Dr Pat Witts
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts
@wittspat.bsky.social
1.5K followers 45 following 2.6K posts
Specialist in Roman mosaics, with particular interests in iconography and antiquarian illustrations; also hedgehogs in any medium. Author. Membership Secretary asprom.org (posting personally).
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wittspat.bsky.social
A feast of facilities!
November 19, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
gregwoolf.bsky.social
Delighted that from January 2026 all research articles published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology @cambup-archaeology.cambridge.org will be Open Access

view.updates.cambridge.org?qs=85c24bbd7...
Cambridge University Press
view.updates.cambridge.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:54 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
Following last week's monochrome elephant, this is another common type of depiction in Roman mosaics. From the Great Pavement at Woodchester, moving around Orpheus. 1/2
#MosaicMonday
@classicalalan.bsky.social
Part of a coloured engraving of a Roman mosaic showing an elephant moving towards the left. There are crossed lines on the animal's body.
November 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
Reposting for #SundaySheep - some very appealing specimens mingling with the stones. 🐑🐑🐑
theduncanmackay.bsky.social Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 4d
And now, live from Orkney for #StandingStoneSunday, the Stenness 360.
November 16, 2025 at 8:46 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
For this #HillfortsWednesday, it's a favourite one: Eildon Hill North near Melrose, seen here from the road to Newstead (Trimontium). It's on the left in this picture, with one of its companions - Eildon Mid Hill - on the right, and can be seen for miles. 1/2
Two hills, the one on the left taller and wider, stand out prominently against a blue sky. There is a hedgerow in the foreground and a field between the hedge and hills, with a few houses on the far side of the field.
November 12, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
kpw1453.bsky.social
Snail’s pace - 15th century floor tile from St. Andrew’s Church at Wormingford in Essex. Now part of the collections at Colchester Castle. 📸 My own. #TilesOnTuesday #ColchesterMuseum
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
uonclassarch.bsky.social
Don’t miss Prof Alex Mullen’s free webinar on November 26th at 7pm!

She’ll be presenting the Joan Pye lecture on ‘Tales from the Tablets: recovering the voices of Roman Britain’.

#archaeology #classics #roman 🏺

Book your tickets here: tinyurl.com/Romanvoices
Poster for a free webinar - the Joan Pye annual lecture to be presented by Alex Mullen. November 26th, 7pm. Hosted by Cotswold archaeology and the Roman Research Trust. The image is of lots of people in togas in a market place.
November 10, 2025 at 4:58 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
There's been a request for elephants in mosaic, and we always like to oblige! To start with, here is the splendid beast from the Horkstow Orpheus mosaic. 1/2
#MosaicMonday
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
@classicalalan.bsky.social
Part of a coloured engraving of a Roman mosaic showing a radial design with the 'spokes' drawn in simple guilloche. In the main compartment in this photo, a dark-coloured elephant is shown in profile walking to the right. The animal is depicted against the backdrop of a tree. In the smaller compartment above are two birds in profile, facing one another but with their heads turned away to look behind them. Between them is a triangular object with a vertical line above it, probably a stylised bunch of grapes on a stem.
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 AM
wittspat.bsky.social
By amazing coincidence, my offering for #HillfortsWednesday was already lined up when I saw the post below: the opposite view of the bench on which @pottedhistory.bsky.social is sitting! I believe there is a hillfort lurking in the distance on the right (Lordenshaws).
A metal bench with its back fashioned from leaf-shapes, seen from behind. The bench is flanked by green shrubs and faces a view of hills in the distance.
November 5, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
romanroads.bsky.social
Thursday 13 Nov is our next talk. This one is a bit special because our Chair, Mike Haken, is talking about A New Digital Map of Roman Britain: how to access it, how to use it and what comes next.

It's a huge step forward that's taken a decade to develop
November 3, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
archaeohawke.bsky.social
A 2,000-year-old 'Tomb of Cerberus' with stunning frescoes discovered in #Italy

The fresco portrays the moment in the #myth of Heracles, where he captures Cerberus as part of his twelve labors.

📸 Credit: Ministry of Culture, Italy

#TombTuesday #Archaeology #art
November 4, 2025 at 7:28 AM
wittspat.bsky.social
For this #MosaicMonday, continuing to look at the fascinating fragments from Dinnington. A bird's head above centre is easy to recognise, but what is in the fragment below left? Seems to be figured work with two tiny red triangles. Ideas very welcome! 1/2
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
A tray of small fragments of mosaic nestling in tissue paper. Above centre is the head of a bird shown in profile facing right. Its red beak is prominent. Below right is part of a black and white triangular design. Below left is a fragment which is plain white in its upper part (as seen in this photo) but with a feature in its lower part bordered by grey and buff curved lines. There are two small red tesserae above the upper lines, protruding into the white. The lower lines have a sharper change of direction and below them are tesserae in a darker colour.
November 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
nataliehaynes.bsky.social
Happy Halloween, Cerberus!
October 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
For #AdoorableThursday, doors don't come any more adorable than this! Spotted at the top of Castle Street (wonder where they got that name ...) in Warkworth. A quick look online suggests that this is one of many fairy doors in the town. 🧚🪄
On the right, a large tree in a pavement has a tiny door at the bottom of the trunk. In the centre background is an imposing castle on a grassy mound, surrounded by a low wall. Two cars are parked in front of the wall beside a road which curves across the lower left part of the photo. To the left of the cars is an ornate lamppost silhouetted against a pale blue evening sky with wispy clouds. The bottom of a tree trunk is set in a pavement. It has a small red door which is pointed and has a round window in the top. The door is set within a wooden surround with a pointed top. A tiny rope ladder descends from the threshold of the door to the tree roots which are surrounded by bare earth. The roots have small leaves and beside them, at left and right below the ladder, are two bricks.
October 30, 2025 at 12:13 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
#HillfortsWednesday wasn't on my mind when taking these photos last month, but it transpires that Dunbar Castle started life as a hillfort. Takes some imagination, especially as the harbour entrance was blasted through the ruins in 1844! 1/2
A harbour with castle ruins on a headland just left of centre. In the left foreground are stacks of blue fishing pots, and in the right foreground is a red boat. In the distance a headland juts out into the sea, just above left of the centre of this photograph; this is Dunbar Castle. The seashore curves from upper right to lower left with many red rocks. The sea only has a few white waves. Above the cliffs on the right are houses.
October 29, 2025 at 12:57 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
A certain site in Dorset has been in the news this week for its imminent TV appearance, so for #EpigraphyTuesday here is evidence that those Durotriges got everywhere! In the wonderful museum at Chesters on Hadrian's Wall, recording their building work. 1/3
A carved stone with two lines of an inscription sits on a shelf in a museum. The first line of the inscription reads 'C DVR[O]TR[I]G'. Red lettering on the plinth reads: 'Record of building work by the civitas of the Durotrigian people of Lindinis (Ilchester).' At bottom left is the word 'Cawfields' [where this piece was found]. At top right is 'RIB 1672' and at bottom right is 'B263' and 'CH267'.
October 28, 2025 at 11:16 AM
wittspat.bsky.social
A splash of colour for the first Monday after the clocks went back (in the UK). Wells Cathedral (with blue sky) from the Bishop's Palace Garden and from the Market Place (with rainbow), taken on Friday.
#MedievalMonday
A tree with vivid red leaves is at the end of a broad path, with Wells Cathedral behind. Its square tower is prominent. The tree is flanked by hedges and trees in different shades of green and the sky is blue. A rainbow crosses a dark grey sky. Underneath are some historic buildings in pale-coloured stone lit up by the sun. The building on the left of these is Wells Cathedral. The scene is glimpsed from a road flanked by buildings.
October 27, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
cambup-archaeology.cambridge.org
Cambridge’s #Archaeology journals are publishing an increasing amount of #openaccess (OA) #research. Read the latest articles here: ▶️ https://cup.org/3We1oBR

@antiquity.ac.uk @saa-aap.bsky.social @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social @prehistoricsociety.bsky.social
Promotional image from Cambridge, featuring a landscape view of an archaeological site with text stating 'Open access Archaeology publishing from Cambridge'.
October 27, 2025 at 10:04 AM
wittspat.bsky.social
A great anecdote about the well-known Rudston mosaics. They can be seen in the Hull and East Riding Museum. If you haven't been, it's definitely worth a visit.
#MosaicMonday
October 27, 2025 at 12:31 PM
wittspat.bsky.social
Oops - forgot: #AncientBlueSky 🏺
[Is it still useful to people to include this?]
wittspat.bsky.social Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 24d
Continuing a look at the Dinnington fragments for #MosaicMonday. This is part of Daphne, identified by her hand turning into leaves. On display in the excellent Museum of Somerset but my photo was taken in 2005 at the time of excavation.
Fragments of Roman mosaic laid out on plastic sheeting. The largest fragment is in the centre and upper right of this photo. It shows a face seen frontally, framed by neat coils of hair. Above the curls is a red band (?) with two leaves sticking up. At upper left of this fragment is a leaf with part of another. The two fragments to the left respectively show part of the lower arm of a figure placed vertically and two leaves.
October 27, 2025 at 11:13 AM
wittspat.bsky.social
Continuing a look at the Dinnington fragments for #MosaicMonday. This is part of Daphne, identified by her hand turning into leaves. On display in the excellent Museum of Somerset but my photo was taken in 2005 at the time of excavation.
Fragments of Roman mosaic laid out on plastic sheeting. The largest fragment is in the centre and upper right of this photo. It shows a face seen frontally, framed by neat coils of hair. Above the curls is a red band (?) with two leaves sticking up. At upper left of this fragment is a leaf with part of another. The two fragments to the left respectively show part of the lower arm of a figure placed vertically and two leaves.
October 27, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social
To celebrate #MoleDay here is the Ashmole mole :)
MS. Ashmole 1511 (The Ashmole Bestiary), folio 36r. England, early 13th c. Illuminated manuscript on vellum.
Bodleian Libraries digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/faef...
detail of the mole in MS. Ashmole 1511 (The Ashmole Bestiary), folio 36r. England, Early 13th century, illuminated manuscript on vellum. Illustration of a grey quadreped mammal identified as a mole, top-down flattened view, on a gold background with a rectangular frame.
October 24, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
sentantiq.bsky.social
All the (Epic) Rage: Free Tools for Reading Homer's Iliad
sententiaeantiquae.com/2025/10/25/a...
All the (Epic) Rage: Free Tools for Reading Homer’s Iliad
As I have talked about elsewhere, translations of Homer are creations of their own, serving their audiences and contexts in important ways and sometimes standing as works of art on their own. The a…
sententiaeantiquae.com
October 26, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
paulchamberlain.bsky.social
Callanish yesterday , big rainbow 🌈 #StandingStoneSunday
October 26, 2025 at 7:08 AM
wittspat.bsky.social
The sun is shining (though not sure for how long ...) and it's #PhallusThursday 😀, so here's an exceptional example in the wonderful Chesters Museum on Hadrian's Wall - a favourite collection for many of us. 1/2
A stone fragment on a shelf, showing an incised phallus pointing to upper left with two shapes in front of its tip: one is roughly lozenge-shaped and the other a circle. The fragment is mounted on a plinth with red lettering: 'Incised carving of phallus' 'Chesters' 'CSIR 407' 'B8 CH 292'
October 23, 2025 at 9:35 AM