Terry O'Connor
@osteoconnor.bsky.social
Old bloke in Yorkshire, interested in wildlife, gardening, books, classical music, archaeology, cats. Often muddy. Born at 313ppm.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Zooarchaeologist
MOLA
Salary: £30,048 - £33,164 (depending on location and experience))
Closing Date: December 12, 2025
Location: Northampton
www.bajr.org/job-ad/zooar...
MOLA
Salary: £30,048 - £33,164 (depending on location and experience))
Closing Date: December 12, 2025
Location: Northampton
www.bajr.org/job-ad/zooar...
Zooarchaeologist - BAJR - British Archaeology Jobs and Resources
Salary: £30,048 - £33,164 (depending on location and experience)Closing Date: 12/12/25Location: Northampton
www.bajr.org
November 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Zooarchaeologist
MOLA
Salary: £30,048 - £33,164 (depending on location and experience))
Closing Date: December 12, 2025
Location: Northampton
www.bajr.org/job-ad/zooar...
MOLA
Salary: £30,048 - £33,164 (depending on location and experience))
Closing Date: December 12, 2025
Location: Northampton
www.bajr.org/job-ad/zooar...
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
The Tories are named for an Irish word, 'Toraidhe'/'Tóraí' meaning highwayman, or robber.
So we could help you out again by renaming UK Labour the "Sleeveens" from 'Slíbhín', meaning conman, honourless person or habitual liar.
So we could help you out again by renaming UK Labour the "Sleeveens" from 'Slíbhín', meaning conman, honourless person or habitual liar.
November 28, 2025 at 11:44 AM
The Tories are named for an Irish word, 'Toraidhe'/'Tóraí' meaning highwayman, or robber.
So we could help you out again by renaming UK Labour the "Sleeveens" from 'Slíbhín', meaning conman, honourless person or habitual liar.
So we could help you out again by renaming UK Labour the "Sleeveens" from 'Slíbhín', meaning conman, honourless person or habitual liar.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Great day for cat archaeology all round
The domestic cat may be a far more recent arrival to Europe than previously thought, a new Science study. finds. The results offer new insight into one of humanity’s most enigmatic animal companions and identify North Africa as the cradle of the modern housecat.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
November 28, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Great day for cat archaeology all round
👇👇 Too clever by half, but funny 👍
Stunned no headline for Celtic's defeat of Feyenoord contained the word 'Rötterdämmerung'
November 28, 2025 at 11:54 AM
👇👇 Too clever by half, but funny 👍
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Hong Kong fire and Grenfell are just alike. Fire spreading through unsafe building materials installed due to penny-pinching, killing dozens. One difference: before the HK fire is even out three executives at contractors have been arrested, eight years after Grenfell no-one has been arrested.
November 27, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Hong Kong fire and Grenfell are just alike. Fire spreading through unsafe building materials installed due to penny-pinching, killing dozens. One difference: before the HK fire is even out three executives at contractors have been arrested, eight years after Grenfell no-one has been arrested.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
In case you wondered how it is like being charged by the mighty aurochs …
(Still at @landesmuseumhalle.bsky.social, obviously.)
(Still at @landesmuseumhalle.bsky.social, obviously.)
November 28, 2025 at 7:16 AM
In case you wondered how it is like being charged by the mighty aurochs …
(Still at @landesmuseumhalle.bsky.social, obviously.)
(Still at @landesmuseumhalle.bsky.social, obviously.)
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Reminds me of #FindsFriday artefact now in London Museum's mudlarking exhibition:
1550-1650 elephant ivory pocket sundial of a ship's captain; possibly made in Germany, also had compass in recess.
Found in same area of Thames foreshore in 2 parts, by 2 different mudlarks, 8 years apart.
1550-1650 elephant ivory pocket sundial of a ship's captain; possibly made in Germany, also had compass in recess.
Found in same area of Thames foreshore in 2 parts, by 2 different mudlarks, 8 years apart.
November 28, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reminds me of #FindsFriday artefact now in London Museum's mudlarking exhibition:
1550-1650 elephant ivory pocket sundial of a ship's captain; possibly made in Germany, also had compass in recess.
Found in same area of Thames foreshore in 2 parts, by 2 different mudlarks, 8 years apart.
1550-1650 elephant ivory pocket sundial of a ship's captain; possibly made in Germany, also had compass in recess.
Found in same area of Thames foreshore in 2 parts, by 2 different mudlarks, 8 years apart.
It's a good week for ancient-cat news.
The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago
Wildcat bones found in Co Clare dated to 5,500 years ago
The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago.
www.rte.ie
November 28, 2025 at 9:34 AM
It's a good week for ancient-cat news.
Further theological clarification.
there is no god, there is only rotator cuff impingement
November 28, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Further theological clarification.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
We are now further away from the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) than it was from the year it takes place in (1936). We have reached the Indiana Jones event horizon.
November 27, 2025 at 12:49 AM
We are now further away from the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) than it was from the year it takes place in (1936). We have reached the Indiana Jones event horizon.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
New report on how people engage with archaeology is out - Trowel and Error: A Public User Needs Survey. Lots to digest but key conclusions are: 1) archaeologists risk undervaluing and hiding ourselves, our practices and the role we play in society... www.archaeologyuk.org/our-work/tro...
Trowel and Error
A Public User Needs Survey for Archaeology
www.archaeologyuk.org
November 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
New report on how people engage with archaeology is out - Trowel and Error: A Public User Needs Survey. Lots to digest but key conclusions are: 1) archaeologists risk undervaluing and hiding ourselves, our practices and the role we play in society... www.archaeologyuk.org/our-work/tro...
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
UNBOUND AUTHORS: Leftover copies of your books in the UK (MacMillan) warehouse will be pulped within the next week or two. DM me for a link to the warehouse stock list and contacts.
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
November 27, 2025 at 3:25 PM
UNBOUND AUTHORS: Leftover copies of your books in the UK (MacMillan) warehouse will be pulped within the next week or two. DM me for a link to the warehouse stock list and contacts.
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... [paywall]
The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago
The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat Felis lybica lybica. Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Unc...
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... [paywall]
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
100s of thousands fewer people paying to come to Britain to study bringing in much needed foreign currency. Every student who arrives is worth more than selling a luxury car abroad. Their loss is a disaster for the economy caused by obsessive fear of immigrants.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK net migration falls sharply with drop in arrivals for work and study
Provisional figures for net migration to the UK show levels dropped to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 7:33 AM
100s of thousands fewer people paying to come to Britain to study bringing in much needed foreign currency. Every student who arrives is worth more than selling a luxury car abroad. Their loss is a disaster for the economy caused by obsessive fear of immigrants.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Wise words.
My rotator cuff is now so buggered that it hurts when I sneeze. I cannot imagine how anyone over 40 in possession of knees and shoulders could believe in Intelligent Design.
November 28, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Wise words.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
New episode of the podcast just out. Waldemar solves the mystery of Bosch’s masterpiece, I wonder why a gold toilet is worth $12m, and we explore what made Hans Holbein so brilliant with Elizabeth Goldring.
November 27, 2025 at 6:10 PM
New episode of the podcast just out. Waldemar solves the mystery of Bosch’s masterpiece, I wonder why a gold toilet is worth $12m, and we explore what made Hans Holbein so brilliant with Elizabeth Goldring.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Imagine a British PhD student having to write entire thesis in fluent Chinese. Deliver talks & network at Chinese conferences and Chinese dominated social media. Without any support. Weird? That's a norm for every academic not born in an Anglophone country. And it's not treated as a crisis. 🤔
November 27, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Imagine a British PhD student having to write entire thesis in fluent Chinese. Deliver talks & network at Chinese conferences and Chinese dominated social media. Without any support. Weird? That's a norm for every academic not born in an Anglophone country. And it's not treated as a crisis. 🤔
Eh??
An extraordinary 'mega roost' of thousands of Red-footed Falcons has been documented in Hungary this autumn:
Stunning Red-footed Falcon 'mega roost' documented in Hungary
More than 5,000 Red-footed Falcons formed a single night roost in Hungary’s Hortobágy National Park in September 2025, a record for the Carpathian Basin that underlines the area's importance for migratory raptor conservation.
bit.ly
November 27, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Eh??
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
The domestic cat may be a far more recent arrival to Europe than previously thought, a new Science study. finds. The results offer new insight into one of humanity’s most enigmatic animal companions and identify North Africa as the cradle of the modern housecat.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
November 27, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The domestic cat may be a far more recent arrival to Europe than previously thought, a new Science study. finds. The results offer new insight into one of humanity’s most enigmatic animal companions and identify North Africa as the cradle of the modern housecat.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Archaeologists have made an astounding discovery at the Ness of Brodgar - they uncovered a stone lined cist containing an amazingly well preserved flowing male wig, bearing the faded inscription N. Oliver. Nearby was found a page torn from a dictionary, with the word alopecia circled in red ink.
November 27, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Archaeologists have made an astounding discovery at the Ness of Brodgar - they uncovered a stone lined cist containing an amazingly well preserved flowing male wig, bearing the faded inscription N. Oliver. Nearby was found a page torn from a dictionary, with the word alopecia circled in red ink.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
And this morning all the nonsense about ‘people who work hard and can’t afford to have more than 2 children funding the feckless poor’ commentary. When most families on universal credit have both parents in work. Because rich company owners pay poverty wages.
November 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
And this morning all the nonsense about ‘people who work hard and can’t afford to have more than 2 children funding the feckless poor’ commentary. When most families on universal credit have both parents in work. Because rich company owners pay poverty wages.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
All the Right Wing apologists are cheering the fall in UK immigration announced today while missing what could be a huge problem - 99% of emigrants are under the age of 35. That’s a big brain drain.
November 27, 2025 at 12:49 PM
All the Right Wing apologists are cheering the fall in UK immigration announced today while missing what could be a huge problem - 99% of emigrants are under the age of 35. That’s a big brain drain.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Despite my insomnia, I'm very happy to share our preprint: a multi-disciplinary assessment of a sheep mass mortality event from ~18th century France. We report the first ancient sheeppox virus (think smallpox) and the Taenia hydatigena (nasty roundworm) genomes.
#aDNA
#aDNA
Evidence of sheeppox in 17th-19th century France: a multi-disciplinary investigation of a sheep mass mortality assemblage
Epizootic outbreaks posed major threats to food security, economic stability, and animal welfare in past communities. While these events and their impacts are well documented in historical records, ve...
www.biorxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Despite my insomnia, I'm very happy to share our preprint: a multi-disciplinary assessment of a sheep mass mortality event from ~18th century France. We report the first ancient sheeppox virus (think smallpox) and the Taenia hydatigena (nasty roundworm) genomes.
#aDNA
#aDNA
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
THREAD.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
November 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
THREAD.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.