Ancient blue: 34,000-year-old traces of indigo found in Georgian cave Archaeologists uncover 34,000-year-old indigo dye traces in Georgia, revealing early plant use beyond food and tools.

Earliest evidence of indigo processing in Georgia, 34,000 years ago. Looks convincing!

#ArchaeologyofStuff #Archaeology

archaeologymag.com/2025/09/anci...

Archaeologists uncover Iron Age hub for prized purple dye in Israel A team of anthropologists, archaeologists and historical specialists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Israel has found that there once existed a coastal settlement in what is now m...

I'm always interested to read about archaeological materials, but I am surprised that there was so much talk about "The Kingdom of Israel" but nothing about Tel Shikmona being a Tyrian "Phoenician" town. 🏺

#Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff

phys.org/news/2025-04...

Yesterday I had the final test of my Medieval Middle-Eastern Pottery course at the University of Toronto. It was at the ROM, using their collection. I haven't checked the results yet but I am sure they did well! 🏺

#Archaeology #ArchaeologyofStuff #IslamicArt

This mosaic from the late 13th century, part of a bishops throne in Ravello, Italy, actually has fragments of turquoise pottery made in Damascus, Syria, in the late 12th century in the wing. 📷mine of 2003.

#MosaicMonday #medievalsky #ArchaeologyofStuff

Archaeological findings on France's Ile de Ré reveal North Sea trade links Archaeological excavations on the Ile de Ré, an island off France's Atlantic coast, have unearthed graves and artefacts dating back to the 8th century – findings that confirm trading ties with Norther...

Another example demonstrating that people who live near the sea are often oriented towards the sea - and lands beyond. Of course in this case they lived on a small island which would reinforce that! 🏺

#Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff

www.rfi.fr/en/france/20...

Popular Archeology - Clues of advanced ancient technology found in the Philippines and Island Southeast Asia

It is as I have foreseen...

#ArchaeologyofStuff #Archaeology

popular-archaeology.com/article/clue...

More pottery from Yemen, these may be some of the world's first coffee cups!

#MedievalSky #Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff 🏺

Showing my students some medieval pottery from Yemen at the ROM today, including this one with a cat's paw impression in it!

#MedievalSky #Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff 🏺

1,600-year-old Roman padlock with spring mechanism discovered in Germany — and it's tiny A miniature gold lock dated to the third to fourth centuries was found by a metal detectorist in Germany.

Okay, that IS cool.

#ArchaeologyofStuff #RomanSky #Archaeology

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

1/🧵 Pottery at the ROM to show my students from University of Toronto! This time it is pottery from Mamluk Egypt and Syria (c. 1250-1500) and pottery from Iran c.800-1300.

🏺 #Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff #Ceramics #IslamicArt #MedievalSky @romtoronto.bsky.social @uoft.bsky.social

Snettisham helmet

Persian Sasanian helmet Dura Europos, Syria, dated to c. 250 AD

Berkasovo helmet, Early 4th C AD

Deir el-Medina helmet 4th-6th?

The famous Snettisham Hoard (c. 50 BC) has now been found to include a helmet. It has a nasal and eyebrows, which makes me think of other and later places.

🏺 #Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Very interesting find of ancient bronze statues being recycled, as indicated by the Berlin Foundry Cup.

#Archaeology #ArchaeologyOfStuff 🏺

www.jpost.com/archaeology/...

Analytical study of the Alexander Mosaic shows that the origin of tesserae does not provide an origin for the mosaic (found in Pompeii).

I even did a Google Maps of the identified locations!

#ArchaeologyOfStuff #ArchaeologicalScience #Archaeometry #RomanSky 🏺

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

Curse tablet found in Roman-era grave in France targets enemies by invoking Mars, the god of war Excavation of a Roman-era cemetery in France yielded nearly two dozen lead tablets inscribed in Latin and Gaulish.

I would love to hear more about this project. The opportunity of cursing someone in Gaulish is too good to pass up!

🏺 #Archaeology #ArchaeologyofStuff #MortuaryArchaeology

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Lasers used to make ancient skin fluoresce and contrast with tattoos, providing images with improved detail. 🏺

#Archaeology #ArchaeologyofStuff #Tattoos #ArchaeologyofTattoos
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Interesting paper if you are into raw material procurement.

#Archaeology #ArchaeologyofStuff 🏺 ⚒️

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

‘But no living man am I’: Bioarchaeological evaluation of the first-known female burial with weapon from the 10th-century-CE Carpathian Basin Female burials equipped with weapons, a topic of interest among scholars and the general public, remain rare occurrences in archaeological records. The interpretation of such cases requires an interdi...

An attested case of a woman found buried with weapons in the 10th century Carpathian Basin. Skeletal morphology indicated that she had a long life riding and shooting.

#GenderArchaeology #MortuaryArchaeology #Archaeology 🏺 #MedievalSky #ArchaeologyOfStuff

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

Scandinavians came to Britain long before Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, finds study Genetic analysis of Roman soldier or gladiator buried in York reveals 25% of his ancestry came from Scandinavia

1/3 The Guardian seems to think boats were invented in the 8th century.

#Archaeology #MedievalSky 🏺 #ArchaeologyofStuff

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

9th century sword in the Muzeum Wojska w Białymstoku

9th century sword with 10th century sword found in the 1970's at the Muzeum Wojska w Białymstoku

Another nice sword, found in the Supraśl River, Poland, in 2022, but was conserved and then returned to the Muzeum Wojska w Białymstoku (Army Museum in Białystok). You will have to find their Facebook site to get the full story! 🏺

#MedievalSky #Archaeology #Swords #ArchaeologyofStuff

Unique 15th-century wooden clog unearthed in Dutch cesspit Archaeologists in Alkmaar, Netherlands, uncovered a 15th-century "time capsule" with a wooden clog and grain measure.

An exciting recent find from the Netherlands: their earliest clog. It has radical distinctions in form from more recent clogs.

Will #clogology become an important hashtag as further finds are made?

#Archaeology #Clothing #ArchaeologyOfStuff 🏺

archaeologymag.com/2024/12/15th...

Excavations at the Molkenmarkt, the oldest square in Berlin, Germany, found an object I was not previously aware of, these ceramic reliquaries. Fragments of human bone was found in the hollow part of some of them.🏺

#ArchaeologyofStuff #ArchaeologyofWomen #MedievalSky

www.berlin.de/landesdenkma...

Found jewellery and a unique coin: Three women were buried here during the Viking Age On a small rocky knoll on the west coast of Norway, archaeologists have uncovered a rich burial ground from the Viking Age.

Interesting excavations of Viking-age women's graves in Norway, with goods from across Europe, textile tools, and a "vulva stone". First found by metal detectorists.🏺

#ArchaeologyofStuff #ArchaeologyofWomen #MedievalSky #MortuaryArchaeology

www.sciencenorway.no/archaeology-...

Researchers may have finally discovered the origin of the wheel In a new study published in Royal Society Open Science, a research team provides a compelling theory on the origin of the wheel.

Interesting idea but I would want to actually try out these "grooved unilateral rollers" as they look as though they would be very difficult to move. The point about rollers is that they have no friction.

#ArchaeologyofStuff 🏺

archaeologymag.com/2024/10/rese...

Excavation unearths 5,000-year-old royal tomb amid capital speculation A tomb dating back approximately 5,000 years, presumed to be the grave of a prehistoric king, has been discovered at a ruins site in Central China's Henan province with more than 350 artifacts unearth...

Interesting 5,000 year old royal tomb found in Henan, China. They will have a lot of fun gluing that lot back together!

🏺 #ArchaeologyofStuff

www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202410/24/...

A very cool silver amulet, 2nd century CE, inscribed with a Christian text and then rolled up, the full text revealed by computer tomography.

Rather reminiscent of Roman curse tablets!

#Romansky #ArchaeologyofStuff #Archaeometry

frankfurt.de/aktuelle-mel...

panel from a marble pulpit of the early 13th century in the Duomo di Amalfi,

panel from a marble pulpit of the early 13th century in the Duomo di Amalfi, detail

sherd of late 12th century pottery from Damascus, Syria, in the collection of the ROM,. Toronto: https://collections.rom.on.ca/objects/425584/conical-bowl-rim-fragment-sherd?ctx=e174a058-f66b-4421-ac7d-ddc98a71c6d9&idx=22

For Mosaic Monday a panel from a marble pulpit of the early 13th century in the Duomo di Amalfi, the Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea, with tesserae of various stones and also pottery from Syria as the turquoise parts.

#MosaicMonday #ArchaeologyofStuff #MedievalSky

Interesting find of Western Han Dynasty (206BCE-25CE) scale armour, with lacquered scales of iron, bronze, and leather.

#ArchaeologyofStuff 🏺 #China

www.globaltimes.cn/page/202412/...

Pottery from Iraq, Egypt and Syria between 1st and 12th centuries CE. You can find them online at: https://collections.rom.on.ca/search/nmc469y#

Pottery from Iraq, Egypt and Syria between 1st and 12th centuries CE. You can find them online at: https://collections.rom.on.ca/search/nmc469y#

Pottery from Iraq, Egypt and Syria between 1st and 12th centuries CE. You can find them online at: https://collections.rom.on.ca/search/nmc469y#

Sherds for my student's test: how, where, & when they were made? All from Iraq, Egypt, or Syria, 1st to 12th centuries CE. Find them online at: collections.rom.on.ca/search/nmc469y

#ArchaeologyofStuff #MedievalSky 🏺 #SyriaSky #RomanSky #IslamicArt @romtoronto.bsky.social #UniversityofToronto

Pottery made in Damascus, Syria, late 12th-early 13th century, excavated at al-Fustat, Egypt.

Pottery made in Damascus, Syria, late 12th-early 13th century, excavated at Jerusalem in 1968.

Selecting some pottery for my student's test today. All this pottery has been shown by petrographic analysis to be made in Damascus, Syria, and is made in the late 12th-early 13th century, but the soil conditions led to very different preservation.

#ArchaeologyofStuff #MedievalSky 🏺 #SyriaSky

65,000-year-old hearth in Gibraltar may have been a Neanderthal 'glue factory,' study finds Neanderthals may have used specialized hearths to make tar around 65,000 years ago, a new study finds.

Neanderthal glue factory discovered!

#ArchaeologyofStuff 🏺 #Archaeology

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...