Dr Ian Friel
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drianfriel.bsky.social
Dr Ian Friel
@drianfriel.bsky.social
270 followers 320 following 290 posts
Independent historian, FSA and FRHistS, specialising in maritime, local and house history, based in UK. Author of five books on maritime history, multiple research papers and house histories. www.ianfriel.co.uk Rep: @donaldwin.bsky.social
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Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
jdmccafferty.bsky.social
A couple with a child by the wonderful Gesina Ter Borch, she made this picture #otd 2 Dec 1652 (Rijksmuseum)
December 2, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
katefarrantshaw.bsky.social
A magnificent hidden treasure of Welsh legal history- a beautifully illustrated manuscript of the Welsh text of the laws of Hywel Dda dating from the 14th century #medievalsky
December 2, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
kparkerhistorian.bsky.social
Deadline approaching for the ISHMap Prize for Projects in Map History.

In 2024 or 2025, did you participate in a neat map history project that wasn't a book or an article? Submit it for a shiny prize!!

Nominations due 31 Dec 2025.

#maps #maphistory #skystorians #GIS 🗃️
Prize for Projects in Map History 2026
The International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap) is pleased to invite nominations and self-nominations for its Prize for Projects in Map History.   The ISHMap Prize in for Pr…
ishmap.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
drrjwarren.bsky.social
#ArtDD2025
Hare

For #ArtAdventCalendar here's a grey hare from a 📷 by @SW_PhotoNature with thanks.

@saocousins.bsky.social @holnicotenh.bsky.social @andykaitken.bsky.social @stevecobbin.bsky.social @indikon.bsky.social
Sploshy portrait of hare, mostly grey, looking to left with ink splashes acorss the paper.
December 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
antiquity.ac.uk
Playing 6000-year-old conch shell trumpets for the first time reveals they were effective tools for long-distance communication and may have also been used as musical instruments 🐚

Read the research 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
December 2, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
adamchapman.bsky.social
A blast from my past - the Medieval Soldier database takes nearly 300,000 military service records from 1369-1453 and makes them available as a searchable database.

An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
We built a database of 290,000 English medieval soldiers – here’s what it reveals
We created the database in order to challenge assumptions about the lack of professionalism of everyday soldiers.
theconversation.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
mattpope.bsky.social
Appros of nothing, The Sussex mammoth Map www.google.com/maps/d/edit?... 🦣🏺
Sussex Ice Age Map - Google My Maps
Mapping Pleistocene Sites and Neanderthal Artefacts in Sussex
www.google.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
mattpope.bsky.social
Graffitti on the walls of Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds. Not far from where the family of Lawrence Oates of the ill-fated Scott expedition owned property. Your guess is as good as mine whether the two things are related but it certainly stopped me in my tracks.
Grey stone block, many with graffiti, one inscription reads, in a bold hand, L. Oates
November 30, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
markhamillofficial.bsky.social
What he said: 💯 🎯
November 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
forbes.com
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a Kp index of four out of nine Saturday night.
Northern Lights Forecast: These 10 States Could See Aurora Borealis Saturday
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a Kp index of four out of nine Saturday night.
www.forbes.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
tracelarkhall.bsky.social
3-0. Bloody aliens.
November 29, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
tracelarkhall.bsky.social
View from the Plain Ham terraces
November 29, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
alisonfisk.bsky.social
Something ancient and wonderful for the weekend! 🤩

The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!

This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!

📷 by me

#Archaeology
My photo shows a profile view of a small horse figurine with head to the left, displayed against a dark background. Sculpted from mammoth ivory, the surface is a mottled greyish-earthy-brown colour with a shiny patina. It was once likely pale white in colour. It measures 2.5 cm height, 4.8 cm width, and 0.7 cm depth. The head is gracefully lowered with a long curving neck and a convex curved back. The four legs are incomplete. The top of the tail remains. The eyes, nostrils, and mouth are carved as indents. The ‘Vogelherd Horse’ was excavated in 1931, together with a number of other ivory animal figurines from the Vogelherd Cave, Swabian Jura, Germany. It is the oldest known sculpture of a horse. On display at the Museum of Ancient Cultures, at Hohentübingen Castle, Tübingen, Germany.
November 29, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
davidveevers.bsky.social
Just glanced out the back door to find an interdimensional rip has opened up in the sky.
November 29, 2025 at 4:08 PM
drianfriel.bsky.social
Another #shipwreck uncovered by a storm, this time in Canada - interesting construction, the vessel was possibly flat-bottomed? #maritimehistory #maritimearchaeology #Canadianhistory #GreatLakeshistory
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Lake Erie shipwreck spotted off Kingsville, Ont., uncovered by strong winds | CBC News
Strong winds that prompted an Environment Canada alert this week have laid bare shoreline not often seen. But they also uncovered a rarely-seen shipwreck near Kingsville.
www.cbc.ca
November 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
drianfriel.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing this in the redisplayed #PooleMuseum.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Mortar Wreck: Medieval grave slab goes on display
Two grave stones laid on the seabed for almost 800 years before being discovered by divers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
davidveevers.bsky.social
I just want to apologise to the Luddites whose name I’ve taken in vain all this time. My bad, you were right about everything.
November 27, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Have archaeologists identified the largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain? Survey at Brusselstown Ring, one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, found evidence for potentially hundreds of occupied roundhouses!

Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Photogrammetry map of a round hill (Brusselstown Ring hillfort) annotated with potential roundhouse footprints, test trench locations and a potential cistern
November 26, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
tudorwench.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
rhiggitt.bsky.social
Lots of great objects and archives to explore (one at random here, Leighton Dalrymple's sketch of John Blenkinsop's Steam Locomotive 'Salamanca', 1812), with themed virtual exhibitions #histSTM📜
Detail from an early 19thC autograph letter, including a sketch of a locomotive on rails, pulling carts of what looks like coal. A man in a hat is drawn to its left for scale.
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
tracelarkhall.bsky.social
Still full of cold bleurgh but just about well enough to don the frock and get a later train to London for tonight's talk. Who's in?
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 AM
drianfriel.bsky.social
Very interesting announcement, if a bit frustrating... Watch that space, I suppose!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Extraordinary discovery' at Orkney's Ness of Brodgar Neolithic site
Archaeologists are to resume digging at the site after 3D radar technology uncovered a mystery find.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
jdmccafferty.bsky.social
Candle moulds, c. 1600-1640 each carved with one of the symbols from the Stuart royal arms - the Tudor rose, the thistle, the harp and the fleur-de-lys.

(V&A)
November 25, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
antiquity.ac.uk
In the Swash Channel, Dorset, UK lies a 17th century shipwreck. Likely salvaged after it sank, few material remains survive. The researchers' detective work and protection efforts are now published and the book features in our #NewBookChronicle 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Cover of the book, depicting an underwater shipwreck.
November 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Dr Ian Friel
tudorwench.bsky.social
American friends:
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 PM