Doc McCullough
@marginalviking.bsky.social
Erstwhile archaeologist and historian. Musings on Vikings/Norse, Greenland, archaeology of religion, mythology, and magic.
Also on Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@MarginalViking
Also on Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@MarginalViking
Beaduheard the Reeve confronting unknown ships in Dorchester, AD 789 (colorized) #MedievalSky
November 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Beaduheard the Reeve confronting unknown ships in Dorchester, AD 789 (colorized) #MedievalSky
I have never in my life encountered a more bespoke internet meme.
#CalvinAndHobbes #VoynichManuscript #Medievalsky
#CalvinAndHobbes #VoynichManuscript #Medievalsky
November 3, 2025 at 11:47 PM
I have never in my life encountered a more bespoke internet meme.
#CalvinAndHobbes #VoynichManuscript #Medievalsky
#CalvinAndHobbes #VoynichManuscript #Medievalsky
Raise your hand if you are adorable. #CatsOfBluesky #Buttercup
October 11, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Raise your hand if you are adorable. #CatsOfBluesky #Buttercup
For scale and also for fun I had my friend stand anonymously next to “Thorkell’s Cairn” in #Greenland in a nod to Aage Roussell’s Sandnes photograph from 80 years earlier.
We thought that someone 80 years later asking “who the hell is that guy?” was pretty funny. Still do, really!
#Archaeology
We thought that someone 80 years later asking “who the hell is that guy?” was pretty funny. Still do, really!
#Archaeology
July 29, 2025 at 1:48 PM
For scale and also for fun I had my friend stand anonymously next to “Thorkell’s Cairn” in #Greenland in a nod to Aage Roussell’s Sandnes photograph from 80 years earlier.
We thought that someone 80 years later asking “who the hell is that guy?” was pretty funny. Still do, really!
#Archaeology
We thought that someone 80 years later asking “who the hell is that guy?” was pretty funny. Still do, really!
#Archaeology
While it’s not a bad idea to finish #gradschool before you have #children, you also won’t get a drawing of you and your three year old as #Vikings that way.
July 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
While it’s not a bad idea to finish #gradschool before you have #children, you also won’t get a drawing of you and your three year old as #Vikings that way.
One upside to leaving #academia- my studies tended to give me a kind of “spooky” feeling that was difficult to articulate in a scientific way. Now that I’m not expected to publish, I can just enjoy the *frisson* of it. #altacademia #archaeology #history
July 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
One upside to leaving #academia- my studies tended to give me a kind of “spooky” feeling that was difficult to articulate in a scientific way. Now that I’m not expected to publish, I can just enjoy the *frisson* of it. #altacademia #archaeology #history
I had dinner with an old professor and academic mentor last night. Had to laugh at his bathroom decor!
#academia #gradschool #dissertation
#academia #gradschool #dissertation
July 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I had dinner with an old professor and academic mentor last night. Had to laugh at his bathroom decor!
#academia #gradschool #dissertation
#academia #gradschool #dissertation
What actor’s expression will stay with you for the rest of your life?
June 26, 2025 at 1:58 AM
What actor’s expression will stay with you for the rest of your life?
Oh, man. This is a tough one, but I might suggest this walrus pendant from #Greenland. It’s carved from a walrus molar and you string it under its tusks! #Archaeology #Viking
June 6, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Oh, man. This is a tough one, but I might suggest this walrus pendant from #Greenland. It’s carved from a walrus molar and you string it under its tusks! #Archaeology #Viking
#Viking people if you haven’t read this book yet put it next on your list.
I literally closed the first edition of this one back in 2010 and said “Welp, I’m going to get a PhD in archaeology.” #Medievalsky #Archaeology
I literally closed the first edition of this one back in 2010 and said “Welp, I’m going to get a PhD in archaeology.” #Medievalsky #Archaeology
May 28, 2025 at 9:11 PM
#Viking people if you haven’t read this book yet put it next on your list.
I literally closed the first edition of this one back in 2010 and said “Welp, I’m going to get a PhD in archaeology.” #Medievalsky #Archaeology
I literally closed the first edition of this one back in 2010 and said “Welp, I’m going to get a PhD in archaeology.” #Medievalsky #Archaeology
Quite an influential general survey in its day but probably not of much use in current scholarship.
May 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Quite an influential general survey in its day but probably not of much use in current scholarship.
The comparison has been made to some of the staves in #Galdrabok, but I think it has more to do with local artistic convention. Something about flanged/triangular terminals was important to the Greenlanders. #Medievalsky #Greenland #Archaeology
May 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
The comparison has been made to some of the staves in #Galdrabok, but I think it has more to do with local artistic convention. Something about flanged/triangular terminals was important to the Greenlanders. #Medievalsky #Greenland #Archaeology
Here’s something fun for you #medievalists and those into #typologies - this leather scrap from medievai #Greenland is covered with incised crosses. Probably it’s a #devotional counter of some kind, and those three-toed/triangular crosses are distinctively Greenland. Do they pop up elsewhere?
May 16, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Here’s something fun for you #medievalists and those into #typologies - this leather scrap from medievai #Greenland is covered with incised crosses. Probably it’s a #devotional counter of some kind, and those three-toed/triangular crosses are distinctively Greenland. Do they pop up elsewhere?
Watch out for junk history memes this weekend!
‘Tis the season to share this gem from @digital-hammurabi.bsky.social:
#Easter #Ishtar #JunkHistory #History
‘Tis the season to share this gem from @digital-hammurabi.bsky.social:
#Easter #Ishtar #JunkHistory #History
April 18, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Watch out for junk history memes this weekend!
‘Tis the season to share this gem from @digital-hammurabi.bsky.social:
#Easter #Ishtar #JunkHistory #History
‘Tis the season to share this gem from @digital-hammurabi.bsky.social:
#Easter #Ishtar #JunkHistory #History
Describe yourself with a building
April 13, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Describe yourself with a building
Just wanted to share these really cool early #BronzeAge flint daggers from the #HuntMuseum in #Limerick. They look like they were never used and if I made something that nice I wouldn’t want to use it either! #Archaeology
April 11, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Just wanted to share these really cool early #BronzeAge flint daggers from the #HuntMuseum in #Limerick. They look like they were never used and if I made something that nice I wouldn’t want to use it either! #Archaeology
April 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Do I like having a nuanced and academic understanding of the Middle Ages?
Yes.
Do I also like touristy anachronistic medieval feasts?
Also yes.
#BunrattyCastle #ChaseYourPorkWithChicken
#Mead
Yes.
Do I also like touristy anachronistic medieval feasts?
Also yes.
#BunrattyCastle #ChaseYourPorkWithChicken
#Mead
March 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Do I like having a nuanced and academic understanding of the Middle Ages?
Yes.
Do I also like touristy anachronistic medieval feasts?
Also yes.
#BunrattyCastle #ChaseYourPorkWithChicken
#Mead
Yes.
Do I also like touristy anachronistic medieval feasts?
Also yes.
#BunrattyCastle #ChaseYourPorkWithChicken
#Mead
Contemporary fast food is way more muted in tone and you order from a touchscreen kiosk. It is like a walk-in vending machine. My question is: What changed at the decision making level to dispense with the “fun” of it? 2/4
February 27, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Contemporary fast food is way more muted in tone and you order from a touchscreen kiosk. It is like a walk-in vending machine. My question is: What changed at the decision making level to dispense with the “fun” of it? 2/4
Vaguely #archaeology related concept I’ve been kicking around:
Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s fast food was advertised as an experience and a treat - there were bright colors and ball pits and mascots. The implication being that eating here was *fun*! 1/4
Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s fast food was advertised as an experience and a treat - there were bright colors and ball pits and mascots. The implication being that eating here was *fun*! 1/4
February 27, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Vaguely #archaeology related concept I’ve been kicking around:
Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s fast food was advertised as an experience and a treat - there were bright colors and ball pits and mascots. The implication being that eating here was *fun*! 1/4
Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s fast food was advertised as an experience and a treat - there were bright colors and ball pits and mascots. The implication being that eating here was *fun*! 1/4