Sign in

Dr David Osborne

@daosborne.bsky.social
649 followers 408 following 241 posts

Archaeologist. PhD in Bronze Age stuff. Husband. Dad to two amazing people. Classical music obsessive. Son of Tyneside. daosborne.github.io

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Dr Alessio Veneziano @aveneziano.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is NOT the future of scientific papers. #DataSharing already allows you to rerun analyses. A paper that is not static or does not provide the same answer all the times cannot grant #reproducibility. The dynamic part of a paper is made by other researchers.... 🧪 #science #academia #research
1237
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Amazing bioarchaeology workshop at Durham University helping research early medieval remains from Digventures’s excavations on Lindisfarne. I’ve been learning osteological techniques and applying them in the lab by laying out a skeleton and estimating biological sex, age, stature, and pathology
A photo of me wearing a black jacket and trousers standing next to a large metal sign for Durham University’s Archaeology and Anthropology Dawson Building
625825
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Sarah May @sarahmay1.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
If you think your subject is safe because we need graduates wth those skills, think again.
23017
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A few photos from graduation this week. What a fabulous day — even though it was very warm wearing a gown over a suit — and it was even better to be able to celebrate with family and such good friends.
With my wife, LyndaWith my main supervisor, Prof Hannah O’Regan (@palaeohan)Some of the wonderful, happy gang of students and staff from our department, Classics & Archaeology
160
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Jonathan Last @johnnythin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Today marks the centenary of the National Trust's acquisition of the Coldrum megalithic monument, as a memorial to grocer-archaeologist Benjamin Harrison (d. 1921). As the Kent & Sussex Courier reported, the monument “was dedicated to the public use” at an afternoon ceremony on Sat 10 July 1926 🧵
Cutting from the Kent & Sussex Courier, July 16 1926:
"BENJAMIN HARRISON, OF IGHTHAM.
MEMORIAL TABLET UNVEILED.
COLDRUM CASTLE CONVEYED TO NATIONAL TRUST.
Two memorials to the late Mr. Benjamin Harrison, of Ightham, were dedicated on Saturday, as the result of the sum of £250 subscribed to the Harrison Memorial Fund. The shop and house occupied for over half a century by the grocer-archaeologist no longer remain, but on the wall of the new residence erected there by Sir Edward Harrison (Mr. Harrison's son) is a tablet stating 'Benjamin Harrison lived here'."View of the Coldrum megalithic chamberView of the memorial plaque on a stone at Coldrum, that reads "COLDRUM STONE CIRCLE HAS BEEN VESTED IN THE NATIONAL TRUST AS A MEMORIAL TO BENJAMIN HARRISON 1837-1921 OF IGHTHAM"
10 JULY 1926"
193
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Lorna Richardson @lornarichardson.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Finally, my paper on public responses to Stonehenge in British news is out. "What's the Meaning of Stonehenge?" reveals that archaeological news faces challenges of scepticism & backlash in a post-Brexit, post-pandemic era. Open Access (currently with mistakes in rendering, waiting for T & F to fix)
tandfonline.com
What’s the meaning of Stonehenge? An exploration of responses to the archaeological site through ‘below the line’ comments in British newspapers
Through qualitative analysis of newspaper comments, this paper examines diverse interpretations of Stonehenge and public attitudes towards archaeology. This research reveals that archaeological new...
1311749
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Vice Chancellor Jane Norman didn't cause Nottingham University’s financial difficulties, but her response has been high-handed, misguided, tone-deaf & damaging Strikes in higher education shouldn't be undertaken lightly but this one is plainly justified westbridgfordwire.com/university-o...
westbridgfordwire.com
University of Nottingham staff announce two-month strike action | West Bridgford Wire
Staff at the University of Nottingham will strike for 61 days from Monday 1 June to Friday 31 July (2026) in addition to the day of strike action set for
185
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
A reminder of what we are fighting against as our marking and assessment boycott begins today. physicsworld.com/a/nottingham... www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...
Screen shot of the first article linked in the postscreenshot of the second article linked in the post
1106
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Pleased (amazed, delighted, astonished) to announce that last week I passed my PhD viva (thesis defence) with no corrections! I’m grateful to Professor Joanna Brück, University College Dublin, and Professor Mark Pearce, University of Nottingham, for an enjoyable discussion of my thesis.
Group of PhD students, graduands and staff celebrating with drinks in the Humanities Building, University of Nottingham campus.Happy PhD graduand holding a copy of his thesis.Title page of David Osborne’s copy of Professor Jo Brück’s book, “Personifying Prehistory: Relational ontologies in Bronze Age Britain and Ireland”, signed by the author.
1203
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Breakfast in Jesus College, Cambridge, under the watchful eye of Colin Renfrew, Master from 1986–96
Row of portraits of former masters of Jesus CollegePortrait of Colin Renfrew, Master of Jesus College, 1986–96
130
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
I’ve just finished my first non-archaeology book since completing my thesis: a book about the books that novelist Susan Hill has in her house. It’s great to be reading for enjoyment again! (Not that reading archaeology isn’t enjoyable but you know what I mean).
Book cover of Susan Hill’s ‘Howards End is on the Landing’, showing the title and the subtitle ‘A year of reading from home’ on two gold-embossed book spines.
110
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Wiltshire Museum @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
To celebrate the centenary of Woodhenge, this #findsfriday we thought we would share something from the site! This necked beaker, decorated with incised lines and zigzags was found from circle 1, Woodhenge, by Mrs M E Cunnington and Mr B H Cunnington, 1926-8. Now in our Prehistory Galleries!
Beaker pot of brown with zig zag patterns . Cracks seen throughout.
219738
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) @leizarchaeology.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Out now & #openaccess: Grimm, Oliver (Ed.): Beast and Human: Case Studies for Northern Europe from Prehistoric to Early Modern Times, Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2025 (LEIZA Publications, Volume 8). doi.org/10.11588/pro... #LEIZArchaeology #Archaeology #HumanAnimalStudies
03416
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Jean-François Cudennec @limpetnerd.eurosky.social · 12/12/2025
It took the cat a millennium to reach Ireland from England
Distribution of domesticated cat, from the domestication area in Mesopotamia (before 7500 BC) to Ireland and Northern Europe (900 AD)
291
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Just want to point out that both the Guardian and the BBC used "man" in their coverage of this research today. If you want science news that doesn't employ anachronistically gendered language, be sure to read us at @livescience.com. 😘
Screenshot of BBC story with headline "The moment the earliest known man-man fire was uncovered"Screenshot of a Guardian story with the headline "Man made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, discovery in Suffolk suggests"
49029
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Allan T Adams @allantadams.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Where Little Shambles meets Shambles, York. Number 8 Shambles can be seen, along with a bit of 9 Shambles, between numbers 43, on the left, and number 42 on the right. On the extreme right 1 Little Shambles, one of the few survivors of the street left after the creation of the market. #drawing
Pen sketch of timber framed buildings on a junction of two narrow streets. Some shoppers or tourists are crossing the road while others look at the shop signs.
04911
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Plant Cuttings @plantcuttings.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Calling all who appreciate plants and what they do for us! Reconsider the potential suspension of Plant Biology Courses at University of Nottingham (UK) chng.it/Fq67ZRxK via @UKChange #Botany #PlantScience
chng.it
Sign the Petition
Reconsider the potential suspension of Plant Biology Courses at UoN
173
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Ross Balzaretti @rossbalzaretti.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
University pressing ahead with course closures plan despite 'profound' warning www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...
nottinghampost.com
University pressing ahead with course closures plan despite 'profound' warning
MPs called for the University of Nottingham to immediately pause the suspension of certain courses
111
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
'It is notable that in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise the Department of American Studies at Nottingham was ranked third in the Area Studies unit of assessment and was one of the top-performing units across the whole of the University of Nottingham.' 1/2
16545
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Another day, another round of news articles admonishing the administration for making cuts to our university. It's clear that faculty, students,. staff and community members are united against course closures. When will the university listen? www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
University of Nottingham considers axing language and music degrees
Total of 48 degrees could disappear from Russell Group institution, with falling revenues and rising costs blamed
156
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
An amazing day of solidarity with staff, students, and community members saying NO to compulsory redundancies and unnecessary course closures.
A panoramic photograph of the many people standing on today's picket line.A photo of two people at our picket line holding signs.A photo of someone holding up a solidarity fist at our picket lineA photo of a banner that says We Are The University with picketers standing behind it.
12616
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Mike Collins - Chair British Association for American Studies @baaschair.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Please support and share this petition to help save American Studies teaching at The University of Nottingham. Staff are facing redundancy. The expertise that would be lost would be monumental. Please sign. c.org/26qjPmffNy
c.org
This campaign needs you now
SAVE AMERICAN STUDIES TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
12522
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
In Birmingham for tonight’s concert of Schumann & Stravinsky by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Simon Rattle and picked up this flyer about UoN’s dreadful Music Dept plans. Spread the word.
Photo of a flyer deploring UoN’s plan to stop taking music students, taken in Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
12114
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Graham Taylor @pottedhistory.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
THREAD: Delighted that Peterborough Museum has received £250k, to further explore the amazing Bronze Age assemblage from Must Farm. One of my favourite projects of the past few years was creating replicas of the pots, to better understand the technology behind them 🏺 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Peterborough Museum gets £250k for Bronze Age project
The two-year initiative will explore the discoveries made at Must Farm in Whittlesey.
110925
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
A massive number of our members just got word that the courses they teach on will be "suspended" by the university, effecting out current and future students in every single faculty and school at UoN.
164
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
UCD School of Archaeology, Dublin @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
0154
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Erratum: in my post yesterday on a recent Guardian article about Bronze Age feasting networks, I linked to a 2023 paper that was all I could find at the time. I’m grateful to @timdaw.bsky.social for telling me about the now-published paper in iScience, at doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
doi.org
Redirecting
020
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Today’s Guardian article on multi-isotope evidence for feasting at the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition is still interesting even though it’s based on a 2023 paper by Richard Madgwick, Carmen Esposito & @angelalamb.bsky.social 🧵1/2 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
theguardian.com
People gathered for great meat feasts at end of British bronze age, study shows
Evidence of millions of animal bones at sites in West Country and Surrey points to ‘age of feasting’
3202
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Our alternative interpretations of the ‘king’ of Newgrange (a skull fragment from an individual who was born of incest) and his distant relations have been published! We argue for the importance of careful integration of aDNA results with detailed archaeological evidence. Such a great team effort!
18423
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Emma Mitchell @silverpebble2.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Our brains love the colour gradation in rainbows, maybe due to our ancestors searching for sources of water. Looking at plants helps us recover from stress & looking at something we think is beautiful causes dopamine release. I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿
An rainbow arrangement of garden flowers placed on white fabric
20879271077
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
DerbyshireArchaeology @derbyshirearch.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Fin Cop above Monsal Dale (the only Derbyshire hillfort to feature on a classic rail poster!), excavated 2009 by Longstone History Group and ARS. Late Bronze Age origins, and a harrowing end in the Middle Iron Age (400-300BC) with inhabitants massacred and dumped in the ditch. #HillfortsWednesday
LMS Railway poster from the 1930s-1950s, showing a train speeding across the viaduct in Monsal Dale, with Fin Cop (crowned by its hillfort) in the background.Aerial view of Fin Cop showing the hilltop enclosure with bank, ditch and counterscarp, and the Wye Valley beyond. Historic England Archive, image by Dave MacLeod 2010
1225
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 23/05/2025
Check out this beautiful wooden shovel and antler pick from Bronze Age Britain #FindsFriday 🏺 Currently in the Cornwall Museum, they are some of the oldest of their kind in Europe and would have been used to mine tin traded as far as the Levant! Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Above: the head of a wooden shovel, annotated c. 1266-1108 BC.
Below: a pick made from an antler, annotated c. 1620-1463 BC.
17822
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Oxford Academic @academic.oup.com · 23/05/2025
Curious how the Arts & Humanities can elevate your research? Join us for a free webinar where leading scholars share how interdisciplinary collaboration can unlock new insights and tackle complex challenges. 🗓️ June 18 ⏰ 12:30 PM EDT 🔗 Register now: oxford.ly/4kadupU #AcademicSky
Oxford Intersections. The Arts & Humanities as Catalysts for Interdisciplinary Research: How to Bring Voices Together. 18 June, 12:30 PM EDT. Reserve your spot. Oxford University Press.
044
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Marion McGarry @marionmcgarry.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
The so called Leprechaun house at Carrowkeel, Sligo is a ruined Neolithic tomb. Sliced by a field boundary, some of its material is used in the stone walls… I was inspired by this to come out of “drawing retirement” (1/2) 🧵
1248
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
An entertaining talk (he said it wasn't a lecture) last night from Mick Lynch, RMT secretary-general, delivering the inaugural Agnes Flues Memorial Lecture to our local UoN UCU branch. Memories of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Agnes in blizzards on picket lines in February 2018. #solidarity
Mick Lynch, RMT secretary-general, delivers the inaugural Agnes Flues Memorial Lecture at the University of Nottingham, watched by Dr Jo Grady, UCU general secretary A snowy picket line at West Entrance, University of Nottingham, February 2018
050
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Valentin Amrhein @vamrhein.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Happy birthday, p = 0.05! I had a short introductory lecture in statistics for biologists this morning, and then it dawned on me that p = 0.05 is celebrating its hundredth birthday this year.
04024
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Ulla Rajala @ullamr.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
HE job cuts in the East Midlands www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
University of Nottingham plans to cut more than 250 jobs
Announcing the consultation, the university said it was a "critical moment for universities across the UK".
021
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Sounds like a plan
9652481092
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Something lovely for the weekend! About 40,000 years ago, during the #IceAge, this small figurine of a ‘big cat’ was sculpted from mammoth ivory. Thought to be a cave lion, it is one of the world’s oldest known works of figurative art. 📷 me #Caturday #Archaeology
My photo shows a small sculpted figurine thought to represent a cave lion. The figurine is standing in profile facing left. The head is lowered and has pointed ears. The body is covered with incised markings which include cross lines on its abdomen and a dot pattern over the back and thighs. The lower legs are not present. The figurine was carved from mammoth ivory and is a warm cream colour. It measures just under 8.8 cm in length and 3.4 cm in height.

It was excavated in the 1930s, together with a number of other carved ivory animal figurines and some of the world’s earliest known musical instruments, from the Vogelherd Cave, in the Swabian Jura, Germany. Dated to the Aurignacian period. On display at Museum Ancient Cultures, Hohentübingen Castle, Tübingen, Germany.
9463103
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Tom Higham @tommyhigham.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
We are happy to share our pre-print on dating bone using a novel non-destructive protocol we developed. The paper is on the Biorxiv here (Luftensteiner et al. 2025): www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Non-destructive radiocarbon dating of bone
Since the 1950s, radiocarbon measurements have anchored archaeological chronologies dating back to 50,000 years, with bone collagen being a commonly dated material. Despite advances in collagen extrac...
812329
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Let’s go for it! Tell everyone you know to join @bsky.app and TOGETHER let’s send them packing
265128393480
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Hooray! Our paper detailing new dates for Flagstones enclosure in Dorset has been published in @antiquityj.bsky.social today. It shows that Flagstones is middle Neolithic, built and used for burial around 3200 BC, earlier than expected. Open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Beginning of the circle? Revised chronologies for Flagstones and Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
Beginning of the circle? Revised chronologies for Flagstones and Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset
1223955
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 06/03/2025
Nice job @suegreaney.bsky.social !
1227
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Radiocarbon dating of Flagstones Middle Neolithic ‘proto-henge’ is earlier than thought: Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
theguardian.com
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
Re-dating of Flagstones monument to about 3,200BC came after analysis by Exeter University and Historic England
1143
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Butser Ancient Farm @butserancientfarm.co.uk · 04/03/2025
👏 Archaeology in action! It's just as much microscopes and lab coats as it is trowels and spades. This is a great look into one of our most important tools for understanding archaeology 🤩
0153
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
Hedley Thorne @hedleythorne.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Brightwell Barrow back in autumn, with Castle Hill Iron Age hillfort on the horizon at Wittenham Clumps. (My quarterly posting of this view)
2497
Dr David Osborne @daosborne.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
You know you’ve had a book for a long time when the bookmark you used years ago is a computer punched card — one of my undergrad textbooks, 1976.
Book open at a bookmark: a blank, yellow 80-column computer punched card, originally used for input of programs (I programmed in Fortran) and data to mainframe computers.Paperback copy of Davis (1973) Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. New York: Wiley.
000
Reposted by Dr David Osborne
PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 17/02/2025
#GitHub, a platform widely used in software development, offers a robust framework for documenting all activities of laboratory research projects. This Community Page highlights the benefits of, and provides guidance for, incorporating the GitHub ecosystem into wet lab workflows. 🧪💻 plos.io/4i1LWkV
A figure depicting features of GitHub that are useful for laboratory research and how they compare to software development.
0233