Naomi Sykes
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naomisykes.bsky.social
Naomi Sykes
@naomisykes.bsky.social
110 followers 39 following 4 posts
Head of Department of Archaeology & History @UniofExeter
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Reposted by Naomi Sykes
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the walruses, for today is their special day!

To celebrate World Walrus Day, here is an illustration of a walrus from the book 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc.

📷 Reserve 590 BUF

#WorldWalrusDay #WalrusDay #RareBooks
Cropped image from a book showing a colour illustration of a walrus in side profile. The walrus is lying down in side profile on sandy ground next to a body of water. It has a slightly doleful expression on its face.
November 24, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
archaeoliz.bsky.social
Head on over to our project website to read all about the recent conference and data collection trip which had me zigzagging across northwestern Europe via train all the way from Copenhagen to Exeter! #researchupdate #archaeology #datacollection

sites.google.com/palaeome.org...
Beyond Stockfish - Blog
November 10, 2025
sites.google.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Our Masters students taking a module in Experimental Archaeology visited Stonehenge yesterday to learn about reconstructed Neolithic houses and a new project to build a large Neolithic education building, based on timber structure Durrington 68 😍 Also starring Ed's Late Neolithic decorated hard hat👷
October 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
romanpalace.bsky.social
We did a Telly! 🤩🎬

Four in a Bed....
www.channel4.com/programmes/f...

(had to take a photo of our computer because stupid Channel 4 wouldn't let us screen snip)
October 22, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Are you considering a PhD? 🤔 Join our 'Masterclass - PhD proposal and funding 101'

📅Wednesday 3 December
🕰️ 10am or 4pm
📍ZOOM

All welcome!

🎫 Book your *free* ticket:

• 10am: fixr.co/event/master...
• 4pm: fixr.co/event/master...
October 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Yesterday, Prof. Stephen Rippon was invited to London to be presented the prestigious British Academy Landscape Archaeology Medal, awarded for distinguished achievement in that field of archaeology. Many congratulations on this much deserved honour!
Prof Rippon at the podium Photo of the medal - which reads British Academy John Coles Medal - Landscape Archaeology
October 20, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
archsoutheast.bsky.social
📢 Announcing three(!) new opportunities for aspiring archaeologists to join our Archaeological Fieldwork Technician apprenticeship program!

Apply now (closes Friday 24 October): www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/VAC1000345576
Two archaeologists on an excavation. One squats to trowel the ground, another leans over to watch
October 10, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Step back to 1086 and explore the fascinating world behind the oldest surviving Domesday manuscript!📜

Dr Chris Lewis speaks on the mysteries, gaps and stories of Exon Domesday.

👉 When: 30 October 7:30pm
👉 Where: Exeter Cathedral and online
👉 Tickets: www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/whats-on/eve...
September 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Has Halloween come early? No, last week some of our 3rd year archaeology and forensics students carried out a crime scene recovery exercise in our woodland on campus.
A woodland setting with trees in the background. A line of police tape is strung across the foreground, and a skeleton and rope can be seen beyond.
October 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
exetercathedral.bsky.social
Increase your knowledge of Exon Domesday on 30 October with researcher Chris Lewis!

Book your tickets to learn all about the oldest of the three original manuscripts surviving from William the Conqueror’s Domesday Survey of 1086: bit.ly/2025-library-lecture

#ExeterCathedral #YourCathedral
2025 Annual Library Lecture: The secrets and silences of Exon Domesday
Explore the many secrets of Exon Domesday, and discover why, where and how it was written.
bit.ly
September 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
exetercathedral.bsky.social
This September we are hosting a Special Tour of the Bishop's Garden and Cathedral. Learn about the historic home of Devon’s bishops, who have lived here since the 13th century.

🌳 24 September | 10:30am
🌳 £20 (adults), £10 (under 18s)
🌳 Accessible tour

Tickets: bit.ly/special-tours
September 8, 2025 at 12:47 PM
naomisykes.bsky.social
Can’t wait to welcome you to the Department! Especially with such a glowing reference from Curator Rob!
romanpalace.bsky.social Fishbourne Roman Palace @romanpalace.bsky.social · Sep 9
GUTTED to be saying goodbye to volunteer Mia today. 😭

She's off to study History @exeter.ac.uk, after which we have no doubt she will take over the world.

Good Luck Mia!! 🤗

@uoearchhist.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
romanpalace.bsky.social
Glass furnace update! 🔥🍷

We've been building a glass furnace @butserancientfarm.co.uk. We've removed the PhD student from the hole and replaced her with Roman tile and (less Roman) brick. Looks like a Goldfish.

#CuratorRob has been helping make daub bricks and has in no way lost his mind.
August 13, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
aidanosullivan.bsky.social
I'm fundraising for LauraLynn - Irelands Childrens Hospice
fundraise.lauralynn.ie/s/859/858/s

I’m taking part in “Run 100K in September” challenge to raise funds for LauraLynn, Ireland’s only Children’s Hospice, for children with life-limiting conditions, be grateful for your support
Aidan O’Sullivan
I'm fundraising for LauraLynn - Irelands Childrens Hospice and would love if you could support my challenge.
fundraise.lauralynn.ie
August 11, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social
You want hillforts? We got hillforts! The AHRC-funded project 'An atlas of the hillforts of Britain and Ireland' was an HCA project with the University of Oxford,
edin.ac/411eXYa

#HillfortsWednesday #History #Classics #Archaeology #HCA #Edinburgh #Edinburghuniversity
August 13, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Such a lovely story this 😍 Jan Oke is an Exeter Archaeology alumnus and Fairlynch Museum’s Curator of Archaeology. She is a former recipient of the Angela and Tony Colmer prize 🏆 herself and was part of the team who awarded it to Phoebe Holland today ♻️ for outstanding Fieldwork in Local Archaeology👇
August 6, 2025 at 2:35 PM
naomisykes.bsky.social
Very proud of Alisha and Jess who are that the launch of their co-authored book: Tails and Roots - a creative exploration of biodiversity in research @uoearchhist.bsky.social @frankieboyd.bsky.social
July 2, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Some great finds fresh out of the ground today! In trench 6, we've been finding lots of animal bone and what some staff on site believe to be a key! We will need to x-ray to find out. Then in trench 3 we have found the remains of a wall, and also some beautiful Beauvais pottery from France!
June 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
A lot of cobbled surfaces being revealed at Columbjohn! Trench 3 is also revealing some features such as a drainage system and a slumped wall!
@nattrustarch.bsky.social
June 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
suegreaney.bsky.social
Funded PhD on natural and cultural heritage on islands! www.mic.ul.ie/sites/defaul...
www.mic.ul.ie
June 5, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
suegreaney.bsky.social
Halfway through our fieldschool at Columbjohn! In terms of finds it's a tale of two halves - prehistoric (likely Iron Age) pottery and flints from one trench, masses of post-med pot and Elizabethan ceiling plaster from another!
A hand holding two small sherds of black pottery, over an excavation trench A series of sherds of different post-medieval pottery with a variety of colours and glazes and patterns - some local and some imported A finds tray with large chunks of plaster, some cornice pieces and oval shaped and a leaf is visible.
May 31, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
First day on site at Columbjohn for Fieldschool! A feature in Trench 3 and some new finds have already been discovered as the rubble layer is being revealed. Finds include a Victorian coin and 17th century pin! Follow this page to keep updated and visit the site at Killerton when you get a chance!
May 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
romanpalace.bsky.social
We're hosting Alisha from @uoearchhist.bsky.social all week this week.

Alisha is bothering our pig teeth for her PhD to find out wonderful things about the history of wold board at Fishbourne (and elsewhere, but who cares about all that?).
A woman with long straight hair, looking at the camera. Beside her is a a laptop and a camera on a fancy stand pointing at a pig mandible. We wouldn't say the woman looks a bit demented but there's something in her eyes that suggests she seen far too many pig teeth.
April 29, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
uoearchhist.bsky.social
Were cats domesticated in the Neolithic? New research by Sean Doherty and Naomi Sykes suggests it was far more recent, and the result of religion, not rodents
Did cult sacrifices in ancient Egypt give rise to the cat?
“Murder pathway” may have tamed wildcats over several generations
www.science.org
April 11, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Naomi Sykes
suegreaney.bsky.social
Finally President Linda Hurcombe is bringing together multiple strands - Anthropocene, future periods of time, public engagement through experimental archaeology, and the future of @prehistoricsociety.bsky.social
Slide with title 'Will periods still have a place?' with images of a microchip and the plastic age.
April 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM