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Lesley McFadyen

@lesleymcf.bsky.social
1.1K followers 463 following 202 posts

archaeology, art, heritage ecologies, drumadoon, ardeer

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Reposted by Lesley McFadyen
Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Sadly no longer posting here, but this from from the inspirational @mmcfadyen.bsky.social (h/t: @sarahmay1.bsky.social LinkedIn) weaves together key themes & topics that have occupied much of my thinking in recent years. If you read nothing else this week: mairimcfadyen.substack.com/p/cultural-d...
mairimcfadyen.substack.com
Cultural Darning: Rewilding with People and Place
A talk given at ‘The Big Picture Conference,’ Scotland’s Rewilding Event, which took place in Perth Concert Hall on Saturday 19th September 2026
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Firth of Clyde, view from the other side for @richardmortimer.bsky.social
Sun through grey sky on a grey sea, with porpoise.
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Mark Knight 🍉 @markknight63.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Bamboo spatulas or digging sticks - ideal for digging later Bronze Age pile alignments and beautiful objects to boot! tasuki-japan.com
Archaeological tools: pile of machine finished bamboo spatulas with pointed and bevelled ends
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Ardeer Nature - There are still some tickets left, come join us at the Scottish Maritime Museum this Sunday, guided walk and eco-poetry with photographer @alexanderboyd.bsky.social and poet Gerry Cambridge. Get tickets here 👇 #Ardeer #Irvine #CommunityHeritage www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2000318947...
eventbrite.co.uk
Ardeer Nature Creative Workshop
Take photos of nature on a guided walk overlooking Ardeer with photographer Alex Boyd and poet Gerry Cambridge. Site-writing and eco-poetry.
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Memories of Ardeer - There are still some tickets left, come join us at the Scottish Maritime Museum this Saturday, morning drop-in or afternoon ticketed Brew&Blether with me and @linda83ross.bsky.social! #Ardeer #Ivine #CommunityHeritage www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2000317866...
eventbrite.co.uk
Memories of Ardeer
Brew & Blether - A space to reminisce about family members and friends who worked at the Ardeer.
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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Anyone fancy a job helping deliver for nature and climate in one of the most extraordinary historic landscapes in the NE of England? One of those once in a decade opportunities just came up at @NationalTrust Wallington/Heart of Northumberland estate www.simplyhired.co.uk/job/d9vU9N7C...
simplyhired.co.uk
General Manager - National Trust | Morpeth
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Jen Baird @jenbaird.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
We're hiring a (full-time, permanent) colleague to join us as Lecturer in Archaeology and Heritage in @bbkhistorical.bsky.social and the Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSY235/l...
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Archaeology and Heritage at Birkbeck, University of London
Apply for the Lecturer in Archaeology and Heritage role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.
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Jen Baird @jenbaird.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Our Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies Seminar this year is "Activating/Excavating Archives", and we're thrilled that @clmorgan.bsky.social will be kicking it off with Archives as Playworlds: The Avebury Papers and Digital Creativity All welcome! Abstract and sign-up linked below!
Archival illustration of people positioning a megalith
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
*26th and 27th September* Come and share photographs and memories of Ardeer, drop-in and brew & blether, joined by historian @linda83ross.bsky.social! Or go on our guided walk and eco-poetry session on nature at Ardeer with photographer @alexanderboyd.bsky.social and poet Gerry Cambridge!
Poster showing photographs of women hand mixing dynamite and the workers' canteen in the sunshine before the building was pulled down.Poster showing ruined factory brick building in the snow amongst important dune scrub habitats.Poster showing photographs of women hand mixing dynamite and the workers' canteen in the sunshine before the building was pulled down.
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Two days of insightful and thought provoking work at the Sustainable Archaeological Futures Symposium and Workshop - @archscot.bsky.social and the Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies.
Opening presentation slide on Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies’ practice at Newbattle Abbey College.Practitioners and partners working on sustainable and community-focussed archaeology, together around a table workshopping on movement and action.
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Cambridge Archaeological Unit @cambridgearch.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Lots of trees popped up in the wood peat deposits at Must Farm. It’s always satisfying uncovering them ready for recording and sampling.
Three archaeologists stand next to an exposed preserved trees with their shovels next to them.
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Mark Knight 🍉 @markknight63.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The joy of digging at Must Farm is that it is less about orthodox archaeological features (pits, ditches, postholes) & more about old land surfaces, animal tracks, submerged forests, preserved fence lines. Past deposits are intact, articulated, & the distinction between natural & cultural is blurred
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Link here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/9454846861...
eventbrite.co.uk
Archaeology Scotland
Archaeology Scotland is the lead body for archaeology in Scotland, working for over 80 years to widen participation and make archaeology accessible to everyone. We support learning, wellbeing and empl...
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Join @archscot.bsky.social and the Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies for the Sustainable Archaeological Futures Symposium, 10th and 11th September. Get your in person and online tickets for Day 1 here: lnkd.in/eRSCXhCa
Blue poster signposting the upcoming Sustainable Archaeological Futures Symposium from Archaeology Scotland and CISA.
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UHI Archaeology Institute @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the  North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
archaeologyorkney.com
Two Orkney-led PhDs available as part of North Sea Heritage project
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the  North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
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Floor Huisman @fjhuisman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
1/3 My book ‘Wild wetlands and domestic drylands’ was published with @barpublishing.bsky.social last month! The book explores the relations between wetland and dryland communities in and around the later prehistoric East Anglian Fens. See final post for a link to Chapter 1!
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Material Time. Listen!
bbc.co.uk
Illuminated - James Hutton and The Restless Earth - BBC Sounds
Plunge into the abyss of deep geological time with Karine Polwart.
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Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 05/08/2026
Workers at the archaeological site of Dura-Europos, Syria, during 1920s-30s Yale-French Academy excavations. They were vital to the project, but were never named and local voices are largely absent from publications on the site. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... #WaybackWednesday 🏺 #Archaeology
Black-and-white photograph of several people in headscarves, some holding shovels, excavating next to a stone wall.
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Gair Dunlop @gair.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
It's a Sign! come on in, you'll get a strange book if you pledge £25 , lots more on offer! www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/its-a-sign...
crowdfunder.co.uk
It's a Sign!
I will make an exhibition and publication about the found, defaced, debased, hilarious and incomprehensible floods of signage in our lives.
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Urban prehistory @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social!
Horse box converted into coffee place in the car park of the Machrie Moor standing stones.
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Jen Baird @jenbaird.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I’m very proud our amazing undergrad students have rated us so highly on the NSS: ranked first for archaeology teaching in the country. @lesleymcf.bsky.social’s leadership of our BAs combines incredible archaeology with real care for students, and it shows!
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
What's in a national survey? The brilliance of Birkbeck's BA Archaeology and BA Ancient History & Archaeology students, the incredible archaeologists (@jenbaird.bsky.social, Esther Breithoff, Tim Reynolds) and partners (MOLA Archaeology) that teach them, and the archaeology itself!
An image in purple - the colour of the Birkbeck owl and its banner - stating that archaeology at Birkbeck had been ranked 1st for teaching in England.
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Mark Knight 🍉 @markknight63.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Chip-Friday! #Archaeology #FenEdge
Tray of chips, a blob of ketchup and a can of lemon Fanta
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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This has been a bit of time coming but so glad its now out in time for #FestivalofArchaeology. A call to #Archaeologists to help tackle the nature crisis. Share your examples of how archaeology has helped nature restoration? @nattrustarch.bsky.social www.nationaltrust.org.uk/services/med...
nationaltrust.org.uk
Press Release | Media
The National Trust, Oxford Archaeology and Knepp Castle Estate have launched the ‘Knepp Accord’, a new framework to tackle the nature and climate crisis.
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Jen Baird @jenbaird.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
What is the long-term legacy of foreign excavations in places like Dura-Europos in Syria? Out today and open access in @antiquity.ac.uk with my colleague Adnan Almohamad: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Looted communities: the local contexts of illicit excavations at Dura-Europos in Syria | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
Looted communities: the local contexts of illicit excavations at Dura-Europos in Syria
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Mark Knight 🍉 @markknight63.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
When people lived on the wetlands - the Late Bronze Age pile dwellers of Fenland #Fenland #Archaeology #Prehistory #MustFarm
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
‘This house is a thing both ancient and disjointed, an entity of addition and subtraction, a palimpsest of stone and wood and caulk and mud. Its existence here, on the peninsula, is proof that everything was once something else: nothing goes away.’ Maggie O’Farrell
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Eleanor Ghey @eleanorghey.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
What can hoards reveal about life in post-Roman Britain? A @ukri.org AHRC funded project exploring the last Roman hoards deposited in Britain is reshaping what we know about 5th century society. Discover the research and learn more about hoards in museums across the UK here blogs.kent.ac.uk/hoards
Silver coins on a pink background 
Image copyright The Trustees of the British Museum
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Dr Claire Harris @drclaireharris.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I'm exploring how @coastsinmind.bsky.social can help address the gap between formal evidence systems and the lived realities of those most affected by coastal change. Supported by Coast-R Network. #CoastsInMind #ArchiveToAction #CoastR www.ukcoastalresilience.org/project/arch..
ukcoastalresilience.org
Archive to Action: Connecting Coastal Community Insights to Policy - Coast R Network
Archive to Action explores how coastal community archives can help policymakers use local knowledge in more inclusive, resilient coastal planning.
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The Prehistoric Society @prehistoricsociety.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
We are delighted to announce Prehistoric Society award & prize winners for 2026/7. 🎉 The Europa 2027 honouree is Prof. Mel Giles, Univ. of Manchester. I am sure Mel needs no introduction as a well known & respected researcher of the Iron Age. Congratulations Mel! #Archaeology 🏺 #Prehistory 1/6
The Prehistoric Society

Awards & Prizes 2026/2027

The Europa Prize 2027:

Prof. Melanie Giles

The Sara Champion memorial lecture:

Dr Matthew Hitchcock

The President's Awards:

Dr James Dilley & Mr Dave Webb

The Peter Clark Award:

Dr Jacky Nowakowski

Baguley Award, P.P.S. Volume 90 (2024):

Prof. Chantal Conneller & Prof. Seren Griffiths

Baguley Award, P.P.S. Volume 91 (2025):

Prof. Clive Gamble
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David Petts @davidpetts1.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
For historians who are endlessly organising workshops on the "material turn" - please remember that archaeology is an entire discipline predicated on material culture and we might just have something to contribute #disciplinarymyopia
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Mark Knight 🍉 @markknight63.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Proper archaeology! An absolute joy this evening watching @nie-theatre.bsky.social perform 'Once Upon a Time in Fenland' nie-theatre.com/productions/...
nie-theatre.com
Once Upon A Time in Fenland – New International Encounter
These fantastical, funny and thought-provoking tales will transport you back in time
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Joana Valdez-Tullett @joanavaldez.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Recently, I have been thinking about the vulnerability of rock art and the risks that impact this very specific and quite ubiquitous type of heritage. I was kindly invited by @archscot.bsky.social to deliver a talk on this subject for their 'European Archaeology Day talks'. See you there?
eventbrite.co.uk
European Archaeology Days 2026: Rock Art at Risk: What Future?
Join Archaeology Scotland in celebrating European Archaeology Days 2026 with this talk about the very real risks to Prehistoric Rock Art.
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Stromness was like a velodrome back in the day. This photograph of cyclists in Dundas Street was taken more than a hundred years ago by #Orkney photographer Tom Kent. It hasn't really changed much. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️
A colourised Tom Kent photograph of Dundas Street in Stromness taken around 1900. Several people are cycling on the street.
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 03/06/2026
Neil Munro (1863–1930) – journalist, novelist, short-story writer, & poet – was born #OTD, 3 June. Rigby’s Encyclopædia of Herring discusses Munro’s PARA HANDY stories (& their TV adaptations), as well as giving the full text of the tale “The Herring – A Gossip” 💙📚 1/5 www.herripedia.com/para-handy/
herripedia.com
PARA HANDY - Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring
Including the full text of Neil Munro's Para Handy story, The Herring - A Gossip
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Jen Baird @jenbaird.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Lovely to see "Pathways to Inclusive Digital Archaeological Archives" available now via firstview in Advances in Archaeological Practice (open access). www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Pathways to Inclusive Digital Archaeological Archives | Advances in Archaeological Practice | Cambridge Core
Pathways to Inclusive Digital Archaeological Archives
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
‘..what mattered at the beginning of life and the world also what matters at the end, and you, real wherever you are, real in your body, however it is, all of it happening this moment, life.’ Sarah Moss, Ripeness.
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 24/05/2026
Agnes Owens: Out of the Margins Agnes Owens (1926–2014) was born 100 years ago #OTD, 24 May. This short film presents Owens as a writer shaped by working-class life, whose fiction exposed power, resisted sentimentality, & centred overlooked voices. A 🎂🧵 💙📚 1/7 www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYR...
youtube.com
Agnes Owens: Out of the Margins
YouTube video by Alasdair Gray Archive
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Dr Beccy Scott @beccyscottuk.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
It's striking reading this how many of these soft rock locations of intense coastal erosion are also significant parts of offshore submerged landscapes; Holderness as part of Greater Doggerland, Happisburgh and pre-Anglian rivers merging with the Yarmouth Roads share.google/NqNgbYMFwmcf...
share.google
‘There is no great master plan’: anxiety as UK homes, roads and railways sink into the sea
Increasing coastal erosion has hit communities’ livelihoods and put lifestyles under threat
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Thames21 @thames21.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
London Rivers Week kicks off today across the capital! 🌊🎉 Running until 31 May, the festival celebrates 10 years of helping Londoners “Know Your Local River”, from the mighty Thames to hidden neighbourhood waterways. Have fun all. :)
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Thames through Time, the most important lesson? Work as a team! Teamwork in archaeology, it’s important - Birkbeck/MOLA!!
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
One of the best things about teaching Thames through Time is at last connecting with your amazing colleague’s specialism. Mike Berlin, and his knowledge of London, what a pleasure to be with him on the foreshore today! The best of @bbkhistorical.bsky.social!!
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Acorington brick from marine engineering, split trenail from repurposing ship timbers. Birkbeck history and MOLA archaeology. And the canal after a great tour of MOLA offices and work. Thames through Time @bbkhistorical.bsky.social/MOLA.
Red engineering brick with the name Acorington stamped on it, on the gravels of the foreshore.Close up of split section of a timber, showing how it’s cut through a trenail, and that a ship’s timber had been repurposed.Claire Harris (MOLA) and Mike Berlin (Birkbeck) discussing ships timbers and the new features that they make.The graffiti of a red frog and an industrial chimney reflected in the canal water.
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Shelter, Fire, Poverty - from one side of the river to another. Thames through Time - is material and archival practice, Birkbeck:MOLA field school. With Dr Helen Chittock and @drclaireharris.bsky.social
Painted black S with arrow on brick wall.Historic photograph showing extensive fire damage to Payne’s Paper Wharf.(19th poverty map.Photograph from one side of the Thames looking over to the glass skyscrapers of the city on the other side.
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Kenny Brophy @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
My #UrbanPrehistory book, The Archaeology of Prehistory in the Contemporary World: Deep Time in Global Urban Spaces, is now available for pre-order in the UK, and I expect it to come out towards the end of 2026. I'm currently working on the proofs. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/archaeolo...
bloomsbury.com
The Archaeology of Prehistory in the Contemporary World
This book offers a timely roadmap for navigating the material and intangible legacies of prehistory with which we live today. Drawing on a series of global case…
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Time and memory, image and sound - the archaeology of Thames through Time with @drclaireharris.bsky.social and @laraband.bsky.social!
Purple tulips thrown into the river to commemorate a loved one that died on this day a year ago.A faded small wooden cross from Rembrance Day, pinned to a WW2 iron stretcher repurposed as fencing around a housing estate.White painted graffiti of a human like figure and Morag Herat on a brick wall.The black cord of the hydrophones dropped into the river to hear its life through sound.
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Dr Aisling Tierney @irishashyt.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Want to learn how to promote inclusive community engagement by using archaeology to build skills, confidence & connections? Jane Miller's talk - free - 7 July (7pm UK time) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archaeolog... #archaeology #publicengagement brought to you by @archsengage.bsky.social
eventbrite.co.uk
ArchaeologistsEngage in conversation with Jane Miller
Learn how Archaeology Scotland promotes inclusive community engagement by using archaeology to build skills, confidence and connections.
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Lesley McFadyen @lesleymcf.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
First day on the Birkbeck/MOLA field school Thames through Time. The strandline on the sands and gravels with brick, tile, animal bone, tobacco pipe, nuts and bolts. And fragments of built up surfaces caught behind wooden revetments (made from old ship parts). @bbkhistorical.bsky.social
Butchered bone from cattle are scattered amongst fragmented brick and tile on sand and gravel.Fragment of built up surface behind a wooden revetment and on top of sand and gravel.
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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Kicking off the @archaeologyuk.bsky.social Out and About Festival next week, I'll be hosting an online lecture on Wondering with Curiosity by our Excecutive Director Neil Redfern at 7pm, Monday 18 May. If you're curious, there's still time to book a free place: www.archaeologyuk.org/get-involved...
archaeologyuk.org
Wondering with Curiosity
Join Neil Redfern, Executive Director for the CBA, and explore how archaeology is super-powered curiosity.
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