iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Visiting Warham Camp yesterday, I couldn’t help but wonder if the great chalk ramparts ever witnessed the Norfolk carnyx being sounded. In a small way, they have again now. #PlaymobilInfestation #HillfortsWednesday

Playmobil Cacofonix the bard playing a carnyx on a grassy rampart.

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PortfolioCarmel @portfoliocarmel.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere. ~ Seamus Heaney recited by Paul Holdengraber #Quotomania: 🎙️ quotomania.simplecast.com/episodes/quo... Paul Klee | Pink Spring in Deep Winter Seamus Heaney in the Peat | by Bobbie Hanvey

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Ticia Verveer @ticiaverveer.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Two exceptionally beautifully carved Mithraic altars found in Inveresk, East Lothian, Scotland, are going on display for the 1st time. The Roman altars date to the 140s - when S-Scotland was reoccupied under Antoninus Pius 📷 National Museums Scotland & Duncan McGlynn media.nms.ac.uk/news/rare-ro...

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Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

A reminder to clean your teeth when #NationalToothacheDay falls on #MementoMoriMonday This enamel and gold toothpick is shaped like an arm holding a sickle, and topped by a skull with a toothy grin, c. 1630-1660. collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78546/... #TheVictorianBookoftheDead

Enamel arm set with a square ruby, holding a sickle. The arm is topped with a grinning gold skull.

Enamel arm set with a square ruby, holding a sickle. At the end of the arm is a grinning gold skull.

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Happy #SuperbOwlSunday! Here’s a lovely limestone plaque carved with the face of an owl!🦉😍 From Egypt, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period, 400–30 BC. Met Museum www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo shows a roughly square-shaped piece of limestone with a relief carving depicting a front facing owl on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This relief represents the ancient Egyptian owl hieroglyph ‘m’.

Limestone plaque dimensions H. 10.3 x W. 11.1 x D. 2.5 cm

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Peter Head @peterheadcbe.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Just love this heron ignoring but perfectly matching our decoy by the garden pond.

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 07/02/2026

There, there…

tweet: “as English speakers we have to sort out the 'had had' situation. it's frankly embarrassing to the language”

Merriam-Webster Quote Tweet: “But, it’s not wrong that that occurs.”

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Dr Toby Driver @drtobydriver.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

#TombTuesday 12 seconds of bright winter sun & a cold east wind across the ancient burial mound of Bryn Cader Faner in the Eryri/Snowdonia uplands Quite a place to have been buried or scattered 4500 years ago 😮 🎥 My own, Sunday

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Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

After the excitement of yesterday’s #CarnyxFrenzy let’s relax a little for #RomanFortThursday with this view of the Trimontium monument & gorgeous Eildon Hill. Manned during an intermittently bloody period of the conquest, the men stationed here would doubtless have heard carnyces sounded in anger.

Stone monument describing the history of the Roman fort of Trimontium, and a distant hill rising beyond.

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Jane Tomlinson - Artist 🌻⭐️ @janetomlinson.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

#History, #archaeology, #stonecircles & #standingstones your thing? You might just love my #painting of Ancient #Oxfordshire. A2 signed prints coming in mid-Feb - pre-order here: bit.ly/oxon-stones #handpainted #map #megalithic #ancientstonebothering #StandingStoneSunday #neolithic

A hand painted map of Ancient Oxfordshire showing history, archaeology, stone circles and standing stones by Jane Tomlinson

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Tuatha @tuatha.ie · 09/01/2026

Ralaghan Idol • Cavan This striking figure was hewn from yew around 3,000 years ago. It was found deep in a Cavan bog on what was once an ancient boundary. It is now on display in the Kingship and Sacrifice exhibition in the @nmireland.bsky.social #Ireland #SpéirGhorm #Archaeology 🏺

A roughly carved wooden idol with a human head and elongated body in a museum display case

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

During these challenging times, we could all benefit from a smile, so I would like to present the oldest smile in the world: the Mannetje van Willemstad (the little man from Willemstad, Netherlands). The Mesolithic figurine, dating about 5400 BC, was carved in oak wood. 🧵 1/2 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

A small wooden anthropomorphic figure with a stylized human face, deeply carved eyes, a pronounced nose, and a simple smiling mouth, displayed upright on a clear stand against a yellow background.

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Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 09/01/2026

Cover of Ronald Lampitt & James Deverson’s The Map That Came To Life, 1948 Read it here www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/l/la...

book cover a boy and girl walking along with their dog, a map is the backdrop

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summerghost @asummerghost.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

New Year's Eve Foxfires. Woodblock. 1857. © Utagawa Hiroshige

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Guggenheim Collection @guggenheim.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Lyric Explosion No. 14: Intoxicated Man by Alberto Magnelli, 1918 botfrens.com/collections/212/conten…

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Purchased with funds contributed by the Esther Simon Charitable Trust, 1983

© 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

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The English Oak Project @thekentacorn.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Five holly leaves from the same tree 🌳 If holly is allowed to grow into a tree it is highly likely to do the same Holly evolved to fight back against the large herbivores that used to roam the Earth. The higher the tree grows the smoother the leaves get Photo: Emmanuel Lattes

Five holly leave’s progressively less smooth

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Richard III Society of Canada @richardiiisocca.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

It's time! Behold the Christmas hedgehog! From Verdun, Bibl. mun., ms. 0107, f. 008. Our thanks as always to @etreharne.bsky.social who found her.

A small hedgehog has green and red circles on her spikes and a gold one. On the branch in front of and behind her are 2 more gold balls. The branch has a few green leaves. It all looks very festive although the balls on her spikes are probably grapes.

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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Yesterday I saw this incredible trompe l'oeil painted in 1771 by Jean-Étienne Liotard, a painter I love but whose work I too rarely encounter.

Four small artworks—two white reliefs of reclining figures and two portrait sketches of women—are pinned to a wooden board; but it is an illusion, as the whole work is a painting.

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Steve @portaspeciosa.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Possibly my favourite 'modern' chest tomb with an effigy. Lady Eleanor Methuen who died in 1958. She was an artist and the small stature at her feet is of her as a young painter. Corsham, Wiltshire.

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Gunnar Bergfalke @gbergfalke.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

The roof replacement for my #Lego set 4954 never ends. Doesn't even progress from year to year.

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Animal Aspects (Art History Animalia) @animal-aspects.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Now on view at Susquehanna Art Museum (Harrisburg, PA): Mary Curran: Mixed Mythologies “Curran's Mixed Mythology series explores cultural stories about animals from around the globe.” 1. Death of the Flower Woman, 2019 Acrylic on canvas (follow thread for more photos) #WomenArtists #ContemporaryArt

photo of the artwork on display at museum (large unframed canvas in portrait orientation)
portrait of a white barn owl flying away from an empty bed with white sheets and flowers strewn about, against black background

gallery sign:
“Mary Curran
Death of the Flower Woman, 2019
Acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the Artist
In Celtic folklore, Blodeuedd (also spelled Blodeuwedd) is often cast as a symbol of betrayal and infidelity. She was created from flowers by magicians to be the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes.
Longing for freedom, she fell in love with Gronw Pebr, and together they plotted to kill her husband.
In this work, Curran offers a
sympathetic view. Blodeuedd did not ask to be conjured from blossoms as a wife, nor to be neglected by an indifferent husband. With few choices, she sought love elsewhere. Upon this discovery, Blodeuedd was not killed, but cursed to live forever as an owl, a creature of solitude and night.”

exhibition sign:
“Mixed Mythologies
On view October 10, 2025 through January 4, 2026
Mary Curran has been creating and teaching art for over forty years. Her work draws on a deep reverence for the natural world and explores how humans make sense of their surroundings. By blending observation with imagination, she examines the ways myth and memory shape our understanding of life.
Curran's Mixed Mythology series explores cultural stories about animals from around the globe. These vivid paintings invite viewers into their narrative space. At their core, the works challenge us to consider the impossibility of myth while recognizing that such stories often arise from real events and natural phenomena. Curran extends these ideas into sgraffito-designed bowls, layering multiple narratives within a single form. By combining different meanings for the same animal, she reminds us that symbols are never fixed. They shift across time, culture, and personal experience.
In the DeSoto Family Vault, Curran's Ghost Birds and Chiaroscuro Ground series expand her exploration of transience and memory, inviting reflection on life's fragility and the fleeting beauty of light. Through her work, Curran "invites viewers to see nature not just as it is, but as something imbued with consciousness, mystery, and otherworldly significance."

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Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Other work by the Ladybird artists ‘November on the Dorset Coast’ Whitbread calendar 1971 Artist: SR Badmin

Close-up of the flora to be found in autumn along a coastal hedgerow near white cliffs

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

It's time for #Caturday and a timeline cleanse! A terracotta figurine of a #cat playing the harp. From #Egypt, #Roman period, late 1st century AD. On display at Museum August Kestner, Hannover. Have a lovely #weekend! 📷 me 🏺

Fragment of a yellowish-brown clay figurine depicting a cat playing a harp. The cat is upright, with detailed facial features and textured fur, holding the harp to its side. The surface shows signs of wear and age, and the piece is displayed on a clear stand.

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Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

The modern world in old Ladybird books. The diesel. “It is sad to think that the last steam locomotive to be built in Britain left the workshops in March, 1960” Artist: Robert Ayton (1961)

On a bright snowy day, a diesel locomotive rushes through the countryside. In the foreground, a fox with its prey dashes away from the tracks.

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Carrie Tait @carrietait.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

This photo accompanying a news story about the heist at the Louvre is perfection.

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The Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 01/10/2025

Hats in the Garment District, New York, 1930. Photo by the brilliant Margaret Bourke-White. I don't want to sound too much like a granny, but I sure do wish we still all wore hats.

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Sea Hag @seahag.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Librarians at #UMN are working with other librarians to Save Our Signs - go here to share signs from our national parks sites.google.com/umn.edu/save...

sites.google.com

Save Our Signs

Save Our Signs: Celebrate All-American History

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Matthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Something I'm going to try to do for myself this fall: read every book on the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize shortlist Just requested all of them from WPL www.ursulakleguin.com/prize25

ursulakleguin.com

Ursula K. Le Guin — 2025 Prize for Fiction

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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin, “Architecture of return, escape (The British Museum)”, a deerskin map a floor plan of the British Museum and possible escape routes for various Indigenous cultural belongings held there.

An animal hide covered in blue felt with a floor plan of a museum drawn on it

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 04/09/2025

A collection of New Yorker covers by Mary Petty, who captured a a lonely, moneyed family called the Peabodys. nyer.cm/OPXLGjV

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Patrick Vallely @pjvphotography.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.

Tighter crop of the same pika, focusing on its head.

An even tighter crop, focusing more on the pika's eye.

An extremely tight crop of the pika's eye, emphasizing their reflection of an early morning mountain scene.

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Hannah O'Hanrahahanrahan @tedmaul.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Gosh these knitted postbox toppers are getting really realistic

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Exquisite glass filled with roses in 1640, by Jacob van Hulsdonck. His day is today.

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Jens Notroff @jensnotroff.com · 16/07/2025

And not to forget their Stone Age #shaman, undoubtedly inspired by the Mesolithic Bad Dürrenberg one. 🙌

Playmobil figure in animal skin clothing with white bone pattern, brown cape, and a deer head with antlers as a headdress. Holding a flaming staff in the right hand.

Reconstructed portrait of a woman wearing bone jewelry, feather decorations, and a fur cloak. She has an animal head with antlers on her head and face paint.

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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

I’d heard rumours that a Playmobil Cistercian monk was a thing that existed, and I can now confirm those rumours are TRUE. It’s not easy to get hold of tho - a special limited edition for Eberbach Abbey

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

A more than 5,550-year-old well-preserved #Neolithic knife. The blade is crafted from flint and secured in a wooden handle using birch tar. Furthermore, the handle features a hole, intended for attaching a cord. From the pile dwelling settlement...🧵 1/2 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

A flint knife featuring a curved stone blade secured into a wooden handle using black birch tar adhesive. The dark handle has a small perforation at one end. The tool is displayed on a neutral surface, showing the craftsmanship and natural materials used.

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Emma Mitchell @silverpebble2.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Really struggling with depression just now but trying to hack my brain if poss. so looked at my v old buttons. Apparently some are TUDOR! The brilliant mudlark Caroline Nunneley’s (her IG handle=@carolinenunneleymudlark) helping me ID them. Tiny beautiful treasures that have helped to lift my mood:

10 very old buttons that are post medieval, Tudor & Georgian arranged on my hand

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