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misterbiscuitsbap.bsky.social
Brain Simpson
@misterbiscuitsbap.bsky.social
170 followers 1.6K following 6 posts
Monster who loves biscuits more than anything!  Not the account of the jazz pianist nor the Briitsh Labour Party politician
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Reposted by Brain Simpson
mythicalbritain.bsky.social
Knight-time prayers. Fifteenth century splendour at St Michael’s, Stanton Harcourt. A special place!
Scene of a church interior showing two painted effigies of knights from 1480-1520. The knights lie on raised tombs lit by huge windows casting streaked shadows upon them.
January 25, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
hannahbooth.bsky.social
North Sea Friday Folk #2 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep

Today it’s the turn of St Hild, first abbess of Whitby Abbey

Shown here with ammonite fossils at her feet — a nod to the legend that Hild turned local snakes to stone

📸 Wilson44691 (CC0)
January 23, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
thehistorymouse.bsky.social
South door, interior #StMaryEastBrent from the #ScamperDownTheSomersetCoast #HuttonToBrentKnoll leg. Cross braced. Styles that extend around the 2-centred head and a ledge that looks as if it was shaped with an adze. A sheer door delight #AdoorableThursday
January 22, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
vnbateman.bsky.social
A recently discovered statue from 10,000 BCE - depicting a woman carrying a goose - is ‘the earliest figurine to depict a human–animal interaction’ www.discovermagazine.com/a-12-000-yea...
A 12,000-Year-Old Figurine Shows the Earliest Human–Animal Interaction Ever Found
Learn how archaeologists discovered a woman-and-goose carving that predates the Neolithic and offers new clues to ancient symbolism.
www.discovermagazine.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
johnevigar.bsky.social
French prisoners of war at New Alresford, Hampshire
January 16, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
hornesupremacy.bsky.social
🛡 This Viking-Age shield boss has been pierced several times by a spear, likely in a ritual killing of armour deposited in a grave in the same way that swords were bent, possibly to 'kill' their power and prevent reuse 🧟‍♂️ ⚔️

Probable grave find from Fjällsta, Västmanland 🇸🇪

My 📷 Historiska museet
Viking shield boss with punctures
January 15, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
davidveevers.bsky.social
Tobacco smoking caught on quickly in Africa, with people smoking it via locally produced clay pipes. In Kongo they made long-stemmed pipes, as in bottom right with Queen Nzinga. In 1612 a Swiss merchant noted that 'they can bear hunger for a long time, as long as they have "magkay" or tobacco.'
January 13, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Born on this day in 1503, Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, better known as Parmigianino. Here, his marvelous self-portrait in a convex mirror, 1524.
January 11, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
worldofartbysue.bsky.social
January's theme: Sculpture
IFE HEAD, 14th – early 15th century. British Museum, London, UK.
This striking brass head from Ife, Nigeria was made with the lost wax casting technique and attests to the sophistication of the Yoruba culture in West Africa.
#arthistory #art #Sculpture #Africa
Ife was the religious and royal center of the prosperous Yoruba people. When first discovered, Western scholars were so shocked by the beauty and construction of Ife objects that they could not believe that indigenous tribes could have made them and so they put forth the theory that Ife must have had a connection to the lost Greek colony (Western, of course) of Atlantis! Ife artists created stunning sculptural works in stone, terra cotta, brass and copper that are prized for their naturalism. This particular brass head is of a ruler (“Ooni”) or high ranking noble; he wears a complex headdress/crown depicting beads, tassels, rosettes and feathers. The crown has traces of black and red paint. The face is marked with lines of a scarification pattern, which would have signified royal or high social status of the person. The holes around the mouth may have anchored a ceremonial beard or veil made out of glass beads. There are larger holes at the neck indicating that perhaps the head was attached to a wooden effigy for ceremonial purposes, although the actual purpose of the head is uncertain.
January 8, 2026 at 4:39 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
George Clifford, 3d Earl of Cumberland, became Queen Elizabeth's Champion at the Tiltyard in 1590. Wears her bejeweled glove pinned to his hat, ready to do battle in her honor, in fab miniature by Nicholas Hilliard.
January 7, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
archaeohistories.bsky.social
A cat-shaped ceramic vessel (200-700 CE), likely depicting a jaguar, puma, or pampas cat, attributed to the Recuay or Paracas culture from the northern highlands of Peru 🇵🇪

The vessel features an oversized, toothy grin and a bird figurine perched on its head.

MET Museum

#archaeohistories
January 4, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
drannaclark.bsky.social
The old year departs.
The King and Queen: from The Lewis Chessmen, 12th Century, walrus ivory figures from a group unearthed at Uig Bay on the Scottish Isle of Lewis in 1831; part of 11 figures which remain in Scotland. 82 other pieces are on display in The British Museum.
National Museum Scotland
December 31, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
alisonfisk.bsky.social
As the year draws to a close, I’m signing off 2025 with a magical find!

An ancient amber bear. Carved some 10,000 years ago, it washed up on a beach at Fanø, Denmark, from a submerged Mesolithic settlement in the North Sea.

✨ Happy New Year all! ✨

National Museum of Denmark
📷 by me

#Archaeology
My photo shows a small figurine of an amber bear carved some 10,000 years ago during the Danish Mesolithic period. The bear is seen in profile facing right. The legs are incomplete. The ears, muzzle, and mouth are defined. The figurine is displayed on a small metal stand. The display lighting shines on the bear’s head and neck enhancing the translucence of the orange amber. The neck of the bear has a polished groove indicating it was once suspended on a cord or string. Length 6.5cm. The Fanø bear was found in 1991 on a beach on the west coast of the Danish island of Fanø, located off the south-western coast of Jutland. In the Stone Age the Danish coastline was different from today. “Since then the coastline has been influenced by later changes to the sea level as well as the rising up of the land after the last Ice Age. This rising of the land is still going on today. North of a line on the map the land has risen up and south of the line the coast has become submerged because of the subsequent rise in sea level. Therefore a proportion of Stone Age settlements south of the “tilt line” now lie under water or at the edge of the beach. Thus objects can be washed out in the sea and later be found on the beach”. The Fanø bear is one of a small number of amber bear figurines from the Baltic Sea region which have been assigned to the Mesolithic period by means of a typo-chronological approach Amber has many amazing properties: it’s warm to the touch, it’s a glossy translucent colour when polished, it gives off a fragrant scent when burnt, and when rubbed against fur or hair it can produce static electricity which ‘magically’ emits green sparks in the dark and can make hair stand on end.
December 31, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
susanabernethy2.bsky.social
The Unlikely Life of King Henry VII of England

thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2017/04/28/t...
The Unlikely Life of Henry Tudor ~ A guest post by Tony Riches
The Freelance History is delighted to welcome Tony Riches to the blog with a guest post about a much overlooked English king. Tony is the author of many medieval fiction books. For more information…
thefreelancehistorywriter.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social
Can people please note that the Romans did actually know what forks were.

And, quite wonderfully, this multi-utensil is believed to have been made in... Switzerland.

For the... army
December 27, 2025 at 9:39 AM
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voetnoot.bsky.social
On 27 December 1653, sailor Gabriel Anthony of Cabo Verde and Anneken Gabriels of Angola went through the 'red door' (Fig 2) of the Old Church of Amsterdam to register their marriage. The couple lived on Ververstraat (8 on the map). #OTD #migrantcity #Amsterdam #AfroAmsterdammers
December 27, 2025 at 10:30 AM
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danherb10.bsky.social
Particularly happy with that book haul.
@drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
A pile of 4 books on a kitchen table. Æthelflæd by Tim Clarkson, Edmund by Francis Young, The Eagle and the Hart by Helen Castor and Two Houses Two Kingdoms by Catherine Hanley
December 26, 2025 at 10:26 AM
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tvpworld.bsky.social
A kiścień – a flail-type weapon used by both cavalry and infantry soldiers for crushing the skulls of enemies – associated with Poland’s legendary medieval Battle of Grunwald, has been discovered by a team of amateur history enthusiasts.
Battle of Grunwald ‘skull-crusher weapon’ found in Polish field
The amateur researchers say the find was made in an area linked to the legendary battle.
tvpworld.com
December 25, 2025 at 10:20 AM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Looking right at you from 1446: a Carthusian monk with mesmerizing beard on his chin & fly on his frame. By Petrus Christus of Bruges, whose day is today.
December 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
evienash.bsky.social
Yorkshire Museum had some proper gems, including this silk bonnet probably worn by a Danish woman. Found underneath the old monastery
December 20, 2025 at 11:02 AM
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alisonfisk.bsky.social
The remarkably well-preserved York Helmet, dated AD 770-775, is one of only six surviving helmets from Anglo-Saxon Britain. A Latin inscription bears the name ‘Oshere’. Discovered by a digger operator in York in 1982. Iron and copper-alloy.

Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
My photo shows a front view of the so-called York Helmet on display at the Yorkshire Museum in York. This Anglian helmet is composed of four main elements; a composite cap (brown in colour), two hinged cheek-pieces (also brown in colour) and a brass neckguard made of ring mail ( dark in my photo). A brass-coloured nose guard is decorated with intricate interlaced animals. The 'eyebrows' have animal-head terminals. An inscribed copper alloy band runs over and across the crest of the helmet. The interlacing animals on the nose guard have open lips, comma-shaped eyes and spiral hips. Between the ‘eyebrows' and facing downward, is a larger animal head with a rounded snout and comma-shaped eyes, like those on the nose guard. This animal has ears on either side of its head that merge with the inscribed copper alloy band. A Latin inscription on the band reads: 'IN. NOMINE. DNI. NOSTRI. IHV. SCS. SPS. D. ET. OMNIBUS. DECEMUS. AMEN. OSHERE. XPI.' This abbreviated Latin inscription may be translated as 'In the name of our Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God and with all we pray. Amen. Oshere. Christ.' Oshere was probably a member of the powerful ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Northumbria. The helmet was heavily worn and had been repaired when for reasons unknown, it was buried with care in a square wood-lined pit, perhaps for safeguarding and later retrieval at a time when York was occupied by Vikings. But it lay unrecovered for around a thousand years, until it was discovered by a digger operator in 1982.
December 19, 2025 at 6:42 PM
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andreamatranga.bsky.social
One of the first hominids, Hispanopithecus, lived 11 million years in what is now Catalonia. They are believed to have lived largely on tree canopies, only descending to take part in occasional sardanes. They did not have control of fire, and were therefore forced to eat their bruschettas soggy.
December 18, 2025 at 8:42 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, looking just insanely dashing as painted by Paul van Somer. Today is his day.
December 18, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Brain Simpson
archaeohistories.bsky.social
Around 2100 years old, the Sakuragaoka Bronze Bells are attributed to the Yayoi period of ancient Japan 🇯🇵. The group of 14 bronze bells, some of which are decorated with paintings of small animals.

© Cosmos University

#archaeohistories
December 13, 2025 at 2:10 PM