iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Mike Cook @mtrc.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Do you make art and weird things with computers? Would you like to meet other people who do and talk to them about it? This June we're hosting a creativity unconference at King's - CUAK for short. Sat June 27th - Bush House - 9.30am-5.30pm Info and free tickets: www.possibilityspace.org/cuak/ 🦆

27531

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Mike Cook @mtrc.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

I actually listened to the summary of @florencesn.bsky.social and mine's #chi2026 paper today and it is essentially 100% wrong in everything it says about the paper. I have to assume no-one at ACM used or tested this at any point. Good luck to anyone actually using these.

Host:
That is so cool. So they are leaving this permanent cultural footprint by creatively hacking their own digital identities which actually organically brings us to Elden Ring.
Guest:
Right the digital archaeology paper.
Host:
Yeah. So to clarify for listeners are we treating glowing text on a screen or like these digital bloodstains exactly like actual ancient cave paintings. Like what does a digital bloodstain actually teach us about human culture.
Guest:
Well researchers treated the game as a literal archaeological site. They cataloged in game messages and bloodstains which are basically replayable holograms of another real players final moments specifically around the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum.
Host:
That was right before the big DLC expansion dropped right.
Guest:
Exactly. And they found that these arent just static features. The fluctuating message appraisals and the highly contextual gestures they capture the collective excitement and anticipation of the community.
Host:
So it proves that these games are dynamic living archaeological sites.

3339

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Y'all I just love the relief carvings on the grand tomb at Hili so very much.

Two figures holding hands surrounded by oryxes carved in relief above a tomb entrance.

329926

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Happy May Day! Solidarity & Sunshine for all.

An illustration of a maypole, wrapped in ribbons, with each ribbon carrying an anarchist/labour slogan. At the top is a cat. There is a banner that says, "solidarity forever." The illustration is by the extremely gifted artist, No Bonzo https://www.nobonzo.com/

0173

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Viking-age gaming board (replica), from Ballinderry, Ireland. For the Viking war game ‘Hnefatafl’, the object of which is to drive the King piece into one of the corners. This replica at Roskilde Viking Ship Museum, Denmark. Original at National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo shows a wooden replica of the Viking-age Balinderry gaming board. The original board would have been used for the Viking war game ‘Hnefatafl’, a game of strategy, the object of which is to drive the King piece into one of the corners.

The original gaming board is made of dark yew wood dated tenth century. The board is roughly square in shape with forty-nine holes laid out in seven rows of seven holes for holding pegged game pieces. There are five light wood pegs and five dark wood pegs randomly placed in holes around the board. The central hole is marked with an incised double circle and the four corner holes are marked with incised circular arcs. At two opposite ends of the board (top and bottom in my photo) there are projecting carved stylized human heads, probably handles. The board has a decorative border with eight panels of carved interlace decoration. It was found in 1932 during excavations at Ballinderry Crannog, County Westmeath. Now on display at Dublin Museum.

5410130

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Headed down to Bristol on a rainy train to keynote the Arch/Anth PGR seminar tomorrow, then run "And What Remains: the Archaeology Worldbuilding Game" at the Festival of History and Heritage in Games on Wednesday. See some of you there, I think! www.tickettailor.com/events/brist...

tickettailor.com

Secure your ticket – Festival of History and Heritage in Games – Bristol Digital Futures Institute

Festival of History and Heritage in Games – Bristol Digital Futures Institute, Mon 27 Apr 2026 - Wed 29 Apr 2026 - Can Games Teach Us About the Past? Join researchers, game designers, heritage profess...

0145

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Archaeologist Carole Crumley talking about heterarchies, if you are looking to cite someone in addition to Mark Fisher wrt capitalist realism. The ability to dream outside of hierarchies and the state should be taught by every archaeologist. GOOD MORNING

“the inability even to think of power wielded and maintained in the absence of hierarchy implies an alarming lack of both imagination and powers of observation”

From: Crumley, C. L. (1987). A Dialectical Critique of Hierarchy. In T. C. Patterson and C. W. Gailey (eds.) Power relations and state formation. Washington, D.C: American Anthropological Association, 155–69. Available: https://archive.org/details/powerrelationsst0000unse

1319

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

First lecture of the Bronze Age SE Arabia series tomorrow on landscapes and foodways. I also have a lecture/workshop in the Archaeology & AI module, where the students will play “and what remains” the world building card game before examining better ways to craft metadata. As one does.

071

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Iain McLean currently giving our paper on proxemics and social interaction in XR :) #FUSION @glasgow.ac.uk

010

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

(Dr) Rena Maguire @justrena.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

This is tomorrow night, in beautiful Cushendall, and youre very welcome to come along!

0124

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Here's a collection of trans/queer focused papers at #CHI2026! 🌈🏳️‍⚧️📝 padlet.com/haimson/chi2...

padlet.com

trans/queer CHI 2026!

a guide to trans and queer-focused papers etc. at CHI 2026! feel free to add your paper if I missed it :)

01910

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Great paper on physics in VR presented by Christos Lougiakis #CHI2026 Key take away: more realism is not always better but consistent realism do matters :)

000

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Catherine Frieman @cjfrieman.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Really pleased this collaboration with @carlyschuster.bsky.social is finally published! We lean on queer feminist theory to discuss kinship as a dynamic set of relations and map their flow around funerary rites - we see burials as cannily assembled, not simple mirrors of the living world

doi.org

Matters of Life and Death: Kin-work at Funerals | Cambridge Archaeological Journal | Cambridge Core

Matters of Life and Death: Kin-work at Funerals - Volume 36 Issue 2

02712

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

The Black Trowel Collective @blacktrowel.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

The EAA votes are out The great majority of our archaeological community has voted in favour of the petitions raised by #concernedEAA. We asked for a democratic process, we asked for accountability, and for the need to acknowledge the horrific genocidal policy of Israel against Gaza.

23714

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

There they are! @florencesn.bsky.social presenting their paper on video game archaeology 🤩

1173

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

The only paper in archaeology and gaming at #CHI2026 I believe :) Looking forward to hearing @florencesn.bsky.social 👾

1221

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Heading to Barcelona tomorrow for #CHI2026 If any digital archaeologists or heritage people are there, drop me a message 🤓

130

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Gabriel Bodard @palaeofuturist.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

We're very excited for Sara Perry (UCL)'s public, keynote lecture next week: Exploring Human Values through Social Virtual Reality for Cultural Heritage. Thursday 16th April at 17:00 BST, free for all to attend in person or online, book at ics.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

ics.sas.ac.uk

Exploring Human Values through Social Virtual Reality for Cultural Heritage

031

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Just in case you haven’t heard, we’re organising #CAAUK in #Glasgow this November! Hope to see familiar and new faces there! @glasgow.ac.uk @caaint.bsky.social

033

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

@clmorgan.bsky.social and @apolitopoulos.bsky.social on Worldbuilding 🗺️ in the #CAA2026 I’ve played the game #AndWhatRemains and I loved it so much! Amazing tool for teaching and public engagement :) 👾

196

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

University of Glasgow @glasgow.ac.uk · 31/03/2026

Practice your British Sign Language at UofG this April! Join Carly Brownlie (Deaflancers) in a friendly & supportive environment. Everyone welcome! ☕ Beginners Café - 8 April ☕ Intermediates Café - 29 April More: gla.ac/4sIYhQT

Promotional poster from the University of Glasgow School of Health & Wellbeing for Byres Community Hub BSL Café sessions. It advertises beginner and intermediate British Sign Language cafés with Carly Brownlee from Deaflancers on 8th and 29th April 2026. The poster says everyone is welcome to practise BSL in a friendly, supportive environment. On the right is an illustration of the BSL sign for “hello,” showing a person waving a hand near the side of their head.

083

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Yannis Hamilakis 🍉 @yannisham.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

If you care about democracy and the ethics of archaeology, and believe that scholars should take a stance on the on-going genocide, please sign and circulate.

0102

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Looking forward to the #CAA2026 in Vienna next week! I’ll be presenting our lab’s experiments on cultural object interaction in XR in Session 3 on Wednesday the 2nd of April at 11:10. Hope to see you there! #FUSION project @glasgow.ac.uk

054

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

At @ucl.ac.uk today giving a lecture on digital archaeology and cultural heritage. Such a great audience, thank you @veyselapaydin.bsky.social for the invite!

010

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

OMW to present to the Newcastle University Archaeology Society tonight! I gave them a choice of topics and they went for: OTHER EYES: Mixed reality, digital interpretation and Romano-british identity in a changing interpretive landscape Say hi if you are there! 🖤

052

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

TrowelBlazers @trowelblazers.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Happy no-longer-boycotting-#IWD -actively-protesting-it-day ;) Shout out to everyone does this work anyway ❤️💪 www.instagram.com/reel/DVnkI0R...

Picture of Victorian geologist w text reading oh look another day where we celebrate an under represented group by asking them to do a bunch of work reminding us they have a legitimate reason to be. Elebrates

1264

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Gabriel Bodard @palaeofuturist.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Digital Classicist London 2026 call for papers. Papers on any aspect of the ancient or pre-colonial worlds *and* that address innovative digital approaches. Deadline Monday 16th March 2026. blog.stoa.org/archives/4370

blog.stoa.org

Digital Classicist London 2026 call for papers - The Stoa: a Review for Digital Classics

The Digital Classicist London seminar invites proposals for the Summer 2026 series. We are looking for papers on any aspect of the ancient or pre-colonial worlds, including archaeology, cultural herit...

049

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Andrew Reinhard, PhD, RPA @adreinhard.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

For the #Archaeogaming crowd: You can play as Venture, an archaeologist in Overwatch 2! overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes... #archaeology 🏺

042

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Gabriel Bodard @palaeofuturist.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Happy 181st birthday to "The Raven", Edgar Allen Poe's mannered, gothic, archaising poem of grief, madness and anthropomorphic avians, first published in the New York Evening Mirror #onthisday in 1845.

052

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Join us for this talk on 3D modelling and visualisation in archaeology and heritage. I’ll be mumbling about the theoretical underpinnings and Katrine will talk about super cool 3D modelling projects she’s working on :) Thank you Gabby @palaeofuturist.bsky.social for the invite!

040

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Gabriel Bodard @palaeofuturist.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Digital Classicist Wiki editing session: Mediterranean antiquity themed content (including ancient societies and cultures adjacent to the Greco-Roman world). Today at 15:00 GMT. Please sign up at ics.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... for the link.

ics.sas.ac.uk

Mediterranean Antiquity Digital Classicist Wiki Sprint

031

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

The Black Trowel Collective @blacktrowel.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Tired of excuses and obfuscation from the EAA Executive? Want a collegial and supportive society fit for its members? Then #boycottEAA Read our call for voting and boycotting below! If you want a detailed description of the events so far please read: drive.google.com/file/d/1jdGO...

Stop sign in red over the EAA Athens call. In black the text reads: “Save EAA. Vote. Boycott.”

14223

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Yannis Hamilakis 🍉 @yannisham.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Further to the EAA saga and the actions of its leadership...Zena is the editor of the Association's journal, and we now how much hard and unappreciated work that entails. She was attacked in the meeting of 9.1.206, and yet the people in charge seem to want to withhold the evidence. Enough is enough.

2135

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

In a week’s time I’ll be on site in Al Ain, UAE, working on the Muʿtariḍ Archaeology Project. It’s a cracking team, and we are excavating a big Bronze Age Umm an Nar tomb. I’ll probably post on TikTok but in the meantime, updates on Instagram: www.instagram.com/mutaridarcha... 🏺

A JCB excavating sand on the edge of a circular tomb, mentioned in the post. Archaeologists and tools are dotted in the landscape.

0276

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Jaime Almansa @jaimealmansa.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

So, if you are an @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social (EAA) member from 2025-2026, you received yesterday your email for the per-rollam vote of the past Special Meeting and the documentation attached to it… if you still doubt what to vote, please read all the documents. My short digest:

14133

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Kayt Hawkins @kayth.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Yesterday I resigned from the EAA Appeals & Anti-Harassment Committee (AAHC) after I was targetted in what I believe was an attempt to disprupt & undermine the AAHC. Be assured, AAHC are v much committed to making EAA a safe space, despite the restrictions imposed on them by the existing statutes. 🏺

104611

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Zena Kamash @zenakamash.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Following yesterday's EAA Special Meeting, I have submitted a complaint to the EAA Appeal and Anti-Harassment Committee. I post it here, with names redacted, for any members who were not present. Thank you so much to everyone who has reached out with messages of solidarity and support 🙏💓🙏

In spite of the Safe Space Policy being clearly stated at the beginning of the meeting, Prof. XXXXX targeted me by name, calling for my resignation from my position as Editor of the society's journal. Furthermore, his misuse of my title, referring to me as "Miss Kamash", felt deliberately demeaning. This intimidating behaviour explicitly contravenes the EAA Safe Space Policy. Although he was muted, for which I was grateful, I experienced a panic attack following his comments and did not feel safe to speak for the remainder of the meeting. This was further compounded by not only Prof. XXXXX being allowed to remain in the online meeting, but also being invited to take the floor again after the break. This gives me strong concerns about the effectiveness of the Safe Space Policy.

On a broader point about the effectiveness of the Safe Space Policy, I also note that members whose position aligned with that of Concerned EAA were repeatedly and persistently accused of anti-Semitism throughout the meeting. This is a serious accusation that should not be levelled without due care and evidentiary support. Its use as a blanket accusation seems to have been designed with the explicit aim of silencing and intimidating members aligned with Concerned EAA, which again contravenes the Safe Space Policy and should have been dealt with more robustly during the meeting.

279133

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

The Black Trowel Collective @blacktrowel.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

🚨Urgent‼️ The EAA has doxxed members who have been working to reestablish justice, democracy and accountability in the association. This is a chilling move. We must take action. ALL EAA MEMBERS OUT FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING THIS FRIDAY JAN 9TH! #EAAforDemocracy

24129

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Lorna Richardson @lornarichardson.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Plea to stop using prehistoric monuments & peoples as a sub for present-day national identities. Past peoples are not ‘ancestors’, they had no idea of the concept of a nation-state & this archipelago has seen a lot of traffic since the last ice age

29126

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Popped over to the tremendous @owenexiehurcum.bsky.social’s session for their presentation which is whip-smart, well argued and fun. 🤩

Owen standing in front of a screen showing a slide demonstrating a critical analysis of “an archaeology of non-binary”

061

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Ok this storytelling session at #TAG2025 is getting better and better! Peter Lawson telling stories with a rebec 🎶

071

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Lovely storytelling performance by Harold Myrtum in the storytelling session at #TAG2025 in York! Just amazing :)

050

Reposted by Despoina V. Sampatakou

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Moerike Tobias is now tracing the history of archaeology in Gaza to analyse its positioning and reproduction as a crossroads. @tag2025york.bsky.social 🏺#tag2025

063

Despoina V. Sampatakou @archaeobruja.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Great talk by Sara Perry on data activism, and also cool to see our paper up there, go have a look!

191