Neal Curtis

@nihilcurtis.bsky.social

Comics scholar, one-time critical theorist. Interested in science communication & graphic medicine. Enjoys SF. Concerned (to say the least) by climate emergency and fascism. Escaped UK for Aotearoa. Tangata Tiriti. He/him.

130-year-old Hitachi Tree, located in Moanalua Gardens on Oahu, Hawaii. Also known as the rain tree or monkeypod tree, it is famous for its massive umbrella-shaped canopy, which can reach over 40 meters (131 ft) in diameter.

Sipping my coffee ☕️ and thinking about these marvellous Minoan cups! They look so modern it’s incredible to think they were made by Bronze Age potters some 3,800 years ago! Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo collage shows five cylindrical Minoan cups each with a single handle and a slightly flaring rim. Each cup is decorated with a different geometric polychrome motif as follows:

Top left: on a black background, a central band delineated by an upper and lower white line contains evenly-spaced dark-orange circles. Each orange circle is outlined by a white line. Above and below the central band are swirling white vine-like lines.

Top right: on a black background, a large white spiral on the front of the cup and beside it a dark-orange oval with stylised white petals at each end which looks like a wrapped sweet!

Middle left: a central band of white and dark orange diagonal lines runs around the cup. Above and below the central band are alternating black and white diagonal shapes, the black ones look like shark fins

Bottom left: a central reddish-orange band delineated with a white line. Above the central band are swirling, spiralling white lines against a black background, and below the central band are alternating white and black diagonal lines.

Bottom right: A central band delineated with white lines contains white 's'-shaped diagonal white stripes. Above the central band a row of red dots outlined with white circles. Below the central band a single white line on the black background.

This type of Minoan pottery is known as Kamares Ware, named after the Kamares Cave on Mount Ida on the Greek island of Crete where this kind of pottery was first discovered. Kamares Ware vessels were luxury items produced by palace workshops at Phaistos and Knossos on Crete. These five cups were excavated at Phaistos and are dated 1800-1700 BC.

I just learned the kangaroo and Emu are in Australia's national coat of arms because the country saw itself as always moving forward and both animals struggle to go backwards. 🙂🇭🇲

Just want to remind folks that this keeps happening. Burials of assumed-important ancients discovered to be women via genetic testing, after decades of them simply being assumed to be male. The patriarchy is incompatible with reality.

Jens Notroff@jensnotroff.com · 5d ago

The #BronzeAge #UptonLovellShaman​'s burial in Wiltshire has long been considered an important religious figure & metalworker. It's been barely questioned someone of such status must be male. But now #aDNA analysis revealed that the body is in fact: a woman. 🏺 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The aim of oligarchy is to replace the People with corporations as the expression of popular will. This will be legitimized by arguing our purchase of capitalist products and services, and therefore their accumulation of profit, is the ultimate measure of our freedom (to choose).