James Harland
@jmharland.bsky.social
Asst. Prof. @dependencybonn.de, Late Roman & Early Medieval History & Archaeology.
Exploring what happens when empires die.
Book available at http://t.ly/LfaV
http://jmharland.hcommons.org/publications
Exploring what happens when empires die.
Book available at http://t.ly/LfaV
http://jmharland.hcommons.org/publications
Pinned
Ethnic Identity and the Archaeology of the aduentus Saxonum: A Modern Framework and its Problems
For centuries, archaeologists have excavated the soils of Britain to uncover finds from the early medieval past. These finds have been used to reconstruct the alleged communities, migration patterns, ...
www.routledge.com
The paperback of Ethnic Identity and the Archaeology of the aduentus Saxonum is now available to pre-order. There is currently a Black Friday discount of 25% available with the code BF2025S, making it < €39/£33!
www.routledge.com/Ethnic-Ident...
www.routledge.com/Ethnic-Ident...
Reposted by James Harland
I have contributed to the debate!!
Academic Philosophers and “Writing Clearly”
open.substack.com/pub/axdougla...
Academic Philosophers and “Writing Clearly”
open.substack.com/pub/axdougla...
Academic Philosophers and “Writing Clearly”
Cold, limp, lifeless prose is not clear
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:31 AM
I have contributed to the debate!!
Academic Philosophers and “Writing Clearly”
open.substack.com/pub/axdougla...
Academic Philosophers and “Writing Clearly”
open.substack.com/pub/axdougla...
Reposted by James Harland
My publisher for Forgotten Vikings recently told me that the book - and by extension me - are classed as ‘bestselling’, which means I can do that thing authors do and write ‘bestselling’ in my bio now
November 13, 2025 at 6:58 AM
My publisher for Forgotten Vikings recently told me that the book - and by extension me - are classed as ‘bestselling’, which means I can do that thing authors do and write ‘bestselling’ in my bio now
The paperback of Ethnic Identity and the Archaeology of the aduentus Saxonum is now available to pre-order. There is currently a Black Friday discount of 25% available with the code BF2025S, making it < €39/£33!
www.routledge.com/Ethnic-Ident...
www.routledge.com/Ethnic-Ident...
Ethnic Identity and the Archaeology of the aduentus Saxonum: A Modern Framework and its Problems
For centuries, archaeologists have excavated the soils of Britain to uncover finds from the early medieval past. These finds have been used to reconstruct the alleged communities, migration patterns, ...
www.routledge.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
The paperback of Ethnic Identity and the Archaeology of the aduentus Saxonum is now available to pre-order. There is currently a Black Friday discount of 25% available with the code BF2025S, making it < €39/£33!
www.routledge.com/Ethnic-Ident...
www.routledge.com/Ethnic-Ident...
Reposted by James Harland
An interesting time to be thinking with Wikipedia, the only "social media" to be designed to generate consensus, not division.
on.ft.com/3LNokFM
on.ft.com/3LNokFM
Why American-style polarisation is spreading across the west
New research shows how incentives in the modern media ecosystem help explain rising division and negativity
on.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:24 PM
An interesting time to be thinking with Wikipedia, the only "social media" to be designed to generate consensus, not division.
on.ft.com/3LNokFM
on.ft.com/3LNokFM
Nice to give a paper in my own institution for a change!
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Nice to give a paper in my own institution for a change!
1/3rd of a paper I'm delivering on Thursday now on the page and it's nice to have a reminder that this is just how my writing process works (a very large chunk of the stuff I've written that was any good began similarly).
There's nothing like intense and overwhelming panic about the possibility of making an arse of yourself in front of important, clever and critical people people to produce a clarity of thought that just cuts through the brain fog.
November 4, 2025 at 8:07 AM
1/3rd of a paper I'm delivering on Thursday now on the page and it's nice to have a reminder that this is just how my writing process works (a very large chunk of the stuff I've written that was any good began similarly).
Reposted by James Harland
October 8, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by James Harland
New discovery: A #bakery was unearthed in the Roman town of Sisapo, Spain. The town was part of a major economic center linked to mining in the Sierra Morena region. The bakery occupied a large complex of over 200 m² with five rooms, including a large circular oven, milling areas with stone ...🧵1/2
November 1, 2025 at 6:20 PM
New discovery: A #bakery was unearthed in the Roman town of Sisapo, Spain. The town was part of a major economic center linked to mining in the Sierra Morena region. The bakery occupied a large complex of over 200 m² with five rooms, including a large circular oven, milling areas with stone ...🧵1/2
Two great scholars of the early Middle Ages having a chat about @alexharvv.bsky.social’s cracking book!
A new interview blogpost from me! This time talking to @alexharvv.bsky.social about his book "Forgotten Vikings". We also touch on the importance of promoting academic history outside academia.
Forgotten Vikings: An Interview with Alex Harvey
This interview is part of an ongoing series in which I talk to fellow researchers about topics more or less related to the themes of this blog and my own research. If you’re a postgraduate, early career, or independent researcher with a recent publication to discuss and you’d like to feature here, please get in touch. Today I’m talking to Alex Harvey about his thorough but accessible study of the Viking Age, …
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Two great scholars of the early Middle Ages having a chat about @alexharvv.bsky.social’s cracking book!
Reposted by James Harland
A new interview blogpost from me! This time talking to @alexharvv.bsky.social about his book "Forgotten Vikings". We also touch on the importance of promoting academic history outside academia.
Forgotten Vikings: An Interview with Alex Harvey
This interview is part of an ongoing series in which I talk to fellow researchers about topics more or less related to the themes of this blog and my own research. If you’re a postgraduate, early career, or independent researcher with a recent publication to discuss and you’d like to feature here, please get in touch. Today I’m talking to Alex Harvey about his thorough but accessible study of the Viking Age, …
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM
A new interview blogpost from me! This time talking to @alexharvv.bsky.social about his book "Forgotten Vikings". We also touch on the importance of promoting academic history outside academia.
Reposted by James Harland
Interviewed by the one and only @karanthir.bsky.social
Read on for chats about Frisians, vikings, Frisian vikings, and more Frisians…
Read on for chats about Frisians, vikings, Frisian vikings, and more Frisians…
A new interview blogpost from me! This time talking to @alexharvv.bsky.social about his book "Forgotten Vikings". We also touch on the importance of promoting academic history outside academia.
Forgotten Vikings: An Interview with Alex Harvey
This interview is part of an ongoing series in which I talk to fellow researchers about topics more or less related to the themes of this blog and my own research. If you’re a postgraduate, early career, or independent researcher with a recent publication to discuss and you’d like to feature here, please get in touch. Today I’m talking to Alex Harvey about his thorough but accessible study of the Viking Age, …
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Interviewed by the one and only @karanthir.bsky.social
Read on for chats about Frisians, vikings, Frisian vikings, and more Frisians…
Read on for chats about Frisians, vikings, Frisian vikings, and more Frisians…
Who’s off to TAG this year?
November 1, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Who’s off to TAG this year?
This sort of project that, when it comes into being, its importance is so clear that the reaction is amazement that no one had managed to bring it into being already.
XRONOS is an open data infrastructure for the backbone of the archaeological record – chronology.
As described in our paper out today in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology (https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.191), XRONOS is the most comprehensive […]
As described in our paper out today in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology (https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.191), XRONOS is the most comprehensive […]
Original post on archaeo.social
archaeo.social
October 31, 2025 at 4:06 AM
This sort of project that, when it comes into being, its importance is so clear that the reaction is amazement that no one had managed to bring it into being already.
Reposted by James Harland
XRONOS is an open data infrastructure for the backbone of the archaeological record – chronology.
As described in our paper out today in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology (https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.191), XRONOS is the most comprehensive […]
As described in our paper out today in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology (https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.191), XRONOS is the most comprehensive […]
Original post on archaeo.social
archaeo.social
October 30, 2025 at 2:31 PM
XRONOS is an open data infrastructure for the backbone of the archaeological record – chronology.
As described in our paper out today in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology (https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.191), XRONOS is the most comprehensive […]
As described in our paper out today in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology (https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.191), XRONOS is the most comprehensive […]
A common trope here is that AI-written material is easy to spot for everyone. Please, please, dissuade yourselves of this notion. Material written entirely by AI is getting through: in BA and MA theses, in job applications, in journal articles. Probably in PhD theses. And this should trouble us all.
October 28, 2025 at 8:48 AM
A common trope here is that AI-written material is easy to spot for everyone. Please, please, dissuade yourselves of this notion. Material written entirely by AI is getting through: in BA and MA theses, in job applications, in journal articles. Probably in PhD theses. And this should trouble us all.
Troubling. I knew the PAS was under financial pressure and has always faced an uphill task, but I hadn't quite realised the scale of the problem.
The piece where I get to say everything that's bugging me about the world of detecting & archaeology & ask - why are we not more concerned about this?
(Thank you to everyone who read through drafts & offered thoughts, advice and ideas.)
#Archaeology #Detecting 🏺
bigbookoftorcs.com/2025/10/27/t...
(Thank you to everyone who read through drafts & offered thoughts, advice and ideas.)
#Archaeology #Detecting 🏺
bigbookoftorcs.com/2025/10/27/t...
The system is broken, so why are we not more concerned?
by Tess Machling [A download/print PDF version can be found at the end of the paper] Abstract The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) – the detectorist-facing branch of archaeology – whic…
bigbookoftorcs.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Troubling. I knew the PAS was under financial pressure and has always faced an uphill task, but I hadn't quite realised the scale of the problem.
Reposted by James Harland
My blog post with the ADAM network has now been published. It's about precarity, the future of small subjects, and communal approaches to academic work. I hope it will resonate with some. #IchBinHanna #KleineFaecher #SkandiRetten
difficultmedieval.com/2025/10/23/h...
difficultmedieval.com/2025/10/23/h...
Hard Times and Trial Approaches: Old Norse-Icelandic Studies Between Precarity and the Future
Dr Rebecca Merkelbach reflects on her keynote speech at the most recent Saga Conference. Held every three years, Saga Con is the most important meeting of Old Norse scholars, bringing together acad…
difficultmedieval.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
My blog post with the ADAM network has now been published. It's about precarity, the future of small subjects, and communal approaches to academic work. I hope it will resonate with some. #IchBinHanna #KleineFaecher #SkandiRetten
difficultmedieval.com/2025/10/23/h...
difficultmedieval.com/2025/10/23/h...
Reposted by James Harland
In the wake of Charlie Kirk's death, a TN sheriff had a 61-yr-old man arrested for posting a meme on Facebook, which the sheriff absurdly construed as a threat. It was pretty clearly bullshit but I dug into the case using FB & public records and now it looks even worse. My latest @theintercept.com:
The Absurd Prosecution of a Man Who Posted a Charlie Kirk Meme
Larry Bushart Jr. posted trolling memes on a Facebook thread about a vigil for Kirk. He’s been in a Tennessee jail ever since.
theintercept.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:06 PM
In the wake of Charlie Kirk's death, a TN sheriff had a 61-yr-old man arrested for posting a meme on Facebook, which the sheriff absurdly construed as a threat. It was pretty clearly bullshit but I dug into the case using FB & public records and now it looks even worse. My latest @theintercept.com:
This is an atrocious idea.
“The agreement will deploy ChatGPT Enterprise on the desktops of 2,500 employees for use in "routine tasks," such as writing support, compliance and legal work, data and research processes, and document analysis.” go.theregister.com/feed/www.the...
UK Ministry of Justice signs up to ChatGPT Enterprise
: OpenAI sweetens the deal with data residency
go.theregister.com
October 25, 2025 at 8:25 AM
This is an atrocious idea.
Reposted by James Harland
This isn’t going to end well. Some of that team are going to be under pressure and/or lazy.
And we know from disciplinary cases that ChatGPT “hallucinates” cases and opinions.
And we know from disciplinary cases that ChatGPT “hallucinates” cases and opinions.
“The agreement will deploy ChatGPT Enterprise on the desktops of 2,500 employees for use in "routine tasks," such as writing support, compliance and legal work, data and research processes, and document analysis.” go.theregister.com/feed/www.the...
UK Ministry of Justice signs up to ChatGPT Enterprise
: OpenAI sweetens the deal with data residency
go.theregister.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:33 AM
This isn’t going to end well. Some of that team are going to be under pressure and/or lazy.
And we know from disciplinary cases that ChatGPT “hallucinates” cases and opinions.
And we know from disciplinary cases that ChatGPT “hallucinates” cases and opinions.
Reposted by James Harland
This is going to be a career defining moment for some poor archaeology grad student in 500 years.
The White House's East Wing construction rubble was taken to East Potomac Golf Course. It was reported that the rubble will be used to create mounds on the golf course.
Read more: bit.ly/4oa2tXA
Read more: bit.ly/4oa2tXA
October 24, 2025 at 7:37 PM
This is going to be a career defining moment for some poor archaeology grad student in 500 years.
Good thread!
1. Graham Platner is an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who’s running for the United States Senate in Maine. He’s trying to knock off Susan Collins. He’s presented himself as a common-man candidate who stands against oligarchy, genocide and the oppression of the little guy.
October 24, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Good thread!
Reposted by James Harland
22. Solidarity requires trust, though, which brings me back to the tattoo.
October 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
22. Solidarity requires trust, though, which brings me back to the tattoo.
Reposted by James Harland
21. None of this is to say that a decent man of integrity from a respectable bourgeois background cannot be a champion of the masses. Solidarity against the ruling oligarchy does not require warriors for the working class to be of the working class. After all, Franklin Roosevelt wasn’t.
October 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
21. None of this is to say that a decent man of integrity from a respectable bourgeois background cannot be a champion of the masses. Solidarity against the ruling oligarchy does not require warriors for the working class to be of the working class. After all, Franklin Roosevelt wasn’t.
Reposted by James Harland
18. While it’s apparently true that working-class kids can afford Bapst thanks to gov't support, it’s also true that no credible definition of “working class” includes access to an elite institution for the son of an attorney, who is the son of an eminent architect, who left his mark on Yale.
October 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
18. While it’s apparently true that working-class kids can afford Bapst thanks to gov't support, it’s also true that no credible definition of “working class” includes access to an elite institution for the son of an attorney, who is the son of an eminent architect, who left his mark on Yale.