Trevor Wiley
@mearcsteppende.bsky.social
History PhD candidate at Boston College dissertating on the environment, community, and landscape on the 4th-8th century Forth, Clyde, and Tay in Scotland. Originally from Appalachia.
Hi, hi. It's been a while and I still have some left so do you mind if I promote my Changing Landscapes zine? 40 pages dedicated to ruined structures (and vehicles!) in the North Pennines. £10 including P&P - UK only. Info & buy: www.mariegardiner.co.uk/zines-and-pr... #Photography #Zine
It's a quiet August Tuesday and I need a break from grading so let's do this! One like, one answer. (Borrowed from @abbaetha.bsky.social )
Sheepfold & hafod archaeology in the Berwyn Mountains. All of these are along the Afon Disgynfa valley west of Pistyll Rhaiadr & there were plenty more hidden in the head height bracken. They are mostly late Medieval & Post Medieval in date, but frequently incorporate or robbed earlier structures.
People actually do care about the past. Far from being told I'm wasting my time, I universally get a positive reaction on telling people that I teach ancient and medieval history. Don't belittle the manifestations of that interest if you want people to keep caring about the past.
Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · last wk.My dentist in rural Iowa asked me about the Odyssey controversy yesterday, in case you were wondering if the world is watching as classicists tear each other apart. I sincerely hope we can all try to now collectively act to show support for the humanities & save all departments under threat as well.
Whether it's this or the Latinus stone or any of them, I will never get tired of reading an inscription by someone that is just "hey, I was here and made this!" Just one of the most human expressions of being
Becky Wallower@bwallower.bsky.social · last wk.#TombTuesday Early 11th C tomb cover in Ringerike style popular in Scandinavia/Saxon England. Stylised serpent and lion fighting w inscription on left edge: 'Ginna and Toki had this stone made'. Found at St Paul's Cathedral 1852. BM loan to London Museum: but will we see it in new one in Nov?
Literature on transhumance is best consumed alongside good beer
Writing the introduction to the dissertation and trying to efficiently define "firth" and "loch" for audiences that I have to assume know neither term, while trying to convey that the firths I'm looking at are estuaries but that the "firth" and "estuary" are not totally coterminous and it is tough
I’ve finally got to see the mural of St Mungo in Glasgow. The image depicts the city’s patron saint in modern clothing as a homeless man holding a robin, in a reference to one of his four legendary miracles.
Old photo: By the Firth of Forth, former fisherman's cottages and merchant's houses are scattered along the harbour's edge in the old village of St Monans, East Neuk of Fife.
This is me, once again begging anyone to make a movie/miniseries about Æthelfrith's children after his death and all of their journeys: Æbbe and her monastic founding, Oswald, Eanfrith and Oswiu's kingships, their childhoods among the Picts and Dál Riata, all the dynastic politics
A lot of US people think the collapse of academia is a Trump thing, which implies the possibility of alternative employment in or funding from other countries and maybe the possibility of just flipping the switch back to “fund” once he’s gone and this is dramatically underestimating the scale
Kathleen E. Kennedy@themedievaldrk.bsky.social · 2w agoUKHE making the grim landscape of USHE look cuddly and supportive : (
@imc-leeds.bsky.social #IMC2027 CALL FOR PAPERS: “Communities and Connections between the Norse and Celtic Worlds” We want to hear all about your research on Norse and Celtic connections ☘️🌊 @irishinstitute.bsky.social
If I had to have a specific hell assigned to me in the afterlife, driving a Uhaul of any size in Boston would definitely be a contender
Free to read online and featuring some excellent papers from leading academics - including a new interpretation of the St Andrews Sarcophagus by our President, Professor Jane Geddes. #MedievalSky
Sidestone Press@sidestone.bsky.social · 2w agoOUT NOW! Royalty and Ritual. The landscape of power in early medieval Scotland and Europe. Get a printed copy or peruse online at www.sidestone.com/books/royalt... @pictishartssociety.bsky.social @insuhi.bsky.social
Using an ancient trick to get work done by forcing myself to do the work I *really* don't want to do (grading) in order to make the work I might otherwise put off (article revisions) really attractive for working on after
📖 SUNDAY, 19th July! Join Alex Harvey to learn about early medieval Britain's 'Little Kingdoms'. FREE, 4:30pm on Sunday 19th July at the Govan Stones. Part of the Govan Book Festival 📚 📍 Govan Stones Museum, Govan Old ⛪️ 🕑 Sunday 19th July, 4.30pm 🗣 @alexharvv.bsky.social
The @archaeologyuk.bsky.social #FestivalOfArchaeology starts today! To celebrate the theme Archaeology and Nature, we have put together a collection of research, covering everything from ancient peoples' interactions with nature to 'green archaeology' Check it out: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Super exciting!
Claire Boardman@claireboardman.bsky.social · 3w ago"University of Aberdeen Dept of Art History, in partnership with Robert Gordon University, UHI Orkney & UHI Shetland, has been awarded an AHRC Doctoral Focal Award in Art History, Visual Arts & Creative Practice for 'North-Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT).'" @ukri.org www.abdn.ac.uk/news/25879/
Not my usual lane but the Parkinson art of the ranger on some sort of giant lizard mount in the snow was one of the things which infected my eleven-year-old mind and solidified that I would be a forever DM
Josh Sawyer@jesawyer.bsky.social · 3w agoKeith Parkinson was one of the greats.
celebrating the good parts of america today. if you don’t think there are any good parts, just look to all the stuff the fascists are desperate to stifle
The cropmarks here are very promising, and this is a cool chance to be part of a dig that changes our understanding of the Northumbrian world - if you're around and can do it, give it a look!
Dig It!@digitscotland.bsky.social · last mo.In the 1980s and 90s, cropmarks revealed the remains of a multi-period settlement site near Kelso in the Borders 🛩️ Now experts need your help to excavate the site and search for possible features like a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and an early medieval town: www.digitscotland.com/events/sprou...
🎶As I went walking I saw a sign there, And on the sign it said "Private Property." But on the other side it didn't say nothing. That side was made for you and me🎶
Scott “bell beaker” Cave@hellabarnes.bsky.social · last mo.• without a connection to the landscape, it’s hard for people to connect to the living world, both practically and politically • many problems of life in the sunbelt in particular could be partially assuaged by better access to places to recreate • rural landowners need to be knocked down a peg
Rosamond McKitterick (1949-2026) A formidable scholar, an inspiring teacher, a generous spirit and a supportive colleague - truly, we have lost one of the great ones. @sidneysussex.bsky.social @camhistory.bsky.social @camedieval.bsky.social
(*this month's task, evidently...) I wonder if there's a friendly volcanologist 🌋 out there (ideally someone conversant with tuff) who wouldn't mind glancing at the manuscript (8k words or so) to make sure there aren't any glaring errors
Dan Diffendale@diffendale.bsky.social · 3mo ago(this week's primary task is to finish an article interpreting salient points of contemporary volcanology vis-à-vis building materials for Roman archaeologists)
Somewhat impromptu trip to Dunkeld and Birnam today - so impromptu that I didn't do my proper homework and climbed to the top of Birnam Hill/King's Seat only to find out that the early medieval fort is on the other King's Seat, just the other side of Dunkeld. Ah well, the view was great.
Rapid (and definitely missing a lot of stuff) but it's very easy to see the landscape context of a lot of early medieval stones/religious sites/hillforts from up here in a way you just can't do on a map!
Trevor Wiley@mearcsteppende.bsky.social · 2mo agoGetting up this morning to get up Kinnoul Hill was a good idea. Lot of early medieval stuff captured in this photo.
![120. Even when limitations are experienced as inner suffering, human wisdom teaches us not to deny or suppress it, but to integrate it. To eliminate suffering entirely would mean, in the end, extinguishing love and desire as well.
Those who love and desire cannot avoid passing through trial and suffering; and over the years, we carry within us lessons that leave their mark like scars, the memories of a journey shaped by freedom and failure, dreams and disappointments. It is only thanks to the interplay of these elements that the wonders of the soul occur within us, allowing us to sense the richness of our humanity. [132] To renounce this adventure, both tragic and splendid, in the name of a presumed transcendence of all limits, could mean many things, but it would no longer be human.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2iusthwjwqo3qndx7srglie3/bafkreib4rvib5btlr7hnij4x4iywmugobm7uwefmrebcpjkvivwkldvzqm)