Jonathan Last
@johnnythin.bsky.social
Frankenstein is great but I have a special affection for The Last Man, not only cos I love a good dystopia but also as I read it while self-isolating with chicken pox. Plus it's set in the 21st C, which is a lot like the 19th but with touches of Georgian futurism such as intercity hot air balloons!
After a long struggle with illness, Mary Shelley died #onthisday in 1851. Read about the science behind her most famous novel, Frankenstein, including investigations into resuscitation, galvanism and the possibility of states between life + death: publicdomainreview.org/essay/t... #otd
February 1, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Frankenstein is great but I have a special affection for The Last Man, not only cos I love a good dystopia but also as I read it while self-isolating with chicken pox. Plus it's set in the 21st C, which is a lot like the 19th but with touches of Georgian futurism such as intercity hot air balloons!
A day late for Freya Stark's birthday, here's a couple of images from her 1934 journey in Yemen, of which she writes: "When the Roman roads cut the forests & swamps of England, the Arabian trader built his many-storied mansion, crowned its parapet with ibex horns & saw them shine in the morning sun"
February 1, 2026 at 1:10 PM
A day late for Freya Stark's birthday, here's a couple of images from her 1934 journey in Yemen, of which she writes: "When the Roman roads cut the forests & swamps of England, the Arabian trader built his many-storied mansion, crowned its parapet with ibex horns & saw them shine in the morning sun"
A Stonehenge centenary of sorts this week - the re-emergence of this 1730 painting of Stonehenge, reported in the ILN on 30 Jan 1926. Henry Bates of Salisbury wrote that he'd "just purchased it from a Wiltshire village. There is no painting of the stones of an earlier date." Now in Salisbury Museum.
February 1, 2026 at 12:39 PM
A Stonehenge centenary of sorts this week - the re-emergence of this 1730 painting of Stonehenge, reported in the ILN on 30 Jan 1926. Henry Bates of Salisbury wrote that he'd "just purchased it from a Wiltshire village. There is no painting of the stones of an earlier date." Now in Salisbury Museum.
Prehistory in a nutshell (1903 version)
January 31, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Prehistory in a nutshell (1903 version)
"The standing stones are sun-stricken giants". For #StandingStoneSunday before Burns Night, another Scottish poet, George Mackay Brown, tells the tale of a giants' feast where Orkney's stones now stand: "the bucket of mead went from mouth to mouth; the bones of mammoth and whale were crunched…"
January 25, 2026 at 12:35 PM
"The standing stones are sun-stricken giants". For #StandingStoneSunday before Burns Night, another Scottish poet, George Mackay Brown, tells the tale of a giants' feast where Orkney's stones now stand: "the bucket of mead went from mouth to mouth; the bones of mammoth and whale were crunched…"
Not quite picnic weather
January 22, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Not quite picnic weather
"Ecosystem collapse is highly likely to drive national security risk"
"Halting and reversing biodiversity loss" would require meeting "the Paris climate agreement target"
Should be required reading for Reform/Tory voters who think we can just pull down the blinds and ignore the rest of the world…
"Halting and reversing biodiversity loss" would require meeting "the Paris climate agreement target"
Should be required reading for Reform/Tory voters who think we can just pull down the blinds and ignore the rest of the world…
This week the government quietly published a 'Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security assessment': www.gov.uk/government/p...
Meant to be out last year, but rumoured to be blocked by Number 10: www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The judgements are stomach-churning
Meant to be out last year, but rumoured to be blocked by Number 10: www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The judgements are stomach-churning
January 22, 2026 at 8:13 AM
"Ecosystem collapse is highly likely to drive national security risk"
"Halting and reversing biodiversity loss" would require meeting "the Paris climate agreement target"
Should be required reading for Reform/Tory voters who think we can just pull down the blinds and ignore the rest of the world…
"Halting and reversing biodiversity loss" would require meeting "the Paris climate agreement target"
Should be required reading for Reform/Tory voters who think we can just pull down the blinds and ignore the rest of the world…
Early daffodils yesterday morning
January 22, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Early daffodils yesterday morning
As one final plug for 'Tarv', here for #HillfortsWednesday is Kensett's/Griffiths'/Tarv's description of a winter night's encounter with (?were)wolves, facilitated by "the camp brats" playing in the snow, at (presumably) a linear earthwork near the downland hillfort that might be Ditchling Beacon...
January 21, 2026 at 7:43 AM
As one final plug for 'Tarv', here for #HillfortsWednesday is Kensett's/Griffiths'/Tarv's description of a winter night's encounter with (?were)wolves, facilitated by "the camp brats" playing in the snow, at (presumably) a linear earthwork near the downland hillfort that might be Ditchling Beacon...
We may think the problem of storing archaeological archives is a modern one but here, from exactly 200 years ago, is the London Courier & Evening Gazette reporting a discussion on what to do with the "many interesting fragments" likely to be found during future "improvements" in the City of London
January 20, 2026 at 9:42 PM
We may think the problem of storing archaeological archives is a modern one but here, from exactly 200 years ago, is the London Courier & Evening Gazette reporting a discussion on what to do with the "many interesting fragments" likely to be found during future "improvements" in the City of London
Skimmed it too quickly and was thinking to myself, HOW old is Peter Crouch…?
Tom Baker is 92.
This is a fascinating document from the 70s when Baker was at the height of his Doctor Who fame.
It’s all the more poignant now as you see that it’s really an insight into some dealing with alcoholism, depression and anxiety.
There are some parts that might upset people.
This is a fascinating document from the 70s when Baker was at the height of his Doctor Who fame.
It’s all the more poignant now as you see that it’s really an insight into some dealing with alcoholism, depression and anxiety.
There are some parts that might upset people.
January 20, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Skimmed it too quickly and was thinking to myself, HOW old is Peter Crouch…?
"Behold, if thou art content then will we raise this barrow to the skies so that for all generations to come everyone who cometh hither shall exclaim 'Great is this tumulus!'"
A tangential #TombTuesday prompted by the funeral at Wimbledon in the 1925 psychic time travel novel 'The Amulet of Tarv' 🧵
A tangential #TombTuesday prompted by the funeral at Wimbledon in the 1925 psychic time travel novel 'The Amulet of Tarv' 🧵
January 20, 2026 at 7:54 AM
"Behold, if thou art content then will we raise this barrow to the skies so that for all generations to come everyone who cometh hither shall exclaim 'Great is this tumulus!'"
A tangential #TombTuesday prompted by the funeral at Wimbledon in the 1925 psychic time travel novel 'The Amulet of Tarv' 🧵
A tangential #TombTuesday prompted by the funeral at Wimbledon in the 1925 psychic time travel novel 'The Amulet of Tarv' 🧵
As this year marks the 700th birthday of my old college I thought I’d post occasional nuggets from this massive volume (and the second which is even bigger) produced by @universitypress.cambridge.org for the sexcentenary, though it didn’t actually appear until 1928
January 18, 2026 at 9:22 PM
As this year marks the 700th birthday of my old college I thought I’d post occasional nuggets from this massive volume (and the second which is even bigger) produced by @universitypress.cambridge.org for the sexcentenary, though it didn’t actually appear until 1928
For the sff/prehistory crossover audience (alright, just me then) some musings on the prehistoric landscape of Surrey and Sussex, as imagined by a fridge expert 100 years ago…
prescapes.substack.com/p/mixed-up-w...
prescapes.substack.com/p/mixed-up-w...
"Mixed up with today and yesterday": prehistory and the wild in 'The Amulet of Tarv'
As a part-time member of the excellent ‘Rewilding’ Later Prehistory project, based at Oxford Archaeology, I’ve been privileged to make a number of visits to the equally wonderful Knepp Wilding in Suss...
prescapes.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:20 PM
For the sff/prehistory crossover audience (alright, just me then) some musings on the prehistoric landscape of Surrey and Sussex, as imagined by a fridge expert 100 years ago…
prescapes.substack.com/p/mixed-up-w...
prescapes.substack.com/p/mixed-up-w...
The irony (and untapped strength) of development-led archaeology is how it provides deep histories to the 'non-places' (in Auge's or Relph's terms) of modernity - housing estates, business parks, shopping centres, etc. Or it would if anyone knew about them, as @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social says…
A new #UrbanPrehistory blog post, Close to home, considering the impact of development-led archaeology on the story of the Lanarkshire town I grew up in, Larkhall. 'This deep time dive took on something of an investigation into my own prehistory'
theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com/2026/01/08/c...
theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com/2026/01/08/c...
Close to home
I grew up in a town called Larkhall in South Lanarkshire, not far from Glasgow. It would be fair to say that this is a place that has a negative reputation at least in west central Scotland, and I …
theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:35 PM
The irony (and untapped strength) of development-led archaeology is how it provides deep histories to the 'non-places' (in Auge's or Relph's terms) of modernity - housing estates, business parks, shopping centres, etc. Or it would if anyone knew about them, as @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social says…
In relation to average income that’s the equivalent of about £4 million today
When feeling fed up about how insanely expensive rural property has become in the last few years it’s always good to remember that it was only a little over a century ago that Stonehenge, plus its accompanying 6400 acres, sold for £6,600 to a private buyer via an advert in Country Life Magazine.
January 17, 2026 at 8:44 AM
In relation to average income that’s the equivalent of about £4 million today
This would have meant something quite different a few hundred years ago…
January 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM
This would have meant something quite different a few hundred years ago…
Shadow portrait with Faith (Guildford Cathedral) #WallsOnWednesday
January 14, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Shadow portrait with Faith (Guildford Cathedral) #WallsOnWednesday
On Renaissance vs early modern for the C16/17: “The archaeologists call it post-medieval which is even worse”. Couldn’t agree more 😆
Hi! The newest episode of YOU’RE DEAD TO ME is all about medicine in Renaissance England (1500s-1660s), on BBC SOUNDS
I’m joined by the ace comedian @rialina_ and the excellent historian of medicine Dr Alanna Skuse
Expect leeches, urine-drinking, painful surgeries, and weird dog experiments!
I’m joined by the ace comedian @rialina_ and the excellent historian of medicine Dr Alanna Skuse
Expect leeches, urine-drinking, painful surgeries, and weird dog experiments!
January 11, 2026 at 8:35 AM
On Renaissance vs early modern for the C16/17: “The archaeologists call it post-medieval which is even worse”. Couldn’t agree more 😆
In 1768 the previous #carnyx to be found in England was pulled out of the river Witham near Tattershall. Lacking the zoomorphic head, it was interpreted as a Roman lituus. Unfortunately, it fell victim to early experiments in archaeological science at the hands of Joseph Banks and George Pearson...
January 7, 2026 at 5:36 PM
In 1768 the previous #carnyx to be found in England was pulled out of the river Witham near Tattershall. Lacking the zoomorphic head, it was interpreted as a Roman lituus. Unfortunately, it fell victim to early experiments in archaeological science at the hands of Joseph Banks and George Pearson...
William Henry Goss, founder of many archaeologists’ favourite ceramics company, died #OTD in 1906. Here’s a Goss model of an Iron Age pot from Glastonbury lake village, with the family crest and motto.
January 4, 2026 at 9:48 AM
William Henry Goss, founder of many archaeologists’ favourite ceramics company, died #OTD in 1906. Here’s a Goss model of an Iron Age pot from Glastonbury lake village, with the family crest and motto.
125 years ago, on the last evening of the 19th century (properly reckoned), two stones fell at Stonehenge. The Salisbury Journal reported that "A shepherd named Ford… says he saw the stones intact on Monday afternoon, but on approaching the venerable ruin on Tuesday morning [1st Jan] he found… 🧵
January 4, 2026 at 9:17 AM
New York in 2026 AD, as depicted in the Illustrated London News, 2nd Jan 1926: "Living-apartments will be built above and between great blocks of city offices and on the spans of bridges. Aeroplanes will land on the roofs of buildings and on huge platforms above the docks."
January 2, 2026 at 4:19 PM
New York in 2026 AD, as depicted in the Illustrated London News, 2nd Jan 1926: "Living-apartments will be built above and between great blocks of city offices and on the spans of bridges. Aeroplanes will land on the roofs of buildings and on huge platforms above the docks."
This went down rather well
January 1, 2026 at 2:56 PM
This went down rather well
Happy new year to everyone, but especially to asylum seekers, trans folk and all those made to feel vulnerable during the past year
January 1, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Happy new year to everyone, but especially to asylum seekers, trans folk and all those made to feel vulnerable during the past year