#SpringIsHereLots of exciting social media events happened in The Archaeologist's Teacup calendar this month! On Monday 4th I gave a workshop in Copenhagen all about how to use social media for science communication to the SeaChanges research group. And on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st I co-hosted an online conference focusing specifically on the use of social media in sharing archaeological information. Both events were a huge success, and I am looking forward to doing more in the future! |
|
|
If you'd like to collaborate on a project, or just want some feedback or advice on how to promote your idea, feel free to get in touch via the contact form on my website! |
|
|
PhD projectI'm now well into the final year of my PhD, and the pressure is starting to emerge! I'm currently working on the final case study, and have started writing up the intro and discussion chapters. The format of my PhD is individual articles, but they still need to be combined together to form one document for my final submission, so currently trying to fit everything together... |
|
|
The EXARC ShowThe next episode of #FinallyFriday will be released upcoming Friday 6th May. This month the topic focuses on a project run by both EXARC and Leiden University all about the life of Neolithic Houses. Make sure to visit the podcast homepage below for all information on how to listen. | | |
|
|
Don't forget that you can also still listen to the pilot episode of EXARC Extracts, where I give a summary of the reviewed articles in the latest edition of the EXARC Journal - freely available online. You can access the episode and the online journal by following this link here. |
|
|
Lessons LearnedThis month I learned that actually people are a lot more forgiving and understanding than you think they're going to be. I had to take the little one with me while hosting a workshop last week, and she was an absolute trooper but also all the participants gave such great feedback about seeing a mum with her baby hosting an academic conference. It made me realise that a lot of the time we put anxiety and stress in our own path, but really if we just do what we must without seeing the possible negatives, it will all work out. |
|
Top TipsAre you struggling to come up with sustainable content for your social media pages? I would highly recommend following one of the many challenges floating around on the internet. These will provide you with a different word every day to provide inspiration for a new post. If you can't find one, use a previous one to create your own prompts, such as the #Inktober challenge list. They're great fun and you can build up your community by engaging with comments too! |
|
|
#TeaDaysApril was the month of weapons! We looked at the history of swords, arrowheads, and axes, but also managed to squeeze in some amazing large heads just in time for Easter. I had also planned to cover some more theoretical terms like processual and post-processual archaeology, but those will have to be for next week and instead we focused more on methods and considered post-depositional, open-access publishing, and experimental archaeology. If you missed the videos, watch them now on The Archaeologist's Teacup Instagram page! (You can also watch older episodes as I upload them on my new YouTube channel here). | | |
|
|
It makes me so happy that people are enjoying the #TeaDay posts so much, and my aim is to continue to make them for as long as I can. I believe one of the reasons for their success is that I am able to physically show people the objects that I am talking about. If you would like to help me make sure that I can continue to communicate as effectively as possible in this way, you can help to sponsor The Archaeologist's Teacup by contributing to the costs of replicas through Patreon! From as little as 1€ a month, you can already make a huge difference. Replicas will be bought from small businesses wherever possible, and patrons can also suggest which replicas should be featured in upcoming videos. If you're interested, you can visit the site and donate through the button below: |
|
|
YouTube ChannelIt has been brought to my attention several times over the last few months that you can only watch the #TeaDay posts if you have an Instagram or Facebook account, and of course not everybody does these days. For that reason, I have decided to start a YouTube channel, where I will be gradually uploading all of the past #TeaDay videos. I will also upload all videos there in the future as well as on Instagram. I also have some exciting future plans for longer videos, so please do go ahead and subscribe to stay updated! | | |
|
|
Below are some upcoming events, recently published archaeological studies, and exciting new projects that I think deserve to be highlighted this month. You can see the full details and access the complete articles through the links in blue. As always, if you have any events, studies, or projects that you think should be featured in next month's newsletter, do let me know! |
|
|
Experimental Archaeology Student Symposium (Liverpool Uni) Registration has now opened for 3rd edition of this two-day student-led experimental archaeology symposium. Details on how to register plus the full program can be seen on the website. Biological Anthropology Seminar Series (Cambridge Uni) If you're interested in human evolution, check out this monthly online seminar series, where experts share their research in biological anthropology. Skuldelev 3 Launch (Viking Ship Museum) On May 7th the latest reconstruction from the Roskilde Viking Ship museum - a 14m cargo ship - will be launched! If you have an upcoming event and would like to feature it here, contact me and I'd be happy to share the news! |
|
New Olds Keeping Time at Stonehenge (Antiquity) A new look at the possibility that Stonehenge acted as a kind of prehistoric calendar. Ancient smells reveals secrets of Egyptian tomb (Nature) A team of analytical chemists and archaeologists has analysed scents from jars found in an Egyptian tomb. The study shows how the archaeology of smell can enrich understanding of the past — and perhaps make museum visits more immersive. Records of the Pyramid Builders (CWA) Newly discovered papyri document eye-witness accounts of construction work at the great pyramid of Giza, revealing amazing insights into the building process of this wonder of the ancient world. If you've read any interesting studies that you think deserve to be mentioned, feel free to get in touch! |
|
Cool Projects Arctic Passion (AWI) An EU Horizon 2020 funded project which aims to deal with issues faced across many facets of Arctic research. They offer seminars, workshops, and info videos. Time Team (Time Team) Thanks to an incredibly successful Patreon account, the beloved archaeology series which last aired in 2014 has been brought back to TV! Enabled Archaeology Foundation (EAF) Thanks A well-established foundation (but one that should be more widely known!) which focuses on empowering, enabling & combatting negative attitudes to dis/Abled involvement in Heritage If you have a fascinating project and want to be featured, let me know and I'd be happy to share it here! |
|
|
Monthly MicrowearThis was a very difficult one! It's a high magnification image (field of view = 1mm) of a needle from the experimental lab at Leiden University department for material culture studies, so we know exactly what it was used for. It was used to sew Muskrat hide for 2.5 hours. You can see some manufacturing traces, which are the thicker and deeper gouges in the surface. The other striations that are running from the top right to the bottom left of the picture are the usewear traces, and are created when the needle is pulled through the hide material. Depending on the material being sewn, these striations change in thickness and regularity, so it's often possible to say what material was being sewn based solely on the striations. |
|
|
My favourite ever usewear trace is also visible in this picture: Handling traces. The tiny little dots that you can see scattered across the surface are created when living human skin comes into contact with the surface of bone objects. Exactly what causes them is still not completely understood, but it's assumed that it's something to do with the acidity of human sweat reacting with the bone material. Whatever causes them, I think that they're incredible: It means that you can physically see not only where someone thousands of years ago held an object, but also for how long they handled it (as the traces build up over time). What an insight into the past! |
|
|
Ready for another challenge? Have a look at the picture here, and tell me what you see. Again, what material do you think it is? Can you see any traces which might show how it was made or used? What object type could it be? Any ideas, contact me through the link below! | | |
|
|
|
|