Naomi Sykes
naomisykes.bsky.social
Naomi Sykes
@naomisykes.bsky.social

Head of Department of Archaeology & History @UniofExeter

Naomi Sykes FSA is a zooarchaeologist and is currently the Lawrence Professor of Archaeology at the University of Exeter. Sykes researches human-animal relations in the past.

Source: Wikipedia
Environmental science 35%
Biology 21%

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Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the walruses, for today is their special day!

To celebrate World Walrus Day, here is an illustration of a walrus from the book 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc.

📷 Reserve 590 BUF

#WorldWalrusDay #WalrusDay #RareBooks

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Head on over to our project website to read all about the recent conference and data collection trip which had me zigzagging across northwestern Europe via train all the way from Copenhagen to Exeter! #researchupdate #archaeology #datacollection

sites.google.com/palaeome.org...
Beyond Stockfish - Blog
November 10, 2025
sites.google.com

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Our Masters students taking a module in Experimental Archaeology visited Stonehenge yesterday to learn about reconstructed Neolithic houses and a new project to build a large Neolithic education building, based on timber structure Durrington 68 😍 Also starring Ed's Late Neolithic decorated hard hat👷

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We did a Telly! 🤩🎬

Four in a Bed....
www.channel4.com/programmes/f...

(had to take a photo of our computer because stupid Channel 4 wouldn't let us screen snip)

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Yesterday, Prof. Stephen Rippon was invited to London to be presented the prestigious British Academy Landscape Archaeology Medal, awarded for distinguished achievement in that field of archaeology. Many congratulations on this much deserved honour!

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Are you considering a PhD? 🤔 Join our 'Masterclass - PhD proposal and funding 101'

📅Wednesday 3 December
🕰️ 10am or 4pm
📍ZOOM

All welcome!

🎫 Book your *free* ticket:

• 10am: fixr.co/event/master...
• 4pm: fixr.co/event/master...

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📢 Announcing three(!) new opportunities for aspiring archaeologists to join our Archaeological Fieldwork Technician apprenticeship program!

Apply now (closes Friday 24 October): www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/VAC1000345576

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Has Halloween come early? No, last week some of our 3rd year archaeology and forensics students carried out a crime scene recovery exercise in our woodland on campus.

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Step back to 1086 and explore the fascinating world behind the oldest surviving Domesday manuscript!📜

Dr Chris Lewis speaks on the mysteries, gaps and stories of Exon Domesday.

👉 When: 30 October 7:30pm
👉 Where: Exeter Cathedral and online
👉 Tickets: www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/whats-on/eve...

Can’t wait to welcome you to the Department! Especially with such a glowing reference from Curator Rob!
GUTTED to be saying goodbye to volunteer Mia today. 😭

She's off to study History @exeter.ac.uk, after which we have no doubt she will take over the world.

Good Luck Mia!! 🤗

@uoearchhist.bsky.social

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GUTTED to be saying goodbye to volunteer Mia today. 😭

She's off to study History @exeter.ac.uk, after which we have no doubt she will take over the world.

Good Luck Mia!! 🤗

@uoearchhist.bsky.social

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This September we are hosting a Special Tour of the Bishop's Garden and Cathedral. Learn about the historic home of Devon’s bishops, who have lived here since the 13th century.

🌳 24 September | 10:30am
🌳 £20 (adults), £10 (under 18s)
🌳 Accessible tour

Tickets: bit.ly/special-tours

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Increase your knowledge of Exon Domesday on 30 October with researcher Chris Lewis!

Book your tickets to learn all about the oldest of the three original manuscripts surviving from William the Conqueror’s Domesday Survey of 1086: bit.ly/2025-library-lecture

#ExeterCathedral #YourCathedral
2025 Annual Library Lecture: The secrets and silences of Exon Domesday
Explore the many secrets of Exon Domesday, and discover why, where and how it was written.
bit.ly

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Glass furnace update! 🔥🍷

We've been building a glass furnace @butserancientfarm.co.uk. We've removed the PhD student from the hole and replaced her with Roman tile and (less Roman) brick. Looks like a Goldfish.

#CuratorRob has been helping make daub bricks and has in no way lost his mind.
You want hillforts? We got hillforts! The AHRC-funded project 'An atlas of the hillforts of Britain and Ireland' was an HCA project with the University of Oxford,
edin.ac/411eXYa

#HillfortsWednesday #History #Classics #Archaeology #HCA #Edinburgh #Edinburghuniversity
I'm fundraising for LauraLynn - Irelands Childrens Hospice
fundraise.lauralynn.ie/s/859/858/s

I’m taking part in “Run 100K in September” challenge to raise funds for LauraLynn, Ireland’s only Children’s Hospice, for children with life-limiting conditions, be grateful for your support
Aidan O’Sullivan
I'm fundraising for LauraLynn - Irelands Childrens Hospice and would love if you could support my challenge.
fundraise.lauralynn.ie

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Such a lovely story this 😍 Jan Oke is an Exeter Archaeology alumnus and Fairlynch Museum’s Curator of Archaeology. She is a former recipient of the Angela and Tony Colmer prize 🏆 herself and was part of the team who awarded it to Phoebe Holland today ♻️ for outstanding Fieldwork in Local Archaeology👇

Very proud of Alisha and Jess who are that the launch of their co-authored book: Tails and Roots - a creative exploration of biodiversity in research @uoearchhist.bsky.social @frankieboyd.bsky.social

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Some great finds fresh out of the ground today! In trench 6, we've been finding lots of animal bone and what some staff on site believe to be a key! We will need to x-ray to find out. Then in trench 3 we have found the remains of a wall, and also some beautiful Beauvais pottery from France!
Funded PhD on natural and cultural heritage on islands! www.mic.ul.ie/sites/defaul...
www.mic.ul.ie

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A lot of cobbled surfaces being revealed at Columbjohn! Trench 3 is also revealing some features such as a drainage system and a slumped wall!
@nattrustarch.bsky.social

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Halfway through our fieldschool at Columbjohn! In terms of finds it's a tale of two halves - prehistoric (likely Iron Age) pottery and flints from one trench, masses of post-med pot and Elizabethan ceiling plaster from another!

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First day on site at Columbjohn for Fieldschool! A feature in Trench 3 and some new finds have already been discovered as the rubble layer is being revealed. Finds include a Victorian coin and 17th century pin! Follow this page to keep updated and visit the site at Killerton when you get a chance!

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We're hosting Alisha from @uoearchhist.bsky.social all week this week.

Alisha is bothering our pig teeth for her PhD to find out wonderful things about the history of wold board at Fishbourne (and elsewhere, but who cares about all that?).

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Were cats domesticated in the Neolithic? New research by Sean Doherty and Naomi Sykes suggests it was far more recent, and the result of religion, not rodents
Did cult sacrifices in ancient Egypt give rise to the cat?
“Murder pathway” may have tamed wildcats over several generations
www.science.org

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Finally President Linda Hurcombe is bringing together multiple strands - Anthropocene, future periods of time, public engagement through experimental archaeology, and the future of @prehistoricsociety.bsky.social

Joy!

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All welcome at dr Semih Celik's talk on the 15th of April 10:30 😊 'Exploring and Digitising the First Ottoman Natural History Museum and its Eco-Heritage'

Join us on in the Digital Humanities Seminar Room 1 (Streatham campus) or online!

More info and tickets👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sci-projec...

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Brilliant way to end the term with some of our brilliant @exeter.ac.uk 3rd years and colleagues across the faculty showing off how Dead Important the humanities really are!!

Our Department is kicking off the first Dead Important Festival - students and staff showcasing how their humanities work is making positive changes for people, places and policy. And there are stickers!