I’m just sitting here now all warm and fuzzy at the thought of the satisfying plinking sound of picking up a capsule
16.01.2026 09:16
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I’m just sitting here now all warm and fuzzy at the thought of the satisfying plinking sound of picking up a capsule
Ohhhh my goodness I played this obsessively.
Days when the headlines actually don't over-sell the findings. Both the excavated hoard-with-carnyx and this whetstone industry give us so much more information about local histories.
I’m glad to be a contributor to this, and it is indeed a lovely book!
Agreed that even if recruitment panic is the driver, the messaging instantly becomes “state school students not welcome”, and nothing is ever worth that price
State schools will offer languages but usually limited in choice and the move from 4 to 3 A levels I imagine has affected recruitment immensely, same as it has done for classics A levels. Language recruitment plummeted over the last years at Lancaster, and the degrees have just been cut 😢😓
(To be clear - I’m NOT blaming students for not picking languages or classics to study at degree level! And I REALLY hope - probably in vain - there is WP messaging going out from all colleges about those subjects. But I just wish all kids had the option to fall in love with these things at school)
Obviously the optics are terrible. And unis should ABSOLUTELY give students ways to study subjects they couldn’t at school (as cam classics does!!) But that alone doesn’t solve declining student interest as a result of lack of exposure at school. If that’s the driver, the problems are downstream.
The subjects are telling. These are subjects which are not catered to in most schools, and which are under existential threat at many unis as a result. I would hope that Cambridge was (relatively) immune from recruitment issues, but I think that must be at least part of what’s happening here.
It was really exciting to visit this site and advise on the material - it’s just LITTERED with Roman whetstones at all stages of production. So many questions remain about who was making them (and who for!) But over 800 whetstones (so far…) is a scale like nothing we’ve seen before…
Hand holding two conjoined partially-finished Roman whetstones. The stones look a bit like a “KitKat”, with clear chisel grooves on both. In the background is a muddy river foreshore.
The project and discovery of the whetstones has been led by Gary Bankhead and the Vedra Hylton Community Association, with support from @arcdurham.bsky.social staff and students. We’re looking forward to seeing where they taking things next!
@durham.ac.uk
I know we’ve all got our eyes on that carnyx 👀, but meanwhile in Sunderland we’ve got OVER 800(!) Roman whetstones and seemingly the largest whetstone production site ever found 🤯
We’ve been cautious for months about the date, but the OSL is now in, and yes, it’s Roman 🤩
Close up of a feline in profile on the Vallon Bacchus and Ariadne mosaic. Its teeth are bared and its one visible eye glares ahead with determination.
Yes, especially the one on the right! Delightfully fierce in a “I’m trying to impress” kind of way 😂🥰
The villa owner clearly appreciated a view - stunning panorama of the Alps, none of which are visible from nearby Avenches (Roman Aventicum) 😂🤩🏔️
Mosaic of Bacchus and Ariadne at Vallon
Close up of central panel of Bacchus and Ariadne, surrounded by six hexagonal panels of female portraits and theatre masks
Delightfully unexpected treat of a visit to the site museum at Vallon (Switzerland) yesterday and its stunning mosaic of Bacchus and Ariadne 🤩
I’ve driven by on the motorway dozens of times and had no idea it existed 🤦🏻♀️
#MosaicMonday
Poster for a free webinar - the Joan Pye annual lecture to be presented by Alex Mullen. November 26th, 7pm. Hosted by Cotswold archaeology and the Roman Research Trust. The image is of lots of people in togas in a market place.
Don’t miss Prof Alex Mullen’s free webinar on November 26th at 7pm!
She’ll be presenting the Joan Pye lecture on ‘Tales from the Tablets: recovering the voices of Roman Britain’.
#archaeology #classics #roman 🏺
Book your tickets here: tinyurl.com/Romanvoices
New issue of Religion in the Roman Empire Vol. 11, No.2 (2025) www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/issue/rel... @mohrsiebeck.bsky.social The Epigraphy of Roman Religion: Problems and Solutions @ericorlin.bsky.social @elericousins.bsky.social
Silver!
Oooh. Reading this RIGHT NOW
Thank you for your patience and support with its long gestation! 😂 I’m super excited to read the other articles as well 🤩
Altar to Cocidius dedicated by Paternius Maternus, tribune of the Coh. I Nervana. RIB 966, from Netherby or Bewcastle, now on display at The Auckland Project’s Faith Museum
4/ But it also says a lot of things I’ve been thinking about for a long time about how we handle local gods in the Roman world, what we can - and can’t - do with Roman altars and with gods we only know through epigraphy, as well as the (*whispers*) Celtic problem in Roman provincial archaeology 😬…
Close-up of plaque to Cocidius, showing the god standing in a columned niche, holding a spear and shield
3/ It represents a few years of my thinking about this guy, the god Cocidius from Hadrian’s Wall, and how religion and military power could intersect on the edges of empire.
(Spoiler alert: I’m not sure he’s a very nice god 😂)
2/ It’s frankly the first thing since my book that I feel really shows how I’d like us to think about and work with religion in the Roman west - and what I like to write when I’m given the time and headspace to do so.
Side on view of the two silver plaques to Cocidius from Bewcastle Roman fort
Publication day! “What’s in a name? Cocidius and the Epigraphy of Local Deities in the Roman Empire” now out in Religion in the Roman Empire special issue edited by @ericorlin.bsky.social doi.org/10.1628/rre-... 🥰
This is my first really meaty article to drop post-pandemic and motherhood…🧵🏺
This story from @clairemillington.bsky.social about her great grandad and the discovery of the Rudston Venus Mosaic has me completing flipping out…😱🤯🤩 #MosaicMonday
View of the Whin Sill with Crag Lough in the distance. In the foreground, black cows are lying in a field. Much of the sky is blue but with big clouds floating around and a definite feel of possible rain.
Hadrian’s Wall and the Whin Sill viewed from Steel Rigg. With some lucky resident cows who I hope enjoy the view 🐄
📷 my own, taken today
Thank you!! 😍😍😍 That is wonderful to hear - I’ll pass it on to the students too 🥰
Having a nephew to occupy last week gave me just the excuse i needed to revisit @romanpalace.bsky.social
Now in some ways they need no introduction, they're kinda living legends round these parts but sometimes its nice to have other people say nice things about you
so: thread time 🧵👇
#MosaicMonday
🧵/10
The Medusa room, also a place where you can see the palimpsest of later Mosaics being laid over older designs
#MosaicMonday
😰😰😰
