Catherine Frieman
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cjfrieman.bsky.social
Catherine Frieman
@cjfrieman.bsky.social
7K followers 810 following 1.7K posts
D.Phil. Archaeologist. Co-Editor Current Anthropology. Previously Editor European Journal of Archaeology. Educator. Tattoo Enthusiast. World Traveller. Accident Prone.
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cjfrieman.bsky.social
yesterday: 1st millennium BC castro in Gallicia.

today: photo of vernacular architecture from recent historic Gallician uplands
several low circular stone walls on a green hill with trees and bigger hills in the background. these are the emails of roundhouses from the second half of the first millennium BC a black and white photograph of a circular stonewalled building with apeaked thatch roof on a hilltop. the information panel next to it is in Spanish and says this is a rational style of mountain architecture
November 12, 2025 at 9:45 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
a screenshot of my dash showing the quoted skeet immediately above a skeet by cats with jobs. that one includes a photo of a get tabby cat say under a desk next to some plans on paper and with a paw extended to wrap around a hammer
November 8, 2025 at 6:08 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
it's leading the abc news website as well
screenshot of abc news website. the top story is a photo of zohran mamdani smiling in a scrum of people who look like journalists. the headline reads zohran mamdani claims stunning win in nyc mayoral election
November 5, 2025 at 3:36 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
took a break from work to drink ice tea on the porch and made the mistake of putting my feet up on one of stormy's favourite napping chairs... guess i live here now
a small grey tabby cat sleeps in a ball across a white woman's ankles and feet which are propped up in a round camp chair
November 3, 2025 at 3:10 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
sign sign sign and stand up for trans Kids in Queensland
a white woman in a black teeshirt. on the teeshirt is the map of Australia with the states in the different colours of the rainbow and the word equality in white text
October 31, 2025 at 6:53 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
Hey Australian Archaeology - do you like arch theory? do you want to hang out with other folks who do?? Please put 22-23 May in your calendar - we're hosting an AusTAG conference at Adelaide University!

more details and call for submissions soon!
An abstract image of a person on their knees trowelling. They are kneeling on an outline of the state of South Australia. Superimposed on this are the words AUS TAG 2026. The text reads: Save the date 22-23 May Adelaide University austheoreticalarchaeologygroup@gmail.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:25 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
oats are nice though. I'll allow them endless tins of supermarket brand tinned full English though. no hot sauce allowed
a tin with a brightly coloured label depicting a barely dissatisfaction slurry of red-brown food items. the label reads "safeway all day breakfast baked beans with sausages, mini 'scotch' eggs, mushrooms and bacon in a tasty tomato sauce 415g"
October 15, 2025 at 1:15 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
screenshot of a tweet by Australian icon Thomas Violence. tweet reads "I'm one of the dozens of people worldwide that live in country that's not America"
October 13, 2025 at 12:05 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
saw this incredible sky leaving the gym this weekend
a photo of a dark parking lot. in one corner a small gym is brightly lit. the sky is dark purple dramatic rolling clouds limned with electric pink. it is sunset. it is spectacular.
October 7, 2025 at 12:33 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
Call for papers - hopeful pasts for hopeful futures - a session at Nordic TAG 2026 (in person, Kalmar, Sweden) 6-9 May 2026 - deadline 15 October.

I'm organising this with Daniela Hofmann and @arkeostrida.bsky.social
How do we story the past? As many of us are trying to address cascading environmental, political and social polycrises through our work, reflection about the stories we tell, and why we tell them, is more important than ever. Yet, certain kinds of stories – often involving origin/ancestry, warfare, inequality or ecological degradation – seem to enjoy a broader reach than stories of multiculturalism, coexistence, cooperation, or integration. While this work outlines the scope and history of the problems we now confront, it rarely offer alternatives to the status quo or paths to a better future. In this session, we discuss the implications of our narrative choices and how we can choose more actively to shape the approaching future. The past was diverse, comprising manifold social processes at various scales. The past was lived by people other than elites and warriors, and the dominant trends we observe were variously resisted and adapted. The past was not just human, but material and otherwise animate. In sum, the past has an innate capacity to surprise us, a property we can use to imagine different ways of being and relating. We invite participants to reflect on how we might foreground work, both in scholarly articles and in outreach, to shape the future we want. Do we have moral and ethical obligations? And to whom (or to what)? Are different ways of telling more suited to different kinds of stories (articles versus images, computer games versus podcasts, Science Fiction versus childrens books)? Can we extract tales of hope to inspire better futures? Is that just idealistic dreaming or unscientific? How do we represent uncertainties and ambiguities? How do we turn our eyes from past to future with a better world in mind? • The workshop will be structured around blocks of short presentations (6 slides in 6 minutes), followed by panel debates. • Interested participants should contact us at daniela.hofmann@uib.no • send a max 200 word abstract
September 29, 2025 at 6:13 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
Candy corn is skeuomorphic of bronze age socketed axes confirmed. bretagnemusees.bzh/collection/d...
A cylindrical stack of Late Bronze Age socketed axes with the blade pointing inward and the wider socket outwards much like the stack of candy corn
September 17, 2025 at 3:19 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
popping my head in to post this on behalf of and at the request of my very dear friend and colleague matt walsh who is not very online. #eaa2025
Speaking for myself as an EAA member and one half of the TEA editorial team, I do not condone the recent series of decisions and announcements made by the EAA’s Executive Board. During the events of the last few days of the EAA Annual Meeting 2025, I too have been dismayed, frustrated, and confused (and angered) by the Executive Board’s decisions and announcements. On a personal note, I supported the EAA’s initial boycotting of Israeli institutional affiliations being presented at the 2025 AM. Just as banning institutional affiliations of Russian and Belarusian members has been the EAA’s policy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this was appropriate and clearly followed precedent and policy. Frankly, I felt that this was the very least that could be done to call out the humanitarian crisis being perpetrated on the Palestinian people. It is not antisemitism to call out Israel’s state policies of genocide. Just as it is not condoning the atrocious Oct. 7th actions of HAMAS in calling for Israel and its allies to stop this madness. The decision to retract the policy against acknowledging Israeli institutional affiliations at the Meeting was short-sighted and reactionary. Certainly, these were not unanimous decisions. Editors of TEA have no say in the Executive Board’s decisions, their decision-making processes, or the discussions that lead to them. TEA is first and foremost beholden to its readership of EAA members and beyond. We do work closely with some Executive Board members in the development of various aspects of TEA issues and features, which makes the events currently unfolding at the 31st Annual Meeting even more bitter and confounding. Subsequent Executive Board announcements attempting to circumvent the rising backlash among members were equally confusing and short sighted. Colleagues and I co-chaired a session on Tuesday in which we explicitly refused to comply with the Sept. 2 announcement that threatened to silence sessions and presenters for expressing their freedom of speech in calling out the genocide in Gaza. I only hope that the frustrating and dismal events playing out in the EAA right now may ultimately lead to some sort of positive change within the organization – change that will reflect not only the voices of EAA’s members but of those most marginalized, mistreated, and harmed by conflict and evil around the world.
September 5, 2025 at 12:26 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
question for archeosky 🏺

my mate James Flexner (too smart to be v online) excavated this very distinct piece of transfer ware at a 19th c site in East Polynesia. despite being a sherd need, he's been unable to identify the original pattern. anyone recognise it?

"ironstone" is stamped on the base
an irregular sherd of poetry about 8cm by 4cm. it is white with a maroon transfer pattern of an elephant in foreground wearing a saddle with riders and an aggressive baking dog. in the background are the spires of an Orientalist palace. it's all very British raj
September 2, 2025 at 5:10 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
finishing the alt text
Organizers: Corey Herrmann Catherine Frieman Lewis Borck Sarah Rowe Black Trowel Collective Deadline (for submission to the SAA website and payment of registration): September 4th, 2025
August 29, 2025 at 4:49 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
hey archaeosky 🏺 are you going to SAA in SF next year? are you working on archaeology or heritage projects that questions empire or explores growth after empire? do i have a session for you!
this is the poster cfp for the saa session renewing worlds: Archaeology and heritage against empire 2 Our shared pasts, particularly in Western and colonial retellings, are dominated by empires. The Assyrian empire, the Inca Tawantinsuyu, the Aztec Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, and the Roman empire, among many others, are all commonly reanimated within popular and academic history. For many, empires are considered inevitable in global history; linear developments of powers that grow and aspire to global domination. The cultural imprint of empires is also central to archaeology and heritage. Palaces, temples, and lavish burials have been sought from the misty mornings of our discipline up to the present. National identities are built on grandiose imperial pasts as palaces-come-museums display artifacts justifying the tidy fiction of linear progress from the distant uncivilized past to the present day. This session grows from an EAA2024 session organized by the Black Trowel Collective and colleagues, titled And So Falls the World: Archaeology and Heritage Against Empires. We build on their exploration and scrutiny of imperial narratives, asking: what futures are being imagined and grown when members of a society tear down empires, or even just allow them to fall? How can those societies' pasts create resurgent practices that contest “empire-mentality”? What can we learn about surviving empire and thriving in its shadow? Poster: We are looking for papers within the broader themes of the archaeology of equality and its resistance to power and empire(s), related but not limited to: Archaeology of equality Indigenous archaeologies Intersectional archaeologies Gender and queer archaeology Anarchist archaeological perspectives Heritage & Museum Studies particularly those focusing on axiologies Archaeology of all periods and regions, including contemporary archaeologies Futurities Whatever beautiful thing you are working on that we haven’t thought of. alt text continues next skeet
August 29, 2025 at 4:49 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
i DNFd a book recently after a character (who would know) noted with sadness that there are no cliffs in Kent
white chalk cliffs viewed from a calm green sea on a clear sunny day. these are the famous white cliffs of Dover in Kent.
August 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
Well... i guess that answers that question
a screen shot of my notifs with a blue circle and white tick in it and the text "Bluesky has verified you"
August 12, 2025 at 4:28 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
sometimes the timeline works
a screenshot of my dash. up top is the OP skeet. directly below it is a skeet from @mobydickatsea.bsky.social, a quote from the novel Moby Dick: "there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid"
August 9, 2025 at 6:57 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
I've been looking for about 18 mo though not systematically and haven't found a single cat in armour or with a sword! sighhh

thank you though!
two blue rectangular cat beds on a wooden floor. a grey cat looks up at the camera from the bed on the left and a larger ginger cat looks up from the bed on the right.
August 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
I'm finding this particularly funny because I'm from Boston (though obvs not there any longer) and my cat is mashed gambit.

Behold! Masshole-descendent Gambit
A fluffy ginger cat in loaf with one front paw extended. He's on a white doona. He's staring into the camera.
August 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
i don't have a favourite so i wrote one for you
i admire the way you sit legs generously spread and belly resting like a sleeping cat the warm night eddies, ebbs and flows. i raise my glass to your sickle grin
July 20, 2025 at 11:45 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
ok but tess... look at the megalith shoes
a kind of indescribable painting of a stylised femme person in a landscape with green grass and a stone circle. they're wearing a very 70s grey cat suit with tons of gold ornaments and fathers. they have on shoes that are styled after megalithic monuments. you can buy it here: https://diabhal666.bigcartel.com/product/brigid-the-healer
June 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
i approve of my new local book store's employee picks, though they do need to proofread a bit more carefully
a partial shelf of classic books including Moby Dick by Herman Melville. attached to the shelf is an index card with the following text: staff picks Moby Dick by Herman Miller [sic] I won't lie, I red the book because i love the heavy metal band Mastodon and their 2004 concept album Leviathan. "Split your lungs with blood and thunder when you see the white whale." To bring this album to life I had to check out the source material. It's a dense, poetical odyssey of obsession and the sublime terror of nature. Written in 1851, it takes the reader on a journey thug a bygone era and while dry at times it's a journey I'm glad I to. Recommended by Ricky
June 21, 2025 at 5:34 AM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
this rstevens joke never goes out of date and also never fails to make folks mad
a venn diagram. one hoop is "music i like" the other is "music you like". where they overlap is "music i used to like"
June 14, 2025 at 2:01 PM
cjfrieman.bsky.social
so, this? bsky.app/profile/k2me...
a screenshot of the skeet linked above. a small grim white room with no windows, 4 chairs and a table pushed against the walls
June 14, 2025 at 3:09 AM