iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

😱 I wish so much that had been intentional…😭😂

Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

(If the question was actually “do we think it’s a mirror”, as @curatorrob.bsky.social grudgingly acknowledges, yes, that’s the standard line 😂 But now I’m very intrigued by the question of what sort of mirror and if it reflect regional types 😯 - had never considered that before!

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

V kind, though there is definitely much more to say! Carrie Vout has pointed out since then that the visuality is in the round, for instance, which is a genius insight. On the mirror - very interesting point! Not sure anyone has considered the typological angle before 🤔🤔🤔 Now I’m intrigued…

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

The solution we’ve all been waiting for!! 🤯

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Tansy Branscombe @tansybranscombe.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

It was such a pleasure to work on this book with such a fantastic group of people. I had a few copies at RAC/TRAC hot off the presses, and they've all sold within the first two hours!

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Thanks to generous funding from Exeter!

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Kayt Hawkins @kayth.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Ooh this looks so good! Reading the table of contents and seeing so many people who's work I very much enjoy & respect - what a volume on #roman #archaeology #romanbritain

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

My and Penny’s chapter on art and aesthetics in Roman Britain also tries to chart a way forward for our bewildering, maddening provincial art world, and I’m so grateful that I got to wrestle with those issues with her!

Cover page of a chapter called “Art in Roman Britain: Aesthetics and Archaeology for the 21st Century” by Eleri Cousins and Penny Coombe

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The book is the vision of Martin Pitts and Lisa Lodwick; Martin asked me, Penny Coombe, Andy Gardner and to come on as co-editors after we lost Lisa way, way too young. I was so honoured and glad to be able to play a role in that.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

#OpenAccess publication day! I am so proud to have been a part of getting this into the world. I hope it will launch a lot of exciting conversations about Roman Britain and how we can contribute to wider archaeological debates @barpublishing.bsky.social 🧵 1/ www.barpublishing.com/book/communi...

barpublishing.com

Communities, Connectivity and Complexity in Roman Britain - BAR Publishing

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on the BAR Digital platform. This volume kick-starts debate on the future of ar...

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Katherine McDonald @katherinemcdon.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Open access publication klaxon! I was really honoured to be asked to write a response chapter in Communities, Connectivity and Complexity in Roman Britain. It is SO GOOD. www.barpublishing.com/book/communi...

barpublishing.com

Communities, Connectivity and Complexity in Roman Britain - BAR Publishing

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Come work with me and the amazing Frances McIntosh on disentangling late Roman Corbridge! Applications welcome from different career stages and backgrounds - full details in the link below. #RomanBritain #Archaeology #PhD🏺

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

(Whatever Site XI is, I don’t think you can call it a “traditional” forum, and I’m not sure tickboxes for Roman urban institutions work that well in RB anyhow! 😅)

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

If Corbridge is a town Carlisle is one! I think requiring a forum is an odd criterion tbh (and Corbridge doesn’t have one either 😅) They’re pretty similar, and I’d say everyone treats both as urban 🤷🏻‍♀️ I guess if you need something official, Carlisle appears to be a civitas centre by the early 3rd c 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Roman Scotland @romanscotland.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

A fantastic opportunity to study northern Britain's only Roman town 👇

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Hey now, we’ve got Carlisle too 😅

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Applications are very welcome from people returning to study as well as from current MA students, and for either full- or part-time study. I am also very happy to field informal questions from applicants about the project - my email listed at the end of the advert.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Durham and English Heritage are now recruiting for a fully-funded PhD on Roman Corbridge 🥳🥳🥳 This is a fantastic opportunity to work on one of our most important and understudied finds assemblages from Roman Britain. Deadline 1st June. Please share widely! www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Moulded pot from Corbridge showing a smith (god?) at work

View of the site at Corbridge, with the museum building in the background

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

I’m just sitting here now all warm and fuzzy at the thought of the satisfying plinking sound of picking up a capsule

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Ohhhh my goodness I played this obsessively.

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Dr Claire Millington ✍🏻🏺 @clairemillington.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Days when the headlines actually don't over-sell the findings. Both the excavated hoard-with-carnyx and this whetstone industry give us so much more information about local histories.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

I’m glad to be a contributor to this, and it is indeed a lovely book!

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Agreed that even if recruitment panic is the driver, the messaging instantly becomes “state school students not welcome”, and nothing is ever worth that price

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

State schools will offer languages but usually limited in choice and the move from 4 to 3 A levels I imagine has affected recruitment immensely, same as it has done for classics A levels. Language recruitment plummeted over the last years at Lancaster, and the degrees have just been cut 😢😓

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

(To be clear - I’m NOT blaming students for not picking languages or classics to study at degree level! And I REALLY hope - probably in vain - there is WP messaging going out from all colleges about those subjects. But I just wish all kids had the option to fall in love with these things at school)

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Obviously the optics are terrible. And unis should ABSOLUTELY give students ways to study subjects they couldn’t at school (as cam classics does!!) But that alone doesn’t solve declining student interest as a result of lack of exposure at school. If that’s the driver, the problems are downstream.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

The subjects are telling. These are subjects which are not catered to in most schools, and which are under existential threat at many unis as a result. I would hope that Cambridge was (relatively) immune from recruitment issues, but I think that must be at least part of what’s happening here.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

It was really exciting to visit this site and advise on the material - it’s just LITTERED with Roman whetstones at all stages of production. So many questions remain about who was making them (and who for!) But over 800 whetstones (so far…) is a scale like nothing we’ve seen before…

My hand holding two conjoined, partially finished whetstones. In the background is a muddy river foreshore.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

The project and discovery of the whetstones has been led by Gary Bankhead and the Vedra Hylton Community Association, with support from @arcdurham.bsky.social staff and students. We’re looking forward to seeing where they taking things next! @durham.ac.uk

Hand holding two conjoined partially-finished Roman whetstones. The stones look a bit like a “KitKat”, with clear chisel grooves on both. In the background is a muddy river foreshore.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

I know we’ve all got our eyes on that carnyx 👀, but meanwhile in Sunderland we’ve got OVER 800(!) Roman whetstones and seemingly the largest whetstone production site ever found 🤯 We’ve been cautious for months about the date, but the OSL is now in, and yes, it’s Roman 🤩

thenorthernecho.co.uk

Roman industrial site unearthed on North East riverbank rewrites region's history

Compelling evidence of a Roman industrial hub uncovered on the banks of a North East river has rewritten archaeologists' understanding of the…

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Yes, especially the one on the right! Delightfully fierce in a “I’m trying to impress” kind of way 😂🥰

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

The villa owner clearly appreciated a view - stunning panorama of the Alps, none of which are visible from nearby Avenches (Roman Aventicum) 😂🤩🏔️

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Delightfully unexpected treat of a visit to the site museum at Vallon (Switzerland) yesterday and its stunning mosaic of Bacchus and Ariadne 🤩 I’ve driven by on the motorway dozens of times and had no idea it existed 🤦🏻‍♀️ #MosaicMonday

Close up of central panel of Bacchus and Ariadne, surrounded by six hexagonal panels of female portraits and theatre masks

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Dept of Classics & Archaeology, Nottingham @uonclassarch.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Don’t miss Prof Alex Mullen’s free webinar on November 26th at 7pm! She’ll be presenting the Joan Pye lecture on ‘Tales from the Tablets: recovering the voices of Roman Britain’. #archaeology #classics #roman 🏺 Book your tickets here: tinyurl.com/Romanvoices

Poster for a free webinar - the Joan Pye annual lecture to be presented by Alex Mullen. November 26th, 7pm. Hosted by Cotswold archaeology and the Roman Research Trust. The image is of lots of people in togas in a market place.

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Yale Classics Library @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

New issue of Religion in the Roman Empire Vol. 11, No.2 (2025) www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/issue/rel... @mohrsiebeck.bsky.social The Epigraphy of Roman Religion: Problems and Solutions @ericorlin.bsky.social @elericousins.bsky.social

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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Oooh. Reading this RIGHT NOW

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Thank you for your patience and support with its long gestation! 😂 I’m super excited to read the other articles as well 🤩

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

4/ But it also says a lot of things I’ve been thinking about for a long time about how we handle local gods in the Roman world, what we can - and can’t - do with Roman altars and with gods we only know through epigraphy, as well as the (*whispers*) Celtic problem in Roman provincial archaeology 😬…

Altar to Cocidius dedicated by Paternius Maternus, tribune of the Coh. I Nervana. RIB 966, from Netherby or Bewcastle, now on display at The Auckland Project’s Faith Museum

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

3/ It represents a few years of my thinking about this guy, the god Cocidius from Hadrian’s Wall, and how religion and military power could intersect on the edges of empire. (Spoiler alert: I’m not sure he’s a very nice god 😂)

Close-up of plaque to Cocidius, showing the god standing in a columned niche, holding a spear and shield

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

2/ It’s frankly the first thing since my book that I feel really shows how I’d like us to think about and work with religion in the Roman west - and what I like to write when I’m given the time and headspace to do so.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Publication day! “What’s in a name? Cocidius and the Epigraphy of Local Deities in the Roman Empire” now out in Religion in the Roman Empire special issue edited by @ericorlin.bsky.social doi.org/10.1628/rre-... 🥰 This is my first really meaty article to drop post-pandemic and motherhood…🧵🏺

Side on view of the two silver plaques to Cocidius from Bewcastle Roman fort

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

This story from @clairemillington.bsky.social about her great grandad and the discovery of the Rudston Venus Mosaic has me completing flipping out…😱🤯🤩 #MosaicMonday

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Hadrian’s Wall and the Whin Sill viewed from Steel Rigg. With some lucky resident cows who I hope enjoy the view 🐄 📷 my own, taken today

View of the Whin Sill with Crag Lough in the distance. In the foreground, black cows are lying in a field. Much of the sky is blue but with big clouds floating around and a definite feel of possible rain.

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Dr Eleri Cousins @elericousins.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Thank you!! 😍😍😍 That is wonderful to hear - I’ll pass it on to the students too 🥰

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Forest Archaic Collective @forestcollectiv.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Having a nephew to occupy last week gave me just the excuse i needed to revisit @romanpalace.bsky.social Now in some ways they need no introduction, they're kinda living legends round these parts but sometimes its nice to have other people say nice things about you so: thread time 🧵👇 #MosaicMonday

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