Martyn Barber
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martynjb.bsky.social
Martyn Barber
@martynjb.bsky.social
420 followers 340 following 530 posts
Aerial archaeology, history of archaeology, misc spookery; ex-RCHME, Historic England etc.

Stuff at independent.academia.edu/MartynBarber
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Reposted by Martyn Barber
public-history.bsky.social
Should anyone be interested, my note about Guy Underwood's early interest in dowsing is a free download: ‘From sceptic to convert' in Guardian Angel: The Journal of the Bradford Preservation Society Trust, Winter 2025, pp. 20-22.

share.google/CP20m07TLCx1...
Guardian Angel — Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust
The Trust’s newsletter is published three times a year. Download PDFs of past issues of Guardian Angel. There is also an index of historical articles.
share.google
February 5, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
hugh-willmott.bsky.social
Excited that my volume on the Early Bronze Age coffined burial from Tetney is now published open access by @antiquaries.bsky.social! Now everyone can read about this amazing find dated to 2032 BC and containing an amazing array of environmental and artefactual data.
library.oapen.org/viewer/web/v...
February 5, 2026 at 1:57 PM
martynjb.bsky.social
This is well worth a read. In the meantime, I've got an app to download...
February 1, 2026 at 10:14 AM
martynjb.bsky.social
Hmmmm...
A colour photo looking across a grass field towards a slope featuring the Marlborough white horse, a figure created by exposing the chalk to create an outline figure that resembles a horse. In the foreground is a set of goalposts at a slight angle to the camera. The lines of the posts broadly resemble the outline of the chalk figure.
January 25, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
reblambert.bsky.social
A new blogpost has landed…
🙂
practisesmakeplaces.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/i...
I’m Heading In… Reflecting Upon Engaging with Paul Nash’s Archive at Tate Britain
PAUL NASH – TATE ARCHIVES: JANUARY 2026: As I am handed the box, my pulse quickens. I am literally holding Paul Nash’s photographs of Maiden Castle, the Uffington White Horse, and Avebury in my han…
practisesmakeplaces.wordpress.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:59 AM
martynjb.bsky.social
Ruin a band by changing one letter.

New Yodel Army
cjfrieman.bsky.social Catherine Frieman @cjfrieman.bsky.social · 22d
Ruin a band by changing one letter.

Yeastie Boys 😉
netpraxis.bsky.social Neil @netpraxis.bsky.social · 22d
Ruin a band by changing one letter.

Beastie Toys
January 16, 2026 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
calong.bsky.social
This photograph was taken in England in about 1911 and I would be very grateful to anyone who can reliably identify the manufacturer of the car. The information will be used in a museum item label and in captions to web articles.
January 13, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
theghostgeek.com
Here is my analysis of the AI ghost photo, the back story, and how I reached the conclusion:

www.theghostgeek.com/p/my-first-a...
My First AI Ghost Photo
Modern ghost problems for modern ghost geeks...
www.theghostgeek.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
aerialarchaeology.bsky.social
Find the AARGNews back catalogue here:
aargonline.com/wp/aarg-news/
AARGnews
AARGnews, our bi-annual newsletter, is a diverse, up-to-date and open forum for discussion and exchange of new (and old) ideas.
aargonline.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
discobooks.bsky.social
Tradwife is one of my top reads from last year, and has just been suppressed by Amazon. Please support this awesome indie book. I’m SO frustrated on TC’s behalf. The book isn’t even extreme horror. It’s a brilliant fictional true crime murder mystery about a Tradwife cult.
📚💙 📚🏳️‍🌈
Tradwife by TC Parker. A woman holding a heart in a kitchen
January 2, 2026 at 1:11 PM
martynjb.bsky.social
Quick - I need a frog and some electrodes.
A screenshot of a post by the Merriam Webster dictionary account which says "take a screenshot of this gif and whichever new word you land on is your word for 2026". The word selected is galvanic.
January 1, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
bhajournal.bsky.social
Happy New Year from the BHA! Check out the five articles we published this year, available #OpenAccess (as always!) 🗃️📚🏺🧵👇 on 🇬🇧🇯🇲🇪🇬🇪🇹🇧🇦
January 1, 2026 at 4:53 AM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
johnnythin.bsky.social
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… 🧵
Stonehenge before the fall, as illustrated in the Daily Chronicle, 7th Jan 1901: "...the public will wish to know exactly what damage has befallen Stonehenge. We have, therefore, had a special visit paid to it, and the stones that have been disturbed indicated on the accompanying sketch. Two stones, those marked 'A' and 'B' have fallen, and the monument is distinctly poorer for the fact."
December 31, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
verityholloway.bsky.social
I'll be doing the final Post Office run this week, so if you want a really strange signed book, now's your chance.
December 15, 2025 at 6:54 PM
martynjb.bsky.social
The Woodhenge centenary has been getting some attention this week, but exactly what is it the centenary of? Well - on 16 December 1925, Sqdn Ldr GIlbert Insall VC took this photo from his Sopwith Snipe. It shows the soilmarks of a site known (for a long time) to archaeologists as 'Dough Cover'. 1/5
A black and white aerial photograph showing a slightly angled view of the ground below. In the foreground is a ploughed field in the the top left corner of which can be seen a roughly circular patch which is much lighter in tone than the rest of the field. Some haystacks and other agricultural features can be seen immediately next to it.
December 14, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
hillfortian.bsky.social
Something exciting is happening- In support of keeping the Chilterns Heritage & Archaeology Partnership afloat (DEFRA monies only go so far), I have been encouraged to launch a lecture series.

(and yes, I asked Sir Baz sometime ago about basing this on his book, so I haven't just nicked the title😅)
BRITAIN: THE BEGINNING A 6-part online lecture series Six weekly live online sessions via Microsoft Teams, each 2 hours with space for interactive discussion and Q&A. When: Every Tuesday starting 17 February, final lecture on 24 March. 7.30pm £90 per person (Early bird special - buy before 2026 and pay £75) Discover the story of Britain’s ancient past through a series of lectures. Join Dr Wendy Morrison for an engaging exploration of the human story of landscape, from the earliest inhabitants through to the end of the Roman period. Drawing on decades of teaching and fieldwork experience, Dr Morrison will guide you through the archaeological discoveries that have transformed our understanding of life on these islands across millennia. From the first hunter-gatherers returning after the last Ice Age, to the first farming communities, from Iron Age hillforts to Romano-British villas, each 2-hour session combines historic and recent scholarship with a flowing narrative to build up a picture of the past. Please note: this is a non-accredited course designed for personal enrichment and learning
December 8, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
theghostgeek.com
Twenty Years of the South Shields Poltergeist

A critical look at the claims and evidence behind England’s “best attested” Poltergeist

open.substack.com/pub/theghost... #Paranormal #CriticalThinking
Twenty Years of the South Shields Poltergeist
A critical look at the claims and evidence behind England's "best attested" Poltergeist
open.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
timdaw.bsky.social
A massive report on archaeology in the Stonehenge Landscape from @wessexarch based on the sites investigated for a Visitor Centre. www.sarsen.org/2025/11/the-...
The Archaeology of the Stonehenge Visitor Centre
In *The Archaeology of the Stonehenge Visitor Centre*, Matt Leivers and Andy Valdez-Tullett present a comprehensive synthesis of nearly two...
www.sarsen.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
sarahmay1.bsky.social
Counterpoint. Stonehenge is no more of a mystery than any other large monumental complex, including recent ones like war memorials. We know quite a lot about its construction and use and research is constantly producing new understanding.
kenfollettauthor.bsky.social Ken Follett @kenfollettauthor.bsky.social · Nov 25
Stonehenge is a mystery. Who built it, how did they build it, and why did they build it? Dr Heather Sebire knows some of the answers.
Circle of Days: In-conversation with Dr Heather Sebire
YouTube video by Ken Follett
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
martynjb.bsky.social
"Jane Austen said if you got a big house you need a wife."
November 23, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
timdaw.bsky.social
Two fascinating 1918 aerial photo albums, and lots of crashed planes. Hackpen White Horse, Wiltshire. kresenkernow.org/SOAP/search/...
November 22, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
philh.bsky.social
Just spotted this - "Faith, folk and the far right
Racist and anti-racist Heathenry and occultism in Britain"
(open access pdf version)
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179463
www.manchesterhive.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
timdaw.bsky.social
A source of archive photos of Stonehenge Aerodrome and elsewhere.

www.sarsen.org/2025/11/ston...
Stonehenge Archive Photos
The US National Archive Catalog is worth searching through - a few Stonehenge ones for example from 1919: For the full size image:  https:...
www.sarsen.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Martyn Barber
martynjb.bsky.social
Haven't posted much about OGS Crawford for a while, so here's something from Crawford's WW1 days. He saw out the war as a PoW in Holzminden alongside the likes of James Whale, director of two of my all-time favourites "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Old Dark House". Sadly, OGSC never mentioned...
A photo of a black and white photo of Crawford in uniform, taken during the First World war while on leave at the Berkshire home of his aunts. The photo is in the Crawford Collection of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford University. Mounted on brown card, a hand-written note says "on leave from France".
November 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM
martynjb.bsky.social
Haven't posted much about OGS Crawford for a while, so here's something from Crawford's WW1 days. He saw out the war as a PoW in Holzminden alongside the likes of James Whale, director of two of my all-time favourites "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Old Dark House". Sadly, OGSC never mentioned...
A photo of a black and white photo of Crawford in uniform, taken during the First World war while on leave at the Berkshire home of his aunts. The photo is in the Crawford Collection of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford University. Mounted on brown card, a hand-written note says "on leave from France".
November 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM