Sam Barber
@barber-samj.bsky.social
Smith College/UMass Amherst | Art, architecture, material culture | Late Antiquity & the Early Middle Ages
Reposted by Sam Barber
🚨 In Cologne (Germany), archaeologists have discovered a wooden Roman harbor bank protection structure on the Rhine side. 🪵 www.stadt-koeln.de/politik-und-...
January 30, 2026 at 12:03 AM
🚨 In Cologne (Germany), archaeologists have discovered a wooden Roman harbor bank protection structure on the Rhine side. 🪵 www.stadt-koeln.de/politik-und-...
Currently at 495 students for the coming semester and there is a part of me that wants another 5 to sign up to make it a round number
January 24, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Currently at 495 students for the coming semester and there is a part of me that wants another 5 to sign up to make it a round number
Reposted by Sam Barber
#MosaicMonday - The stunning portrait of Helen as she departs from Sparta to Troy with Paris, whose hand holds her wrist. From the triclinium mosaics of the Roman Villa at Noheda: ca. 4th Century AD. #Archaeology 🏺
Image: Villa Romana de Noheda. Link - cultura.castillalamancha.es/patrimonio/y...
Image: Villa Romana de Noheda. Link - cultura.castillalamancha.es/patrimonio/y...
January 19, 2026 at 9:20 AM
#MosaicMonday - The stunning portrait of Helen as she departs from Sparta to Troy with Paris, whose hand holds her wrist. From the triclinium mosaics of the Roman Villa at Noheda: ca. 4th Century AD. #Archaeology 🏺
Image: Villa Romana de Noheda. Link - cultura.castillalamancha.es/patrimonio/y...
Image: Villa Romana de Noheda. Link - cultura.castillalamancha.es/patrimonio/y...
The cover image is the 16th c. chapel at Bradgate House (Leicestershire) - it's not mentioned in the article, but in some good news the chapel was restored last year, and a wider project to restore and reopen the rest of the site is set to finish early this year!
‘Architects and engineers [...] are being cajoled into considering reuse and repurposing wherever possible, but why has this taken so long?’
Gillian Darley on whether the endless replenishment of Britain’s heritage-at-risk lists is having the desired effect
Gillian Darley on whether the endless replenishment of Britain’s heritage-at-risk lists is having the desired effect
How effective are Britain’s ‘heritage at risk’ lists?
While annual registers that sound the alarm for architectural and cultural sites have accumulated, their challenge remains Sisyphean
buff.ly
January 16, 2026 at 2:21 PM
The cover image is the 16th c. chapel at Bradgate House (Leicestershire) - it's not mentioned in the article, but in some good news the chapel was restored last year, and a wider project to restore and reopen the rest of the site is set to finish early this year!
Reposted by Sam Barber
huge W
Bandcamp has banned AI music.
The company has released a statement which includes the following: "Music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp."
stereogum.com/2485199/band...
The company has released a statement which includes the following: "Music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp."
stereogum.com/2485199/band...
Bandcamp Bans AI Music
AI music has become a big problem on streaming services. Remember the AI-generated psych-rock band the Velvet Sundown and the AI-generated metalcore band Broken Avenue racking up streams on Spotify? R...
stereogum.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:25 PM
huge W
Reposted by Sam Barber
THE SCREAM I LET OUT, JESUS WEPT
Ukip have submitted a new logo and slogan to the Electoral Commission, swapping the £ pound sterling symbol for a cross, that looks very much like it is modelled on the Iron Cross used by Prussia & Germany 1871-1918 and Hitler's Nazi regime from 1933-45
January 13, 2026 at 10:38 AM
THE SCREAM I LET OUT, JESUS WEPT
Reposted by Sam Barber
in retrospect, it was amazing how much power people like Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell had at their fingertips in the pre-social media era. They could write an airport book claiming potato chips killed more people than all historical wars combined and it would become universal received wisdom
January 13, 2026 at 11:47 AM
in retrospect, it was amazing how much power people like Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell had at their fingertips in the pre-social media era. They could write an airport book claiming potato chips killed more people than all historical wars combined and it would become universal received wisdom
Reposted by Sam Barber
'The find, which dates to the 6th or 7th century, comes with extraordinary grave goods such as swords and shields, while the horse burial is remarkably similar to the one found at Sutton Hoo’s Mound 17.' A day's ride from Sutton Hoo... Exciting stuff from @cotswoldarch.bsky.social.
NEW: An Anglo-Saxon burial site with remarkable similarities to Sutton Hoo has been discovered at the development of the Sizewell C nuclear power station
www.thetimes.com/article/1528... #history #archaeology #anglosaxons
www.thetimes.com/article/1528... #history #archaeology #anglosaxons
Burial site ‘akin to Sutton Hoo’ sheds new light on Anglo-Saxons
The extremely rare discovery made during excavations at Sizewell C dates to the 6th or 7th century and includes a princely burial of two people and a horse
www.thetimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:32 AM
'The find, which dates to the 6th or 7th century, comes with extraordinary grave goods such as swords and shields, while the horse burial is remarkably similar to the one found at Sutton Hoo’s Mound 17.' A day's ride from Sutton Hoo... Exciting stuff from @cotswoldarch.bsky.social.
Reposted by Sam Barber
Confirmation needed but JFC
I've learned that Edinburgh University is planning to cut 20% of academics in some departments
To decide who gets the chop, they generated an academic contribution metric that is a raw count of *any type* of output, including book reviews.
The management of UK Universities continues to amaze
To decide who gets the chop, they generated an academic contribution metric that is a raw count of *any type* of output, including book reviews.
The management of UK Universities continues to amaze
January 5, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Confirmation needed but JFC
Kicking off the new year as God intended by freezing my ass off at a mediocre-quality EFL game
January 5, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Kicking off the new year as God intended by freezing my ass off at a mediocre-quality EFL game
Reposted by Sam Barber
Read this absolute banger of an article by Michelle Wang in the new issue of Speculum!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
December 23, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Read this absolute banger of an article by Michelle Wang in the new issue of Speculum!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Sam Barber
Coming soon! We are excited to share our first issue in just a few months.
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
December 15, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Coming soon! We are excited to share our first issue in just a few months.
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
Reposted by Sam Barber
December 17, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Coming soon! We are excited to share our first issue in just a few months.
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
December 15, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Coming soon! We are excited to share our first issue in just a few months.
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
We are also accepting submissions for issue 2 onwards! Feel free to send any questions or ideas to @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social or me on here, or with the editors via email tinyurl.com/tph5wvmd
Reposted by Sam Barber
The first issue is shaping up nicely already, look out for more news in 2026 and an appearance from the team at the Leeds International Medieval Congress!
NEW FOR 2026 | Essays in Long Late Antiquity
A new Open Access journal in first millennium studies, enticing interdisciplinary and superregional approaches to research in the second to the ninth centuries & broader Afro-Eurasian region: bit.ly/4f7BXZC @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social
A new Open Access journal in first millennium studies, enticing interdisciplinary and superregional approaches to research in the second to the ninth centuries & broader Afro-Eurasian region: bit.ly/4f7BXZC @calthalas.bsky.social @sihonglin.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The first issue is shaping up nicely already, look out for more news in 2026 and an appearance from the team at the Leeds International Medieval Congress!
Reposted by Sam Barber
And there it is, the Pescia altar panel, signed by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, and dated 1235, just a decade after St Francis's death. Our earliest example of a panel with scenes of his life and posthumous miracles. Well-displayed in San Francesco, Pescia, its proper home.
December 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
And there it is, the Pescia altar panel, signed by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, and dated 1235, just a decade after St Francis's death. Our earliest example of a panel with scenes of his life and posthumous miracles. Well-displayed in San Francesco, Pescia, its proper home.
Believe it or not, this is even worse than it sounds. Unmissable.
An academic disliked an Oxford Very Short Introduction (145 pages) in his field so much that he wrote a 200 page book review attacking it. www.pierre-legrand.com/ewExternalFi...
December 11, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Believe it or not, this is even worse than it sounds. Unmissable.
Reposted by Sam Barber
An academic disliked an Oxford Very Short Introduction (145 pages) in his field so much that he wrote a 200 page book review attacking it. www.pierre-legrand.com/ewExternalFi...
December 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
An academic disliked an Oxford Very Short Introduction (145 pages) in his field so much that he wrote a 200 page book review attacking it. www.pierre-legrand.com/ewExternalFi...
Reposted by Sam Barber
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Reposted by Sam Barber
REPEAT AFTER ME (but really, after Neil Kraus):
Wage stagnation and underemployment are not problems that education can fix. We cannot "upskill" students into well-paying jobs that do. not. exist.
Wage stagnation and underemployment are not problems that education can fix. We cannot "upskill" students into well-paying jobs that do. not. exist.
Do not accept the premise that education is to blame for abysmal jobs outcomes.
“The fantasy economy's framing of economic inequality… focuses exclusively on education…deflects attention away from decades of public policies and changing business practices that have…contributed to stagnating wages”
“The fantasy economy's framing of economic inequality… focuses exclusively on education…deflects attention away from decades of public policies and changing business practices that have…contributed to stagnating wages”
December 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
REPEAT AFTER ME (but really, after Neil Kraus):
Wage stagnation and underemployment are not problems that education can fix. We cannot "upskill" students into well-paying jobs that do. not. exist.
Wage stagnation and underemployment are not problems that education can fix. We cannot "upskill" students into well-paying jobs that do. not. exist.
Reposted by Sam Barber
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 8, 2025 at 9:29 AM
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
Reposted by Sam Barber
My new article has now been published in the 2025 volume of Traditio. I use a little examined episode on the lower Rhine in the late 350s with the aid of agricultural archaeology to reveal fiscal dependency relations between the Empire & Barbaricum, & the consequences of their rupture. #medievalsky
JULIAN’S BATAVIAN CAMPAIGN, AN EMBEZZLEMENT TRIAL IN BRITAIN, AND BARBARIAN ACCESS TO THE ANNONA MILITARIS | Traditio | Cambridge Core
JULIAN’S BATAVIAN CAMPAIGN, AN EMBEZZLEMENT TRIAL IN BRITAIN, AND BARBARIAN ACCESS TO THE ANNONA MILITARIS - Volume 80
doi.org
December 5, 2025 at 10:21 AM
My new article has now been published in the 2025 volume of Traditio. I use a little examined episode on the lower Rhine in the late 350s with the aid of agricultural archaeology to reveal fiscal dependency relations between the Empire & Barbaricum, & the consequences of their rupture. #medievalsky
Reposted by Sam Barber
Figurative Norman fonts in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Unwrapped.
December 7, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Figurative Norman fonts in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Unwrapped.
The mosaic was found only quite recently (in 2021) and it really is a stunner www.bbc.com/news/uk-engl...
December 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The mosaic was found only quite recently (in 2021) and it really is a stunner www.bbc.com/news/uk-engl...