ArchaeoPlays
@archaeoplays.bsky.social
They/them. Disabled/chronically ill Minecraft YouTuber, & digital archaeologist (alias: Dr. Heather Christie). Also early medieval Scotland specialist and glass bead nerd. Lead Researcher for Carved in Stone. Business enquiries: [email protected]
Pinned
Carved in Stone is HERE!!! @archaeonado.bsky.social called it “the best book on the Picts ever written,” so you should definitely check it out over at www.stoutstoat.co.uk/carvedinstone
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
NEW VIDEO IS OUT! This is Episode 2 in my Carved in Stone series in Minecraft, and all I was trying to do was get some cows... because cows are valuable in Pictland and... well, you'll see 😅
youtu.be/X2gDs_l_vuI
youtu.be/X2gDs_l_vuI
Getting RICH with Pictish Cattle! Sort of... (Carved in Stone Ep. 2)
YouTube video by ArchaeoPlays
youtu.be
November 14, 2025 at 4:07 PM
NEW VIDEO IS OUT! This is Episode 2 in my Carved in Stone series in Minecraft, and all I was trying to do was get some cows... because cows are valuable in Pictland and... well, you'll see 😅
youtu.be/X2gDs_l_vuI
youtu.be/X2gDs_l_vuI
Okay, I am absolutely a sucker for ancient animal art; it's undeniable now.
Just LOOK at these little ducks!!!
Just LOOK at these little ducks!!!
#AllMetalMonday 🏺
Quack!
A bronze duck w flat body decorated in relief, long neck, open beak and sturdy legs.
Plus second duck w 2 little ones on its back.
From C6 BC hoard found in Ortanova near Foggia in Puglia, representing material culture of indigenous Daunian people.
MArTA Taranto
Quack!
A bronze duck w flat body decorated in relief, long neck, open beak and sturdy legs.
Plus second duck w 2 little ones on its back.
From C6 BC hoard found in Ortanova near Foggia in Puglia, representing material culture of indigenous Daunian people.
MArTA Taranto
November 14, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Okay, I am absolutely a sucker for ancient animal art; it's undeniable now.
Just LOOK at these little ducks!!!
Just LOOK at these little ducks!!!
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Carved in Stone is a comprehensive setting guide for early medieval Pictish society, and as such my work on it was wide and varied and included illustrating real artifacts, speculative penannular brooch designs, and even the animals that would have inhabited their world.
November 13, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Carved in Stone is a comprehensive setting guide for early medieval Pictish society, and as such my work on it was wide and varied and included illustrating real artifacts, speculative penannular brooch designs, and even the animals that would have inhabited their world.
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
#FindsFriday bone comb from the #Pictish site of Buckquoy on the island of Orkney 🏴
Typical of later Iron Age settlements in Orkney, researchers radiocarbon dated the bone, shedding light on Pictish-Viking interaction in the Northern Isles.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Typical of later Iron Age settlements in Orkney, researchers radiocarbon dated the bone, shedding light on Pictish-Viking interaction in the Northern Isles.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
November 14, 2025 at 8:13 AM
#FindsFriday bone comb from the #Pictish site of Buckquoy on the island of Orkney 🏴
Typical of later Iron Age settlements in Orkney, researchers radiocarbon dated the bone, shedding light on Pictish-Viking interaction in the Northern Isles.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Typical of later Iron Age settlements in Orkney, researchers radiocarbon dated the bone, shedding light on Pictish-Viking interaction in the Northern Isles.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Looking forward to reading this - from our Doctoral alumnus @archaeoplays.bsky.social - great to see it get so much media coverage!
Carved in Stone is HERE!!! @archaeonado.bsky.social called it “the best book on the Picts ever written,” so you should definitely check it out over at www.stoutstoat.co.uk/carvedinstone
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
November 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Looking forward to reading this - from our Doctoral alumnus @archaeoplays.bsky.social - great to see it get so much media coverage!
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
🏺 Have had a proper look at this ahead of time and it’s such a gorgeous book and a fantastic approach to engaging with history!
The Picts were always more than their blue-painted, bloodthirsty depictions. Carved in Stone, a new setting guide from @stoutstoat.co.uk and archaeologist Heather Christie, invites players to explore their incomplete but beautiful history.
Carved in Stone is both a history book and an eye-catching RPG
Publisher Brian Tyrrell and archeologist Heather Christie paint a pretty Pict-ure.
www.rascal.news
November 13, 2025 at 10:44 AM
🏺 Have had a proper look at this ahead of time and it’s such a gorgeous book and a fantastic approach to engaging with history!
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Talking with Thomas was a real delight! Heather and I peel back the curtain on the process behind Carved in Stone (and we gush about how much we love all of our artists, too!)
The Picts were always more than their blue-painted, bloodthirsty depictions. Carved in Stone, a new setting guide from @stoutstoat.co.uk and archaeologist Heather Christie, invites players to explore their incomplete but beautiful history.
Carved in Stone is both a history book and an eye-catching RPG
Publisher Brian Tyrrell and archeologist Heather Christie paint a pretty Pict-ure.
www.rascal.news
November 12, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Talking with Thomas was a real delight! Heather and I peel back the curtain on the process behind Carved in Stone (and we gush about how much we love all of our artists, too!)
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
This is such a fab way of communicating #archaeology and allowing us to be creative with in the past - “leaning into uncertainty” as a positive thing, as @archaeoplays.bsky.social articulated so well at @scotarchforum.bsky.social a few weeks ago 🏺 #storytelling
"The Picts emerge from the shadows and step forward in technicolour" 🤩
'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
November 13, 2025 at 9:31 AM
This is such a fab way of communicating #archaeology and allowing us to be creative with in the past - “leaning into uncertainty” as a positive thing, as @archaeoplays.bsky.social articulated so well at @scotarchforum.bsky.social a few weeks ago 🏺 #storytelling
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
The Picts were always more than their blue-painted, bloodthirsty depictions. Carved in Stone, a new setting guide from @stoutstoat.co.uk and archaeologist Heather Christie, invites players to explore their incomplete but beautiful history.
Carved in Stone is both a history book and an eye-catching RPG
Publisher Brian Tyrrell and archeologist Heather Christie paint a pretty Pict-ure.
www.rascal.news
November 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The Picts were always more than their blue-painted, bloodthirsty depictions. Carved in Stone, a new setting guide from @stoutstoat.co.uk and archaeologist Heather Christie, invites players to explore their incomplete but beautiful history.
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
I drew a few pictures for @stoutstoat.co.uk's new book Carved in Stone (www.stoutstoat.co.uk/products/car...) it's probably the best-researched project I ever worked on, and also it looks beautiful. Lots of amazing artists worked on this! Anyway here are some pictish vignettes
November 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I drew a few pictures for @stoutstoat.co.uk's new book Carved in Stone (www.stoutstoat.co.uk/products/car...) it's probably the best-researched project I ever worked on, and also it looks beautiful. Lots of amazing artists worked on this! Anyway here are some pictish vignettes
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
This game is absolutely gorgeous, I’ve been avidly watching the layout evolve and there are two page spreads in here that made me gasp aloud with delight. If you’re interested in playing games in settings that predate the medieval period by a good margin, run don’t walk to grab a copy
Carved in Stone is officially out!
In this comprehensive setting guide you'll be able to see, touch, taste, hear and smell your way through everything that modern-day scholars currently know of the enigmatic culture of the Picts, from the perspective of someone living in the late 7th Century.
In this comprehensive setting guide you'll be able to see, touch, taste, hear and smell your way through everything that modern-day scholars currently know of the enigmatic culture of the Picts, from the perspective of someone living in the late 7th Century.
November 12, 2025 at 12:13 PM
This game is absolutely gorgeous, I’ve been avidly watching the layout evolve and there are two page spreads in here that made me gasp aloud with delight. If you’re interested in playing games in settings that predate the medieval period by a good margin, run don’t walk to grab a copy
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Carved in Stone is officially out!
In this comprehensive setting guide you'll be able to see, touch, taste, hear and smell your way through everything that modern-day scholars currently know of the enigmatic culture of the Picts, from the perspective of someone living in the late 7th Century.
In this comprehensive setting guide you'll be able to see, touch, taste, hear and smell your way through everything that modern-day scholars currently know of the enigmatic culture of the Picts, from the perspective of someone living in the late 7th Century.
November 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Carved in Stone is officially out!
In this comprehensive setting guide you'll be able to see, touch, taste, hear and smell your way through everything that modern-day scholars currently know of the enigmatic culture of the Picts, from the perspective of someone living in the late 7th Century.
In this comprehensive setting guide you'll be able to see, touch, taste, hear and smell your way through everything that modern-day scholars currently know of the enigmatic culture of the Picts, from the perspective of someone living in the late 7th Century.
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
"The Picts emerge from the shadows and step forward in technicolour" 🤩
'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
November 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
"The Picts emerge from the shadows and step forward in technicolour" 🤩
'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
'Carved in Stone', an illustrated guide to 7th-century Scotland packed with information on languages, settlements, cuisine, fashion, medicine, skills and more, is now available for purchase: www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Carved in Stone is HERE!!! @archaeonado.bsky.social called it “the best book on the Picts ever written,” so you should definitely check it out over at www.stoutstoat.co.uk/carvedinstone
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
November 12, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Carved in Stone is HERE!!! @archaeonado.bsky.social called it “the best book on the Picts ever written,” so you should definitely check it out over at www.stoutstoat.co.uk/carvedinstone
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
Ahhhh!!! Just LOOK at these little guys!!! Which one's your favourite? Is it even possible to choose???
Adding 🏺for more archaeology peeps 🦛🦛🦛🦛
Adding 🏺for more archaeology peeps 🦛🦛🦛🦛
Happy Sunday! 🦛 💙
Adorable ancient Egyptian blue faience hippos made by artisans some 4,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
Adorable ancient Egyptian blue faience hippos made by artisans some 4,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
November 11, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Ahhhh!!! Just LOOK at these little guys!!! Which one's your favourite? Is it even possible to choose???
Adding 🏺for more archaeology peeps 🦛🦛🦛🦛
Adding 🏺for more archaeology peeps 🦛🦛🦛🦛
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Like a time capsule: a #Roman tile marked with #finger lines, hobnail #shoe prints, #dog's paw prints, and a #stamp of the LEG(io) XIIII G(emina). Tiles with imprints are very common, since tiles were laid out to dry in the open air ahead of firing, where...🧵1/2
#TilesOnTuesday 🏺
#TilesOnTuesday 🏺
November 11, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
NEW Excavation at Benin City's historic palace, looted and destroyed by the British in 1897, provides an unprecedented glimpse into pre-colonial West African urban development and artisanal crafts, including the famous Benin Bronzes.
#AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
🏺 #Archaeology
#AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
🏺 #Archaeology
October 30, 2025 at 8:45 AM
NEW Excavation at Benin City's historic palace, looted and destroyed by the British in 1897, provides an unprecedented glimpse into pre-colonial West African urban development and artisanal crafts, including the famous Benin Bronzes.
#AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
🏺 #Archaeology
#AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
🏺 #Archaeology
I would LOVE to recreate the smell of a Pictish byre-house!
Yes, animals might make it a bit stinky, but there were SO many places to hang herbs and such from, and the Picts cared quite a bit about hygiene. And the FOOD!! I feel like a Pictish house would smell rather nice, even with the animals!
Yes, animals might make it a bit stinky, but there were SO many places to hang herbs and such from, and the Picts cared quite a bit about hygiene. And the FOOD!! I feel like a Pictish house would smell rather nice, even with the animals!
Really nice coverage on our research on ancient scents by @sciam.bsky.social and @gayoung.bsky.social
🏺🧪👩🔬
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
🏺🧪👩🔬
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
History Smelled. Here’s How We’re Sniffing It Out
How can reconstructing long-lost smells of ancient artifacts help us connect with the past?
www.scientificamerican.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I would LOVE to recreate the smell of a Pictish byre-house!
Yes, animals might make it a bit stinky, but there were SO many places to hang herbs and such from, and the Picts cared quite a bit about hygiene. And the FOOD!! I feel like a Pictish house would smell rather nice, even with the animals!
Yes, animals might make it a bit stinky, but there were SO many places to hang herbs and such from, and the Picts cared quite a bit about hygiene. And the FOOD!! I feel like a Pictish house would smell rather nice, even with the animals!
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
I gave a presentation on exactly this at the Canadian Archaeological Association this Spring and another at the BC Archaeology Forum two Saturdays ago.
When the overwhelming majority of archaeological reporting in Canada is dry, data-heavy technical reporting, accessibility through film is crucial.
When the overwhelming majority of archaeological reporting in Canada is dry, data-heavy technical reporting, accessibility through film is crucial.
Excellent talk this morning by @rubiconarchaeology.bsky.social about social media in archaeology. Honestly, I've been meaning to work more on creating shorts from my longer videos, I just need to find the time! 😅
October 27, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I gave a presentation on exactly this at the Canadian Archaeological Association this Spring and another at the BC Archaeology Forum two Saturdays ago.
When the overwhelming majority of archaeological reporting in Canada is dry, data-heavy technical reporting, accessibility through film is crucial.
When the overwhelming majority of archaeological reporting in Canada is dry, data-heavy technical reporting, accessibility through film is crucial.
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
BIG ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS! 💫
A new section of Hadrian’s Wall has been discovered! The furthest west bit found yet - and it is glorious! 🤩
Reported by the great WC21. Link to his full video here: youtu.be/VfVvl3A_sO4?...
#archaeology #history #Roman
A new section of Hadrian’s Wall has been discovered! The furthest west bit found yet - and it is glorious! 🤩
Reported by the great WC21. Link to his full video here: youtu.be/VfVvl3A_sO4?...
#archaeology #history #Roman
October 26, 2025 at 11:55 AM
BIG ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS! 💫
A new section of Hadrian’s Wall has been discovered! The furthest west bit found yet - and it is glorious! 🤩
Reported by the great WC21. Link to his full video here: youtu.be/VfVvl3A_sO4?...
#archaeology #history #Roman
A new section of Hadrian’s Wall has been discovered! The furthest west bit found yet - and it is glorious! 🤩
Reported by the great WC21. Link to his full video here: youtu.be/VfVvl3A_sO4?...
#archaeology #history #Roman
Excellent talk this morning by @rubiconarchaeology.bsky.social about social media in archaeology. Honestly, I've been meaning to work more on creating shorts from my longer videos, I just need to find the time! 😅
October 26, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Excellent talk this morning by @rubiconarchaeology.bsky.social about social media in archaeology. Honestly, I've been meaning to work more on creating shorts from my longer videos, I just need to find the time! 😅
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
The reimagined manuscript pages created by Thomas for our #NLHF funded #StoriesOnSkins project are amazing pieces or art, using techniques as close as possible to how manuscript pages would have been made at Portmahomack.
Thomas Keyes demonstrating how manuscripts like the Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels were made. Videos from a Lottery funded project based at the Tarbat Discovery Centre. Thanks to @victoriawhitworth.bsky.social for the link www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJd...
Stories on Skins: Calligraphy
YouTube video by Tarbat Discovery Centre
www.youtube.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The reimagined manuscript pages created by Thomas for our #NLHF funded #StoriesOnSkins project are amazing pieces or art, using techniques as close as possible to how manuscript pages would have been made at Portmahomack.
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
Archaeologists investigating the seafloor off the southern coast of Belize found the earliest evidence of ancient #Maya salt production, dating from AD 250–550. It was likely produced on a household level, suggesting long-distance salt trade came later 🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
October 15, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Archaeologists investigating the seafloor off the southern coast of Belize found the earliest evidence of ancient #Maya salt production, dating from AD 250–550. It was likely produced on a household level, suggesting long-distance salt trade came later 🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by ArchaeoPlays
🚨 Just a few days left to submit for #NordicTAG2026!
Submissions are welcome that critically examine the environmental impact of archaeological practices: both digital and physical 🏺
🔜 Deadline: 22 October
🔸 More: atrium-research.eu/news/call-fo...
Submissions are welcome that critically examine the environmental impact of archaeological practices: both digital and physical 🏺
🔜 Deadline: 22 October
🔸 More: atrium-research.eu/news/call-fo...
October 16, 2025 at 7:45 AM
🚨 Just a few days left to submit for #NordicTAG2026!
Submissions are welcome that critically examine the environmental impact of archaeological practices: both digital and physical 🏺
🔜 Deadline: 22 October
🔸 More: atrium-research.eu/news/call-fo...
Submissions are welcome that critically examine the environmental impact of archaeological practices: both digital and physical 🏺
🔜 Deadline: 22 October
🔸 More: atrium-research.eu/news/call-fo...