Erica Steiner
@ericasteiner.bsky.social
Celtic Studies PhD in progress @ Sydney Uni: ancient/medieval tattooing.
Finds rabbit holes & side quests irresistible!
Environmental humanities • Geomythology • Historical body modifications • Medieval mistranslations, misnomers & mysteries.
Finds rabbit holes & side quests irresistible!
Environmental humanities • Geomythology • Historical body modifications • Medieval mistranslations, misnomers & mysteries.
You'll have to wait for the thesis/articles to come out! 😉
July 14, 2025 at 9:58 AM
You'll have to wait for the thesis/articles to come out! 😉
As for my sources, i'm using the lives of St Brigit (she encounters tattooed warriors and rids them of their tattoos), the life of St Kentigern (possible reference to local tattooed woman and saint himself marked), and Adomnan's Life of Columba (Columba may have been tattooed).
July 13, 2025 at 12:35 PM
As for my sources, i'm using the lives of St Brigit (she encounters tattooed warriors and rids them of their tattoos), the life of St Kentigern (possible reference to local tattooed woman and saint himself marked), and Adomnan's Life of Columba (Columba may have been tattooed).
It's hard to know what design iconography was in use pre-conversion as a point of comparison to post-conversion designs, and it also depends on whether post-conversion designs were simply imported or organic post-conversion ideas on what symbolised 'christianess' in a tattoo arose locally.
July 13, 2025 at 12:32 PM
It's hard to know what design iconography was in use pre-conversion as a point of comparison to post-conversion designs, and it also depends on whether post-conversion designs were simply imported or organic post-conversion ideas on what symbolised 'christianess' in a tattoo arose locally.
What are 'christian' tattoos? Do they have to be christian symbols (that we recognise), or is it enough that the tattooed and tattooers identified as christians? Written sources include poetry and prose, in both latin and old irish. Potentially some MSS illustrations and tool/pigment artefacts.
July 13, 2025 at 9:43 AM
What are 'christian' tattoos? Do they have to be christian symbols (that we recognise), or is it enough that the tattooed and tattooers identified as christians? Written sources include poetry and prose, in both latin and old irish. Potentially some MSS illustrations and tool/pigment artefacts.
...Lumping the 'Vikings, Britons, and Celts' together is not in Malmesbury. Medieval people definitely did not identify them as similar. Tattooing was present in medieval Europe, but it was much more complicated than this fluffy piece suggests, and certainly nothing to do with individuality.
July 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
...Lumping the 'Vikings, Britons, and Celts' together is not in Malmesbury. Medieval people definitely did not identify them as similar. Tattooing was present in medieval Europe, but it was much more complicated than this fluffy piece suggests, and certainly nothing to do with individuality.
...that don't have cultural continuity or connection with each other. The reference to St Francis' stigmata (even though the word did mean a tattoo) is incorrect. The author relies mostly upon Caplan's edited volume (seminal, but from 2000), and the author is not published in this field...
July 11, 2025 at 3:55 AM
...that don't have cultural continuity or connection with each other. The reference to St Francis' stigmata (even though the word did mean a tattoo) is incorrect. The author relies mostly upon Caplan's edited volume (seminal, but from 2000), and the author is not published in this field...
Thanks for the shoutout, @myriahwilliams.bsky.social!
My short answer to the question is that it was likely in some specific areas, but not for much longer than the early/mid 9th c. The linked article unfortunately is pretty loose with its source material and jumbles together periods and places...
My short answer to the question is that it was likely in some specific areas, but not for much longer than the early/mid 9th c. The linked article unfortunately is pretty loose with its source material and jumbles together periods and places...
July 11, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Thanks for the shoutout, @myriahwilliams.bsky.social!
My short answer to the question is that it was likely in some specific areas, but not for much longer than the early/mid 9th c. The linked article unfortunately is pretty loose with its source material and jumbles together periods and places...
My short answer to the question is that it was likely in some specific areas, but not for much longer than the early/mid 9th c. The linked article unfortunately is pretty loose with its source material and jumbles together periods and places...
The authors suggest the chronology of the texts needs to be reassessed, but before this method is applied elsewhere, I think what needs to be looked at first is the historical context of parchment manufacture, storage, trading, and recycling.
End/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
End/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
June 5, 2025 at 11:12 PM
The authors suggest the chronology of the texts needs to be reassessed, but before this method is applied elsewhere, I think what needs to be looked at first is the historical context of parchment manufacture, storage, trading, and recycling.
End/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
End/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
Results that I found interesting: 4Q201 appears to be paleographically dated at least 100 years too early; 4Q70 really is the oldest parchment; and Mur19 proves my point with a C-14 mean date 50-100 years older than the internal historical date of the text.
3/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
3/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
June 5, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Results that I found interesting: 4Q201 appears to be paleographically dated at least 100 years too early; 4Q70 really is the oldest parchment; and Mur19 proves my point with a C-14 mean date 50-100 years older than the internal historical date of the text.
3/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
3/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
Parchment can be decades or even centuries older than the text it bears - exactly what the analysis here indicates. The majority of samples have a C-14 date decades older than a paleographic date, but most samples do overlap.
2/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
2/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
June 5, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Parchment can be decades or even centuries older than the text it bears - exactly what the analysis here indicates. The majority of samples have a C-14 date decades older than a paleographic date, but most samples do overlap.
2/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
2/🧵
#ancientsky #classicsky #medievalsky
100% disagree. Methodology is equally as important for the humanities as it is for the sciences. We just call it by a different name or don't have a named section. It's often hidden within an introduction, as scope and limitations, translation choices, theoretical approach.
#skystorians
#skystorians
May 4, 2025 at 9:25 PM
100% disagree. Methodology is equally as important for the humanities as it is for the sciences. We just call it by a different name or don't have a named section. It's often hidden within an introduction, as scope and limitations, translation choices, theoretical approach.
#skystorians
#skystorians
Actually not completely. Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, German, Moravian - all in fairly even proportions. My parents adopted my surname after they left and came to Australia. Knowledge and usage of German was not uncommon, but words like 'servus' would be used naturally by Slovak speakers.
May 4, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Actually not completely. Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, German, Moravian - all in fairly even proportions. My parents adopted my surname after they left and came to Australia. Knowledge and usage of German was not uncommon, but words like 'servus' would be used naturally by Slovak speakers.
'Active eradication' probably depended more on your social circles - my parents are both from Bratislava. I've grown up saying it (though i've never lived there) in the family, just like they did in the 50s-70s. Everyone they knew used it as a familiar greeting.
May 4, 2025 at 8:31 AM
'Active eradication' probably depended more on your social circles - my parents are both from Bratislava. I've grown up saying it (though i've never lived there) in the family, just like they did in the 50s-70s. Everyone they knew used it as a familiar greeting.
I would love to read about your work!!
April 28, 2025 at 10:41 AM
I would love to read about your work!!
It would also depend on which organisation sponsors the conference. They cost money to run, and often the organising association isn't subsidised by the (university) venue. So we have to charge rego to pay for them. 🤷🏻♀️
Ceræ conferences have a small rego fee because we have zero institutional support!
Ceræ conferences have a small rego fee because we have zero institutional support!
April 26, 2025 at 11:50 AM
It would also depend on which organisation sponsors the conference. They cost money to run, and often the organising association isn't subsidised by the (university) venue. So we have to charge rego to pay for them. 🤷🏻♀️
Ceræ conferences have a small rego fee because we have zero institutional support!
Ceræ conferences have a small rego fee because we have zero institutional support!
Conferences are free to attend in France? 🤯
April 26, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Conferences are free to attend in France? 🤯
Yeah, some conferences continue to be eye-wateringly expensive! But another one to keep in mind for being affordable (especially online attendance) is the annual @jaema.bsky.social conference. We keep our rego as low as possible (roughly $10/day online and around $50/day in person).
April 26, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Yeah, some conferences continue to be eye-wateringly expensive! But another one to keep in mind for being affordable (especially online attendance) is the annual @jaema.bsky.social conference. We keep our rego as low as possible (roughly $10/day online and around $50/day in person).
It's not a student journal, but we do accept and publish authors at all stages of their career, from senior undergrad to full professor and everything in between: @ceraejournal.bsky.social
April 21, 2025 at 12:08 PM
It's not a student journal, but we do accept and publish authors at all stages of their career, from senior undergrad to full professor and everything in between: @ceraejournal.bsky.social