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Curt

@neoriffic.bsky.social
1.9K followers 405 following 869 posts

Archaeologist Work: CRM in BC, 🍁 Research: Ancient Southwest Asia Player/writer of TTRPGs, veteran, nerd. (he/him) Living and learning in the unceded territory of the K'ómoks First Nation. Trans Rights, BLM, MMIWG2S, Stop Asian Hate, Free Palestine

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Reposted by Curt
Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
UNMUTE this is GLORIOUS
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
You're right that it was named after an explorer. However, Israel Wood Powell *was* that explorer. Lt. Commander Vere Orlebar, captain of the HMS Rocket, aboard which Powell was the ship surgeon during a surveying voyage, named the river and lake after Powell.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
If I lived in a town named after a guy who: - helped create the residential school system - helped create the legislation that banned potlatches - illegally sold up to 2,778 acres of land that included an ancestral and then-inhabited village site I'd want it to be changed. But what do I know? 🤷🏼
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Reposted by Curt
Steph Halmhofer @cultarchaeo.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
"Using the machine that was built off stealing your work and your colleagues work so that its developers can turn intelligence and critical thinking into a paid commodity that only they benefit from is ok as long as you think about it while you're doing it." What an empty statement this is 😒
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I can still hear Paul's dulcet tones trumpeting in my ears.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Occurrences of words tend to correlate with which groups use those words most often, e.g., if you use the word "stratigraphy" a lot, you're likely an archaeologist or geologist, if you're accustomed to using the term "biological reality", you're likely a piece of shit.
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Reposted by Curt
The Onion @theonion.com · 12/10/2026
Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately theonion.com/nation-s-indigenous-pe…
Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
I listen every Monday morning on my commute to work! A fantastic podcast.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Also, if anyone ever actually listened to Dan outside Joe's podcast, they would already know why he doesn't talk about his own LDS faith. His appearances are never for proselytizing and always to increase public access to the study of the Bible and combat the spread of misinformation about the same
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
I have unambiguous feelings about Rogan, none of them good. But his reach--especially into the toxic heart of the manosphere--is unmistakable. Good on Dan (and @flintdibble.bsky.social earlier) for stepping up for these critical opportunities to access those spaces with data, rather than dogma.🏺
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"It's hard not to listen to AI. It's spent so much more time raising us than you have" - This guy's kids. If the media thinks the "divorcing your parents" thing is an epidemic now, they are not ready for the future that is being marketed to us.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"Omg, 10¢ wings! Wait here, I'll just--" "Honey, no."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"After an extensive review of all the literature that consistently fails to find any meaningful biological case to categorize humans into distinct races, I have no doubt that races/subspecies exist in humans, and I will devastatingly rebut any argument to the contrary. I'm a serious scientist."😵‍💫
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
It does look like some sort of torture device.
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Reposted by Curt
Andrew Reinhard, PhD, RPA @adreinhard.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I come back from fieldwork to find an advance copy of Walkover Country: Archaeology Poems from the Plains, my first collection of poetry and one centered on #CRM #archaeology and the emotions and physical toll present in the profession. You’ll be able to order your copy soon from Spartan Press. 🏺
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Congrats! What a wonderful treat that must have been!
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Reposted by Curt
Vancouver Island Local History Society @vilocalhistory.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Travelling The Great Land Grab exhibit has costs – we hire an installer and rent a truck. Help us make it affordable and accessible to small venues! We have a goal of raising $5,000. You can donate on our CanadaHelps page and receive a tax receipt: Canadahelps.org/en/charities/vilocalhistory/
Graphic with white text on green background. An image in the centre shows a person interacting with an exhibit piece. “Help us raise $5,000 and keep the cost of hosting the exhibit low for Vancouver Island communities.”
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
💯 Blurring the military/cop gap has resulted in communities occupied by ill-trained paramilitaries. When you look and try to act like a soldier, is everyone a combatant now? Especially the public you're ostensibly there to serve and protect? Keep police in distinct strictly non-military uniforms.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Goblin eggs.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
So long as it ends with Keanu Reeves hunting him down, I'm in.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Zooarch in the lab is all like, "I need 'em less... fresh."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The young man, enraptured with the story, exclaimed to the old man, "Well I could imagine! What a terrifying moment it must have been." The old man looked at the young man with a puzzled look, and said, "No, I mean just now. When I said 'roar' really loudly."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The old man's brow was damp with sweat, he almost looked pained, but he continued. "Before I could bring my rifle around, the bushes broke open and-- ROOOOOARRRR!" He sat back. "Well, I just shit myself."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The old man paused, lost in his memory, his hands shaking. "I found myself separated from my group, outside the camp defenses and--whats that!? The bushes beside me!--it was the lion we'd been tracking. He turned the tables on me. I'd become his prey!"
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
There was a young man at a Gentleman's Club, and he saw a bunch of chaps gathered around a very old man sitting in a large chair, telling a story. "It was years ago in deepest, darkest Africa," the old man was saying. "And we'd been tracking this particular lion for almost a week through the bush."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
One of the most damaging decisions in modern history was granting corporations personhood and the legal protections (i.e., distance from accountability) involved. This is 100% what is trying to be pushed through again. A machine can't be held accountable, so AI should never be considered a person.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
static.klipy.com
Ghostbusters Slimed
ALT: Ghostbusters Slimed
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's spooky month! 👻 DYK, some of the earliest documents discussing ghosts ever written (impressed?) are cuneiform tablets from over 3,500 years ago. They write of gidim (ghosts) as an everyday concern; suggesting the idea of ghosts are at least as old (probably much older) than writing itself.🏺
A tablet from ancient Southwest Asia bearing a faint tracing (enhanced by white lines) of a ghost with its hands bound being led by a woman, possibly a lover.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
CRM is squarely at the intersection of Capitalism St. and Colonialism Ave. The archaeologists and the heritage they ostensibly protect are inherently susceptible to interests and legislation actively disincentivized from promoting sustainable and equitable treatment of workers and First Nations.🏺
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Any time I tell myself that a day may come when I would remember to do literally anything.
static.klipy.com
Aragorn But Notthis Day
Alt: Aragorn saying, "But it is not this day."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Normalize ruining the lives of entitled up-and-comers because of terrible decisions they made and actions they either did and/or enabled. We've already normalized it for less privileged demographics, who have often done far less violent and despicable things. Like, c'mon, guys. Fuckin'... sheesh.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I love how this is not only funny, but also correct.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Didn't find anything, huh? Well, that's exactly what you'd expect to find if there actually *was* something there once. Something like an ark, perhaps? Science!
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Reposted by Curt
Aidan O'Sullivan @aidanosullivan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
UCD's Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture's (CEAMC) researchers bring the past to life through the practice of ancient technologies and crafts. It is one of the few dedicated, full-scale, on-campus facilities for experimental archaeological research. www.ucd.ie/research/inf...
ucd.ie
Reconstructing the past
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Reposted by Curt
UCD Research @ucdresearch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Centre for Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture at UCD is a unique place where researchers are recreating ancient technologies to gain deeper insights into how people lived in the past. #AncientWorld_UCD #TheStoriesThatShapeUs Learn more: www.ucd.ie/research/inf... youtu.be/ZJDnN0K62Ww
youtu.be
The Ancient World: Reconstructing the Past
YouTube video by UCD Research
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"The purpose of a system is what it does," was coined by Stafford Beer in 1979. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what a system is intended, advertised, or "supposed" to do. What matters is what it actually does in the real world, what behaviours it influences, and what outcomes it produces.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Caught up with my honours thesis supervisor this afternoon after her colloquium on the social role of taverns and the women that ran them in ancient Mesopotamia. She stoked the fire in me that was dwindling, neglected because I was focusing on work. Time to dust off the grad school application.🏺
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Hah! Reminded me of this old meme. My wife and I throw this back and forth any time a new crick or ache develops.
A black and white drawing of a man holding an old stethoscope on a patient with the caption "Being an old-timey doctor would rule, just from as hell like "yeah u got ghosts in your blood, you should do cocaine about it"
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ah, yes. I, too, remember the classic trope of throngs of pioneers *definitely not* lining up to the windows of bejangled wagons as fast-taking grifters with bogus miracle elixirs prey on families desperate for treatments of their smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, typhoid, and dysentery.
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Reposted by Curt
Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Today is #HobbitDay because Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were both born on September 22nd. Normally we'd shire a hobbit pun or two but it might just feel like a tolkien gesture and we don't want to embarrass our elves. Anyway it's a good day to come and boromir #Tolkien books. 📚
A shelf of books by JRR Tolkien
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If the Aunt Beru of the Kenobi series is any indication, it's because underestimating her led to several breaching attempts resulting in white armour-clad bodies strewn about the desert, so the stormtroopers decided that the liberal application of thermal detonators and flame throwers was required.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Time to update the old maxim.
A photo of an old IBM maxim that reads, "A computer can never be held accountable, their a computer must never make a management decision." But with "management decision" crossed out and "list of targets for bombs to be dropped on" written below.
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Reposted by Curt
UVicAnthro @uvicanthro.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Dr Brian Thom talks about the historic E&N Railway land grant, what it means for today, & how maps and ideas of property can inform understandings of the great land grab. TheGreatLandGrab.ca to learn about the exhibit @uvic.ca @uvicsocialsciences.bsky.social @b-thom.bsky.social tinyurl.com/2026glgbt
tinyurl.com
The Great Land Grab Interviews: Professor Brian Thom
In this interview, Professor Brian Thom from the University of Victoria introduces us to the historic E&N Railway land grant, what it means for today, and how maps and ideas of property can inform our understanding of the great land grab. Visit TheGreatLandGrab.ca to learn more about the exhibit now travelling Vancouver Island. Dr. Brian Thom’s research investigates the critical intersections of Indigenous legal orders, governance, and land rights with colonial state power, focusing on the dynamics of knowledge, culture, and place. His award-winning, community-engaged scholarship, conducted in close collaboration with Indigenous communities in Coast Salish territories, integrates ethnographic, archaeological, and applied policy research approaches to support Indigenous self-determination, advance reconciliation, and foster transformative public understanding. Chapters: 0:00-3:00 Introduction 3:01-6:03 Conflict and the E&N Railway grant 6:04-11:22 Who benefits? 11:23-15:06 What can we do? 15:07-18:37 Maps and the land grab 18:38-22:47 The legal system 22:48-27:55 BC Treaty process 27:56-29:15 Cultural sites on private lands 29:16-35:20 What is property? 35:21-37:43 What's next?
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Sounds like a tale told by a man with the recent experience of being well and truly stuck in a pit.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"Are we a failed state? Check out these broads! Let's get wasted!" - the first 18 seconds of this video, with no speaking during a third of those seconds (with only a sliver of hyperbole)
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
True. But, "put back into service" doesn't always mean "tickety-boo". Aircraft battle damage repair, system redundancies, and minimum equipment lists (which systems can an aircraft fly without) mean that a war-fighting plane can be "in service" in a condition that would be unthinkable back home.
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
God's penis is all over the Bible, euphemistically speaking. If you read a verse with God's hand, hem, or thigh that makes you think, "Huh, that's a puzzling sentence," the author is talking about God's junk. Does this make God "male"? 🤷🏼 A great read is God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopoulou
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The wife took a screenshot of an Environmental Management course she's currently taking. She thought the representative photo of an archaeologist was funny. I see an archaeologist out standing in their field.🏺
A screenshot of a text with a photo of a man in a blue hoodie and ball cap standing in a small, shallow circular hole (a "cultural depression") in the leaf-covered ground.

The text above the photo says, "this is the picture my course chose as an example of an archaeologist 😂"

With my reply below the photo saying, "I mean... They're not wrong."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Guy in charge of procurements: "I'm looking for clean lines, ya know, muted, achromatic tones... band collar, of course. Oh! And jack boots. Gotta have jack boots. The style I'm aiming for is less 'bus driver', and more--" Designer: "Space fascist?" Guy: "Yes! That's it. Space fascist. Thank you."
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Curt @neoriffic.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
We need an AI version of Dunning-Kruger, something like... The Claude-Gemini Principal: Know nothing, AI sounds brilliant. Know a little, AI sounds accurate enough. Know more, AI sounds confused. Know lots, AI is wrong. Expert, AI is dangerous. (But it's a straight line instead of a fun curve.)📉
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