Hilary Becker

ESA/Hubble photo of a distant stellar birthplace, region of the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud, approximately 160 000 light-years away. Photo credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Indebetouw

Link for more information: esahubble.org/images/potw2...

Map of Cartagena in southern Spain, coloured based on the region's geology and annotated with the locations of Punic sites and places where geological samples were taken during the study, along with a proposed transport route from hinterland quarries to Qart Hadasht.

Geological map of the area around Cartagena, Spain, showing where the Punic capital of Qart Hadasht likely sourced materials to build its walls. The medium- to long-distance supply indicates Carthage had extensive knowledge of hinterland resources.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

The Sombrero galaxy (Messier 104) is in the Virgo cluster & is 1 of the most massive objects in that group, equivalent to 800 billion suns. It's 50,000 light-years across & is 30 million light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA/ESA & The Hubble Heritage Team

More info: esahubble.org/images/opo03...

Archaeologists: D.C. Capitol May Have Once Been Used For Legislating

Archaeologists: D.C. Capitol May Have Once Been Used For Legislating https://theonion.com/archaeologists-d-c-capitol-may-have-once-been-used-for-legislating/

"...whereas the radiance of the genuine stone continually changes and at different times scatters its colours more intensely from different parts of the stone, shedding a bright light on the fingers where it is held.” (trans. Eichholz, 1962)

You had to make your own sunshine.

"When it (the opalite) is held steadily between the thumb and finger against the rays of the sun there shines through the stone one unchanging color which is spent at its source..."

"There is no stone which is harder to distinguish from the original when it is counterfeited in glass by a cunning craftsman. The only test is by sunlight...

While Taylor was happy for the happiness she created (opalite), Pliny had advice so that his elite readers would not be fooled by an artificial version of the stone:

Opalite

In the Roman era, a manmade opal (opalite) was made of glass paste. Pliny’s normative stance, revering nature, was to prefer naturally made products to manmade versions. Pliny was concerned that Romans might mistake a luxury product (opal) for a manmade one (opalite).

Now that it’s in Italian news, I can share: a new inscription has been found on Egadi Ram 25.

It reads SER SOLPICIO C F QUAISTOR PROBAVE[T] — “Servius Sulpicius, son of Caius, Quaestor, approved (this).”

This likely refers to the son of Caius Sulpicius Galus, Roman consul in 243 BCE.

Classical building with many pillars lining its walls, with the text 'European Archaeology, Antiquity' overlaid.

The @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social (#EAA2025) annual meeting starts today! 🏺
Our collection of European #Archaeology is completely free for the conference, so check out the latest European archaeology research, from Stonehenge to the Second World War:

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Brick wall engraved with a humanoid figure accompanied by hieroglyphs.

The last known inscription made in #Egyptian hieroglyphs was carved #OnThisDay in AD 394 🏺 #Archaeology

The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom depicts the god Mandulis, accompanied with a text hoping the inscription will last forever. It seems the engraver got their wish 1/2

📷Olaf Tausch / CC BY-SA 3.0

Cat herding a flock of geese (EMC inv. no. JE 63801), limestone flake, Deir el-Medina, Ramesside period (Image courtesy of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Nearly-full Moon peers through the arches of Rome's Colosseum. Photographer captures the spectacle | BBC Sky at Night Magazine Paolo Palma took to the streets outside the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, where the Moon was visible through one of its arched window openings.

Nearly-full Moon peers through the arches of Rome's Colosseum. Photographer captures the spectacle | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/full-mo...

Artist Cleverly Turns Manhole Cover Into a Waffle Maker for a 3D Chalk-Drawn Possum and Squirrel Artist David Zinn cleverly turned a cement-smeared manhole cover into a waffle iron for a 3D chalk-drawn possum and squirrel.

Artist Cleverly Turns Manhole Cover Into a Waffle Maker for a 3D Chalk-Drawn Possum and Squirrel laughingsquid.com/manhole-cove...

Archaeologists found that early humans used ochre to make stone tools A new study shows that early modern humans had advanced skills much earlier than once thought.

partner.sciencenorway.no/africa-archa...

A poignant tombstone from Roman Corbridge in Northumberland for Vellibia Ertola who ‘lived happily for four years and six days’. The tombstone was set up by Sudrenus, probably her father, and is on display in the site museum. 📸 My own. #ReliefWednesday #RomanBritain #Corbridge

Quite simply a cat has taken up residence in a Lego colosseum.

Stolen from the internet and we don't care.

The 2,000-Year-Old 'Perfume Garden' in the Ancient City of Pompeii Has Been Restored to Its Former Glory The small garden now features thousands of roses, violets, cherry trees and vines. Experts think a perfumer may have once used the plants to experiment with new scents

Something else for the list at Pompeii

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...

Overheard at the War in the Ancient World International Conference (WAWIC), Münster, Germany.
“Unlike the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, this talk will be in German.” BMCR

From tiny to immense: Geological spotlight on the Alexander Mosaic (National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy) using non-invasive in situ analyses A key challenge in the art and archaeological field is the instrumental analysis of objects and materials while preserving their integrity. In this study, the world-renowned artwork Alexander Mosaic (...

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...