iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Facebook public announcement of two new colleagues in Otago Classics! www.facebook.com/OtagoClassic... Staff profile pages for Dr Hannah Sorscher and Dr Davide Morassi here: www.otago.ac.nz/classics/staff #AncientBluesky

otago.ac.nz

Our people

Find out more about Classics programme staff, including our Head of Programme, academic staff, postgraduate students and support team.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Otago Classics PhD candidate Jaymie Orchard will give a public lecture for the Otago Classical Association this Thursday at 6pm. Full event info on the FB: www.facebook.com/events/69166...

facebook.com

Public Lecture: Stolen stories of a (lying) Roman Empire

Event in Dunedin, New Zealand by Classics at the University of Otago on Thursday, May 22 2025

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Digital reconstruction of the interior of the Parthenon. This appeared in my world about four weeks too late for my first-year class on classical archaeology, but I think the students will appreciate the visualization as we're now talking about the Pantheon. www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/s...

smithsonianmag.com

Step Into a Painstakingly Recreated 3D Model of the Parthenon, Now Restored to Its Ancient Glory

A researcher simulated the Athenian temple’s lighting conditions at different times of the day, discovering that its interior was actually "quite dark and dim"

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Public lecture at the University of Otago this evening (17 April), Dr Hamish Cameron of Victoria University Wellingon, "In the Shadow of Roman Giants: The Language of Ruins in Valhalla's England". In person, from 6pm (drinks and nibbles from 5:30pm). Details at link www.facebook.com/share/18xG1Y...

facebook.com

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Uh-oh, looks like elon took the chainsaw to facebook, which is currently experiencing a widespread outage. Maybe he'll offer to have xhitter cover that branch of the CIA's operations?

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

A bit late with this, but a huge congratulations to the ASCS 2025 OPTIMA winner Elizabeth Leaning and to our joint runners-up Jemima McPhee and Jaymie Orchard! Pictured here with the prize committee. Classicsbluesky

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Full house for Prof. James Ker's (UPenn) keynote lecture, 'Seneca's First Intervention' at the Australasian Society for Classical Studies Conference (ASCS46) at Australian National University, Canberra

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Hamish @peregrinekiwi.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

We're hiring! VUW Classics is looking for a generalist and particularly encouraging specialists in Greek history and Roman art and archaeology to apply. Full details here: ejye.fa.ap1.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

ejye.fa.ap1.oraclecloud.com

Pūkenga | Lecturer in Classics

Join Te Kura o ngā Reo me ngā Tikanga-ā-iwi - School of Languages and Cultures as a Lecturer on a permanent, full-time contract.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Classics at the University of Otago is now offering Ancient Greek and Latin by distance. These classes are open to anyone interested in studying the languages by distance. For further information or details about how to enrol as a non-Otago student, visit: otago.ac.nz/classics/lan...

A picture of three people ostensibly studying, using laptops and tablets at a picnic table in the sunshine.

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Res_Australes: Ancient World Studies, Australasia @resaustrales.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Dec 14 Canberra NMA (2pm AEDT) Spotlight Conversations - #Pompeii: A living heritage - Virginia Trioli, Prof Steven Ellis (Cincinnati), Dr Sophie Hay (Parco Archeologico di Pompei), Dr Lily Withycombe (NMA). Book $ www.eventbrite.com.au/e/spotlight-... @pompei79.bsky.social @stevenellis.bsky.social

eventbrite.com.au

Spotlight Conversations – Pompeii: A living heritage

Join us for a special panel conversation where we will discuss the ancient past and living legacy of this fascinating city.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

This short news report (in Spanish) is from a month ago, but still interesting on the Roman and post-Roman wall of Mérida (Augusta Emerita, in Spain).🏺An excavation focusing on a tower in the city's medieval wall revealed remains of the Roman wall, its ditch, and a house with wall paintings.

hoy.es

La excavación en la torre albarrana de Mérida halla un tramo del foso de la muralla romana | Hoy

También han encontrado junto al María Luisa una domus pegada a la muralla en la que se ve las paredes adornadas con pinturas del siglo II

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

So, ummm, Gladiator II. Saw that. That's it, that's my post.

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Miguel Costa @mncgmxpt.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

1/2 Roman Galleries in Lisbon museudelisboa.pt/pt/nucleos/g... One of the most exclusive experiences you can have in Lisbon is a visit to the underground Roman galleries in the centre of the city. ... #archaeology #ancientbluesky #romanarchaeology #roman

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Today I had to do a careful inspection of my vineyard (1 vine) to see how the crop is developing. Things are promising, but there are plenty of wind storms yet to come before I'll feel super confident about our 2025 grape supply. We're at about 50 bunches, so I'll have to prune in a couple weeks.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Still working out what to think about the bony materials that emerged from the packed clay at the base of the city wall/Roman amphitheater in Mérida, Spain, a few months back. I have to admit reviewing pictures of pottery is faster but less fun than reviewing pottery. 🏺 #ancientbluesky

(bovine) horn core in compact clay matrix with some nearby bones.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 16/10/2024

Been a while since I posted, let's say I've been busy preparing for today's lecture, where I'll present some very preliminary results of the 2024 Otago-Consorcio Mérida excavation project. If you're in Dunedin.... facebook.com/events/s/pub...

facebook.com

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 09/08/2024

I first came to Mérida on my own in 2006, and I was last here in 2016. Things have changed, I'm no longer the only person who knows about this place! 🏺 Thus ends week 6 of our Otago/Consorcio dig.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 02/08/2024

Any bone people out there have a quick guess on what sort of critter this is? Roman context... 🏺 Ancientbluesky

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 21/07/2024

Action shot (the only one) showing me trowelling a step into the profile so I can climb out of the trench without my crutches. Three weeks down one week to go in the OtagoClassics/Consórcio Mérida excavation 2024! 🏺

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 17/07/2024

Got a bone thingy or doohickey here in Mérida, anyone recognize the form? Could be Roman, could be significantly later... Archaeologists out there or anyone else help us out please! 🏺 (Pencil above for a vague sense of scale)

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 09/07/2024

The Otago-Consorcio de Mérida excavation is in full swing now, super hot and super dusty! We've had many interesting small finds thus far, not so many wonderful contexts yet. Here's a winner from yesterday: a bone six-sided die. Still dreaming of hitting a D12 someday, halfway there!

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 03/07/2024

We're all over the news! In Mérida, anyway. 🏺

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 30/06/2024

Kicking off tomorrow, this is it, don't get scared now! #meridaotago2024 🏺

14 archaeological volunteers standing in front of the Mérida tourism sign.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 28/06/2024

On Monday kicks off the second Otago University - Consórcio de Mérida excavation of "something Roman we hope." My team includes 14 Kiwi-ish volunteers and some local pros, so this project is going to be awesome. I'll post here occasionally because pictures of archaeology are cool. ClassicsBlueSky 🏺

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 20/06/2024

I've never liked the popular theory that ancient seafarers always hugged the coastline, most boaties know that's where the danger lies. Maybe this is relevant? LBA Canaanite amphoras (and probably shipwreck) discovered 1,800m deep in the Mediterranean. www.bbc.com/news/article... ancientbluesky 🏺

bbc.com

Cargo from 'most ancient' shipwreck found off Israel

The 3,300-year-old storage jars were discovered during a survey of the sea bed in the eastern Mediterranean.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

My program just posted a job at for a two-year Teaching Fellow, with a focus on Greek and Latin instruction. Full details in the link. AncientBlueSky

otago.taleo.net

Teaching Fellow (Classics)

Click the link provided to see the complete job description.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 20/03/2024

Archaeological fieldschool people, I've had an unexpectedly enormous level of interest in a project I'm designing, what are the most important criteria for vetting applicants? Adulting is hard work! 🏺

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 28/02/2024

This is sad news, so sorry to hear that John Hayes has passed away, he was always very kind to me in our correspondence despite my being an ignorant nobody.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 18/02/2024

Hi archaeologists, anyone out there with experience using the scanning/photogrammetry functions on the stupid apple iphone 14 pro and 15 pro, is there a superior version that is preferable, or should I do the Dan thing and get the cheapest one I can find? 🏺

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 24/01/2024

Oh, look, yet another Classics/Archaeology Department under threat because the university leadership doesn't know how to budget properly! This is not ok. Some links at the bottom: tell your friends, tell the Queen's University leadership it's just not good enough from them. 🏺ClassicsBluesky

queensu.ca

Department of Classics | Queen's University

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 18/01/2024

We lost our friend and colleague, John Garthwaite, last week. It says he "retired in 2014" but he was still teaching a Humanities Medical Selective right up until 2024, when he was scheduled to run another one. Brilliant lecturer, wonderful human being. ave atque vale

facebook.com

Classics at the University of Otago

We are saddened to report that Dr John Garthwaite (BA, Leicester; MA and PhD, Cornell) passed away on 9 January 2024. John retired in 2014 after decades of service as an extremely popular lecturer in....

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 14/12/2023

Nice to see some tourist access to the Domus Tiberiana restored after a long time - remember that Humble Augustus lived in a shabby little hovel on the Palatine, and it was only with later emperors that lavish displays became normal. Here's a great example. AncientBlueSky 🏺

edition.cnn.com

This ancient Roman palace described as a ‘lost jewel’ reopens after 50 years | CNN

After decades of neglect, the 2000-year-old Domus Tiberiana is once again welcoming visitors following a painstaking renovation.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 07/12/2023

AI is so much fun, here's what it came up with when I was looking for s detail on the life of Bernabé Moreno de Vargas (d. 1648)

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Professor Nutella @jpnudell.bsky.social · 06/12/2023

"a specter haunts the college campus. It is neither the specter of communism, of course, nor that of corporatization (which has already arrived on campus). Instead, it is the specter of what we might call, mouthful though it is, “consultization,”" www.chronicle.com/article/huma...

chronicle.com

Opinion | Humanities on the Cutting-Room Floor

This is what it looks like when a college prioritizes graduation rates.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 06/12/2023

Anyone want to talk about why there isn't a reasonably recent, lavishly fictionalistic epic on Julius Caesar? Is it because "we" already "know" too much about him to keep it interesting? I figure if they can do this with a nutter like Napoleon and sell a zillion tickets, Julius should be a goer?

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 01/12/2023

Just came across this exciting PhD opportunity in Roman glass on that other place. So much great material! sussexpast.co.uk/phd-fishbour... Ancientbluesky 🏺

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

The new New Zealand Government is reversing some rules, due in part to concerns tobacco products might slide over into the black market and reduce the tax take - this possibility was raised in a submission by British American Tobacco. True story. edition.cnn.com/2023/11/28/a...

edition.cnn.com

New Zealand’s new government scraps world-leading smoking ban to fund tax cuts | CNN

As any smoker will tell you, quitting tobacco isn’t easy – and it’s something New Zealand’s new government just isn’t prepared to do right now.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 23/11/2023

New Zealand's new coalition government has decided to try to replicate one interpretation of Rome's famous Republican era power-sharing system: two Deputies Prime Minister. Not at once, mind you, but 18 months each. An innovative take on "strong and stable", they'll be "sharing" by taking turns.

odt.co.nz

Peters and Seymour to share Deputy PM role

Winston Peters and David Seymour will share the role of Deputy Prime Minister for the first time in New Zealand’s political history.

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 23/11/2023

Just staggered across this little gem on that other place, shared by @christophersmith.bsky.social "we estimate that globally authors paid $1.06 billion in publication fees to these [big five commercial] publishers from 2015–2018". direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 22/11/2023

Found this one on the BBC, probably some food for thought in there. "Museum reclassifies Roman emperor as trans woman." (Elagabalus, d. 222). Ancientbluesky

bbc.com

Museum reclassifies Roman emperor as trans woman

It comes after classical texts quote the emperor saying "call me not Lord, for I am a Lady".

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Daniel Osland @oslandd.bsky.social · 10/10/2023

Staring down the barrel of the last lecture - Archaeology, History, and the Fall of Rome - for the semester (yeah, our semesters are like that). Vaguely relevant music video below, I usually stash a tissue or two in my pocket just in case my allergies act up... AncientBluesky

youtube.com

Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) [Official Music Video] [4K UPGRADE]

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" from Nimrod XXV out NOW!! https://GreenDay.lnk.to/Nimrod25Grab the vinyl box set with LP 1 & 2: Nimrod, LP 3: Nimrod Demo...

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