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Dr Craig Barker

@drcraigb.bsky.social
3.3K followers 1.2K following 791 posts

Mediterranean archaeologist & museum education professional. Director of the Paphos Theatre excavations, Paphos Cyprus & Education & Experience Manager at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney. Cypriot archaeologist on Gadigal land.

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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 13h
My happiness
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 13h
Its a stella year for Classical Reception: A blockbuster film and a Nobel Prize! Im very pleased to hear Anne Carson has been recognized.
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rogueclassicist ~ david meadows @rogueclassicist.bsky.social · 23h
Ancient shipwreck packed with luxury tableware found untouched after 2,100 years beneath the Mediterranean Sea | Daily Mail Online www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/...
dailymail.com
Ancient shipwreck packed with luxury tableware found after 2,100 years
A cargo of luxury crockery has resurfaced after spending 2,100 years at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is a great playlist - I've decided to go a 90s trio even though it means missing out on Fast Car, Silver Springs (and even by my own criteria Joey, Teardrop & Glory Box!!). 3. Fade Into You - Mazzy Star 2. Lock It - Falling Joys 1. Gorecki - Lamb So many honorable mentions! Can I vote twice?
static.klipy.com
Hope Sandoval - So Tonight That I Might See
Alt: Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You video - from the album So Tonight That I Might See
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Jon Hawke @archaeohawke.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
#MosaicMonday The #Lion and stag mosaic from room 4, south west wing, Building XXI 2, Verulamium (late 2nd Century AD. Verulamium museum). #Archaeology #RomanBritain #artwork #art #History
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
We just don't get movie stars like we used to. RIP Eva Marie Saint
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
‘Ancient Underground Chamber in Cyprus Became a Byzantine Church, Archaeologists Find’ Great results for our friends and colleagues from Avignon working in Paphos www.medievalists.net/2026/10/anci...
medievalists.net
Ancient Underground Chamber in Cyprus Became a Byzantine Church, Archaeologists Find - Medievalists.net
Archaeologists in Cyprus have uncovered an underground chamber that began as a Hellenistic quarry and was later transformed into a Byzantine church.
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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
These fragments from a Roman villa in Spain are not from a mosaic but from a fresco. If you look closely you’ll see a grid of lines, many following the contour of the figures, much as tesserae do on mosaics. This trompe-l’oeil technique simulates mosaics. 1/ 🏺 1st-2nd c. Museo de Málaga 📸 me
Fragment of a fresco depicting part of a human face, mostly the eyes. Thin lines form a grid pattern, simulating the edges of tesserae.Fresco fragment showing a naked torso of a woman, her legs and pubic area covered in a red himation (cloak). Her right hand carries a basket laden with fruit, which look like giant globes of grapes. Grapevine leaves appear in the background. A Dionysian scene. The faux tesserae grid lines follow the curves of the body.Fresco fragment depicting some sort of half-human creature with wild hair and bare torso, gesturing upwards with his right hand and holding a branched stick with his left. The faux tesserae grid lines follow the curves of his garment and body.Fresco fragment with the torso of perhaps a god with golden skin, a red himation flowing outwards and partially covering his or her legs. Perhaps Dionysos?
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Trimontium Trust & Museum @trimontiumtrust.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This find comes from Steane from the age of Roman Britain, and it is a wonderful example of provincial style interacting with imperial portraiture. Here we see a bronze Marcus Aurelius, only 16cm tall and an incredible 2kg, presumed to be a sceptre or pole head.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
3. Legend - Bob Marley and the Wailers 2. The Whole Story - Kate Bush 1. Decade - Neil Young I was going to cheat and put The Beatles Red and Blie albums as one entry but Blue {1967-1970) is the one I listen to more often
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
‘Ancient Cypriot jewellery reveals stories of status and craft’ #archaeologynews 🏺 cyprus-mail.com/2026/09/28/a...
cyprus-mail.com
Ancient Cypriot jewellery reveals stories of status and craft
Ancient Cypriot jewellery reveals clues about social status, craftsmanship, trade and cultural influences from the Bronze Age onwards
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Dr Yannis Galanakis delivers the 2026 Sir Charles Nicholson Lecture on 'The Antiquities Trade in Greece, 1860s-1880s: A Social History & Why It Matters'. Friday 30 October 2026 at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, @sydney.edu.au www.sydney.edu.au/museum/whats...
sydney.edu.au
The Sir Charles Nicholson Annual Lecture 2026:
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Cyprus Mail @cyprus-mail.com · 30/09/2026
New Cyprus museum in 2028 at the soonest
cyprus-mail.com
New Cyprus museum in 2028 at the soonest
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
‘The exhibition Rome: Empire, Power, People is a tour through our history of looking at Ancient Rome’ Lovely review of the current Melbourne Museum exhibition “Rome: Empire, Power People” by my friend Alina Kozlovski in @theconversation.com theconversation.com/the-exhibiti...
theconversation.com
The exhibition Rome: Empire, Power, People is a tour through our history of looking at ancient Rome
Melbourne Museum’s major exhibition tells us as much about how we look at this complicated culture as the culture itself.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
‘False claims about Aboriginal rock art and aliens were once fringe. Researchers fear AI could push them mainstream’ Sigh. #archaeologynews 🏺 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
False claims about Aboriginal rock art and aliens were once fringe. Researchers fear AI could push them mainstream
Archeologists warn AI summaries can repeat false claims about 12,000-year-old rock art from Western Australia’s Kimberley region being painted by aliens
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I missed International Rabbit Day on the 26 September! So a couple of days late… For #MosaocMonday here is a rabbit in one of the panels of the Antioch animal mosaic floor. C. 400 CE. Getty Museum 70.AH.96 www.getty.edu/art/collecti...
Excavation reports reveal that this mosaic fragment depicting a hare with grapes was originally located in the Bath of Apolausis near Antioch, alongside many other significant mosaics. Mosaic Floor with Animals (detail), Roman, made in Antioch, Syria (present-day Antakya, Turkey). Stone tesserae, 101 1/4 × 268 5/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 70.AH.96

Elaborate patterns surround the central medallions of this mosaic, which depict birds pecking at foliage and a hare eating grapes. Four additional border pieces decorated with geometric designs originally framed this panel of the mosaic. Excavated in 1938 just east of the ancient city of Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey), the mosaic decorated the floor of the entryway to the frigidarium (cold-water room) of a public bath. The building was also used as a place for gathering and entertainment. Although the bath was small in scale, its fine construction and lavish decoration attest to the wealth and taste of the prosperous landowners in the countryside surrounding Antioch.
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Medieval Illumination @medieval-illuminations.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026
Initial C. Psalter, Canterbury ca. 1210-1220. Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1525, fol. 110r. #medieval #MedievalArt
Initial C. Psalter, Canterbury ca. 1210-1220. Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1525, fol. 110r.
#medieval #MedievalArt
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Sydney-siders - the next event in the Chau Chak Wing Museum's Seidler Sessions is this Thursday night 1 October. Come hear Penelope Seidler and Elizabeth Evatt and see the exhibition with a drink. Registrations and details on the rest of the series here: www.sydney.edu.au/museum/whats...
sydney.edu.au
Seidler Sessions
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Going to Moufflon bookshop is one of the joys of visiting Nicosia. Having published through the Moufflon publishing arm I am so pleased that Kris is able to continue the legacy of Ruth Keshishian to celebrate Cypriot culture, history and archaeology.
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Vivian Maier (1926-2009), posthumously critically acclaimed, prolific US street photographer #womensart
Monochrome photograph featuring the photographer reflected in the metal wheel hub of a VW vehicle
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A bit obvious but I am from up north so don't know the finer points of club songs. Could do a round ball Top 3 easily however. 3. Leaps and Bounds - Paul Kelly 2. Under the Clocks - WPA 1. Holy Grail - Hunters and Collectors
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
‘Cyprus’ traditional doors reveal the stories behind old house’ cyprus-mail.com/2026/09/21/c...
cyprus-mail.com
Cyprus’ traditional doors reveal the stories behind old homes
Cyprus’ traditional wooden doors reveal clues about architecture, wealth and identity while preserving skills and craftsmanship at risk of being lost
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
'Laser scans reveal 23 hidden ship carvings on Bronze Age temple wall in Cyprus' #archaeologynews 🏺 phys.org/news/2026-09...
phys.org
Laser scans reveal 23 hidden ship carvings on Bronze Age temple wall in Cyprus
About 40 years ago, researchers found ancient ship carvings on a temple wall in Cyprus, possibly all carved at once at the tail end of the Bronze Age, around the time of the infamous Bronze Age collap...
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Thanks for the tip - I’ll seek it out
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Apparently episode one was first broadcast on the BBC 50 years ago today. Still one of the most remarkable television dramas ever. I Claudius
Scene from opening credits of the BBC TV series I Claudius (1976)
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The 19th Inclusive Museum conference has now begin at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Looking forward to three days of stimulating conversations and fascinating papers by presenters from more than 50 countries! onmuseums.com/2026-confere...
Photography of the conference welcoming event
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Only voting for songs I didn't vote for in the previous rounds: 3. Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush 2. Hercules (Species Deceases EP) - Midnight Oil 1. Man I Need - Olivia Dean
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
'Don Quixote at Paphos Castle: How Cyprus is turning into a new point on the world’s cultural map' en.philenews.com/whats-on/don...
en.philenews.com
Don Quixote at Paphos Castle: How Cyprus is turning into a new point on the world’s cultural map
Picture this: the centuries-old stone walls of Paphos Castle, which once knew Venetian and Ottoman rulers, suddenly coming alive to the sound of music — and instead of guards, ballet dancers turning p...
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Carausius @carausius286.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
As we enter spring in Australia, here’s four beautiful birds from a Pompeian fresco. 📍 House of the Golden Bracelet 🕰️C 1st AD 📷 mine
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles 2. Fernando - ABBA 1. Come On Eileen - Dexy's One per decade again
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/09/2026
UK mathematician debunks myth around Parthenon’s optical illusions
theguardian.com
UK mathematician debunks myth around Parthenon’s optical illusions
Study challenges belief that temple’s curves were designed to correct optical illusions that would have ruined its clean lines A mathematician has uncovered what may be one of the longest-running myths in history after studying optical illusions and the Parthenon, the famed Greek temple that overlooks Athens. Scholars have marvelled at the building on the Acropolis hill for more than 2,000 years and heaped praise on its architects for their clever use of geometry. Its subtle curves are said to correct optical illusions that would have otherwise ruined the Parthenon’s clean lines. Continue reading...
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Today (15 Sep) is the United Nations International Day of Democracy. With democracy so fragile globally a reminder of how one person-one vote changed the world for the better. Athenian ostraka bearing the name of Themistokles from the Agora of Athens. 📷American School of Classical Studies at Athens
12 out of more than 190 Ostraka (singular ostrakon, ὄστρακον, ὀστράκου, τό), mostly made from the bases of drinking cups, bearing the name of Themistokles son of Neokles, the famed Athenian general and politician during the era of the Persian Wars of the early 5th century. Ostraka were used in voting on an ostracism, or ten-year exile from the city, a sentence used against public figures. Themistokles had a highly successful military career, but despite this, he was successfully ostracized in 472/1 BC.
https://dcc.dickinson.edu/images/ostraka-themistocles-athenian-general
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
3. Rush - Big Audio Dynamite II 2. Perfect - Fairground Attraction 1. Hey Ya - Outcast One per decade
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Indeed the motif is so common it was the title of the first ever Hollywood movie filmed in Greece; 1957's 'Boy on a Dolphin' starring the famous Greek actress....um... Sophia Loren www.imdb.com/title/tt0050...
Movie poster for 1957's 'Boy on a a Dolphin'
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Happy #WorldDophinDay 2026! A boy riding a dolphin is a very common motif in ancient Greek art often representing harmony with nature and divine protection. This Attic neck amphora is held in the Chau Chak Wing Museum collection and is dated to 500-475 BCE NM70.2 www.sydney.edu.au/museums/coll...
Wheel made, high fired ceramic neck amphora. The vessel is characterized by a ring base, ovoid body, tall narrow neck and a horizontal rim. There are two double handles attached to the vessel at the neck and shoulder. The vessel appears to be slightly assymetrical. The vessel is decorated in the red-figured manner, involving the application of a burnished slip that was reduced during firing to a glossy black colour. Reserved areas remained a terracotta colour, producing the design. The undersides of the foot and handles, top surface of the rim and interior of the body were not slipped. The obverse side the body of the vessel has been decorated with the image of a boy, Phalanthos riding a dolphin and on the reverse side a fragmentary draped figure. The head of the male on the reverse and part of his drapery are missing. Both scenes are bordered on three sides (top and two sides) with a thick, reserved line that is decorated with dots (down the sides) and vertical lines (along the top). The neck of the vessel is decorated with a series of large palmettes. There has been a substantial amount of “lime-popping” during the firing of the vessel. There is a large crack around the central, interior part of the base, which appears to be a firing crack. The vase is restored from fragments.

Attic neck amphora, manufactured in Athens, c. 500-475 BCE and attributed to the Athena-Bowdoin Painter.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
‘Research shows Tasmanian devils' unique 'clean-up' role in WA's Pilbara’ #archaeologynews 🏺 www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
abc.net.au
What drove the Tasmanian devil out of northern WA?
Researchers say Tasmanian devils lived alongside humans in WA's arid Pilbara for tens of thousands of years, and the arrival of the dingo may have disrupted that relationship.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is genuinely fascinating. Does that mean 44% of Britons are in the “too soon to tell” category?
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
‘Choirokoitia: Cyprus’ 9,000-Year-Old Neolithic Round-House Settlement’ greekreporter.com/2026/09/06/c...
greekreporter.com
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
3. Sign of the Times - Harry Styles 2. Get Lucky - Daft Punk 1. Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
‘Cyprus antiquities to be exhibited in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum’ cyprus-mail.com/2026/09/07/c...
cyprus-mail.com
Cyprus antiquities to be exhibited in Oxford’s Ashmolean museum
Antiquities from Cyprus will be exhibited for the first time outside of the country in the autumn exhibition at the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum’s The Making of a Goddess exhibition startin...
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I am getting rarer and rarer with each passing year….
Screenshot of a social media post by the QI television series.

“In 2025 in the UK, more baby boys were named Wolf (16) than Craig (15).”
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CAA Australasia @caa-australasia.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Our 4th Online Digital Archaeology Conference is coming up and we are now calling for papers, with new dates of 12-13 November. We are also co-hosting this year with CAA Japan! Abstracts are due by October 9th and can submitted here: forms.gle/38PkA6GZj1aM...
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SandeeOster @sandeeoster.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Study finds twelve wallaby teeth from a Cape York rockshelter, still tipped with grass-tree resin, were ornaments rather than food scraps. At roughly 1,200 years old, they're the first of their kind found outside a burial in northeast Australia #archaeology archaeologyteahouse.com/stories/wear...
archaeologyteahouse.com
Wearing Wallabies: Twelve Wallaby Teeth That Turned Out to Be Jewelry — Archaeology Teahouse
New study identifies twelve resin-mounted wallaby incisors in a Cape York rockshelter, the first ornaments of their kind found outside a burial in northeast Australia
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
‘Limassol to recreate ancient Kourion using AI and 3D models’ #archaeologynews #ancientcyprus 🏺 en.philenews.com/local/limass...
en.philenews.com
Limassol to recreate ancient Kourion using AI and 3D models
Limassol's tourism development company is creating digital reconstructions of the Kourion archaeological site using 3D models and AI, letting visitors see monuments as they once stood.
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UCL Institute of Archaeology @uclarchaeology.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
📖Bringing together international case studies, Digging into Pottery demonstrates how scientific analysis of archaeological ceramics can illuminate far more than the origins of individual vessels. Launching at IoA Ceramic Analysis Day this Friday: tinyurl.com/s9d8e53f @archaeopress.bsky.social
ucl.ac.uk
New volume showcases scientific approaches to archaeological ceramics around the world
The new volume, Digging into Pottery Scientific Approaches to Archaeological Ceramic Analysis Around the World, will be officially launched at the upcoming IoA Ceramic Analysis Day.
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Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 02/09/2026
‘We have had enough’: thousands of University of Sydney staff walk off the job over AI and job security
theguardian.com
‘We have had enough’: thousands of University of Sydney staff walk off the job over AI and job security
Hundreds of university staff were stationed at picket lines, calling for stronger protections around the use of AI * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The same week union members at the University of Sydney agreed to a 24-hour strike, staff received the results of an internal survey. In the faculty of arts and social sciences, 0% agreed with the statement: “I trust the University of Sydney to act in the best interests of staff, students and the broader community.” Continue reading...
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
'Ancient Erimi dig reveals large building with game-board carvings' #archaeologynews #ancientcyprus 🏺 en.philenews.com/local/erimi-...
en.philenews.com
Ancient Erimi dig reveals large building with game-board carvings
Italian archaeologists have uncovered a large central building at ancient Erimi in Cyprus, with carved thresholds resembling ancient senet board games among the finds.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Happy Wattle Day from Australia
A wattle tree in bright yellow bloom
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
It’s the beginning of spring in Australia tomorrow. For #MosaicMonday the personification of spring in the seasons mosaic at the House of Dionysos in Paphos in Cyprus. Second century CE.
Spring mosaic. 

 
From the 'Four Seasons' mosaic, Roman period. In the House of Dionysos in Paphos, a grid of nine squares has Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in the corners separated by rural scenes, and a central figure which has not yet been identified. The first mosaics from this site at Nea Paphos were uncovered in 1962 by the Department of Antiquities.
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Dr Craig Barker @drcraigb.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
One of the greatest find ever in Paphos - amazingly well preserved
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