Vanessa Oakden
LightNews LightNews
banner
voakden.bsky.social
Vanessa Oakden
@voakden.bsky.social
150 followers 160 following 51 posts
Community archaeologist & Museum Curator.
Posts Replies Media Videos
voakden.bsky.social
54 years and a day apart this week two Early Medieval hoards were discovered in Cheshire.

The Castle Esplanade hoard of Viking silver & Anglo-Saxon pennies, AD900-950 found #OTD in 1950 & the lovely Huxley Hoard of Viking arm rings, an ingot & lead fragments found in 2004, AD850-950
📸 me & NML
Pieces of Viking silver, coins and hack silver laid out on steppers mounts with a black base and a white top. The pot sits in the centre of the image on a higher mount. Folder silver Viking arm rings, with a variety of stamped decoration lying in a pile on a white background.
November 29, 2025 at 10:26 AM
voakden.bsky.social
Finally had my summer holiday! Enjoying the last of the sun before flying back ✈️
Woman standing on a rock looking out to sea, blue sky and sun above. A large rock in the foreground, volcanic beach and sea in the background. Bright pink flowers with small white flowers emerging from them, green leaves in the background. A cactus with long yellow spikes and bulbous purple buds with the sea behind.
November 17, 2025 at 12:22 PM
voakden.bsky.social
A great morning of wet sieving & owl pellet excavation at Mesolithic Lunt Meadows with our future prehistorians & zooarchaeologists from the Mersey & Dee YAC!
October 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Reflecting on the docks after a Merseyside Archaeological Society lecture about their construction this evening!
October 16, 2025 at 9:37 PM
voakden.bsky.social
My favourite type of monument!
October 15, 2025 at 7:12 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Lovely to watch the Galeón Andalucía sail into Liverpool today just outside the office!
The ship Galeón Andalucía sailing on a calm River Mersey. Blue sky and clouds above. The rigging of the Galeón Andalucía seen from below. Blue sky and fluffy clouds above.
September 25, 2025 at 6:28 PM
voakden.bsky.social
My current favourite part of the day is saying good morning to the objects I’ve read about since I was a student, and those I’ve excavated & written about over the years, in our new exhibition at Museum of Liverpool, Treasure: History Unearthed!

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/muse...
The gold Mold cape with an interpretation panel visible in the background. Viking silver arm rings and coins on a white surface within a display case. Some objects are elevated on stick mounts and the case has a black background. Three Roman silver gilded brooches displayed vertically on a white mount. Silver coins and two rings in the foreground.
September 19, 2025 at 9:52 AM
voakden.bsky.social
Treasure: History Unearthed at Museum of Liverpool is now open!

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/muse...
September 13, 2025 at 1:36 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Busy afternoon preparing the Cuerdale Hoard for display with conservation colleagues!

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/muse...
A rectangular silver ingot held in a purple gloved hand with a dish of solution in the background.
August 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Lovely to head back to Mold for a day of community engagement! Looking forward to more craft and a another talk tomorrow www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/treasuring-o...
A peg doll held in fingers in the foreground against a leaflet which reads Treasure: History Unearthed with a replica of the Mold cape in a display case in the background.
August 8, 2025 at 6:02 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Double archaeology & two of my favourites, dolmens & Viking sculpture!

Stopped off at lovely Plas Newydd and picked up a bargain at the second hand bookshop 😊 📕 🪨

#Prehistory #Vikings #YnysMôn
Red book with gold lettering reading Richard N. Bailey Viking Age Sculpture being held in front of a Neolithic dolmen which sits on grass in front of a large house.
July 28, 2025 at 2:17 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Gorgeous visit to @nmireland.bsky.social to see Words on the Wave: Ireland and St. Gallen in Early Medieval Ireland.

Lovely illustrations & mix of objects & digital. Loved seeing the reverse of the Killamery brooch too!
Boy viewed from behind looking at a display case containing a book cover with illustration on the wall in the background. Open double page of an illuminated manuscript with red and blue ink and interlace decoration. A silver penannular brooch with a long pin next to a museum label. Two stylus above and bronze figure below. A book shrine decorated with circular bosses. Bronze plates and decorative mounts to each side.
July 27, 2025 at 5:59 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Looking forward to talking to Wigan Archarological Society this evening about archaeology in Merseyside as we take a look at some of the excavations which feature in The Archaeology of Merseyside in 20 Digs which I co-authored with @lizjstewart.bsky.social 📕
June 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Lovely visit to Lunt Meadows this afternoon for the opening of their new Learning Centre. Great to see how the project has developed since it was first excavated in 2012 #Lunt #Mesolithic
April 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Catching up on my podcasts, interesting to learn that some round towers may have been rendered, would love to go inside one! #AmplifyArchaeology

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
A tall stone round tower with a conical top set within a graveyard. Green trees frame the tower and a grey path cuts through the grave yard.
April 19, 2025 at 10:13 AM
voakden.bsky.social
Lovely visit to @nmireland.bsky.social Collins Barracks especially enjoyed the Airgead gallery & the spoon garden! 🥄 🪴
April 12, 2025 at 2:59 PM
voakden.bsky.social
#Wexford
Church ruin with blue sky visible through the roof and grass growing within. A church with a rectangular tower behind a grey stone wall. Iron hate to the left. A tree grows from behind the wall obscuring the view of the centre of the church building. Sunset over hills in the distance and fields in the foreground.
April 9, 2025 at 9:42 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Great use of augmented reality interpretation too! @nationaltrust.bsky.social
Framed image containing a ship, interpretation to the left within the frame and view seem beyond so the ship appears to be on the water of the Menai Strait. Framed image containing a ship, interpretation to the left within the frame and view seem beyond so the ship appears to be on the water above the harbour wall of the Menai Strait.
April 7, 2025 at 2:12 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Lovely stop off at the Plas Newydd dolmen! #Anglesey
Stone dolmen set on grass, trees to the right, corner of house to the right and blue sky above. Dolmen with large grey capstone supported by 3 visible upright stones. On grass, cloudless blue sky above Woman with brown hair, sun glasses and blue top in front of grey dolmen.
April 7, 2025 at 1:50 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Some fantastic designs carved in soap by our Mersey & Dee YAC who enjoyed learning about Viking sculpture & getting hands on with the Bidston stone replica, kindly funded by the Society for Museum Archaeology, & now on display in the Museum of Liverpool
March 17, 2025 at 9:36 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Wieringen Viking silver hoard, @rmoudheden.bsky.social. Found in 1996, the latest coins date from c.850.
A ceramic vessel at the back left, silver chains in front, a pile of silver bracelets on the right with a pile of silver ingots in front within a glass display case.
March 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Love seeing archaeology out in the community! #RokinMetroStation
Image looking upwards at display cases full of archaeology, pottery and metal finds within an escalator system.
March 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Gorgeous visit to Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Liden to see Bronze Age – Fires of Change!
🥰
Woman in the foreground in shadow viewing the gold Mold cape in the background within a display case. A green copper and gold disc featuring the sun, moon and stars in gold mounted on a black background above a bronze disc with gilded centre resting on a bronze carriage which is incomplete, pulled by a bronze horse. These sit on a white plinth. 4 gold lunulae mounted on a black wall, two gold bracelets mounted to the left on the wall. Below on a flat black surface are two ribbed bracelets, a single lunula on a black block and a crumpled cup, all made of gold. In the foreground is white text out of focus A figure in shadow viewing a golden hat shaped object which sits within a black framed display case on a black base.
March 6, 2025 at 4:39 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Fantastic morning meeting colleagues & exploring the @allardpierson.bsky.social lovely displays & use of colour!

@artfund.bsky.social
Tall black door with eight gilded panels in light stone building. ARCHEOLOGISCH MUSEUM written above. Light brown amphora decorated with geometric black designs. A lid with a smaller cup resting on top within a display case resting on a green base. The word Amphora written in white A view through a display case with green base and walls. Two plinths with ceramics are within the case and more cases visible through the glass. A cream pilgrims flask with two handles and decoration of a human surrounded by a border of dots on a dark red surface. White monitor with a white arial visible behind.
March 5, 2025 at 4:33 PM
voakden.bsky.social
Attempting to spot some footprints while blowing away the cobwebs at Formby beach #FormbyFootprints
Layers of clay, sand dunes to the right and the sea on the left below a cloudy sky. Clay layers on the beach, a line of footprints visible. A layer of thick clay, with lots of small oval shaped prints. A oval shell with raised ridges, brown and grey in colour held between thumb and forefinger. Blurred sand and sea in the background.
March 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM