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archadam.bsky.social

@archadam.bsky.social
596 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
Leaving your partner and a newborn to go to work is hell. And loads of other people have it much worse than I did. If we want strong, healthy, equal relationships, we need decent paternity leave in this country. Follow @thedadshift on other socials to see the campaign. #paternityleave
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
@dadshiftuk and @movember's new research shows 59% of parents with young kids say bad paternity leave makes it harder to share childcare equally, not just at the beginning, but long-term too. And heartbreakingly, 40% of separated parents say this inequality was a factor in their breakup.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Most couples these days want to parent equally. But the UK's paternity leave—the worst in Europe at two weeks on less than half the minimum wage, or nothing if you're self-employed—makes that impossible for many families.
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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
If you are interested, check out all the work by @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social. and here's a bit of research we collaborated on about geocaches and lovelock structures as serial collaborative creations. (Open access) journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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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
Yup that's somewhere different now. It's no secret to say that Star Carr will be closing in late April for the changeover so if that's your bag then come soon 👌 otherwise the new fancy thing will be open in mid-May.
media.tenor.com
a woman in a white jacket and gloves is holding a piece of paper that says spoilers .
ALT: a woman in a white jacket and gloves is holding a piece of paper that says spoilers .
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
We'll be making an announcement in a couple of weeks about the next excellent exhibition in the YM. Want to know more about these topics or have questions about the old things or need references, do ask. /End
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Upstairs in the historic library is The Story of the Rocks, featuring an original geological map by William Smith (it's flipping enormous!) and in a great setting. 9/
Museum panels reading 'The Story of the Rocks' and part of a case with some object on the base beneath another worded panel.A historic library. Old books are locked behind a cross-hatched wire mesh held within a dark wooden frame.Part of a historic map showing hand coloured geological features
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Hidden in a corridor is the story of St Mary's Abbey proper, but there are also loads of ruins built into the museum itself. It was the wealthiest Benedictine monastery in the North before the dissolution. These updates are from 2017. 8/
A panel which reads St Mary's Abbey.Four large limestone statues of apostles. Moses is closest, followed by an unidentified, bearded one. Then St James the lesser and finally St John.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
A smaller gallery showcases our Medieval Treasury where some of the finest Medieval gold working in the north can be found. Featuring the Middlehame jewel, fulford ring, and a processual cross from St Mary's Abbey. Also 2025. 7/
A red panel with white text reading Medieval Treasury A Medieval copper-gilt figurine of Christ in Majesty, broken from a processual cross. It is held in an acrylic frame in the shape of a cross.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Viking North is in the Medieval gallery and replaced a story about Med York to have a deep dive about the Viking archaeology of the North. It's gorgeous and also the largest collection of british viking archaeology together you can see in a room in England. Opened 2025. 6/
A museum panel reading Viking North with a black and white line drawing of a Viking couple next to it.A museum case with the Beadle Hoard in it. Black vinyls outside contain object information in white text.A museum case showing a silver hammer pendant in the foreground, groups of bone skates and combs in the middle ground, and a black and white drawing of a man wearing the pendant at the back.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Meet the People of the Empire is the oldest surviving gallery. It shows our excellent Roman archaeology - statues, jewellery, altars, wall paintings, a floor mosaic. All my favourite things are here. Opened 2010. 5/
A sandstone statue of the Roman God Mars, human sized. The gallery behind had red banners hanging from the roof and a series of red-base cases in two lines.A sandstone inscription. In Latin it reads DEO SANCTO SERAPI TEMPLUM ASOLO FECIT CL HEIRONYMIANUS LEG VI VI. This translates to "To the holy Serapis. This temple was built from the ground up by Claudius HEIRONYMIANUS. Legate of the 6th Legion"A Roman floor mosaic featuring the Four Seasons
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Yorkshire's Jurassic World is all about marine reptiles, dinosaurs and stuff. I'm an archaeologist so I've no clue 🤷 looks dead pretty. Opened 2018. 4/
A label reading Sea DragonsA fossil in a case with a large panel above it reading 'A Dinosaur Called Alan's. A digital image of a sauropod dinosaur is behind it.A panel called Yorkshire's Jurassic World A huge icthyosaur fossil in a large case. It is set on a bed of black sand.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Mary Anning Rocks was originally a temp gallery whilst the Maquette of the New Mary Anning statue went on tour but we loved it so much we made it permanent! It's a gallery about 1) the undertold story of an important early palaeontologist 2)community responses to fossil hunting. Opened 2023. 3/
A museum panel reading Mary Anning Rocks. It's shows a cartoon of Mary's head, wearing a bonnet and a thick cloak. And a series of hand-drawn, cartoonist fossils.A museum display called Yorkshire Fossils. In the case is a small icthyosaur mounted on the wall in a brown cabinet.A section with a banner reading 'Dig HQ'. It is an interactive section of tables containing tiny black rubber crumb which visitors can brush away to reveal fossils hidden beath. Small stools are next to the tables so children can reach. The walls are green and more cartoons of fossils are shows there.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The first gallery is Star Carr: Life After the Ice. It's the largest gallery of Mesolithic archaeology in the UK and tells the story of a SUPER important post glacial site which includes the Oldest House in Yorkshire! Opened 2024. 2/
Museum panel with the text Star Carr: Life After the IceA museum gallery. There is a big green floor section with four cases of different heights in the background. Ropes hang from a messaging balcony to create the idea of triangular structures. Panels and wall graphics are on the walls.One of the 34 deer frontlets from Star Carr thought to have been headdresses used in an unknown ritual activity.
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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 · 17/12/2025
Well said ✊
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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
TWIN PEAKS!
A pair of neolithic barbed and tangled arrowheads, each bearing a paper label showing the location called 'Peak'. They both have an accession number hand written below the label.
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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
What a class act, thank you ❤️👌
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
To hear about protective amulets, creepy curses, and all sorts of freaking weird and wacky bits of Roman archaeology from right here in Britain, check it out.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Mostly I wrote the first draft on my phone over a few months whilst up during the nights with Orla waiting for her to go TF back to sleep as I sat on the stairs. So if it reads like it was written by a maniac at 3am, there is some truth in that.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
It boils down a 100k word thesis into a straightforward 20k word introduction to the concept - a coffee table book on the materiality of magic in Roman Britain for people who probably like Roman history but haven't read about magic before.
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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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Reposted by @archadam.bsky.social
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 · 26/08/2025
Thanks so much for the post sir, very kind of you
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Hope it lives up to expectations!
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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
Awesome! What a great addition to the series. Love it. And well done Ben 👌
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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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Reposted by @archadam.bsky.social
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 · 28/03/2025
Sincere thanks 🙏
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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 · 27/03/2025
Fine choices 👌👌 Happy Hull-ing folks!
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
The Trinity markets next to it is also excellent for tasty foods.
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archadam.bsky.social @archadam.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
The cake is excellent there 👍
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