Valeska Becker
@valeskabecker.bsky.social
Sticks, stones, and broken bones
Archaeology, archaeozoology, general curiosity
Archaeology, archaeozoology, general curiosity
I recently read Umberto Eco's essay "Ur-Fascism"; I think everybody should read it, e.g. here:
theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umbe...
If this seems too long for you, I have extracted the most important parts. Have fun, read them and who knows? You may spot some Ur-fascism right around the corner 😘
theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umbe...
If this seems too long for you, I have extracted the most important parts. Have fun, read them and who knows? You may spot some Ur-fascism right around the corner 😘
April 23, 2025 at 12:05 PM
I recently read Umberto Eco's essay "Ur-Fascism"; I think everybody should read it, e.g. here:
theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umbe...
If this seems too long for you, I have extracted the most important parts. Have fun, read them and who knows? You may spot some Ur-fascism right around the corner 😘
theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umbe...
If this seems too long for you, I have extracted the most important parts. Have fun, read them and who knows? You may spot some Ur-fascism right around the corner 😘
This news is fake: Dire wolfs have not returned. Rather, a tiny number of genes of grey wolves were edited using CRISPR to create some few resemblances to dire wolf genes (fur color, musculature). For more info:
arutherford.substack.com/p/dire-wolve...
arutherford.substack.com/p/dire-wolve...
April 9, 2025 at 9:19 AM
This news is fake: Dire wolfs have not returned. Rather, a tiny number of genes of grey wolves were edited using CRISPR to create some few resemblances to dire wolf genes (fur color, musculature). For more info:
arutherford.substack.com/p/dire-wolve...
arutherford.substack.com/p/dire-wolve...
These cows have come a long way from their wild ancestor, the aurochs (extinct since the 17th century). Aurochs bulls had a shoulder height of ca. 1,8 m and a black coat, cows were ca. 1.6 m high and reddish-brown. Horns were arched forward as a weapon; udders were tiny, invisible when not feeding.
March 6, 2025 at 8:29 AM
These cows have come a long way from their wild ancestor, the aurochs (extinct since the 17th century). Aurochs bulls had a shoulder height of ca. 1,8 m and a black coat, cows were ca. 1.6 m high and reddish-brown. Horns were arched forward as a weapon; udders were tiny, invisible when not feeding.
#Archaeology also deals with animals and human-animal relations and changes in animals in the course of time. Animals are not static, modern domesticates are custom-tailored ... cf. cow on the left, from 1888, and on the right, from 2015. Note shape of back, horns, udder size, overall frame 😔
March 6, 2025 at 8:29 AM
#Archaeology also deals with animals and human-animal relations and changes in animals in the course of time. Animals are not static, modern domesticates are custom-tailored ... cf. cow on the left, from 1888, and on the right, from 2015. Note shape of back, horns, udder size, overall frame 😔
My favorite artefact from the Magdalenien, ca. 15.000 years BP: a spear-thrower from Le Mas d'Azil, carved from reindeer antler, showing three life-stages of a horse: from foal to adult to dead, possibly skinned or defleshed animal 😍
February 3, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My favorite artefact from the Magdalenien, ca. 15.000 years BP: a spear-thrower from Le Mas d'Azil, carved from reindeer antler, showing three life-stages of a horse: from foal to adult to dead, possibly skinned or defleshed animal 😍
Meanwhile, #Denmark is reacting subtly and sensibly to Trump's ambitions regarding #Greenland.
Translation help: kage = cake; kvaj = idiot 😂
Translation help: kage = cake; kvaj = idiot 😂
January 30, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Meanwhile, #Denmark is reacting subtly and sensibly to Trump's ambitions regarding #Greenland.
Translation help: kage = cake; kvaj = idiot 😂
Translation help: kage = cake; kvaj = idiot 😂
A Monday #MementoMori: The Wheel of Life in Verdings, Südtirol, depicting how it goes 😜 from infancy to death.
January 20, 2025 at 10:25 AM
A Monday #MementoMori: The Wheel of Life in Verdings, Südtirol, depicting how it goes 😜 from infancy to death.
Animals were important in prehistory! Depictions of leopards abound in ancient #Çatalhöyük, showing how important they were - however, among over a million animal bones, there was only one from a leopard (a claw). There may have existed a taboo on killing them 🥰🐆
January 9, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Animals were important in prehistory! Depictions of leopards abound in ancient #Çatalhöyük, showing how important they were - however, among over a million animal bones, there was only one from a leopard (a claw). There may have existed a taboo on killing them 🥰🐆
In the Middle Neolithic of Austria, Moravia, Slovakia and Hungary, hundreds of figurines were made in a specific way: their body parts were individually shaped and then put together, which made them easy to break - maybe their only purpose.
The figurine from Falkenstein could be reconstructed 😍
The figurine from Falkenstein could be reconstructed 😍
December 18, 2024 at 8:50 AM
In the Middle Neolithic of Austria, Moravia, Slovakia and Hungary, hundreds of figurines were made in a specific way: their body parts were individually shaped and then put together, which made them easy to break - maybe their only purpose.
The figurine from Falkenstein could be reconstructed 😍
The figurine from Falkenstein could be reconstructed 😍
"I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations—one can do either this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it—you will regret both."
Why, thanks for the optimism, Søren Kierkegaard 😊
Why, thanks for the optimism, Søren Kierkegaard 😊
December 13, 2024 at 7:38 AM
"I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations—one can do either this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it—you will regret both."
Why, thanks for the optimism, Søren Kierkegaard 😊
Why, thanks for the optimism, Søren Kierkegaard 😊
Just a little something I read today:
"The feeling of being superfluous and the fear of being insignificant lead to totalitarianism" (Hannah Arendt).
➡️ Reminder: You are not superfluous or insignificant. If you feel that way, it is most often due to economic conditions that value competition. 😘
"The feeling of being superfluous and the fear of being insignificant lead to totalitarianism" (Hannah Arendt).
➡️ Reminder: You are not superfluous or insignificant. If you feel that way, it is most often due to economic conditions that value competition. 😘
November 29, 2024 at 11:37 AM
Just a little something I read today:
"The feeling of being superfluous and the fear of being insignificant lead to totalitarianism" (Hannah Arendt).
➡️ Reminder: You are not superfluous or insignificant. If you feel that way, it is most often due to economic conditions that value competition. 😘
"The feeling of being superfluous and the fear of being insignificant lead to totalitarianism" (Hannah Arendt).
➡️ Reminder: You are not superfluous or insignificant. If you feel that way, it is most often due to economic conditions that value competition. 😘
Another example of the parallel depiction of life and death: a stone statue from PPN #Karahantepe, depicting a seated male with an erect phallus. Note the ribs and clavicles alluding to death, whereas the face and the seated posture display life.
To learn more, check out the app "StoneMounds".
To learn more, check out the app "StoneMounds".
November 25, 2024 at 8:58 AM
Another example of the parallel depiction of life and death: a stone statue from PPN #Karahantepe, depicting a seated male with an erect phallus. Note the ribs and clavicles alluding to death, whereas the face and the seated posture display life.
To learn more, check out the app "StoneMounds".
To learn more, check out the app "StoneMounds".
Behold this pretty cattle figurine from the early LBK site of Szentgyörgyvölgy-Pityerdomb (I kid you not, the name is awesome).
You can read up on the site here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
You can read up on the site here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
November 20, 2024 at 12:12 PM
Behold this pretty cattle figurine from the early LBK site of Szentgyörgyvölgy-Pityerdomb (I kid you not, the name is awesome).
You can read up on the site here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
You can read up on the site here:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Life on the front ... and death on the back. #Neolithic figurine from #Catalhöyük, Türkiye, depicting a pregnant woman from one side and a skeletonized person from the other side, with ribs, shoulder blades, the spine and the pelvic bones showing.
Source: www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_repo...
Source: www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_repo...
November 19, 2024 at 12:38 PM
Life on the front ... and death on the back. #Neolithic figurine from #Catalhöyük, Türkiye, depicting a pregnant woman from one side and a skeletonized person from the other side, with ribs, shoulder blades, the spine and the pelvic bones showing.
Source: www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_repo...
Source: www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_repo...
In the beginning of November, I got to see #Göbeklitepe and #Karahantepe - excavations at Karahantepe are still going on, and there are many more amazing sites in the region of Sanliurfa which look truly promising! The cradle of Neolithization is absolutely stunning 😍
November 18, 2024 at 9:28 AM
In the beginning of November, I got to see #Göbeklitepe and #Karahantepe - excavations at Karahantepe are still going on, and there are many more amazing sites in the region of Sanliurfa which look truly promising! The cradle of Neolithization is absolutely stunning 😍
If it is true I am a top notch duolingo learner, why are Danes still a) laughing outright, or b) looking politely confused, or c) starting to speak English immediately to me?! I will continue the quest on not receiving The Danish Face when I speak Danish 😤
December 5, 2023 at 7:54 AM
If it is true I am a top notch duolingo learner, why are Danes still a) laughing outright, or b) looking politely confused, or c) starting to speak English immediately to me?! I will continue the quest on not receiving The Danish Face when I speak Danish 😤
Boooooones ... there will always be more bones ...
how is your friday going? 😘
how is your friday going? 😘
September 22, 2023 at 9:09 AM
Boooooones ... there will always be more bones ...
how is your friday going? 😘
how is your friday going? 😘
Dear DanishDiary, every Danish language atrocity is forgiven because yesterday we had Dream Cake (drømmekage) in Danish class. It was pure bliss, and we even almost understood the difference between tænker, synes, mener and tror ("to think") 😊
September 14, 2023 at 7:46 AM
Dear DanishDiary, every Danish language atrocity is forgiven because yesterday we had Dream Cake (drømmekage) in Danish class. It was pure bliss, and we even almost understood the difference between tænker, synes, mener and tror ("to think") 😊
Unrelated to archaeology, but very beautiful: Michael Peter Anker, "Den druknede" (The drowned), 1896. Look at the light!! 😍
September 13, 2023 at 8:37 AM
Unrelated to archaeology, but very beautiful: Michael Peter Anker, "Den druknede" (The drowned), 1896. Look at the light!! 😍
I woke up at 4:30 and ate a watermelon gumpop. How is your monday going? 🤪
August 28, 2023 at 7:38 AM
I woke up at 4:30 and ate a watermelon gumpop. How is your monday going? 🤪
... and what better image to start on this lovely platform than a nice memento mori with a only somewhat accurate skeleton
August 10, 2023 at 2:38 PM
... and what better image to start on this lovely platform than a nice memento mori with a only somewhat accurate skeleton