Jim Leary
@jimleary.bsky.social
Archaeologist & writer. Senior lecturer at Uni of York. Books: The Story of Silbury Hill; The Remembered Land; Footmarks, a journey into our restless past. Agent: JP Marshall.
My personal favourite is this jaunty little wolverine stepping out of the past. Carved onto a bone pendant around 14,000 years ago and found in the Grotte de Eyzies in the Dordogne, France. 🏺
September 12, 2025 at 6:00 AM
My personal favourite is this jaunty little wolverine stepping out of the past. Carved onto a bone pendant around 14,000 years ago and found in the Grotte de Eyzies in the Dordogne, France. 🏺
And here is a 12,500 year old engraving of three reindeer and a hairy headed ibex with a groovy goatee beard from Courbet Cave in the Midi-Pyrénées. 🏺
September 12, 2025 at 5:58 AM
And here is a 12,500 year old engraving of three reindeer and a hairy headed ibex with a groovy goatee beard from Courbet Cave in the Midi-Pyrénées. 🏺
For #FindsFriday I offer this gorgeous 15,000 year old engraving of a reindeer calf, nervously standing next to its mum. Found in the Madeleine rock shelter in the Dordogne, France. Part of the excellent Ice Age Art exhibition at the Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, Bradford. 🏺
September 12, 2025 at 5:57 AM
For #FindsFriday I offer this gorgeous 15,000 year old engraving of a reindeer calf, nervously standing next to its mum. Found in the Madeleine rock shelter in the Dordogne, France. Part of the excellent Ice Age Art exhibition at the Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, Bradford. 🏺
This is the peat face - the raised bog - the cuttings are taken from. A crucial carbon sink, an incredible archaeological record🏺, and wonderful biodiversity being moth eaten, gnawed away by ignorance.
August 24, 2025 at 6:46 AM
This is the peat face - the raised bog - the cuttings are taken from. A crucial carbon sink, an incredible archaeological record🏺, and wonderful biodiversity being moth eaten, gnawed away by ignorance.
When I asked some peat cutters whether they’ve ever found any archaeology🏺, they told me some bog butter came out of this cutting a year or two ago. I asked what they did with it, and they laughed and said they had a cheese and wine party. Well-meaning but wrongheaded.
August 24, 2025 at 6:44 AM
When I asked some peat cutters whether they’ve ever found any archaeology🏺, they told me some bog butter came out of this cutting a year or two ago. I asked what they did with it, and they laughed and said they had a cheese and wine party. Well-meaning but wrongheaded.
I loved Galway, but this is so sad to see - lines of drying peat cut to fuel heaters and warm homes. This is an incalculable loss to the environment and to archaeology🏺. It's not big business doing this, but small householders keeping a tradition alive that should be long dead.
August 24, 2025 at 6:43 AM
I loved Galway, but this is so sad to see - lines of drying peat cut to fuel heaters and warm homes. This is an incalculable loss to the environment and to archaeology🏺. It's not big business doing this, but small householders keeping a tradition alive that should be long dead.
For #StandingStoneSunday I offer the Stone of Destiny, Lia Fáil, a one-metre granite pillar on a raised platform on the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath, Ireland. According to legend, High Kings of Ireland were crowned at the stone, which cried out if it was the true king. 🏺
August 17, 2025 at 6:09 AM
For #StandingStoneSunday I offer the Stone of Destiny, Lia Fáil, a one-metre granite pillar on a raised platform on the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath, Ireland. According to legend, High Kings of Ireland were crowned at the stone, which cried out if it was the true king. 🏺
I love Irish round towers! Like giant grey pencils or a child’s drawing of a rocket. They date to the medieval period and were probably used as belfries or places of refuge. This one is at Kilmacduagh monastery in Co. Galway. It’s over 30m tall and has a decidedly eccentric lean. 🏺
August 13, 2025 at 6:29 AM
I love Irish round towers! Like giant grey pencils or a child’s drawing of a rocket. They date to the medieval period and were probably used as belfries or places of refuge. This one is at Kilmacduagh monastery in Co. Galway. It’s over 30m tall and has a decidedly eccentric lean. 🏺
Topping off the top four megalithic sites in Ireland is Carrowmore in Co. Sligo. It is classified as part of the Neolithic passage tomb tradition, but many monuments look more like dolmens to me. It is a gorgeously striking site (and sight) though. 🏺
August 8, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Topping off the top four megalithic sites in Ireland is Carrowmore in Co. Sligo. It is classified as part of the Neolithic passage tomb tradition, but many monuments look more like dolmens to me. It is a gorgeously striking site (and sight) though. 🏺
A visit to the Burren also means a trip to see this iconic house. Who else hears the title music when they see it?
#FatherTed
#FatherTed
August 5, 2025 at 7:46 AM
A visit to the Burren also means a trip to see this iconic house. Who else hears the title music when they see it?
#FatherTed
#FatherTed
The monument dates to between 5,800 and 5,200 years ago. Among the human remains from the site is the earliest known case of Down syndrome.
August 5, 2025 at 7:44 AM
The monument dates to between 5,800 and 5,200 years ago. Among the human remains from the site is the earliest known case of Down syndrome.
Another iconic monument ticked off the bucket list. Poulnabrone dolmen is one of Ireland's most photographed and photogenic monuments. It is set in the desolate and magnificent landscape of the Burren, Co Clare.
#TombTuesday #Neolithic #Ireland
#TombTuesday #Neolithic #Ireland
August 5, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Another iconic monument ticked off the bucket list. Poulnabrone dolmen is one of Ireland's most photographed and photogenic monuments. It is set in the desolate and magnificent landscape of the Burren, Co Clare.
#TombTuesday #Neolithic #Ireland
#TombTuesday #Neolithic #Ireland
Carrowkeel in Co Sligo, Ireland, is one of the most extraordinary Neolithic sites I’ve visited. The passage tombs are set in the Bricklieve Mountains (Speckled Mountain) and overlook Lough Arrow. The views, the sky, the purpling heather - magical! 🏺
#StandingStoneSunday
#StandingStoneSunday
August 3, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Carrowkeel in Co Sligo, Ireland, is one of the most extraordinary Neolithic sites I’ve visited. The passage tombs are set in the Bricklieve Mountains (Speckled Mountain) and overlook Lough Arrow. The views, the sky, the purpling heather - magical! 🏺
#StandingStoneSunday
#StandingStoneSunday
This exquisitely carved 5000-year-old ceremonial macehead is one of Neolithic Europe’s finest works of art. Excavated from the passage tomb at Knowth in the Boyne Valley, Ireland, it is less than 8cm long and made of a hard, mottled cream-coloured flint. #FindsFriday #Neolithic
August 1, 2025 at 7:55 AM
This exquisitely carved 5000-year-old ceremonial macehead is one of Neolithic Europe’s finest works of art. Excavated from the passage tomb at Knowth in the Boyne Valley, Ireland, it is less than 8cm long and made of a hard, mottled cream-coloured flint. #FindsFriday #Neolithic
The hills and tombs are called Slieve na Calliagh. According to legend, the cairns were formed by a witch scattering rocks as she leapt from hill to hill. As she made her final leap, she fell and broke her neck. This photo shows the hag’s chair, where you can sit and make a wish.
July 29, 2025 at 6:53 AM
The hills and tombs are called Slieve na Calliagh. According to legend, the cairns were formed by a witch scattering rocks as she leapt from hill to hill. As she made her final leap, she fell and broke her neck. This photo shows the hag’s chair, where you can sit and make a wish.
For #TombTuesday, I offer this beauty: the main passage tomb at Loughcrew, near Oldcastle in County Meath, Ireland. It has a series of smaller satellite tombs around it. The monuments sit on a series of hills and date to the Middle Neolithic period, around 5000 years ago.
July 29, 2025 at 6:51 AM
For #TombTuesday, I offer this beauty: the main passage tomb at Loughcrew, near Oldcastle in County Meath, Ireland. It has a series of smaller satellite tombs around it. The monuments sit on a series of hills and date to the Middle Neolithic period, around 5000 years ago.
It has some of the finest rock art from the Neolithic period. Including this, one of the few representations of a human face.
July 26, 2025 at 6:23 AM
It has some of the finest rock art from the Neolithic period. Including this, one of the few representations of a human face.
Fourknocks passage tomb in Co. Meath, Ireland. Built in the Middle Neolithic period, the passage leads to a vast pear-shaped chamber, initially with a wooden roof supported on a central pole. Three small recesses contained 65 adults and children. 🏺
July 26, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Fourknocks passage tomb in Co. Meath, Ireland. Built in the Middle Neolithic period, the passage leads to a vast pear-shaped chamber, initially with a wooden roof supported on a central pole. Three small recesses contained 65 adults and children. 🏺
Monumentally iconic.
Sí an Bhrú or Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland. 🏺#Neolithic #Archaeology #Ireland
Sí an Bhrú or Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland. 🏺#Neolithic #Archaeology #Ireland
July 25, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Monumentally iconic.
Sí an Bhrú or Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland. 🏺#Neolithic #Archaeology #Ireland
Sí an Bhrú or Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland. 🏺#Neolithic #Archaeology #Ireland
Today is the final excavation day at Skipsea in East #Yorkshire, and we’ve dug our way into the Early Mesolithic. And here - an elegant flint point, a razor-thin slash through time, found lying exactly where it had been dropped, some 10,000 years ago. 🏺
#FlintFriday #FindsFriday
#FlintFriday #FindsFriday
May 30, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Today is the final excavation day at Skipsea in East #Yorkshire, and we’ve dug our way into the Early Mesolithic. And here - an elegant flint point, a razor-thin slash through time, found lying exactly where it had been dropped, some 10,000 years ago. 🏺
#FlintFriday #FindsFriday
#FlintFriday #FindsFriday
A few tens of millions of years ago this nugget of Baltic amber bobbed across the sea to arrive on British shores. Over a thousand years ago someone picked it up and began to turn it into a bead for a necklace, before losing it on our site at Skipsea. #FindsFriday #Skipsea2025 🏺
May 16, 2025 at 6:26 AM
A few tens of millions of years ago this nugget of Baltic amber bobbed across the sea to arrive on British shores. Over a thousand years ago someone picked it up and began to turn it into a bead for a necklace, before losing it on our site at Skipsea. #FindsFriday #Skipsea2025 🏺
Of the wonders we’re excavating at Skipsea, East Yorkshire, my favourite is this rare medieval floor, 6th-9th century. How many leather-bound feet, over a thousand years ago, padded in and out of it? How many people stood in the doorway, having passing conversations? 🏺
#Skipsea2025
#Skipsea2025
May 14, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Of the wonders we’re excavating at Skipsea, East Yorkshire, my favourite is this rare medieval floor, 6th-9th century. How many leather-bound feet, over a thousand years ago, padded in and out of it? How many people stood in the doorway, having passing conversations? 🏺
#Skipsea2025
#Skipsea2025
And we’re off! Excavating Skipsea Castle, a prehistoric and early medieval landscape. By the end of May, 114 students will have had their first taste of archaeology in the trenches we open this week. 🏺 #Archaeology #Yorkshire #Skipsea #Skipsea2025
April 30, 2025 at 6:24 AM
And we’re off! Excavating Skipsea Castle, a prehistoric and early medieval landscape. By the end of May, 114 students will have had their first taste of archaeology in the trenches we open this week. 🏺 #Archaeology #Yorkshire #Skipsea #Skipsea2025
April 11, 2025 at 8:26 AM