Surreal to hold this after so many years. Out in print and as an open access publication from @gettymuseum.bsky.social in September 2026. www.getty.edu/publications...
James Donaldson
@cairojim.bsky.social
Australians, Antiquities and WW1. The Shellal Mosaic. Collecting Antiquities in the Antipodes. Manager/Curator at UQ Antiquities Museum.
Pleased to have this out and open access with @jas-jozstudies.bsky.social my great grandfather, Major RJ Donaldson DSO, was one of the Aussie engineers at Brightlingsea so this had a special connection for me
Journal of Australian Studies@jas-jozstudies.bsky.social · 4mo agoIn our final article for 50.2, @paulkiem.bsky.social and @cairojim.bsky.social examine the at times whimsical evidence for Australian sappers encountering Roman antiquities at Brightlingsea, Essex during World War I. #OzStudies #OzHist #antiquities #OpenAccess tinyurl.com/ycx6pfvk
Why do we talk about the “history of collection” when whole sites were torn apart and dispersed across the globe? Is it a collection, or a breaking apart? Read about Palmyra’s dispersal, out now in AJA www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Collecting Palmyra: The Global Dispersal of Palmyrene Funerary Reliefs | American Journal of Archaeology: Vol 130, No 3
Palmyra has been pivotal in archaeological and historical research due to the wealth of material and the long history of fascination with the site. Its material culture can be found on every continent...
journals.uchicago.edu
Anne Mackay @ BMCR #review: Candace Richards, Elizabeth Minchin, Mediterranean collections in Australia & Aotearoa NZ... bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2026/2026.03... "multi layered perspectives on.. post-colonial era problems of curation &.. societal relevance of antipodean Mediterranean antiquities"
Mediterranean collections in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand: perspectives from afar – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
bmcr.brynmawr.edu
That exciting feeling when you notice you have a new book out (even though you haven't quite finished it yet!) press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... @amalexathorn.bsky.social @sharonhoward.bsky.social @corabeth.bsky.social
Women Working the Past
This book offers a new history of women's integral contribution to archaeology, history, and heritage in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain and beyond. Born out of the Beyond Notability project...
press.uchicago.edu
‘Egyptian artefacts recovered and arrest made after 'amateur' Caboolture museum heist’ #archaeologynews www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Man charged after Egyptian artefacts stolen from Caboolture museum
A 52-year-old man has been charged and 'priceless' Egyptian artefacts have been recovered after a break-in at a small museum in Caboolture on Friday.
abc.net.au
'Archaeology against the clock: the race to salvage fragments of early Brisbane' #archaeologynews 🏺 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Archaeology against the clock: the race to salvage fragments of early Brisbane
Tens of thousands of artefacts were unearthed not by careful excavation but by the 2011 floods. Now, students are piecing together Queensland’s history
theguardian.com
Great to have this article with @paulkiem.bsky.social out in @jas-jozstudies.bsky.social today, all about Roman artefacts and Australian soldiers at Brightlingsea, Essex, during the First World War, with an intriguing ghost story at its heart
Paul Kiem@paulkiem.bsky.social · 8mo agoEnjoyed exploring some whimsical history and archaeology with @cairojim.bsky.social Our article, 'The Centurion and the Sapper', has just been published, open access, in the Journal of Australian Studies @jas-jozstudies.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
A new article by member Christopher Kreuzer is now available! "Plant collecting during the First World War was more widespread than previously understood, contributed to the psychological wellbeing of those involved, and enhances floristic knowledge." nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
How digitisation of herbaria reveals the botanical legacy of the First World War
Digitisation of herbarium collections is bringing greater understanding to bear on the complexity of narratives relating to the First World War and its aftermath – scientific and societal. Plant coll....
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
I can't believe ANU is proposing to disestablish ANDC @ozworders.bsky.social. Over the last 20 years of writing I've often consulted staff over the origins of obscure words and phrases. We need the dictionary to record and explain our changing language. www.smh.com.au/national/fro...
From bluey to bogans: Researchers who help define how the nation speaks to lose their jobs
For almost 40 years, the words the nation uses in speech, newspapers and books has been mapped by a small team at the Australian National Dictionary Centre.
smh.com.au
The final chapter, 20, offers a distribution guide to the known publicly accessible collections in the region - 66 in total. Each institution is given a short entry that situates the ancient Med. artefacts within its broader collections, with the aim of increasing visibility of these materials 🏺📜🏛.
Candace Richards@circa-candace.bsky.social · last yr.Out now! A collaborative volume that explores provenance, pedagogy, participatory programming and ethics for managing ancient Mediterranean collections in this region by #museum experts and researchers. 🏺📜🖼🏛 www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/1...
Chapter 6 focuses on the Antiquities Collection of the Uni of Queensland in the mid 20th century and the journey of the Classics department to form the RD Milns museum. It provides a historic framework from which to understand the place of ancient world studies in contemporary Australian education.
Candace Richards@circa-candace.bsky.social · last yr.Out now! A collaborative volume that explores provenance, pedagogy, participatory programming and ethics for managing ancient Mediterranean collections in this region by #museum experts and researchers. 🏺📜🖼🏛 www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/1...
I am hugely enjoying this book - it has so much to offer all researchers of museum collections of antiquities.
Candace Richards@circa-candace.bsky.social · last yr.Chapter 16 by Brit Asmussen and @cairojim.bsky.social explores the sticky-ness of objects. They consider the relevance of antiquities held in museums and the varied contributions they make to the contemporary world via people’s engagement with them today.
Chapter 16 by Brit Asmussen and @cairojim.bsky.social explores the sticky-ness of objects. They consider the relevance of antiquities held in museums and the varied contributions they make to the contemporary world via people’s engagement with them today.
Candace Richards@circa-candace.bsky.social · last yr.Out now! A collaborative volume that explores provenance, pedagogy, participatory programming and ethics for managing ancient Mediterranean collections in this region by #museum experts and researchers. 🏺📜🖼🏛 www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/1...
“Looting is a global issue, often fueled by armed conflicts, civil unrest, and weak governmental control,” 🏺
As war rages in Gaza, archaeological looting in the West Bank has spiked
Economic collapse in Palestinian territories has led to illegal digs at prominent Bronze Age site, new study finds
science.org
Oh hey, it's my thing! Looted text finds from recent war zones! You know, the thing I've been thinking about for, uh, *checks notes* about seven years now! I haven't found an easy answer that lets me sleep soundly, but apparently, some people have. Good for them. Allow me to add some thoughts.🧵
Chasing Aphrodite@chasingaphrodite.bsky.social · last yr.Should educators ever teach with materials obtained illegally or unethically? “As an archaeologist who teaches at Emory, I have decided yes: Learning with and from these objects can help amend their problematic acquisition—so long as that history pervades the lesson” www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...
Should educators ever teach with materials obtained illegally or unethically? “As an archaeologist who teaches at Emory, I have decided yes: Learning with and from these objects can help amend their problematic acquisition—so long as that history pervades the lesson” www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...
When Wartime Plunder Comes to Campus
An archaeologist considers whether she should teach with antiquities looted during the U.S invasion of Iraq.
sapiens.org