Jen Baird
@jenbaird.bsky.social
Professor of Archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London. Director of Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies. Excavator of archives. Syria, Romans, photographs, Dura-Europos. Newfoundlander.
University Archaeology Day is at the @britishacademy.bsky.social this year! Here with @lesleymcf.bsky.social and lots of premium Birkbeck owl swag!
October 27, 2025 at 10:16 AM
University Archaeology Day is at the @britishacademy.bsky.social this year! Here with @lesleymcf.bsky.social and lots of premium Birkbeck owl swag!
Massive congrats to Juliet, of @bbkhistorical.bsky.social, on her first publication, documenting the important corpus of bone dolls from Dura-Europos. Juliet's PhD is exploring the archaeology of childhood from the archives of the site. 🥳
September 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Massive congrats to Juliet, of @bbkhistorical.bsky.social, on her first publication, documenting the important corpus of bone dolls from Dura-Europos. Juliet's PhD is exploring the archaeology of childhood from the archives of the site. 🥳
Out today, my review of a recent two volume work on Sculptures from Roman Syria.
TL; DR -- Important, but frustrating, work.
The words that will stick with me are "current location unknown".
TL; DR -- Important, but frustrating, work.
The words that will stick with me are "current location unknown".
July 1, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Out today, my review of a recent two volume work on Sculptures from Roman Syria.
TL; DR -- Important, but frustrating, work.
The words that will stick with me are "current location unknown".
TL; DR -- Important, but frustrating, work.
The words that will stick with me are "current location unknown".
Such a wonderful day on the foreshore crashing @lesleymcf.bsky.social’s beautiful fieldschool with spectacular MOLA colleagues
May 2, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Such a wonderful day on the foreshore crashing @lesleymcf.bsky.social’s beautiful fieldschool with spectacular MOLA colleagues
Have just come from the opening of the wonderful ‘Cursed Objects in Museum Shops’ at the Peltz gallery in @bbkhistorical.bsky.social. Absolutely brilliant and with a programme of events too! www.bbk.ac.uk/research/cen...
May 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Have just come from the opening of the wonderful ‘Cursed Objects in Museum Shops’ at the Peltz gallery in @bbkhistorical.bsky.social. Absolutely brilliant and with a programme of events too! www.bbk.ac.uk/research/cen...
Couldn’t be prouder of these brilliant archaeologists who graduated from our MA yesterday! I love Birkbeck grad so much. They’re already on to such wonderful things, and an honour to be there on the first day of ceremonies for our new President, Shami Chakrabarti (!)
April 30, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Couldn’t be prouder of these brilliant archaeologists who graduated from our MA yesterday! I love Birkbeck grad so much. They’re already on to such wonderful things, and an honour to be there on the first day of ceremonies for our new President, Shami Chakrabarti (!)
My incredible colleague Esther Breithoff isn't on here, but you should still read her new article "From Bombs to Bracelets" looking at the tangible waste of war
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
March 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
My incredible colleague Esther Breithoff isn't on here, but you should still read her new article "From Bombs to Bracelets" looking at the tangible waste of war
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And off to teach my class on the reception of Middle Eastern ruins @bbkhistorical.bsky.social this evening with my own props
March 13, 2025 at 3:49 PM
And off to teach my class on the reception of Middle Eastern ruins @bbkhistorical.bsky.social this evening with my own props
Accidental self portrait at the wonderful @palexfund.bsky.social today. From looking at stereograph cards to the grants committee, always a busy and fun time in Greenwich
March 13, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Accidental self portrait at the wonderful @palexfund.bsky.social today. From looking at stereograph cards to the grants committee, always a busy and fun time in Greenwich
In the article, we look at Ingholt’s diaries: in some cases we know the names of the people who provided objects, including tessera, to Ingholt, including one known in the diaries only as Hijjâr
February 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
In the article, we look at Ingholt’s diaries: in some cases we know the names of the people who provided objects, including tessera, to Ingholt, including one known in the diaries only as Hijjâr
We’ll be looking especially at small finds, examining the materiality and meaning of Palmyrene tesserae — using not only images but also 3D printed versions, thanks to the open data resources of Raja’s project
February 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
We’ll be looking especially at small finds, examining the materiality and meaning of Palmyrene tesserae — using not only images but also 3D printed versions, thanks to the open data resources of Raja’s project
Really looking forward to tomorrow's class on Religious and economic life at Palmyra. We’re building on readings by @ehseland.bsky.social on the Caravan Trade, and Rubina Raja on religious objects. Yes, there will be camels.
February 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Really looking forward to tomorrow's class on Religious and economic life at Palmyra. We’re building on readings by @ehseland.bsky.social on the Caravan Trade, and Rubina Raja on religious objects. Yes, there will be camels.
Tonight my Palmyra students from @bbkhistorical.bsky.social are in for a treat: a visit to @joliheroics.bsky.social and the Wood Archive, to see some of Borra's original drawings, and other gems!
January 30, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Tonight my Palmyra students from @bbkhistorical.bsky.social are in for a treat: a visit to @joliheroics.bsky.social and the Wood Archive, to see some of Borra's original drawings, and other gems!
What a week it has been. There is much to worry about, and reckon with, but I share the joy, and hope, of Syrian friends and colleagues that this will be a turning point for the better. This morning, images of Dura-Europos, post-Assad, reached me.
December 13, 2024 at 2:33 PM
What a week it has been. There is much to worry about, and reckon with, but I share the joy, and hope, of Syrian friends and colleagues that this will be a turning point for the better. This morning, images of Dura-Europos, post-Assad, reached me.
Adnan is there too, and is calling for the help which didn’t come last time
December 7, 2024 at 5:34 PM
Adnan is there too, and is calling for the help which didn’t come last time
Riveted to the news from Syria, so hopeful but so terrified for what might come next. Thinking of my friends and colleagues, and holding my breath
December 7, 2024 at 5:28 PM
Riveted to the news from Syria, so hopeful but so terrified for what might come next. Thinking of my friends and colleagues, and holding my breath
It's great to see so many new faces here! Must be my lucky badge, a gift received last night from a lovely student how said it reminded her of me 😂 (for going on about phallic graffiti, honest)
November 15, 2024 at 8:50 AM
It's great to see so many new faces here! Must be my lucky badge, a gift received last night from a lovely student how said it reminded her of me 😂 (for going on about phallic graffiti, honest)
So impressed with our former student Lexi Diggins and the work she is doing to presence women's work -- ancient and modern -- at Verulamium. Can't wait to see it in person (
@lesleymcf.bsky.social I think we need to take a field trip). More details here: www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/wom...
@lesleymcf.bsky.social I think we need to take a field trip). More details here: www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/wom...
March 5, 2024 at 5:29 PM
So impressed with our former student Lexi Diggins and the work she is doing to presence women's work -- ancient and modern -- at Verulamium. Can't wait to see it in person (
@lesleymcf.bsky.social I think we need to take a field trip). More details here: www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/wom...
@lesleymcf.bsky.social I think we need to take a field trip). More details here: www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/wom...
No points for guessing my case studies! Ingholt's diaries from Palmyra and Hopkins' from Dura-Europos.
February 23, 2024 at 9:26 AM
No points for guessing my case studies! Ingholt's diaries from Palmyra and Hopkins' from Dura-Europos.
Just out in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, I tackle this archetypal archaeological document: what do archaeological notebooks include, and what to they occlude?
February 23, 2024 at 9:26 AM
Just out in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, I tackle this archetypal archaeological document: what do archaeological notebooks include, and what to they occlude?
Can we read archival archaeological notebooks against the grain? What other histories do they hold?
February 23, 2024 at 9:25 AM
Can we read archival archaeological notebooks against the grain? What other histories do they hold?
The shield has been heavily restored: it was found crushed in a siege mine beneath a city tower
January 30, 2024 at 10:03 AM
The shield has been heavily restored: it was found crushed in a siege mine beneath a city tower
If you want a copy of your very own, here's a discount!
January 16, 2024 at 9:36 AM
If you want a copy of your very own, here's a discount!
Another hard copy this week -- this time a paperback edition of this edited volume on housing. Still grateful to my department @bbkhistorical.bsky.social (of blessed memory, pre-restructure) for supporting the "Between Words and Walls" conference that led to this!
January 16, 2024 at 9:34 AM
Another hard copy this week -- this time a paperback edition of this edited volume on housing. Still grateful to my department @bbkhistorical.bsky.social (of blessed memory, pre-restructure) for supporting the "Between Words and Walls" conference that led to this!
It’s always nice when hard copies show up. A little chapter on cisterns at Dura was just published, further to a wonderful workshop during lockdown.
January 12, 2024 at 1:42 PM
It’s always nice when hard copies show up. A little chapter on cisterns at Dura was just published, further to a wonderful workshop during lockdown.