Katherine Piper
@katherinepiper.bsky.social
Retired Egyptologist/archaeologist now heckling. Occasional roundhouse builder and regular volunteer at Flag Fen Archaeology Park. Currently @theees.bsky.social bake sale, formerly archives and events volunteer. Dog servant. Spooky. AuDHD.
Oh we also have replica eels for the replica eel traps! (I had to tie these in with fishing twine because they would not hot glue.)
November 17, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Oh we also have replica eels for the replica eel traps! (I had to tie these in with fishing twine because they would not hot glue.)
I forgot to post this on Friday, but: a moment of appreciation for the spectacular Must Farm cake made by the Flag Fen café’s Kate Ferry. I had no idea how Kate was going to pull off the brief she was given, but she nailed it. And it was delicious!
November 17, 2025 at 8:03 AM
I forgot to post this on Friday, but: a moment of appreciation for the spectacular Must Farm cake made by the Flag Fen café’s Kate Ferry. I had no idea how Kate was going to pull off the brief she was given, but she nailed it. And it was delicious!
Please enjoy the delightfully shaggy mostly complete new Bronze Age house at Flag Fen – looking forward to some cosy roundhouse time in here.
November 2, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Please enjoy the delightfully shaggy mostly complete new Bronze Age house at Flag Fen – looking forward to some cosy roundhouse time in here.
The veil is always thin, but everything has its right place and time.
October 31, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The veil is always thin, but everything has its right place and time.
Met the neighbours today on the Flag Fen auger survey. They were very disappointed that we didn’t have any food for them and that activity around the gate of their field didn’t mean that they were allowed to leave the field, but were mostly pretty chill supervisors.
September 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Met the neighbours today on the Flag Fen auger survey. They were very disappointed that we didn’t have any food for them and that activity around the gate of their field didn’t mean that they were allowed to leave the field, but were mostly pretty chill supervisors.
Here are some bouncy crime sheep for your timeline.
September 26, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Here are some bouncy crime sheep for your timeline.
A gloriously sunny autumn equinox to be looking for ancient buried soil and pulling up soggy old bits of wood from over a metre underground, in between two types of modern power generation, while the USAF from Mildenhall or Lakenheath whiz overhead in their F-15s. It’s all going on down there …
September 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM
A gloriously sunny autumn equinox to be looking for ancient buried soil and pulling up soggy old bits of wood from over a metre underground, in between two types of modern power generation, while the USAF from Mildenhall or Lakenheath whiz overhead in their F-15s. It’s all going on down there …
Lovely stuff. I was genuinely so excited to see a little Munsell colour chart binder again (the 10YR page takes me right back). I could only stay for the morning, but this has filled my little archaeology cup right up.
September 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Lovely stuff. I was genuinely so excited to see a little Munsell colour chart binder again (the 10YR page takes me right back). I could only stay for the morning, but this has filled my little archaeology cup right up.
I had so much fun this morning – despite the 50mph gusts of wind and stinging nettle jungle to cross – doing some ✨actual archaeology✨ and learning something new to me: helping with Cambridge Archaeological Unit’s augur survey at Flag Fen. I’ve never done coring before and it is so cool!
September 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I had so much fun this morning – despite the 50mph gusts of wind and stinging nettle jungle to cross – doing some ✨actual archaeology✨ and learning something new to me: helping with Cambridge Archaeological Unit’s augur survey at Flag Fen. I’ve never done coring before and it is so cool!
A double rainbow to bless your timeline 🌈
September 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
A double rainbow to bless your timeline 🌈
The summer drought here has been so bad that the peat cracking up has formed miniature rift valley systems.
August 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The summer drought here has been so bad that the peat cracking up has formed miniature rift valley systems.
Iron Age house take two officially got underway at Flag Fen today – wonderful to see so many people turn up looking to get involved and hear more about the project and other Iron Age builds. Now that the footprint of the house and drip trench have been marked out, work begins in earnest this week. 🏺
August 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Iron Age house take two officially got underway at Flag Fen today – wonderful to see so many people turn up looking to get involved and hear more about the project and other Iron Age builds. Now that the footprint of the house and drip trench have been marked out, work begins in earnest this week. 🏺
Hey look Dorothy is starting to look properly boat-shaped now that we have the entire length of the boat on the table and some supports for the walls (more to follow; our joiner is currently on holiday) 🏺
August 20, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Hey look Dorothy is starting to look properly boat-shaped now that we have the entire length of the boat on the table and some supports for the walls (more to follow; our joiner is currently on holiday) 🏺
I just looked something up in my old copy of Gardiner’s Grammar, and I’m not sure why 15 years ago me thought this was a helpful or necessary annotation. Although now I want to know how the ancient Egyptians wrote down bee sounds …
July 29, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I just looked something up in my old copy of Gardiner’s Grammar, and I’m not sure why 15 years ago me thought this was a helpful or necessary annotation. Although now I want to know how the ancient Egyptians wrote down bee sounds …
Things you don’t expect to see: a bit of 3,500-year-old boat going for a walk. Yesterday we moved the large fragment of Dorothy which was on display in the Flag Fen museum into the barn to join the boat jigsaw, and moved a large fragment of Toppled McClary into the museum to replace it.
July 24, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Things you don’t expect to see: a bit of 3,500-year-old boat going for a walk. Yesterday we moved the large fragment of Dorothy which was on display in the Flag Fen museum into the barn to join the boat jigsaw, and moved a large fragment of Toppled McClary into the museum to replace it.
Another fun Dorothy thing is that now that we have more wall pieces in place, we can see more of the markings on the outside of the boat, which is pretty cool.
July 16, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Another fun Dorothy thing is that now that we have more wall pieces in place, we can see more of the markings on the outside of the boat, which is pretty cool.
The other end of the large piece in the museum will join in here where the wall of the boat is propped up with dozens of creepy sandhands, but we’re going to worry about that next week …
July 16, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The other end of the large piece in the museum will join in here where the wall of the boat is propped up with dozens of creepy sandhands, but we’re going to worry about that next week …
In less depressing news, we have conclusively established that the large fragment of log boat on display in the Flag Fen museum belongs to Dorothy (Must Farm Boat 6), and joins not only with the group of fragments assembled in barn, but with an identified end piece of the boat, which is exciting 🏺
July 16, 2025 at 3:20 PM
In less depressing news, we have conclusively established that the large fragment of log boat on display in the Flag Fen museum belongs to Dorothy (Must Farm Boat 6), and joins not only with the group of fragments assembled in barn, but with an identified end piece of the boat, which is exciting 🏺
We were also joined by roundhouse expert David Freeman, who planned and directed the Iron Age build in 2022. The house was based on a real one excavated at Fengate, and plans are already afoot to start work on another, now that we know how to build roundhouses.
July 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
We were also joined by roundhouse expert David Freeman, who planned and directed the Iron Age build in 2022. The house was based on a real one excavated at Fengate, and plans are already afoot to start work on another, now that we know how to build roundhouses.
🧵 You may have heard that our beloved Iron Age house at Flag Fen went up in flames on Sunday night. I knew it was bad, but seeing it today was a gut-punch. I had such a good time working on that house from beginning to end in 2022. And now it’s pretty much gone. 🏺
July 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
🧵 You may have heard that our beloved Iron Age house at Flag Fen went up in flames on Sunday night. I knew it was bad, but seeing it today was a gut-punch. I had such a good time working on that house from beginning to end in 2022. And now it’s pretty much gone. 🏺
What we have assembled on the table is most of the central section of the boat circled in the photo, plus a little bit of the section to the left. We are also confident that the large bit of boat on display in the museum is part of that section, and we think we have the joining fragment …
July 10, 2025 at 5:21 AM
What we have assembled on the table is most of the central section of the boat circled in the photo, plus a little bit of the section to the left. We are also confident that the large bit of boat on display in the museum is part of that section, and we think we have the joining fragment …
Dorothy update: our grand old lady is coming together very nicely, and we made good enough progress yesterday that we’ve had to expand our working space so that we have room to safely support all of the fragments as we start to include wall pieces (not pictured).
July 10, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Dorothy update: our grand old lady is coming together very nicely, and we made good enough progress yesterday that we’ve had to expand our working space so that we have room to safely support all of the fragments as we start to include wall pieces (not pictured).
We are back on the Must Farm boats after a little hiatus, and we have now embarked on the c. 6-metre-long jigsaw puzzle of Dorothy (Boat 6). She’s starting to come together nicely. Finding the join and consolidating this large group was today’s little victory. Nice chunk of boat here. 🏺
July 2, 2025 at 1:44 PM
We are back on the Must Farm boats after a little hiatus, and we have now embarked on the c. 6-metre-long jigsaw puzzle of Dorothy (Boat 6). She’s starting to come together nicely. Finding the join and consolidating this large group was today’s little victory. Nice chunk of boat here. 🏺
This came up on Instagram for me, and I may not be able to read French fluently, but I was raised by a translator, and this made me wheeze with laughter.
June 27, 2025 at 7:09 AM
This came up on Instagram for me, and I may not be able to read French fluently, but I was raised by a translator, and this made me wheeze with laughter.
Happy solstice 🌞
June 21, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Happy solstice 🌞