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Hannah Wickes

@hannahwickes.bsky.social
333 followers 644 following 76 posts

Studying History & Archaeology of the Highlands & Islands at UHI. Non-Exec Director for Fair Tax Foundation, UK Community Foundations and Impress: the media regulator. Advisor @ Creatives for Climate. She/Her.

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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Also here's the stone that reputedly weeps when the heir dies (there's a castle curse). And these are Napoleon's duelling pistols which are on display in the library!?
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Some of the weirdest but best bits of the castle...
The green lady's room, the castle's most famous reputed ghostStuffes polar bear and baby sealBeautiful pomegranate tiles from the fireplaceHorned helmet with chainmail
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A beautiful long weekend of excavating with @nts-archaeology.bsky.social at Fyvie Castle.
Exterior of Fyvie Castle with towers and turrets. Two people dig a long excavation pit and one metal detects in the background. A small test pit trench with a pile 9f stones next to itFyvie Castle behind a tree and some bushes.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Separate side trip, but there was some discussion about their potential alignment with later parish boundaries. We also went to Burghead which shows signs of deliberate destruction and burning.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
There were also some fascinating posters shared of recent or ongoing research work. These finds from a Polish excavation of deposited weapons and armour were absolutely beautiful.
Poster showing deliberately destroyed decorated belts, spear heads and a tiny silver bird all excavated from a drained lake.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Very much enjoyed this article! It was a fascinating read.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
That's a wrap from this year's Sachsensymposion which focused on conflict and defence in late Roman / Early Med Europe. Lots of things learnt, new connections made and Pictish stones visited - thank you @scarf-scot.bsky.social for the bursary to attend and for hosting @uoa-archaeology.bsky.social.
Sueno's stone standing in a glass case surrounded my members of the SachsensymposionDr Andy Seaman sharing about his latest project in Wales. King's College Aberdeen in the Sunshine 3 Pictish stones with carvings, one with a horse on it!
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Learning all about the Bayeux Tapestry with British Museum curator Sue Brunning at this year's Sachsensymposion. 🏹
Curator Sue Brüning stands behind a lectern, behind her is a screen showing a closeup of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Haeild and the arrow through his eye.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
It's the detail I can't get over, the nipples on the chest one and the toenails.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Love a podcast? @northernpicts.bsky.social is on a recent episode of the excellent @empirepoduk.bsky.social talking about the Picts. youtu.be/fA4pwmY6Bqs?... And there's a talk tonight at 7.30pm in Burghead's village hall deep diving into the excavation at Burghead.
Cathy MacIver and Prof Gordon Noble thinking through the next stage.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Feeling very lucky to excavate at the promontory Pictish fort at Burghead with @uoa-archaeology.bsky.social this week. Lots of test pit digging in a local's garden to see if there were Pictish buildings. And some small finds. #smallfindsfriday
My first test pit, with stone rubble appearing on one side. Half a stone tool found in the metal working area (the other half appeared 5 mins later). A slice of slate, sometimes they have Pictish designs on them. Sadly this did not.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
At Burghead and I'm really starting to see why the Picts built a promontory fort here. It is BEAUTIFUL. You can see across the whole Moray Firth on a clear day. So yes I would also build my 4-9th century domain here.
Rocky beach with sun poking through a cloudy sky
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Ousdale Broch in Caithness. It is surrounded by trees and can only be reached by a rickety wooden bridge. Officially fae territory I think.
Two layers of stone wall making up the broch with a small dark opening leading to a chamber beyond. Intricate stonework of the broch wall. Trees surrounding the broch, with a stone wall and gate beyond. The wooden plank bridge leading to the broch.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
What a cutie. Also love the casual ax in the background 🪓
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Amazing! I would love to be there at sunset and wild camping nearby would be magic. They picked such an amazing spot.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Is it just me or are there some bugs bunny vibes here?
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
May I recommend the Carn Liath Broch for all your roadside picnic needs? Also this broch has outbuildings, which was a whole new idea for me. Every other broch I've seen stands in grand isolation.
View out to sea from the broch wall, also visible in the picture, two feet and a Tupperware container holding a couscous salad. Outbuildings of the broch.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The Unstan Burial Cairn. It's quite small and sits behind a very normal looking house off the main road to Stromness. The owner was mowing the lawn as we wandered in. One would never suspect this tomb gave its name to unstan pottery. #TombTuesday
The tiny narrow doorway into the burial cairn19th century graffiti on the internal orthostat
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
And the reconstruction confirms my cosy hypothesis
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The beauty that is Skara Brae. These Neolithic houses seem quite cosy?
Stone built Neolithic house with it's furniture intact, including a dresser and two box bedsView of the sunken Neolithic workshop at Skara BraeView of the two oldest houses at Skara Brain,  one is shaped more like a clover with the rooms bulging out.
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Reposted by Hannah Wickes
Mike Pitts @pittsmike.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
My tribute to Olga Soffer “Olga Soffer, who has died aged 83, brought a revolutionary idea into the conversation about prehistoric ice age people: women mattered.” www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Olga Soffer obituary
Professor of anthropology whose approach to archaeology centred on crafts executed by women 40,000 years ago
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Stromness 💛
Tiny stone house with yellow doors and windowsNarrow path with gate between two stone housesView over the bay at Spurness with cannon in the foreground
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The heather is out at the Ring of Brodgar #StandingStoneSunday
Purple heather surrounding the ring of Brodgar on Orkney
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Reposted by Hannah Wickes
UHI Archaeology Institute @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The Spurness excavation in Sanday draws to a close but we're looking forward to getting back next year.
archaeologyorkney.com
Dig diary – looking forward to the 2027 season at Spurness
The Spurness excavation in Sanday draws to a close but we're looking forward to getting back next year.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Shared a house with this lovely crew. We made it through Orkney's changeable weather intact 🙏 💗
4 people standing in front of a dig site.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
That's a wrap for this year at Spurness on Sanday. Neolithic hall uncovered with a Bronze age house cut into it. Thank you for having me @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social, lots of learning from the wisdom of Jane Downes and Colin Richards.
Interior of a Neolithic house with views of the sea behind.
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Reposted by Hannah Wickes
UHI Archaeology Institute @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Photographs of the stone artefact recovered from the wall of the Spurness Early Neolithic building.
archaeologyorkney.com
Dig diary – an enigmatic stone artefact
Photographs of the stone artefact recovered from the wall of the Spurness Early Neolithic building.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
One of the best bits about digging in Orkney is the hamebakes. These are from Heather who visited the sight for a tour.
Marble cake and oat slice
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Work continues on the #BronzeAge house at Spurness. It's cut into an imposing Neolithic house, which is the wall you can see near the scale bar. Lots of flint, a Skaill knife and hammerstone in my quadrant, plus some burnt bone.
Flooring of the bronze age houseQuadrants of an archaeological dig with a Neolithic wall in the background with a scale barA Skaill knifeA stone tool with a flaked off corner
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Reposted by Hannah Wickes
North Ages @northages.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Éowyn’s iconic ‘I am no man’ scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King instead with the caption ‘I am no stout man.’
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Also how beautiful is the nearby beach, what a spot to lay your ancestors.
Bay with a beach of white sand and blue seas.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The incredible stonework of Quoyness, a Chambered burial Cairn on the island of Sanday. It has one tall interior chamber and six little ones that come off it. And yes, you have to crawl to enter the tomb. #TombTuesday
Entrance passageway to a burial cairnInterior chamber of the burial CairnTiny chambers coming off the main interior.
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Reposted by Hannah Wickes
UHI Archaeology Institute @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
More divisional orthostats suggests Sanday Early Neolithic building was more monumental than first believed.
archaeologyorkney.com
Dig diary – Monumental Neolithic discovery at Spurness
More divisional orthostats suggests Early Neolithic building was more monumental than first believed.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Look at this tiny one.
Flint in a plastic bag with its label marker.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
My corner today has given up a Skaill knife, a stone tool, some pumice and flints.
The inside of a bronze age house divided into quadrants A stone tool with flakes off it. A Skaill knife.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Week 2 on the Spurness excavation with @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social on the island of Sanday. We're working on a Neolithic house that had bronze age houses cut into it.
Rocks outlining a Neolithic house with 6 people in the background.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I'll be working here on Saturday! Finds washing and sorting today as the weather was beyond Orkney level bad. But hopefully the sun returns by our open day.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Nicola is my tutor at @uhihistory.bsky.social, this would be an amazing PhD to do!
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
And just finished up some volunteer days on an excellent community dig run by AOC. It was at Sprouston, so many different things going on for one site. But I was on what is hopefully a Neolithic ditch 🤞
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Update have gone on a deep dive and this is the photogrammetry interpretation @uoa-archaeology.bsky.social did at Eildon North! Look at that density. Also the Roman signal tower was apparently contemporary with some of the local roundhouses.
Interpretative image of Eildon North's roundhouse density. 100s of roundhouses fill an enclosure ranging in size from 4-12m.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
A visit to the now empty field of Trimontium, where one of the largest Roman forts in Scotland was built. Fascinating to see how the site was loomed over by Eildon Hill North, a local hillfort. The farm track up was also very, very straight
A rough grassy track leading to Trimontium Site of Trimontium Roman Fort, open field with a row of trees at the far edge. Eildon North hillfort, a large flat topped hill
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
We've been working on a likely medieval chapel site all week with @historicdunkeld.bsky.social and today was flagstone lifting day. And charcoal has been found! 🙏
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I just love this. Essentially they're stratigraphy socks.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
You can see how hot it was in this photo, the soil has oxidised with the heat.
Picture of orange earth with a brush in a trench.
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Test pit adventures really escalated in Dunkeld! We found the edge of a rampart that burnt so hot the stone looks like it started to vitrify. The little colourful markers you can see mark the charred wood beams.
Colourful markers indicating beams of charred woodScanning and recording the trench
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Reposted by Hannah Wickes
NPicts @northernpicts.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Day 3 #KingsSeat2026: A huge day! The rampart was far more complex than expected, with multiple charred timbers, intense burning and vitrified stone showing extremely high temperatures during its destruction. Dating samples taken, and finally evidence of occupation inside! 🔥🏺⛏️
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
That's me with my charred rampart remains and muddy knees looking delighted 😌
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Look at these ladies in their regency best
3 women in regency dress at Chatsworth
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Unplanned visit to Chatsworth after I realised it was the Jane Austen weekend...
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Hannah Wickes @hannahwickes.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
And that's a wrap with the dig at Fonmon Castle with Cardiff University. Here's muddy me with the soil sample bags. Very very pleased I got to join this team it's been a lot of fun ❤️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
Womanin waterproof clothes sitting on the edge of a trailer with lots of blue bags in it.
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