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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 4m

Think I did a pretty good job covering this! #vikingsky #medievalsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/the-puzzle...

Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 55m

Very interesting S-shaped Brooch from Englerupgård, Sjælland, Denmark, ca 520-620. Animal heads in profile with curling jaws, sharing a body, clear and simple composition. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The Someșeni treasure (Cluj county, Romania) was laid in the grave of a likely 5th-century Christian Germanic high-status woman (possibly Gepid) and comprises items such as beads, buckles, rings or necklace fragments, many decorated with almandines.

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Practical magic shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/women-of-t... #medievalsky #vikingsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

source: Oslo Museum of Cultural History

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Turns out one of the coins from the Mørstad hoard, the largest Viking treasure ever found in Norway, is an extremely rare Olaf Haraldsson (the Saint) mint.

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

A peacock in a Viking ship? Oh yes! youtu.be/KmVQRmky0V8 #vikingsky #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

One of the coins from the Mørstad hoard, the largest Viking treasure ever found in Norway, is an extremely rare Olaf Haraldsson (the Saint) mint. On the obverse, you can see the king’s portrait with a conical battle helmet. The inscription reads ONLAF R+ NORMANORV — Olaf, King of the Northmen.

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Modules I'm hoping to teach at Signum Uni this winter! blackberry.signumuniversity.org/everlearn/se... #medievaksky #vikingsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Or maybe we're the ones with bizarre ideas #medievalsky #vikingsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/the-bizarr...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

How can one resist this spellbinding animal art? Bird head ornament (probably raven) from the late 500s, Åker, Norway #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Eggers does manage to create a very distinct atmospheric folk horror, although far from Bergman’s philosophical musings - impossible to pull off with today’s audience anyway. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The questions that truly matter. #medievalsky #vikingsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/did-the-no...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yep, the only one I can forgive for turning the Middle Ages into brown smudge is Eggers who uses these tones in a more coherent folk horror concept. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The Dragsholm Mesolithic and Neolithic burials (Zealand, Denmark) are a superb case study of place and memory shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-... #ancientsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Had to use the unfortunate term "religion" but the conceptual difficulties will be addressed in the very first session :D Lots of fun topics! blackberry.signumuniversity.org/space/module... #medievalsky #vikingsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

#vikingsky Sorcerous textile workers! shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/women-of-t...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

#medievalsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/songs-wrap...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

When fed up with the Viking age, you try out the prehistoric archaeologist outfit :)) Or at least hold a general class on the topic learning as you go! blackberry.signumuniversity.org/space/module... #ancientsky #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Overcoming the "elite warrior cult" rubbish and "people lived healthier back in the day" if you survived blood poisoning from a tooth infection shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/jaws-the-v... #medievalsky #vikingsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

15th-century luxury: Flemish book of hours #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Exploring the lives of (more or less historical!) Norse women in this Substack series shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/women-of-t... #medievalsky #vikingsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

“Surt comes from the south with branches-ruin, the slaughter-gods’ sun glances from his sword; rocky cliffs clash together, and the troll-women are abroad, heroes tread the hell-road and the sky splits apart.” Völuspá 51, transl. C. Larrington

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Horses may have been domesticated much earlier than we thought! I discuss the latest research in this video: #prehistory youtu.be/izDejGnKq4k

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

6th-century drinking horn mounts found at Taplow, Buckinghamshire. This is what they would have looked like on a large drinking horn. The silver-gilt and niello mounts consist of a bird head terminal with ribbing, and a rim band with human and rosette motifs. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Also started putting together a brief documentation about the historical sites I visit in my region! Here you have one of the best-preserved castles in Germany (and Europe) that you've probably never heard of #medievalsky youtu.be/JGFhaq5ZpZI

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

A hiker found this richly decorated 1,500-year-old gold sword scabbard in southwest Norway! It once adorned the sword of an elite warrior and is worn, a clear sign it was used many times before. #vikingsky #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Worn out by Viking raids, King Aethelred attempted at the beginning of the 11th century to mobilise society by minting some very special and extremely rare coins with Christian motifs. Two of them have been found in Jutland, Denmark.

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Two magnificent gold brooches from Hornelund, southwestern Jutland, Denmark, about 9 cm in diameter. The imagery is definitely intriguing: on the left, vines and leaves, which are quite common in Christian art, on the right, very Norse-looking animal heads. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Animals and face masks intertwined. Morphing into one another. Artistic and spiritual union. Silver-gilt square-headed brooch from Grave 22, early 6th century, Chessell Down, Early Anglo-Saxon, Isle of Wight #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Are sunstones a wee bit overrated? If they existed at all in the Viking age. shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/how-did-th...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

A 7th-century horse-shaped fibula from the Uppåkra site in Sweden. Symmetry seems to have played a central part in ornamentation. Notice the doubled animal that tends to shape an eight form. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

The greater fibula of the 5th-century Gothic hoard found at Pietroasele (Buzau county, Romania). #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This might be the oldest ship burial in Scandinavia youtu.be/CJPmBP1Dm_o

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Celebrating Easter with pre-Christian content I guess :)) #vikingsky #medievalsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/ritual-dri...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Scandinavia's largest mound is not a burial, yet the story of its emergence and subsequent interpretations is a truly fascinating one! All about it in this episode of "Mounds & Memory". As usual with @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social #medievalsky #ancientsky youtu.be/H3IaMPFKCrY

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

This appears to be a rare declaration of love from the 11th century, written on a weaver’s shed knife (to keep threads separate). mun : þu * mik : man : þik : un : þu : m(e)r : an : þʀr remember/think of me, I think of you; love me, I love you (aprox) Lödöse, Västra Götaland

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

"I feel a personal connection to these coins thus I'm gonna sell them to the highest bidder" *clown face* What an outright ethical failure. #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

A glimpse of everyday life: a cute little duck (12 cm) made of elk or reindeer antler or bone with a hole, probably meant to be mounted on a stick and make a kid very happy. Found in Birka (again!) but in the Viking settlement, not cemeteries. #vikingsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Archaeology in Greenland! #vikingsky My apologies for the bombastic title (the algorithm is king on YouTube ugh) youtu.be/-tHNfN55-GU

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Viking treasures and burials: 2025's greatest finds youtu.be/_h1lsB89cHI #vikingsky #medievalsky

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

#vikingsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/the-puzzle...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Northern Chaos Gods: the reception of Norse myth in Viking metal #medievalsky #vikingsky youtu.be/gP2ng7y6_mY

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Creative liberties and all, but this simply looks way too bizarre youtu.be/Klhc0d_RLKc

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Drinking together was a deeply social act in ancient Scandinavia too, used to affirm and shape bonds of friendship and allegiance. The impact was even more impressive if the drink was poured from an imported Roman jug or horn. Photo: horn from Östergötland ca. 0-400 AD. Historiska museet

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Mounds & memory: the Christianisation of Viking Iceland. In this episode, Howard and I tackled the many facets of Christianisation, from Ari's description to the identification of Egil's grave, a process that was much more dynamic and convoluted than thought. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN67...

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Timidly diving into some captivating bits of prehistory! youtu.be/9vM4nG3Rj78

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Dr Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Thinking about the age of AI and how we're being forced out of intellectual existence by the tech psychopaths.

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