iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Workshop marking the book launch of "Coastal Archaeology in Small Islands. Prehistoric Lifeways, Research Perceptions, Biases, Methods and Approaches" by Leiden archaeologist Maaike de Waal, 28th October 2026. To register, follow the link: www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20... #wedoislands

Cover of the edited volume by Maaike de Waal on Coastal Archaeology in Small Islands showing a small island on the horizon surrounded by blue sea and sky

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Full solidarity with the former editors of the European Journal of Archaeology! “Lack of transparency and lack of listening have driven people away” Listen to the interview here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFGJ...

m.youtube.com

Editors Resign in Protest over "Gaza Genocide" Row at European Association of Archaeologists

YouTube video by Archaeosoup

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

hahaha, I was about to write to Stringy! ;-)

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

wow, you got quite an upgrade there!

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Well, it could be based on material and vanishing size 😅

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Looking forward to meeting you there!

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I find the proliferation of AI-generated images in academia really worrying and don't get me started on the monotonous drone of AI-generated posts! This is what artistic talent applied to science communication actually looks like: www.instagram.com/jmalumbresol...

This image, by professional illustrator Jagoba Malumbres-Olarte, shows a cartoon with two island talking to each other. The shape of the islands resembles two dinosaurs facing each other. The one of the left looks old and eroded and sparsely vegetated, and says, referring to humans on a boat: "Yeah, they've been around for a while. Yours?". The one on the rights is still green and lush and pristine-looking. She says "Nah, barely a couple of hundred years". The point of the cartoon is to show the impact humans have on island ecosystems.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

SICRI's latest Island Conversation podcast with Antonino Salvador de Veyra, Director of the Leyte Samar Heritage Centre, University of the Philippines, hosting the International Small Island Cultures Conference in June! On ecopoetry, diaspora, and Typhoon Haiyan. www.sicri.net/copy-of-isla...

The graphic celebrates SICRI's 30 podcast milestone, highlighting its role bridging academia and practice, and emerging themes such as indigenous rights and feminist perspectives

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Iranian musician Hamidreza Afrideh plays at the ruins of his old music school. «I want the last sound from the school not to be that of missiles and war. The last sound should be music». www.youtube.com/shorts/D0A7K...

youtube.com

Hamidreza Afrideh, a composer and kamancheh player, sits on the ruins of his music school

YouTube video by The Cover Story

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

The Archaeology Institute at Humboldt University is facing closure. It follows the decision to discontinue the Restoration/Excavation course at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft. Archaeology remains at the FU Berlin, but for how long? Please sign and share! weact.campact.de/petitions/sc...

weact.campact.de

Schließung des Instituts für Archäologie an der HU-Berlin

Die Archäologie gehört seit fast 200 Jahren zur wissenschaftlichen Tradition der Humboldt-Universität. Ihre Schließung bedeutet den Abbruch einer gewachsenen Forschungstradition und eine dauerhafte Sc...

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Reposted by Dr Helen Dawson

Simon Bralee @simonbralee.com · 12/02/2026

To celebrate its bicentenary, UCL have published 200 short profiles of current and past figures, including some I wrote like this one on Frank Salkilld, the popular beadle who had a lucrative side hustle selling unsold items like oversized woollen socks from student bazaars #history #UCL200

ucl.ac.uk

The beadles of UCL: Frank Salkilld, protecting staff and students to the end

Frank was a well-known figure at UCL – students and staff in need would always cry “See Frank” and he would be there.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Reminded me of the classic Bambi scene! www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSh1...

youtube.com

Bambi on the ice

YouTube video by diomema

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Reposted by Dr Helen Dawson

Umberto Albarella STOP THE GENOCIDE! @umbertoalbarella.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

The European Association of Archaeologists Executive has worked hard to bury this result inside a long document. But we're going to make this triumph of compassion, common sense & demand for transparency known to all. Help us by sharing. @archagainstaparth.bsky.social @blacktrowel.bsky.social

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Reposted by Dr Helen Dawson

Sirio Canós-Donnay @siriocd.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Apparently the ExecBoard has chosen to not implement them and instead delegate on an unspecified 'taskforce' with no timeline. We need action now if we're to rescue the EAA from the authoritarian clique that has hijacked the Board and bullied anyone who attempted to dissent.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

The fact they buried the results in the minutes rather than announcing them openly and clearly says it all really

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

67% of EAA members voted for motion A, yet the ExBoard is proposing to "Re-examine the practice of institutional suspensions, particularly the cases of Israel, Russia and Belarus, and define the respective EAA policy". Why? If they don't intend to respect the vote, they should go!

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

"Re-examine the practice of institutional suspensions, particularly the cases of Israel, Russia and Belarus, and define the respective EAA policy" means they would rather revoke the boycott against Russia and Belarus than implement the one against Israeli institutions, despite 67% votes in favour.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

3rd International Congress "Under the Mediterranean", Palermo & Marsala, 21- 26 September 2026 underthemediterranean3.org

underthemediterranean3.org

Home - Under the Mediterranean III

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Sorry for the bad news, but thanks for sharing it: social media is usually full of success stories, so it helps to be reminded that we all have setbacks too.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Even if the vote is anonymous, if the motions pass, being a member of the EAA will have consequences if you work in Germany. That was their message. I could not believe what I was hearing.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I hope you are OK. Allowing someone who violated the safe space policy so egregiously to speak again was appalling. Unsurprisingly, they continued with threats, saying that if the motions were approved, archaeologists in Germany who chose to be EAA members would be branded as antisemitic.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Big thanks to Peter Hargreaves for reporting on the Islands and Island Studies conference in the Jersey Evening Post! #wedoislands

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

aDNA study of the "Phoenicians" is a "striking example of culture spreading without mass migration to reinforce it". www.science.org/.../most-pho.... aDNA study of the "Vikings" reveals it was a way of life rather than an ethnicity (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) Why is this even surprising?

science.org

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Yay indeed! Your first book was key for my PhD research on the archaeology of island colonisation and abandonment!

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

exactly my thoughts, archaeologists should not just dig and then leave, without thinking of the consequences

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

It sounds like a great example of valorising local traditional knowledge, is there a paper?

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Great example... I am getting hungry!

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

"scarpetta" in Italian, is there a Maltese word for the mopping up?

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Thanks! How do you envisage that inclusion in practical terms? I think it could also mean considering the effects of research on local communities (e.g. will uncovering an archaeological site impact tourism and is that good/bad for the locals?) and developing research questions together.

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

I'd like to put together a set of priorities or a "decolonisation manifesto" for researchers focusing on the study of islands as a means to ensure accountability. Please help me by posting your suggestions, including any relevant examples or practical tips. What should be in it? #wedoislands

The Hoa Hakananai’a statue from Easter Island, displayed in the British Museum in London. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA (source: The Guardian)

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Dr Helen Dawson @helendawson.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Thought-provoking paper on the life cycles of Neolithic grinding stones - what I don’t get is the association with women in particular, given that only one was found in a female burial. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...