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PCA

@pcaarchaeology.bsky.social
831 followers 1.2K following 100 posts

Commercial archaeological contractor with offices in Cambridge, Durham, London, Newark, Norwich, Warwick and Winchester.

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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Today we have a very special #FindsFriday ... a timelapse of the micro-excavation of the Iron Age Norfolk Carnyx Hoard. It’s pretty amazing to see the micro-excavation process and get a glimpse of the carnyx, boar standard and shield bosses as they're revealed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI9L...
youtube.com
Micro-excavation of the Iron Age Norfolk Carnyx Hoard
YouTube video by PCA archaeology
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
For #FindsFriday a Roman coin from Wickham, ahead of our Open Day there tomorrow. The coin depicts Faustina II (AD 130–176) who became Empress when she married Marcus Aurelius. Come along tomorrow to see the coin and find out what else we’ve been finding. www.pre-construct.com/news/discove...
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What’s turning up in Colchester? Mark Hinman and Charlotte Lockwood will present 'New Archaeological Findings on the Way to the Circus' at the Roman Research Trust’s Reconnecting Roman Britain 2026 conference in November. www.pre-construct.com/news/reconne...
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This Roman pot from our site in Wickam was made at the kilns at Shedfield/Hallcourt Wood, which produced pottery in south-east Hampshire from the 1st to late 3rd century AD. See this, along with other Roman finds at our Open Day next Saturday! www.pre-construct.com/.../discover... #FindsFriday
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Who's excited for our Open Day?
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
📣 Boudicca’s trumpet? Mark Hinman will be speaking at the Cambridge Antiquarian Society's evening lecture on 5 October about the Norfolk carnyx hoard and what it can tell us about a period of significant change at the end of the Iron Age. www.pre-construct.com/news/boudicc...
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
For #FindsFriday, a pottery mishap from inside the kiln at Cringleford. This pot has vessels fused to either side. Clearly, something didn’t quite go to plan! But rather than being forgotten, it's survived to give us a glimpse of what was happening inside the kiln when pottery was made here.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
For #FindsFriday a Victorian child’s shoe from a tannery pit in Darlington where tanning was a major industry. Its deep, foul-smelling pits were dangerous, and there are reports of children drowning in disused pits. We’ll never know who wore it, but it gives a glimpse of life alongside the industry.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Following our aurochs discovery this week, Rita and Emily have now started taking a closer look at the remains, alongside a nice red deer antler from the same feature. There’s a lot to get through, we'll have more 🐂 news soon! #FindsFriday #archaeology #prehistory
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Our Cambridge team have found a remarkably well-preserved aurochs lying in peat beside an ancient watercourse, with much of the skeleton still articulated. Aurochs became extinct in Britain around 1300 BC. This one is now back at Finds for further investigation. 🐂
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
What did people do for fun at Fulham Palace over 400 years ago? To celebrate the launch of our latest monograph, This Land of 50 Hides: Archaeological Investigations at Fulham Palace, here's one of the smallest but most intriguing finds from the excavations – a tiny antler teetotum, used in games.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Our Archaeobotanist Bronagh could barley believe her eyes with this oat-ally awesome flot! It's packed with charcoal, charred grains & seeds, as well as bread wheat, barley and oats. We're still figuring out what it represents, but it definitely ex-seeded our expectations! #FindsFriday
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
For #FindsFriday, a near-complete glazed red earthenware pot from Cringleford, Norfolk. It was found in a former clay quarry pit, with a kiln and pottery waste nearby. From digging the clay to firing the pots, we’re uncovering the whole process in one place! #FindsFriday #Archaeology #Norfolk
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
What do London's earliest known turkey bones, a metre-long medieval pike and one of the capital's largest prehistoric flint assemblages have in common? They all feature in 'This land of 50 hides', our new book exploring more than 10,000 years of archaeology beneath Fulham Palace. bit.ly/4vBgsbU
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
#FindsFriday 🪙 This Roman coin from the House of Constantine c.AD 347–8 depicts two winged Victories celebrating imperial victory. Alongside the Neolithic pits and Roman pottery we've already featured, it provides another snapshot into the thousands of years of human activity at Fordingbridge.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Amazing ancient Lurs from Bronze Age Denmark. Thirty-nine of these bronze horns have been found in Danish peat bogs, likely deposited as ritual offerings some 3,000 years ago! Fun fact: Lurs are the inspiration behind the name and logo of Denmark’s Lurpak® butter! 🧈 🎺 🇩🇰 #FindsFriday #Archaeology
My photo shows a museum display of ancient bronze lurs which are long, curved musical horns from the Nordic Bronze Age.

The horns hang from almost invisible wires attached to the top of the display case, creating the impression that they are floating in mid-air. They twist and loop in different directions, forming an intricate three-dimensional arrangement which transforms a collection of archaeological objects into a dramatic sculptural installation. The horns are dark greyish-brown in colour. Their tubing curves in broad arcs before ending in wide, flared bells that resemble oversized trumpet bells.

Behind the suspended horns are glass display cases containing smaller Bronze Age artefacts., The gallery has white walls, bright overhead lighting, black-framed glass display cases, and a wooden parquet floor..

They are on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
It may not look like much, but this is part of the King's House, Charles II's unfinished palace, built on the site of Winchester Castle. We turned the excavation into a 3D model before it disappeared beneath the ground again. sketchfab.com/3d-models/wi... #FindsFriday
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Winchester, Gurkha Museum 001 - 3D model by Pre-Construct Archaeology (@pre-constructarchaeology)
Winchester, Gurkha Museum 001 - 3D model by Pre-Construct Archaeology (@pre-constructarchaeology)
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
This flint core dates to the end of the last Ice Age, around 12,000 years ago, when mobile hunter-gatherers travelled seasonally across the lost landscape of Doggerland, now submerged beneath the North Sea. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #Palaeolithic
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
For #FindsFriday, a jug with painted decoration and a tall-necked beaker, both New Forest wares dating to the second half of the 4th century AD. They were found side by side within a disused grain dryer and may have been deliberately placed after the structure had gone out of use. #Archaeology
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
A team from PCA Newark have recently rediscovered a hidden well within the gatehouse at Newark Castle. The well was first recorded in Archaeologia in 1782, where it was described as being 'still open'. Watch the timelapse and read more here: www.pre-construct.com/news/a-redis...
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
🌊 World Oceans Day 🌊 New Romney, now inland, was one of England's most important medieval Cinque Ports. Explore our free interactive book The Sea and the Marsh to discover how storms and shifting coastlines reshaped the town's connection to the sea. www.pre-construct.com/product/the-...
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DerbyshireArchaeology @derbyshirearch.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
#FindsFriday #RomanBritain #RomanArchaeology @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social keep bringing it at Boulton Moor - here's a nice intact Roman pot from a well or watering hole. Let's hope that trowel doesn't slip. And a hammered silver penny (Edward I or II) just to spoil the Roman vibe!
An intact Roman pot - a greyware urn or vase - being excavated by the gloved hand of an archaeologist holding a trowel. The pot is on its side and the rim protrudes from the earth, while the base of the pot is still inside the section. Image credit PCAThe reverse side of a hammered silver penny being held between the fingers and thumb of an archaeologist. The coin is the long cross type typical of Edward I and II - a solid cross with three pellets in each quarter. Image credit PCA
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
What do you find when you dig beneath one of the Tower of London's most historic buildings? Our excavation at the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula features in this week's episode of Inside the Tower of London. 📅 Wednesday 3 June 🕗 8pm 📺 Channel 5
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DerbyshireArchaeology @derbyshirearch.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
#FindsFriday More Roman gubbins from Boulton Moor, a lovely little pottery flask (perfume bottle?) that emerged intact last week #Derbyshire #Archaeology
An orange-clad archaeologist holds a small Roman pottery flask, against the background of an extensive archaeological site under excavation. Photo credit PCA
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Dr Alan Montgomery @classicalalan.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
This rare Roman pottery lamp, shaped like a foot wearing a sandal, was made between 50-60 CE, and was found at Borough High Street in Southwark. Archaeologists discovered the lamp in a rubbish pit, close to buildings that had been burnt down during the Boudican rebellion in 60-61 CE. #FindsFriday
A lamp made from orange terracotta in the shape of a sandalled foot.
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Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
If you’re going to hobnail the shoe, then bloody hobnail the shoe, that’s what I say. 1st/2nd C AD, @vindolandatrust.bsky.social #FindsFriday
Sole of a Roman shoe with hobnails set in a highly decorative pattern.
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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
For #FindsFriday, I'm gifting you this fantastic Bronze Age felled tree we’ve just excavated from #Skipsea in Holderness. The marks of the socketed bronze axe are clearly visible, and the thud of the axe is almost audible. Used - we think - as a post, perhaps for a trackway.
A photo of the end of a log showing hundreds of  small, curved facets.A photo of the end of a log showing hundreds of  small, curved facets.A photo of the end of a log showing hundreds of  small, curved facets.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
For #FindsFriday we're following a trail of tiny beads left behind in Victorian Islington. Hundreds were recovered at Ironmonger Row Baths alongside fasteners, pins & buttons made from glass, shell and bone, hinting at the presence of a seamstress in one of the terraced houses that once stood here.
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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
For #FindsFriday, we have this wonderful piece of worked wood from our trench on the edge of the palaeolake at #Skipsea. Our student, Lydia, found it in an area that was once alder carr. At the moment, we don’t know its date, but it is likely prehistoric.
Two hands hold a waterlogged wooden stake with a worked end.A student holds a waterlogged wooden stake.Students on hands and knees excavating wood and peat.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
In 1836 some labourers found these 2,600 year-old wooden figures whilst cleaning a ditch at Roos Carr, near Withernsea, East Yorkshire. One of the men is said to have given one of the ancient ‘dolls’ to his daughter to play with! 😱 Hull and East Riding Museum 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology
My photo shows two thin wooden human figures facing the viewer, standing upright in a narrow, gently-curved wooden boat with an animal-headed prow at right. Carved from yew wood which is cracked with age, their bodies are stick like, with very slender legs and elongated necks. They have oval heads with circular eyes inset with white quartzite stones, small noses, and a simple straight mouth, the overall effect of which appears eerie and unsettling. The figure on the left is slightly shorter and has one curved arm extending outward on the left. The other arms are missing. Both figures have removable phalluses. Between 35 - 41 cm tall. They are thought to have had a ritual or religious purpose, possibly connected with water or wetland offerings.

I saw these figures in 2022 at the British Museum’s temporary exhibition ‘The World of Stonehenge’ on loan from Hull Museums.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
This delicately decorated bone object from a medieval settlement in Essex features a lion with tendrils emerging from its mouth, a motif paralleled in Romanesque sculpture. It may have been a dagger sheath chape, and reflects the transfer of ecclesiastical imagery to everyday objects. #FindsFriday
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CBA London @cbalondon.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Less then a week to go until our Sping Archaeological Forum. The talks will be delivered by Harry Platts from @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social , Alfred Hawkins from the Tower of London and Han Li from MOLA. Details and tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spring-lon...
eventbrite.co.uk
Spring London Archaeological Forum
Join us for CBA London's Spring LAF -- recent and current archaeology on notable sites around London -- all free, just sign up.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
For #FindsFriday, a tiny plaque from the City of London, with delicately incised letters: [A]EÞVL-, probably a part of a name. Below, a t suggests the presence of a second line. Although typically lead, this one has parallels in coffin plates of the 11th–12th centuries, which are often cross-shaped.
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Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
An iron sword in its iron scabbard, bent in half and buried over 2,000 years ago Ritually 'killed' so that it could not be repaired nor used by another, this Iron Age weapon was found alongside its last owner From North Bersted #Sussex 2008. Now in the Chichester Novium 📷 March 2026 #FindsFriday
An iron sword in an iron scabbard, bent in half and on display together with two bronze suspension loops and its last owner (below) in a museum setting
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Fishbourne Roman Palace @romanpalace.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Today we will be mainly posting pictures of artefacts that look like sweets. 🍬🍫
A cute figurine of a bear made from amber. It looks like a gummy bearA figurine of a hippo with a hole in his back and a loop of gold going through the hole. The figurine is made of a transparent glassy material. Rock crystal, perhaps. It looks not unlike a Foxe's glacier mint.A carved bust of a bearded man in a brown material, against a red background. If you told us it was carved from chocolate, we wouldn't argue. A figurine of a hippo in a green material (nephrite, apparently, whatever that is). It looks like it could be a wine gum, but one of the green ones that no one really likes.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
For #FindsFriday a Roman enamelled stud from the site of a mausoleum that stood for 700 years overlooking the Medway marshes. Here, a woman in a lead-lined coffin, nearby Roman silverworking, and rare Anglo-Saxon finds point to a site that remained meaningful across changing worlds. #RomanBritain
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Construction of a new road revealed something already written into the landscape. An Iron Age enclosure and a Roman villa lay 1km apart, on slightly higher ground above the floodplain. Between them ran a route, a precursor of the modern bypass. The same route, reused and redefined across centuries.
Reconstruction of the Bedale enclosure overlaid on an aerial photo of the site during excavation.
Slot through the enclosure ditch, showing stones tumbled from the bank into the cut, with distinct fills visible above.
The heated room of the Aiskew Roman villa during excavation, with pilae stacks that once supported a much higher floor. An area of burning at top right marks the location of the furnace that heated the room.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
This canister was left in a ditch near a Roman temple in Southwark nearly 2,000 years ago. When it was opened, it was found to contain a white cream still holding the fingerprints of the last person to touch it. Closed and set aside, a moment caught, right down to the fingerprint. #FindsFriday
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Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Tombstones of two #Roman auxilliary cavalrymen who both died in Britain during the 1st century AD Dannicus (from Switzerland) and Genialis (from the Netherlands) Illuminated in colour, to show how they may have originally looked, in the Corinium Museum #Cirencester 📷 Aug 2022 #RomanFortThursday
Two Roman tombstones depicting cavalrymen on horseback riding down an enemy, with colour projected onto them to show how they may originally have been painted
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
This Neolithic end scraper came from a pit packed with artefacts in the New Forest. The pit is part of a wider cluster, probably representing seasonal activity. These deposits may mark the closing of individual episodes of activity at a site revisited over generations. #FindsFriday #FlintFriday
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Tomorrow is #InternationalPiDay celebrating π. Matching this Black-burnished ware triangular-rim bowl to a chart estimates its diameter. Roman pottery is full of circles, and therefore π! These were nicknamed pie dishes, though there’s no evidence Roman pies were baked in them. #FindsFriday
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
These Celtic coins - plated copies of Ambiani staters struck from the same dies - ended up buried together centuries later in a Roman ditch in Hertfordshire. Recently another small group of plated staters turned up in a 1st-century ditch. A pattern emerging, or simply coincidence? #FindsFriday
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
For #FindsFriday we have a #Roman jet/shale assemblage from a coastal site in NE England, close to natural jet deposits and shale outcrops. The presence of unfinished pieces and production errors suggests that people living nearby made them, profiting from a valuable local resource. Details below!
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
A Late Roman graffito from Bishop’s Stortford has revealed a personal name, LOVERNICCA. It has been identified by Roger Tomlin as a Celtic woman’s name containing the name-element louerno, meaning fox. A small mark that bring a real life back into focus - Vixen of Bishop’s Stortford. #FindsFriday
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
This deep red, heart-shaped handaxe may already have been ancient when it was swept into Ice Age deposits around half a million years ago. It was found in Suffolk, where finds of this age are rare outside river gravels, making this an exceptional discovery. #FindsFriday #Palaeolithic #Valentine
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
For #FindsFriday we’re celebrating the Roman festival of Fornacalia, the Feast of Ovens, held each February. Baking hearths were honoured as the goddess Fornax to ensure good bread & large ovens in the City of London show how commercial baking fed Roman London, with an iron shovel found with them.
An iron bread shovel used to take bread in and out of the ovens.Tile-built base of a large Roman bread oven, one of two constructed within a shared open room, indicating commercial-scale bread production rather than domestic use.Detail of third-century mosaic from St-Romain-en-Gal showing a Roman bread oven in use.
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
We’re happy to share a new Inside Archaeology video, where Rachel chats with the PCA team who discovered the Norfolk carnyx. They reflect on excitement of discovery. Thanks to Rachel for bringing the team together! The PCA section begins at 13:51. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdIK...
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8 INCREDIBLE Archaeology Discoveries from January 2026
YouTube video by Inside Archaeology
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PCA @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
This mysterious object from Kent is a bifacially worked axehead or handaxe. It resembles a #Mesolithic transverse or tranchet axehead, however given it's heavily worn condition and the gravel from which it was recovered it may be a #Palaeolithic handaxe of an unusually elongate form. #archaeology
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Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
A certain Iron Age boar has been attracting attention recently, so for this #MosaicMonday here's a perky Roman boar. He's from the wonderful Triumph of Neptune and the Seasons mosaic from La Chebba, now in the Bardo in Tunis, and he represents Winter. #AncientBlueSky 🏺
A detail from a Roman mosaic showing a boar in profile with his head to the right, emerging from reeds. The boar is realistically drawn in detail, with his short tail, ridge fur and tusk shown. Below his feet are shadows to indicate that he is moving.
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Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
For #FindsFriday & #BoudicaFriday let’s stick to Iron Age Norfolk Iceni metalwork - behold this ‘long-snouted animal’ mount found at Snettisham, c.300-100BC. Possibly from the base of a drinking horn, there is something of the droopy, sleepy carnyx about it… British Museum #Echolands
Stylised long snouted animal with big eyes drooping over a conical base in green bronze.
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