @raidercast.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Absolutely, unwaveringly, no. With a heartfelt ✨𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑✨ on top.
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David Brear 🇬🇧 @davidebb.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
For the Romano-Britons among us, here's a lot of others you might like to follow. go.bsky.app/S7ESho8
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