David Osborne
@daosborne.bsky.social
Archaeologist, Midlands4Cities PhD researcher of Bronze Age stuff @ Unis of Nottingham & Leicester. UCU & Labour member.
Husband, dad to two amazing people, classical music obsessive, son of Tyneside.
https://daosborne.github.io/
Husband, dad to two amazing people, classical music obsessive, son of Tyneside.
https://daosborne.github.io/
Pinned
In Birmingham for tonight’s concert of Schumann & Stravinsky by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Simon Rattle and picked up this flyer about UoN’s dreadful Music Dept plans. Spread the word.
Reposted by David Osborne
Horrified by the proposed closure of Modern Languages @uniofnottingham.bsky.social This would end language higher education in the East Midlands & decimate the uni’s research profile. Shortsighted and reckless. #University_of_Little_England #SaveNottinghamLanguages #WeAreUoN
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Horrified by the proposed closure of Modern Languages @uniofnottingham.bsky.social This would end language higher education in the East Midlands & decimate the uni’s research profile. Shortsighted and reckless. #University_of_Little_England #SaveNottinghamLanguages #WeAreUoN
Reposted by David Osborne
Please support and share this petition to help save American Studies teaching at The University of Nottingham. Staff are facing redundancy. The expertise that would be lost would be monumental. Please sign.
c.org/26qjPmffNy
c.org/26qjPmffNy
This campaign needs you now
SAVE AMERICAN STUDIES TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
c.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Please support and share this petition to help save American Studies teaching at The University of Nottingham. Staff are facing redundancy. The expertise that would be lost would be monumental. Please sign.
c.org/26qjPmffNy
c.org/26qjPmffNy
In Birmingham for tonight’s concert of Schumann & Stravinsky by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Simon Rattle and picked up this flyer about UoN’s dreadful Music Dept plans. Spread the word.
November 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
In Birmingham for tonight’s concert of Schumann & Stravinsky by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Simon Rattle and picked up this flyer about UoN’s dreadful Music Dept plans. Spread the word.
Reposted by David Osborne
THREAD: Delighted that Peterborough Museum has received £250k, to further explore the amazing Bronze Age assemblage from Must Farm. One of my favourite projects of the past few years was creating replicas of the pots, to better understand the technology behind them 🏺
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Peterborough Museum gets £250k for Bronze Age project
The two-year initiative will explore the discoveries made at Must Farm in Whittlesey.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 5:47 PM
THREAD: Delighted that Peterborough Museum has received £250k, to further explore the amazing Bronze Age assemblage from Must Farm. One of my favourite projects of the past few years was creating replicas of the pots, to better understand the technology behind them 🏺
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by David Osborne
A massive number of our members just got word that the courses they teach on will be "suspended" by the university, effecting out current and future students in every single faculty and school at UoN.
November 5, 2025 at 6:21 PM
A massive number of our members just got word that the courses they teach on will be "suspended" by the university, effecting out current and future students in every single faculty and school at UoN.
Reposted by David Osborne
You are warmly invited to The Discovery Programme’s Martin Doody Memorial Lecture 2025:
"Animal Kin, Animal Others in Early Bronze Age Britain”
It will be delivered by Prof Joanna Brück of @ucddublin.bsky.social
Sign up here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/martin-doo...
Thurs 4 Dec
7.30pm
Online
Free
"Animal Kin, Animal Others in Early Bronze Age Britain”
It will be delivered by Prof Joanna Brück of @ucddublin.bsky.social
Sign up here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/martin-doo...
Thurs 4 Dec
7.30pm
Online
Free
Martin Doody Memorial Lecture 2025
The Discovery Programme's annual Martin Doody Memorial Lecture, delivered this year by Prof Joanna Brück of University College Dublin
www.eventbrite.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Erratum: in my post yesterday on a recent Guardian article about Bronze Age feasting networks, I linked to a 2023 paper that was all I could find at the time.
I’m grateful to @timdaw.bsky.social for telling me about the now-published paper in iScience, at
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
I’m grateful to @timdaw.bsky.social for telling me about the now-published paper in iScience, at
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
Redirecting
doi.org
September 11, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Erratum: in my post yesterday on a recent Guardian article about Bronze Age feasting networks, I linked to a 2023 paper that was all I could find at the time.
I’m grateful to @timdaw.bsky.social for telling me about the now-published paper in iScience, at
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
I’m grateful to @timdaw.bsky.social for telling me about the now-published paper in iScience, at
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
Today’s Guardian article on multi-isotope evidence for feasting at the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition is still interesting even though it’s based on a 2023 paper by Richard Madgwick, Carmen Esposito & @angelalamb.bsky.social
🧵1/2
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
🧵1/2
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
People gathered for great meat feasts at end of British bronze age, study shows
Evidence of millions of animal bones at sites in West Country and Surrey points to ‘age of feasting’
www.theguardian.com
September 10, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Today’s Guardian article on multi-isotope evidence for feasting at the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition is still interesting even though it’s based on a 2023 paper by Richard Madgwick, Carmen Esposito & @angelalamb.bsky.social
🧵1/2
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
🧵1/2
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Reposted by David Osborne
Our alternative interpretations of the ‘king’ of Newgrange (a skull fragment from an individual who was born of incest) and his distant relations have been published! We argue for the importance of careful integration of aDNA results with detailed archaeological evidence. Such a great team effort!
Who was NG10 and what was the world they lived in? The sister paper to our CAJ paper is now out in Antiquity and the cover image no less! Working on these papers with this group, has been one of the richest academic experiences I have had in my career. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The ‘king’ of Newgrange? A critical analysis of a Neolithic petrous fragment from the passage tomb chamber | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
The ‘king’ of Newgrange? A critical analysis of a Neolithic petrous fragment from the passage tomb chamber - Volume 99 Issue 405
www.cambridge.org
June 24, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Our alternative interpretations of the ‘king’ of Newgrange (a skull fragment from an individual who was born of incest) and his distant relations have been published! We argue for the importance of careful integration of aDNA results with detailed archaeological evidence. Such a great team effort!
Reposted by David Osborne
Our brains love the colour gradation in rainbows, maybe due to our ancestors searching for sources of water. Looking at plants helps us recover from stress & looking at something we think is beautiful causes dopamine release.
I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿
I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿
June 14, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Our brains love the colour gradation in rainbows, maybe due to our ancestors searching for sources of water. Looking at plants helps us recover from stress & looking at something we think is beautiful causes dopamine release.
I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿
I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿
Reposted by David Osborne
Fin Cop above Monsal Dale (the only Derbyshire hillfort to feature on a classic rail poster!), excavated 2009 by Longstone History Group and ARS. Late Bronze Age origins, and a harrowing end in the Middle Iron Age (400-300BC) with inhabitants massacred and dumped in the ditch.
#HillfortsWednesday
#HillfortsWednesday
May 21, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Fin Cop above Monsal Dale (the only Derbyshire hillfort to feature on a classic rail poster!), excavated 2009 by Longstone History Group and ARS. Late Bronze Age origins, and a harrowing end in the Middle Iron Age (400-300BC) with inhabitants massacred and dumped in the ditch.
#HillfortsWednesday
#HillfortsWednesday
Reposted by David Osborne
Check out this beautiful wooden shovel and antler pick from Bronze Age Britain #FindsFriday 🏺
Currently in the Cornwall Museum, they are some of the oldest of their kind in Europe and would have been used to mine tin traded as far as the Levant!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Currently in the Cornwall Museum, they are some of the oldest of their kind in Europe and would have been used to mine tin traded as far as the Levant!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
May 23, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Check out this beautiful wooden shovel and antler pick from Bronze Age Britain #FindsFriday 🏺
Currently in the Cornwall Museum, they are some of the oldest of their kind in Europe and would have been used to mine tin traded as far as the Levant!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Currently in the Cornwall Museum, they are some of the oldest of their kind in Europe and would have been used to mine tin traded as far as the Levant!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by David Osborne
Curious how the Arts & Humanities can elevate your research? Join us for a free webinar where leading scholars share how interdisciplinary collaboration can unlock new insights and tackle complex challenges.
🗓️ June 18
⏰ 12:30 PM EDT
🔗 Register now: https://oxford.ly/4kadupU
#AcademicSky
🗓️ June 18
⏰ 12:30 PM EDT
🔗 Register now: https://oxford.ly/4kadupU
#AcademicSky
May 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Curious how the Arts & Humanities can elevate your research? Join us for a free webinar where leading scholars share how interdisciplinary collaboration can unlock new insights and tackle complex challenges.
🗓️ June 18
⏰ 12:30 PM EDT
🔗 Register now: https://oxford.ly/4kadupU
#AcademicSky
🗓️ June 18
⏰ 12:30 PM EDT
🔗 Register now: https://oxford.ly/4kadupU
#AcademicSky
Reposted by David Osborne
The so called Leprechaun house at Carrowkeel, Sligo is a ruined Neolithic tomb. Sliced by a field boundary, some of its material is used in the stone walls… I was inspired by this to come out of “drawing retirement” (1/2) 🧵
May 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The so called Leprechaun house at Carrowkeel, Sligo is a ruined Neolithic tomb. Sliced by a field boundary, some of its material is used in the stone walls… I was inspired by this to come out of “drawing retirement” (1/2) 🧵
An entertaining talk (he said it wasn't a lecture) last night from Mick Lynch, RMT secretary-general, delivering the inaugural Agnes Flues Memorial Lecture to our local UoN UCU branch. Memories of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Agnes in blizzards on picket lines in February 2018. #solidarity
April 25, 2025 at 6:28 PM
An entertaining talk (he said it wasn't a lecture) last night from Mick Lynch, RMT secretary-general, delivering the inaugural Agnes Flues Memorial Lecture to our local UoN UCU branch. Memories of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Agnes in blizzards on picket lines in February 2018. #solidarity
Reposted by David Osborne
Happy birthday, p = 0.05!
I had a short introductory lecture in statistics for biologists this morning, and then it dawned on me that p = 0.05 is celebrating its hundredth birthday this year.
I had a short introductory lecture in statistics for biologists this morning, and then it dawned on me that p = 0.05 is celebrating its hundredth birthday this year.
April 1, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Happy birthday, p = 0.05!
I had a short introductory lecture in statistics for biologists this morning, and then it dawned on me that p = 0.05 is celebrating its hundredth birthday this year.
I had a short introductory lecture in statistics for biologists this morning, and then it dawned on me that p = 0.05 is celebrating its hundredth birthday this year.
Reposted by David Osborne
HE job cuts in the East Midlands
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
University of Nottingham plans to cut more than 250 jobs
Announcing the consultation, the university said it was a "critical moment for universities across the UK".
www.bbc.com
April 8, 2025 at 10:48 PM
HE job cuts in the East Midlands
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by David Osborne
Sounds like a plan
April 5, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Sounds like a plan
Reposted by David Osborne
Something lovely for the weekend!
About 40,000 years ago, during the #IceAge, this small figurine of a ‘big cat’ was sculpted from mammoth ivory. Thought to be a cave lion, it is one of the world’s oldest known works of figurative art.
📷 me
#Caturday
#Archaeology
About 40,000 years ago, during the #IceAge, this small figurine of a ‘big cat’ was sculpted from mammoth ivory. Thought to be a cave lion, it is one of the world’s oldest known works of figurative art.
📷 me
#Caturday
#Archaeology
April 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Something lovely for the weekend!
About 40,000 years ago, during the #IceAge, this small figurine of a ‘big cat’ was sculpted from mammoth ivory. Thought to be a cave lion, it is one of the world’s oldest known works of figurative art.
📷 me
#Caturday
#Archaeology
About 40,000 years ago, during the #IceAge, this small figurine of a ‘big cat’ was sculpted from mammoth ivory. Thought to be a cave lion, it is one of the world’s oldest known works of figurative art.
📷 me
#Caturday
#Archaeology
Reposted by David Osborne
We are happy to share our pre-print on dating bone using a novel non-destructive protocol we developed. The paper is on the Biorxiv here (Luftensteiner et al. 2025):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Non-destructive radiocarbon dating of bone
Since the 1950s, radiocarbon measurements have anchored archaeological chronologies dating back to 50,000 years, with bone collagen being a commonly dated material. Despite advances in collagen extrac...
www.biorxiv.org
March 29, 2025 at 3:05 PM
We are happy to share our pre-print on dating bone using a novel non-destructive protocol we developed. The paper is on the Biorxiv here (Luftensteiner et al. 2025):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by David Osborne
Hooray! Our paper detailing new dates for Flagstones enclosure in Dorset has been published in @antiquityj.bsky.social today. It shows that Flagstones is middle Neolithic, built and used for burial around 3200 BC, earlier than expected. Open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Beginning of the circle? Revised chronologies for Flagstones and Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
Beginning of the circle? Revised chronologies for Flagstones and Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset
www.cambridge.org
March 6, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Hooray! Our paper detailing new dates for Flagstones enclosure in Dorset has been published in @antiquityj.bsky.social today. It shows that Flagstones is middle Neolithic, built and used for burial around 3200 BC, earlier than expected. Open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by David Osborne
Nice job @suegreaney.bsky.social !
Radiocarbon dating of Flagstones Middle Neolithic ‘proto-henge’ is earlier than thought:
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
Re-dating of Flagstones monument to about 3,200BC came after analysis by Exeter University and Historic England
www.theguardian.com
March 6, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Nice job @suegreaney.bsky.social !
Radiocarbon dating of Flagstones Middle Neolithic ‘proto-henge’ is earlier than thought:
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
Re-dating of Flagstones monument to about 3,200BC came after analysis by Exeter University and Historic England
www.theguardian.com
March 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Radiocarbon dating of Flagstones Middle Neolithic ‘proto-henge’ is earlier than thought:
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Ancient Dorset burial site raises questions over age of Stonehenge
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...