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Burwell Freya
@ggfreya.bsky.social
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Reposted by Burwell Freya
theonion.com
“Thanks to our latest findings, we now know that early citizens of the United States had a more nuanced system of government than previously thought,” said Professor Lee Somers, director of the site excavation
Archaeologists: D.C. Capitol May Have Once Been Used For Legislating
WASHINGTON—Calling the discovery the “clearest proof yet” of how the U.S. government was originally designed to function, archaeologists published new evidence Thursday that suggests the Capitol build...
theonion.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Burwell Freya
alisonfisk.bsky.social
Artists have always loved to sketch!

Sketch of a sparrow from Egypt dated c. 1479–1458 BC.

Some 3,500 years ago in Egypt, artists used flakes of limestone as sketchpads!

MMA excavations 1922-23, Deir el-Bahri. 📷 The Met www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

#Archaeology
Met Museum photo of an Ancient Egyptian artist’s painting of a swallow on a flake of limestone, dated to the New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, c. 1479-1458 BC. The sparrow stands in profile with head to the right. It is delicately painted with a pinkish body. The outline and details are highlighted in a reddish/brown pigment. Its legs, eye, and beak are painted black. Limestone flake dimensions Height 6.6 cm x Width 10.6 cm. This may have been a practice drawing of the sparrow hieroglyph which was used for words meaning ‘small’, ‘poor’, or ‘bad’. Egyptian artisans who decorated tombs and temples made practice sketches on flakes of limestone which are known by egyptologists as ostraca (singular: ostracon). Sometimes the drawings were used as a template when transferring an image to the wall of a tomb or a temple. Limestone flakes were readily available for this purpose as by-products of the construction of temples and rock-cut tombs. A number of ostraca were recovered at Deir el-Bahri during the 1922-23 MMA excavations.
February 3, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Burwell Freya
malcolmstoneman.bsky.social
Barrel-shaped jug with stags.
c.750 - 600 BCE

From Larnaca, Cyprus.
(Ancient city of Kition)

“the barrel-shaped body and trumpet-shaped neck & mouth of the jar were inspired by Phoenician pottery & artistic traditions”, Ashmolean Museum

Loaned to Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

#Archaeology
“The elaborate decoration in black and red covers the entire body of the vessel and repeats a number of motifs in a careful, symmetrical arrangement. On the front of the jar, opposite the handle, is a highly stylised tree with curling branches and palmettes flanked by stags and crested birds (perhaps ibis). A simpler version of this scene, without the birds, is repeated on either side. Many of these motifs, especially the stylised tree, are known from the art of the ancient Near East. Their appearance on this jug reflects the close trading, diplomatic and cultural relations that existed between Cyprus and the neighbouring civilisations of the Mediterranean as well as those further east.” - Ashmoleon Museum
February 1, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Burwell Freya
alisonfisk.bsky.social
2,000 year-old Roman ‘Beware of the Dog’ mosaic.

This good boy looks ready for walkies! 😍🐾

Chained black guard dog from the entry passage of the House of Orpheus, Pompeii.

Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples 📷 by me

#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
My photo shows a Roman tile mosaic of a black dog in profile facing right, on an off-white background and set within a black rectangular border. The dog wears a white collar, and a red chain or lead around its neck which rises diagonally upward. Its ears are pointed and upright, the insides highlighted with white. The dog's red tongue protrudes from its open mouth. It has a round white eye with black centre. Its claws are picked out in white. The dog lowers the front of its body, its rear end up, and its tail curves upwards. A pose which looks somewhat similar to the universal ‘Play Bow’ position of dogs which communicates ‘come play with me’. This somewhat belies its role as a guard dog. However, guard dog mosaics were a popular feature at the entrance of houses in Pompeii. The most famous being the chained dog with the inscription ‘Cave Canem’ (beware of the dog) from the House of the Tragic Poet. This mosaic comes from the entry passage of the House of Orpheus in Pompeii.
February 2, 2026 at 12:23 PM