Robert Ashby
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robertashby.bsky.social
Robert Ashby
@robertashby.bsky.social
FRSA, Writer & Photographer, fulltime PhD Researcher in Cultural Evolution in Palaeolithic era, Brighton University. Hereford Photo Festival Director, Chair, Patron 1995-2010. Chair Humanists UK 2006-16. Career: Director, tech startup businesses,1976-2022.
Reposted by Robert Ashby
Immigrants less likely to commit crimes than natives, as countless other studies have shown #NomadCentury
Foreigners underrepresented among prisoners in England and Wales, report finds
Analysis finds lower proportion of foreign inmates than would be expected if they were jailed at same rate as UK citizens of same age
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:18 PM
September 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Robert Ashby
”Either we all live in a decent world, or nobody does.”
George Orwell, English novelist, journalist, critic, born #OTD 1903; author of Animal Farm (1945), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
BBC Archive | UCL Special Collections @uclspeccoll.bsky.social
June 25, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Reposted by Robert Ashby
Greta Thunberg, arriving back in Europe after her abduction by Israel in international waters, explains in 40 seconds why western governments are colluding in genocide:
June 10, 2025 at 7:08 PM
#Gobeklitepe, #Sanliurfa,Turkey, 2024. Important #Neolithic settlement site, 9500-8000BCE. From my series on Ancient and #NuminousPlaces, part of my #evolution of #religion project. #archaeology
June 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
#Hattusa, Anatolia, Turkey, 2024. Hittite capital in the late bronze age. From my series on Ancient and #Numinous Places, part of my #evolution of #religion project. #archaeology
June 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Zhong Guo Renmin Daxue (Peoples University of China), Haidian, Beijing, 1982. In memory of today. Today we remember Tiananmen 1989. A regime that stresses dialectic and self criticism, but suppresses dissent, dialogue and democracy.

#china #tiananmen #1989 #dissent #democracy
June 5, 2025 at 9:45 AM
York cathedral, 2025. From my photography project "Some Statements of Power and Influence", on religion as a central artefact within the evolution of culture.

#religion #york #culturalevolution #cathedrals #yorkcathedral #power #influence #humanism
June 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Tre'r Ceiri, Lynn Penisular, North Wales, 2023. From my series of Numinous Places, within my work on the origins of religion.

#trerceiri #wales #lynn #numinousplaces #religion #landscape #landscapehead
#newtopographics #amanalteredlandscape
#manalteredlandscape
June 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Handaxe of the Week. Neolithic Flint Book of Butter - 220 mm large handaxe from Grand Pressigny, France. A stone face has a story to tell!

#archaeology #neolithic #grandpressigny #handaxe #MaterialCulture #storiesinstone #photography #blackandwhite
June 2, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Korean catholic pilgrim, Medugorje, Bosnia, 2024. From my photography project on religion as a central artefact within the evolution of culture.

#religion #bosnia #culturalevolution #pilgrims #medugorje
June 1, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Handaxe of the week. Surface find, Olorgesailie, Kenya, 1956. Found by Louis Leakey and given by him to Peter Ellis, friend of his son, Richard.

#archaeology #olorgesailie #kenya #oldowan #handaxe
May 27, 2025 at 6:58 PM
University of Brighton, 2021. Today, Feb 12th, was Charles Darwin’s birthday in 1809.
#science #charlesdarwin #originofspecies
February 12, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Just saying.....
February 11, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Robert Ashby
Leaving these groups can be a monumental challenge, fraught with isolation, stigma, and a host of difficulties that can result in homelessness, violence, or abuse. Established to tackle these challenges, our helpline provides a safe, confidential, and empathetic space.

humanists.uk/2024/02/21/h...
First UK-based helpline for people leaving religions and cults – from Faith to Faithless
Humanists UK is proud to announce the launch of the only UK-based dedicated helpline for so-called ‘apostates’ – people who leave high-control religions or cults. Reflecting a growing need in the UK, ...
humanists.uk
January 7, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Karahantepe, Sanliurfa,Turkey, 2024.
December 2, 2024 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Robert Ashby
This is powerful stuff, and gets to the heart of the Royal Society's hypocrisy. Unlike the Fellows elected as genuine scientists who go on to, as Dorothy says, "publish fraudulent work, or go insane and start promoting crackpot ideas", Musk was elected because of his political economic influence.
November 25, 2024 at 9:49 AM
Çatalhöyük, Konya, Anatolia, Turkey, 2024. A fascinating day in September at one of the most important archaeological sites of the Neolithic. #neolithic #catahoyuk #archaeology #culturalevolution
November 1, 2024 at 6:19 PM
Asikli Hoyuk 10ky neolithic archaeological site, Aksaray, Anatolia, Turkey.
October 30, 2024 at 6:23 PM
Haggia Sofia, Istanbul, Turkey, 2024. Fascinating building, originally Greek Orthodox, most of west Turkey was part of Greece. Then an Islamic mosque, then a museum in the 1920's secular republic, now a mosque again thanks to Erdogan. Much Christian iconography remains, unlike any other mosque.
October 29, 2024 at 9:44 PM
Some of my first attempts at a great flint knapping weekend workshop with Dr James Dilley at Ancient Crafts, Ludham, Norfolk last weekend. @ancientcraftuk.bsky.social
October 16, 2024 at 8:58 PM
Durham Cathedral, 2024. Some evidence of an evolved cultural artefact.
September 28, 2024 at 3:12 PM
Whilst in Durham for the @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
conference two weeks ago, I had the chance to see the cathedral at night, and also visited during the day, as it's an important example of the artefacts of the cultural evolution of religion, that I am researching.
September 27, 2024 at 3:54 PM
I am excited that I am going to Göbekli Tepe in 3 weeks time, on a 12 day tour of Turkey's archaeological sites, and it's the subject of Guardian editorial today: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Right after #ces2024 in Durham!

#GöbekliTepe @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
The Guardian view on the invention of prehistory: telling the story before records began | Editorial
Editorial: The study of Göbekli Tepe, the entombed wonder of the ancient world, shows how things can be as important as words
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2024 at 10:54 AM