iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 25/10/2026

Came here to say that @bearsgetcrafty.bsky.social’s cut-out-and-stick models are brilliant and YAC North Wiltshire had a great time making them for our timeline activity last weekend.

Colour photo of two hands holding a paper model of a Victorian terrace of four houses.

Colour photo of a person holding a paper model of a modern house and garden with shed.

Colour photo of the Iron Age section of a timeline on the floor including pictures of objects, London Man and a small paper model of a round house.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 24/10/2026

The Oracle is also drinking Guinness 0 for #ConfinedCocktails. We are both complaining about blocked drains and flooded roads. So grown-up.

Colour photo of my right hand holding up a glass of dark beer to a laptop screen in a toast. On screen, a person holds up a similarly filled glass in return.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 24/10/2026

Lovely day out museuming locally with a friend. Bit wet in the rain but we got doughnuts from the kiosk in the park 👍🏻. Guinness 0 and snacks, pie in oven. #ConfinedCocktails

Colour photo of small green ceramic bowl containing olives and crisps next to a glass of dark beer.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 22/10/2026

I just collected my copy from my local bookstore!

Colour photo of a large book on a wooden table top. The book is called The Book of Genocides. Title in red letters on black background surrounded by drawings.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 17/10/2026

Cheers with beers from Zoom Supper with The Oracle. Who has had a domestic day and in consequence of Laundry Has lit the stove for the first time this season. #ConfinedCocktails

Colour photo of my right hand holding a glass of brown beer up to a laptop screen in a toast on screen, a person holds up anglass of dark beer in return

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 17/10/2026

Young Archaeologists’ Club this morning (toilet roll timelines) and after a pretzel and humus lunch I gate-crashed the Hillfort Studies Group who were upstairs for AGM (which I missed 😉) and interesting post-lunch talks. Do I buy a pumpkin to make soup or leave it another weekend? #ConfinedCocktails

Colour photo of a glass of Weißbier next to a small green ceramic bowl of crisps and green olives

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 12/10/2026

Badly drawn example of how it looked, but obv printed.

Colour photo of a little bit of sheet music, six notes on a stave, but each note and stave lines individually printed.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 10/10/2026

Cheers with beers for #ConfinedCocktails at Zoom Supper with The Oracle. Who has picked up the inevitable cold, it being the beginning of term.

Colour photo of my right hand holding up a glass of light brown beer in a toast to a laptop screen. On screen, a person holds up a glass of brown beer in return.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 10/10/2026

Slightly weary #ConfinedCocktails cheers, running a bit behind-hand including late to Strictly (which I am still struggling to get invested in). But the pelargoniums are on their way indoors and I did various tasks this morning in front of some of my favourite trashy tv.

Colour photo of a glass of pale brown beer next to a small green ceramic bowl of crisps.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 04/10/2026

Cheers at Zoom supper with The Oracle a day late on account of my galavanting #ConfinedCocktails

Colour photo of a glass of red brown beer held up to a computer screen in a toast, on screen a person holds up a glass of dark beer in return.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 03/10/2026

Then to Broad Chalke for a recital by Salisbury Baroque in the church, where I fell in love with the baroque bassoon.

Snap shot of the concert playlist. Telemann, Trip Sonata in C minor. Stölzel, Trio Sonata in B flat major. Bach, Sonata in G major BWV1021. Zelenka, Sonata V in F major.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 03/10/2026

Started with Nadder Baroque in an intimate morning concert in the tiny Fovant Free Church. Building is 1820-ish and very much on the Quaker Meeting House model of that time. Very domestic effect for cello, two fiddles and spinnet playing things that folks would play at home.

Photo of the concert playlist. William McGibbons Sonata 5 in G. Thomas Tompkins ‘A sad pavan for these distracted times’. James Oswald ‘The Daisy’. Charles Avison Sonata 1 in D minor. William Lawes ‘Gather ye rosebuds while you may’. Matthew Dubois ‘A maggot’. William Boyce Sonata 1 in A minor.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 03/10/2026

Enjoying #TeaUp (coffee) @salisburycathedral.bsky.social Refectory, my favourite city daytime venue, but please - is there any chance the glass could get a clean, the best view ever of the spire is lacking some of its lustre!

Colour photo of a half drunk cappuccino in a white china cup.

Colour photo of Salisbury cathedral spire seen through the glass roof of the Refectory.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 27/09/2026

Belated #ConfinedCocktails Zoom Supper with The Oracle, what with me galavanting last night.

Colour photo of my right hand holding up a glass of beer in a toast to a laptop screen. On screen a person raises a glass of beer in return.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 27/09/2026

St Laurence’s Bradford on Avon is just perfect.

Colour photo of a small stone building under blue skies with a smattering of white cloud. This view of the north side of the church includes the narrow tall round headed doorway and blind arcade along the walls.

Colour photo of a small stone building under blue skies. The larger taller part of the church to left has two buttresses either side of the tall narrow rounded headed doorway. The shorter lower chancel to the right has blind arcading along the wall.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 26/09/2026

I was out! Very unconfined #ConfinedCocktails. Here’s the Pondwater I banked earlier. Excellent evening at the Wiltshire Music Centre listening to Le Vent Du Nord ❤️

Colour photo of a glass on a marble topped table containing a mix of tonic and lime cordial. A partially empty bottle of Double Dutch tonic water stands behind the glass.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026

Just a small job tonight. Adding an extra washer under the castle nut that holds the clapper in the tenor bell, so that the split pin actually passes through and not above the crenellations.

Colour photo showing the threaded top of a arrival shank with a rusty looking castle nut, protruding from a flat black metal surface on which a large spanned and a pair of pliers are resting waiting to be put away.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026

Arrived a little early for tonight’s steeplekeeping, waiting for the tower captain to arrive.

Colour photo of a tall church tower built in pale grey stone with the west wall of the south aisle to right and a steeple prepping up behind (the steeple is on the second tower over the church’s central crossing. Blue gloaming sky. My phone has undoubtedly run a script on this shot without me asking…

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 19/09/2026

First Young Archaeologists of the new year went well but yes, that means I’m returned to the West, back to Zoom Supper sessions. First of the holiday beer, with snacks, ready-made lasagne in the oven for convenience. Love my job but also love being on holiday! My first darning #ConfinedCocktails

Colour photo of a glass of pale yellow beer next to a beer bottle labelled ‘Silver Adder’ and a small green ceramic bowl of crisps.

Colour photo of a light grey wool sweater sleeve with two square patches of darning in light and dark grey wool.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 18/09/2026

Garden paths of the probably thatched row marked with blue.

Extract from a black and white air photo.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 15/09/2026

Last time I was here there was no viewing tower and you could walk amongst the mounds. But the ground is so fragile underfoot and you get a great view of the cemetery now.

Colour photo of part of the Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon barrow cemetery taken from an elevated position. The mounds are covered by parched brown grass. Part of a drawing is seen bottom left showing the mounds and their numbers, to match to a descriptive list.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 15/09/2026

Nice use of archive material @nationaltrust.org.uk Sutton Hoo in Tranmer House: various letters between archaeologists and museum staff talking about finds and arrangements to manage the excavation of Mound 1.

Colour photo of a wooden rack next to the arm of a beige coloured sofa, the rack contains copies of letters mounted on boards.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026

This is great, any chance you can modify the arrowhead size too because (on mobile) they are interfering with the visibility and clickabllity:

Screen grab of a map base with very large green arrows pointing at and obscuring points of sites on the map.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026

Didn’t get back from a day’s church crawling until nearly 7, so listening to the Last Night on the wireless while cooking, snacks and muscadet on the go. Cheers! Thanks to Ride and Stride, we got into every church bar the last one. Met some lovely churchwardens/volunteers. Hope La France is good!

Colour photo of two hands holding glasses of white wine with two small square ceramic dishes containing savoury snacks.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026

Mmm possibly because I’m (relatively speaking) in the middle of nowhere. Let’s try again. Alt text is better in the first post.

Colour photo of an architectural drawing showing the complex moldings of a stone arch in Burstall church.

Colour photo of the middle part of a column in a church.

Colour photo of an architectural drawing showing in a church.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026

Saw this yesterday and thought of @allantadams.bsky.social. Also, this is some amazing stone work, probably 1380s and a remarkable find in a tiny parish church in south Suffolk. Regret I didn’t have time to work with the (subdued) light to take better photos, James would be rolling his eyes at me.

Colour photo of the mid section of a stone column. The column has complex moldings, little bits of church furniture can be seen in the background to either side.

Colour photo of a stone arch, one of four in the arcade between the nave and north aisle of St Mary’s church Burstall. The pale grey stone of the simple pointed arch contrasts with dark wood pews below and bright light shining through the two-light arched windows in the aisle wall.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026

Right. Looks like you need to read Anna Keay’s paper as a start.

Extract from ‘A history of the national Heritage Collection’ volume 4 https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/6213/AHistoryoftheNationalHeritageCollectionVolumeFour1913-1931TheAncientMonumentsBranchunderPeersandBaines which mentions the first metal notices used to label bits of ancient monuments in State care, during the 1930s. Endnote 296 is the source, indicating Anna Keay’s article about the presentation of these sites.

Screen grab of a bit of a long bibliography, including Kay, A. 2004 ‘The presentation of guardianship sites’ Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society 48, 7-20.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 10/09/2026

I see your massive external walls and raise you these:

Colour photo of a cutaway model of the section through the walls of Landguard Fort, a largely 18th and 19th century brick and stone construction. The model shows the red brick facings, rubble infill and brick vaulted casements.

Cast metal panel painted dark green with white lettering. Classic Ministry of Works ancient monument sign. Text reads ‘Landguard Fort, a fort was first built on this promontory in the reign of Henry VIII. The present fort, an irregular pentagon with bastions at the angles and a dry moat dates from 1716. There are substantial alterations and additions dating from the 1870s and the two world wars. This monument is in the care of the state. It is an offence to injure or deface it. Ancient Monument.’

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

Overall, the best works in the show are Constable’s sketches in oils, which are outstanding. Like this one, ‘Dedham from near Gun Hill, Langham’.

A small oil painting in a simple frame on a rich green gallery wall with a label to left. It’s a landscape scene with lots of trees and a view over a low valley towards a river estuary, under cloudy blue skies.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

Here’s the painting I’d take home; ‘Fen Lane, East Bergholt’. Because it actually takes you somewhere.

Colour photo of a large oil painting in a heavy gold frame. The painting is a landscape scene of Summer countryside including a lane that winds through mature trees.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

To be ‘commercial’, John put all sorts of eye-catchers in and in ‘Dedham Vale’ of 1828 that includes (checks notes) a woman cradling a baby alongside a fire over which a pot hangs, next to a tent, seemingly in a disused sand or chalk pit.

Extract of a large oil painting by John Constable showing a view from high ground looking over a landscape, including a river winding into the distance where it goes into an estuary, with Dedham town and church tower as an eye catcher just below the watery horizon. The little scene of a woman, baby, fire and tent occupies the bottom part of the image.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

Having seen it mostly on place mats, tea towels and the like, I hadn’t appreciated how big ‘The Hay Wain’ actually is.

Colour photo of a large painting in a huge gold frame on an art gallery wall (painted a nice deep green, with parquet flooring in front). It’s The Hay Wain by John Constable. Large horse-drawn cart being driven into a shallow millpond, trees behind and under a blustery blue sky.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

…I didn’t buy it. Not about lines of rocks.

Colour photo of part of a book page, text reads “There’s trouble down at the mill,” Tarboe said. “A fellow called Roudin has been spreading a story that you’re married and repudiated your wife. It’s be good to fight it now before it…”

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 06/09/2026

Half-seen blooms through glass dusted with grains that have travelled half the world #DistanceDrift

Colour photo looking through a slightly grubby glass pane to plants with reddish flowers.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026

In-person and unconfined #ConfinedCocktails. A Pinot Noir from The Oracle’s cellar (read, bottle rack in the hole where the copper used to be) with snacks, at a comfortable holiday cottage. But we will still need the laptop to look up the drinks we don’t know. Nice garden to sit in is added bonus.

Colour photo of two people’s hands holding a glass each of red wine, two small square ceramic bowls of mixed savoury nibbles, olives and hunks of feta cheese.

Colour photo of a small bunch of black grapes growing on a vine with green leaves against a brown timber fence.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026

Welcome #TeaUp in a village churchyard (our second lock-out in two days) after an afternoon ambling around Stowmarket.

Colour photo of thermos flask cups containing tea, village churchyard and war memorial cross in the background under a blue-ish cloudy sky. Nonetheless bright, looking towards the late afternoon sun.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026

Hi @mattpope.bsky.social why have I heard of Woolpit (Suffolk)? Vague memory of hand axes.

Colour photo of a bit of 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey Landranger map showing the village/small town of Woolpit in Suffolk.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026

First part of the journey from west to east completed successfully with only a slight slowdown on the M25. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a lie-in before packing up the car Round 2 and the second stage.

Colour photo of a large wine glass containing lager.

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Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 30/08/2026

Catching up with yesterday’s #ConfinedCocktails and a delayed Zoom Supper with The Oracle after my unconfined galavanting to Oxford yesterday. Cheers! We are about to review the evening’s drinks.

Colour photo of my right hand holding up a glass of pale yellow beer in a toast towards a laptop screen. On screen, a person holds up a glass of dark beer in return.

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