Dan Diffendale
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diffendale.bsky.social
Dan Diffendale
@diffendale.bsky.social
5.1K followers 1.8K following 790 posts
archaeologist, at the moment studying volcanic tuff as a building material but interested in all old trash

ΟΣΟΝ ΖΗΣ ΦΑΙΝΟΥ

he/him
Pisa
🥖🌹

simultaneously more and less fun than profile suggests
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diffendale.bsky.social
Živjo, Slovenija. Final train of the day
Photo of small bright red flowers in a flower pot thingy with, out of focus in the background, the rails and catenary of a train station.
September 14, 2025 at 11:45 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
Trieste greeted me with a fleamarket in front of the bus station
A public square in Trieste with gravel ground and market stalls, with behind a grand old bus station, perhaps a former train station.
September 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
fastboi
Photo of a modern electric railway locomotive, black with silver trim, of the ÖBB, the Austrian national railway, with the text "world record 357 km/h".
September 14, 2025 at 7:38 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
Two trains down, two and a half to go...
Photo of a deceptively empty-looking railway station passenger platform, with the sign Venezia Mestre.
September 14, 2025 at 7:33 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
five shades of grey (and three whites for good measure), or, allergic to hatching
Excerpt of a schematic geological section of a portion of the city of Rome, with a key labeling eight different depositional units, which can scarcely be distinguished due to the similarity of the greys and whites used.
July 31, 2025 at 10:47 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
Buongiorno dall'Arno
Photo of the Arno River at Pisa looking west, downstream, towards the Ponte di Mezzo, in early-mid morning light, the right bank in shadow, the left bank with its old, reddish ochre buildings in sun.
July 9, 2025 at 7:37 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
Vestigial antefixes on the platform at Livorno
Detail of the metal canopy, painted uniformly green, that covers a railway station platform, fairly old to judge from the style. Along the upper edge is a small grimacing face.
June 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
You know, I'm something of a curator of failure myself
An old book in Italian, a Hoepli manual, titled Curatore di Fallimento ("bankruptcy trustee", but also literally translatable as "curator of failure").
May 18, 2025 at 12:40 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
fan favorite the Roma-Giardinetti railway here at Porta Maggiore, with rolling stock from 1959 still hanging on, barely
A two car narrow gauge light rail train crossing the street in front of Porta Maggiore in Rome, an ancient monumental gate built in stone that carries several aqueducts across the ancient road. The cars, of the mid 20th century, are white with a horizontal yellow stripe. A man on a scooter passes by.
May 16, 2025 at 5:30 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Common mallow growing on the lee side of the mausoleum
A green stalk with two or more pinkish-purple mallow flowers in front of an ancient brick wall, with the contrast boosted a little.
May 16, 2025 at 5:19 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Scenes from errand-running in Rome along the via Prenestina... A 2nd c CE chamber tomb built in brick-faced concrete with moldings done in yellow brick, now occupied by a loft of pigeons
An ancient Roman tomb, partially ruined: square, two stories, modern double pitched roof, with central arched door. It is built of red brick with yellow brick features. Surrounded by overgrown grass and bushes. Behind are two 10-story apartment buildings.
May 16, 2025 at 5:07 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
The bulk of the temple is built out of ashlar blocks of "macco", a local calcarenite rock, while architectural elements and moldings were cut in volcanic nenfro.
Part of the front part of the platform, showing two courses of blocks of greyish-white sandy macco Stone, and above a few blocks in darker grey nenfro, which have carved moldings.
April 29, 2025 at 5:42 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Less visited than the painted tombs, the most imposing monument known from the Etruscan city of Tarquinia is the temple called the "Ara della Regina" (altar of the queen). In its 4th c BCE phase, to which these visible foundations belong, it was the biggest temple in Etruria...
🏺 #ArchaeologyBluesky
Photo of the large platform and foundations of the temple, built of squared blocks of grey stone, flanked by a stone-paved road and surrounded by green grass and vegetation, under a bright blue sky with dramatic white clouds.
April 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Cartoon sign that reads "0 days since last tuff pun."
April 23, 2025 at 7:43 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
good coastal tower seen from a southbound train
View out a train window looking towards a blueish grey sea under a grey sky; just right of center is an old watch tower built of cut stone and brick with a parapet above.
April 14, 2025 at 4:31 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
For those buying in bulk
Somewhat older paperback book with red cover on a sidewalk book stand with the title "664 pagine di William Faulkner" (664 pages of William Faulkner).
April 12, 2025 at 4:20 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Morning Arno check: swell in the foggy dew
View of the Arno river at Pisa looking at the Ponte della Fortezza from the right bank. In the foreground is a clump of a green leafy plant, maybe something like ivy, covered in dew, while a light fog hangs over the bridge and the left bank, yet illuminated by sun.
April 10, 2025 at 7:13 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
La pera, "the pear," or "pietra acheruntica" (from the Acheron river of Hades), set up along via S Martino in Pisa, is actually an Etruscan marble tomb marker from around 500 BCE, moved here in the middle ages from a necropolis west of the city. Today it serves as a canine territorial marker...
🏺
Photo of a rather worn and weathered onion shaped monument in white marble set up on a street corner in Pisa. The pavement below it might be slightly wet.
April 6, 2025 at 11:05 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
Self-portrait on Arno bank
Photo of the left bank of the Arno river at Pisa seen from the Ponte della Fortezza looking downstream. The bank, at the foot of a brick embankment, is sandy with big patches of green grass. The shadow of the bridge and, on it, the photographer, can be seen at the bottom edge.
April 6, 2025 at 8:19 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
archaeology of a pocket
Close-up of the breast pocket of a khaki jacket, its edge somewhat frayed; arrayed emerging from the pocket are a small north arrow and 10 centimeter scale for archaeological photography, a wrapper for a throat drop and a piece of dried oak leaf.
April 5, 2025 at 7:28 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
from the fleamarket this weekend: nifty little ceramic neo-Sumerian king (Gudea of Lagash?). Signed by the artist Sergio Gurioli of Faenza
Small glazed terracotta statue of a standing male figure, his hands clasped in front, wearing a fringed draped garment in white and red and a cylindrical hat. The same figure seen from behind: the top of the cap has traces of red, the garment is fringed in white and red. Bottom of the figure reading "Gurioli Sergio Faenza".
March 30, 2025 at 6:47 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Is... is there a Commander Struttura Allarmata...?
Photo of scaffolding in an Italian street with a banner reading Master Struttura Allarmata.
March 30, 2025 at 2:55 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Arno check: tranquil late March afternoon
View of the Arno river at Pisa, looking downstream from the Ponte della Fortezza. The sky is lightly illuminated grey with the barest hints of pink. The buildings, off white, grey, ochre, brownish yellow reflect in the lightly flowing water.
March 28, 2025 at 5:31 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Arno check, moody morning edition
Photo of the Arno river at Pisa seen from the Ponte di Mezzo looking upstream, the river flanked by its brick and masonry embankments and palazzi above, beneath a cloudy sky that's halfway illuminated from behind by the sun and reflecting into the river.
March 27, 2025 at 8:30 AM
diffendale.bsky.social
In a few weeks (April 16) I'll be in Rome to talk about Rome, namely my research on the ancient extraction of volcanic tuff for building stone and the modern historiography thereof. It can also be followed in streaming

🏺#ArchaeologyBluesky
bsr.ac.uk/city-of-rome...
Screenshot for a lecture: City of Rome. The Roman tuffs revisited: local stone for the Eternal City. Daniel P Diffendale (Pisa). There follows a photo of the Roman tuff quarry at Tor Cervara, a brownish rock face reflected in a still blue lake.
March 26, 2025 at 1:21 PM