Edinburgh Archaeology
@edinburgharchaeo.bsky.social
This is the official Bluesky account for the Department of Archaeology part of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. https://hca.ed.ac.uk/archaeology
This Thurs 29 Jan the ArchSoc Archaeology research seminar is by Anna van der Weij PhD candidate @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social "Constructing the Limes: Burial Culture in Roman Period Netherlands" 🇳🇱 🕰️ 4:15pm in the Meadows LT @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social All welcome! #EdinArch #Roman #archaeology
January 26, 2026 at 3:04 PM
This Thurs 29 Jan the ArchSoc Archaeology research seminar is by Anna van der Weij PhD candidate @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social "Constructing the Limes: Burial Culture in Roman Period Netherlands" 🇳🇱 🕰️ 4:15pm in the Meadows LT @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social All welcome! #EdinArch #Roman #archaeology
This seminar is on TODAY (Thurs 22nd of March) at 4:15pm in the Meadows Lecture Theatre! It’s FREE and open to all to attend!
☠️ This week’s OHA/ArchSoc research seminar is by Dr Jess Thompson (National Museums Scotland) “Curating Scotland’s Archaeological Human Remains: Past, Present & Future” 22/01 @ 16:15 in the Meadows LT 📷 Credit: Neil Hanna https://hca.ed.ac.uk/news-events/events/research-seminars/archaeology-seminars
January 22, 2026 at 10:39 AM
This seminar is on TODAY (Thurs 22nd of March) at 4:15pm in the Meadows Lecture Theatre! It’s FREE and open to all to attend!
☠️ This week’s OHA/ArchSoc research seminar is by Dr Jess Thompson (National Museums Scotland) “Curating Scotland’s Archaeological Human Remains: Past, Present & Future” 22/01 @ 16:15 in the Meadows LT 📷 Credit: Neil Hanna https://hca.ed.ac.uk/news-events/events/research-seminars/archaeology-seminars
January 19, 2026 at 4:03 PM
☠️ This week’s OHA/ArchSoc research seminar is by Dr Jess Thompson (National Museums Scotland) “Curating Scotland’s Archaeological Human Remains: Past, Present & Future” 22/01 @ 16:15 in the Meadows LT 📷 Credit: Neil Hanna https://hca.ed.ac.uk/news-events/events/research-seminars/archaeology-seminars
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Please help spread the word on this, especially to those who may be feeling cold winds towards their research.
We’ve opened the call for our International Fellowships, enabling early career researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
We’ve opened the call for our International Fellowships, enabling early career researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
January 15, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Please help spread the word on this, especially to those who may be feeling cold winds towards their research.
We’ve opened the call for our International Fellowships, enabling early career researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
We’ve opened the call for our International Fellowships, enabling early career researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
Reminder this event is TODAY the 15th of January at 4:15pm GMT - details on our events pages 🔗 hca.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...
☠️ Our seminar 15/01 @ 4:15pm is by Prof @ancientchildren.bsky.social "Forgotten Children: The fetal and infant skeletal remains from the W.D. Trotter Anatomy Museum, New Zealand" @universityofotago.bsky.social NB: this seminar is online only. #edinarch #archaeology #osteology 📷 EDITH LEIGH
January 15, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reminder this event is TODAY the 15th of January at 4:15pm GMT - details on our events pages 🔗 hca.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...
☠️ Our seminar 15/01 @ 4:15pm is by Prof @ancientchildren.bsky.social "Forgotten Children: The fetal and infant skeletal remains from the W.D. Trotter Anatomy Museum, New Zealand" @universityofotago.bsky.social NB: this seminar is online only. #edinarch #archaeology #osteology 📷 EDITH LEIGH
January 13, 2026 at 6:31 PM
☠️ Our seminar 15/01 @ 4:15pm is by Prof @ancientchildren.bsky.social "Forgotten Children: The fetal and infant skeletal remains from the W.D. Trotter Anatomy Museum, New Zealand" @universityofotago.bsky.social NB: this seminar is online only. #edinarch #archaeology #osteology 📷 EDITH LEIGH
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Calling all medieval scholars - uncover the gendered, continuous migration that shaped early England! ⚔️🧬
This #OpenAccess study presents the results of a large-scale isotopic meta-analysis of early medieval England which reveals migration patterns from c. AD 400–1100 👇
This #OpenAccess study presents the results of a large-scale isotopic meta-analysis of early medieval England which reveals migration patterns from c. AD 400–1100 👇
📣 Published Open Access! 📣 "Large-Scale Isotopic Data Reveal Gendered Migration into Early Medieval England c AD 400-100" 🔗 https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2025.2583016 by @samleggs22.bsky.social @shakenbeck.bsky.social & O'Connell @cam-archaeology.bsky.social 🧬⚛️🧪🦷 #EdinArch #archaeology #medieval
January 12, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Calling all medieval scholars - uncover the gendered, continuous migration that shaped early England! ⚔️🧬
This #OpenAccess study presents the results of a large-scale isotopic meta-analysis of early medieval England which reveals migration patterns from c. AD 400–1100 👇
This #OpenAccess study presents the results of a large-scale isotopic meta-analysis of early medieval England which reveals migration patterns from c. AD 400–1100 👇
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
January 8, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Findings: (2/2)
✔️ museums have limited capacity to attract adults with authoritarian views and to alter their beliefs
Article: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
✔️ museums have limited capacity to attract adults with authoritarian views and to alter their beliefs
Article: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
January 7, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Findings: (2/2)
✔️ museums have limited capacity to attract adults with authoritarian views and to alter their beliefs
Article: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
✔️ museums have limited capacity to attract adults with authoritarian views and to alter their beliefs
Article: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Findings: (1/2)
✔️ visitors’ views do not align with the positions implied by the historical analogies used in exclusive nationalist discourse
✔️ most participants hold critical and non-binary understandings of the Iron Age and Roman past, as well as liberal values
✔️ visitors’ views do not align with the positions implied by the historical analogies used in exclusive nationalist discourse
✔️ most participants hold critical and non-binary understandings of the Iron Age and Roman past, as well as liberal values
January 7, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Findings: (1/2)
✔️ visitors’ views do not align with the positions implied by the historical analogies used in exclusive nationalist discourse
✔️ most participants hold critical and non-binary understandings of the Iron Age and Roman past, as well as liberal values
✔️ visitors’ views do not align with the positions implied by the historical analogies used in exclusive nationalist discourse
✔️ most participants hold critical and non-binary understandings of the Iron Age and Roman past, as well as liberal values
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Really excited that our *new paper* is finally out 🔥 This study is the first to quantitatively investigate museum visitors’ perceptions of historical analogies that compare concepts from the deep past to modern political ideas.
doi.org/10.1057/s415...
doi.org/10.1057/s415...
January 7, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Really excited that our *new paper* is finally out 🔥 This study is the first to quantitatively investigate museum visitors’ perceptions of historical analogies that compare concepts from the deep past to modern political ideas.
doi.org/10.1057/s415...
doi.org/10.1057/s415...
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
“Extraordinary’ Iron Age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links.
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans”
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans”
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
‘Extraordinary’ iron age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:39 AM
“Extraordinary’ Iron Age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links.
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans”
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans”
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Early Medieval England Saw Continuous Migration, Study Finds www.medievalists.net/2026/01/earl... - research by @samleggs22.bsky.social @shakenbeck.bsky.social and Tamsin C O’Connell #medieval #England #history
Early Medieval England Saw Continuous Migration, Study Finds - Medievalists.net
A major bioarchaeological study combining tooth-enamel isotopes and ancient DNA finds migration into early medieval England was continuous from AD 400–1100, with regional and gendered patterns and…
www.medievalists.net
January 6, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Early Medieval England Saw Continuous Migration, Study Finds www.medievalists.net/2026/01/earl... - research by @samleggs22.bsky.social @shakenbeck.bsky.social and Tamsin C O’Connell #medieval #England #history
📣 Published Open Access! 📣 "Large-Scale Isotopic Data Reveal Gendered Migration into Early Medieval England c AD 400-100" 🔗 https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2025.2583016 by @samleggs22.bsky.social @shakenbeck.bsky.social & O'Connell @cam-archaeology.bsky.social 🧬⚛️🧪🦷 #EdinArch #archaeology #medieval
January 5, 2026 at 12:30 PM
📣 Published Open Access! 📣 "Large-Scale Isotopic Data Reveal Gendered Migration into Early Medieval England c AD 400-100" 🔗 https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2025.2583016 by @samleggs22.bsky.social @shakenbeck.bsky.social & O'Connell @cam-archaeology.bsky.social 🧬⚛️🧪🦷 #EdinArch #archaeology #medieval
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Huge thanks to my co-authors, funders @leverhulme.ac.uk, @newnhamcollege.bsky.social, & the Cambridge Trust; to the museums/collections/commercial units who made the data in the Ecology paper doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... possible; & to colleagues/reviewers who read earlier versions of this paper! 11/11
Multi‐tissue and multi‐isotope (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O and 87/86Sr) data for early medieval human and animal palaeoecology
Human isotopic ecology at its core aims to study humans as a part of their environments, as animals within an ecosystem. We are complex animals with complicated foodways and mobility patterns that ar...
doi.org
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Huge thanks to my co-authors, funders @leverhulme.ac.uk, @newnhamcollege.bsky.social, & the Cambridge Trust; to the museums/collections/commercial units who made the data in the Ecology paper doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... possible; & to colleagues/reviewers who read earlier versions of this paper! 11/11
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Big takeaways: Britain is never cut off from the Continent, migration is constant, the 7th/8thC are fascinating, people are moving into England from the Arctic to Africa & beyond! Lots more I can't get into here on 🦋 so please check it out! It's FREE to read 🙏 ❤️+ 🔁 doi.org/10.1080/0076... 10/
Large-Scale Isotopic Data Reveal Gendered Migration into Early Medieval England c ad 400–1100
THIS STUDY PRESENTS THE RESULTS of a large-scale isotopic meta-analysis of early medieval England which reveals migration patterns from c ad 400–1100. These patterns are gendered, regionally distin...
doi.org
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Big takeaways: Britain is never cut off from the Continent, migration is constant, the 7th/8thC are fascinating, people are moving into England from the Arctic to Africa & beyond! Lots more I can't get into here on 🦋 so please check it out! It's FREE to read 🙏 ❤️+ 🔁 doi.org/10.1080/0076... 10/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Or Ridgeway Hill sk3739 from the infamous mass grave an isotopic "non-local" but mostly "British-like" 🧬 with mixed ancestry, they could be from other parts of Britain/Ireland etc., or be the inverse of the Sør-Herøy 🇳🇴 girl who @archaeonado.bsky.social highlighted: bsky.app/profile/arch... 9/
A teenage girl buried in typical Scandy fashion in Sør-Herøy near the Arctic Circle had about half Scandy and half British or continental ancestry. Now we can add isotopes from @samleggs22.bsky.social (et al 2022 - refs in alt text) suggesting she was likely raised in continent, Britain or Ireland
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Or Ridgeway Hill sk3739 from the infamous mass grave an isotopic "non-local" but mostly "British-like" 🧬 with mixed ancestry, they could be from other parts of Britain/Ireland etc., or be the inverse of the Sør-Herøy 🇳🇴 girl who @archaeonado.bsky.social highlighted: bsky.app/profile/arch... 9/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Its hard to line up people with both aDNA & isotope work (more work in press on this) but together things get much more interesting! E.g. the "Viking" sk1951 from @stjohnsox.bsky.social @oxfordarchaeology.bsky.social & TVAS whose 🧬 looks 🇩🇰 but their isotopes suggest they are "local" 8/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Its hard to line up people with both aDNA & isotope work (more work in press on this) but together things get much more interesting! E.g. the "Viking" sk1951 from @stjohnsox.bsky.social @oxfordarchaeology.bsky.social & TVAS whose 🧬 looks 🇩🇰 but their isotopes suggest they are "local" 8/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Let's take a look at ⚛️ & 🧬 side-by-side. Isotopic data not only ACTUALLY records individual movement during life (rather than ancestry shifts which can come about several ways) but also is more comprehensive across the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD. aDNA data from c.790+ is also very biased 7/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Let's take a look at ⚛️ & 🧬 side-by-side. Isotopic data not only ACTUALLY records individual movement during life (rather than ancestry shifts which can come about several ways) but also is more comprehensive across the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD. aDNA data from c.790+ is also very biased 7/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Rough E-W and N-S axes are clear, & in most regions >50% of individuals with oxygen isotope data are consistent with being local. The extremes in the NE & SW are mostly from site sampling biases. We are again @ odds with 🧬 paper claims but our dataset is larger & ancestry/haplogroup ≠ migration 6/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Rough E-W and N-S axes are clear, & in most regions >50% of individuals with oxygen isotope data are consistent with being local. The extremes in the NE & SW are mostly from site sampling biases. We are again @ odds with 🧬 paper claims but our dataset is larger & ancestry/haplogroup ≠ migration 6/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
🧑🤝🧑 Gendered migration patterns shift over time & seem at odds with 🧬 BUT there's a lot of complexity here! ♂️ migration appeared more prominent – although there was notable♀️mobility particularly into the North East, Kent & Wessex. Regionality is really important 🗺️ 5/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
🧑🤝🧑 Gendered migration patterns shift over time & seem at odds with 🧬 BUT there's a lot of complexity here! ♂️ migration appeared more prominent – although there was notable♀️mobility particularly into the North East, Kent & Wessex. Regionality is really important 🗺️ 5/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
Oxygen ⚛️ data shows climate fluctuations as well as migration events, & what I like to call the "Beer Event Horizon" 🍺 (or more accurately ale). But the science is clear - migration is constant across the period, with chronological, regional & gendered fluctuations 📈 4/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Oxygen ⚛️ data shows climate fluctuations as well as migration events, & what I like to call the "Beer Event Horizon" 🍺 (or more accurately ale). But the science is clear - migration is constant across the period, with chronological, regional & gendered fluctuations 📈 4/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
⚔️ We go into a long historiography of early medieval migrations into England, giving overviews of key archaeological works & debates, particularly focussing on the "Adventus Saxonum" but #Vikings & #Normans too! We also touch on #climatechange & "brewing & stewing" 🍻🍷🍲 3/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
⚔️ We go into a long historiography of early medieval migrations into England, giving overviews of key archaeological works & debates, particularly focussing on the "Adventus Saxonum" but #Vikings & #Normans too! We also touch on #climatechange & "brewing & stewing" 🍻🍷🍲 3/
Reposted by Edinburgh Archaeology
We used Sr & O isotopic data from late Roman-Norman burials incl. c.300 individuals I analysed during my @newnhamcollege.bsky.social PhD 👩🔬 to investigate migration/mobility at a large scale full data published here: doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... & OSM data+code for the 📝 🔗 doi.org/10.17605/OSF... 👩💻 2/
January 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
We used Sr & O isotopic data from late Roman-Norman burials incl. c.300 individuals I analysed during my @newnhamcollege.bsky.social PhD 👩🔬 to investigate migration/mobility at a large scale full data published here: doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... & OSM data+code for the 📝 🔗 doi.org/10.17605/OSF... 👩💻 2/