Helen Ball

I love little town/county museums, today I was mooching around Leominster and found their museum, among the few Roman artifacts was this lovely pottery tankard, cheers 🍻 #romanobritish

#romansitesaturday….the Roman walls at Bitburg, German, in the stunning Moselle Valley

The splendidly maintained remains of the stoking-area to a 3rd century #Roman bathhouse with main flue and relief arch together with ghostly attendant 👻 Preserved in a concrete bunker beneath the busy A1(M) at Welwyn #Hertfordshire 📷 January 2026 @welwynarchsoc.bsky.social #RomanSiteSaturday

The entrance passage of Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn, near Kirkwall on Orkney. Dating from around 3500-2400 BC, the ‘Maeshowe-type’ cairn is built into the side of Wideford Hill. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Orkney

#MosaicMonday 🏺 One of many superb floors of #Roman Taranto - from late 2C triclinium in high status home. Scenes of Dionysian satyr abducting nymph in a cave, w panther + tiger at sides, + lion attacking horse, but also gorgeous little birds + fruits. Full view in /2 MArTA: Nat Arch Museum Taranto

Blue glass bead from #MustFarm - made in Iran in the 9th century BC and lost to the bottom of a fenland river c. 850BC #InternationalArchaeologyDay

This is quite extraordinary. I don't think I have heard a more coherent, articulate and accurate deconstruction & demolition of Nigel Farage's ReformUK, Tory & Restore policy than this. In under 85 seconds! @rafaelbehr.bsky.social is on here folks and worth a follow.

Check it, nerds. Recent find of late stage Maglemosian (8400 BP) antler axe with preserved wooden handle from Egholm, Northern Jutland. Fantastic to see that we still have conditions in Denmark for such fantastic organic preservation. Because it probably won’t be long before we don’t.

NEW How did past people sleep comfortably? Preserved fragments of pillows, mattresses or linings from graves in Roman period Poland may reflect practices of furnishing not just burials, but also domestic bedding during the early first century AD. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

"By using AI, tasks like essays that used to take hours can be completed in minutes!" Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.

This year's Roman Research Trust Joan Pye lecture will be by Richard Madgwick on 18th Nov.

A mini-lith in the Porlock Stone Circle @exmoornp.bsky.social #Somerset Measuring 24m in diameter and containing at least 13 stones, this Early Bronze Age monument can be hard to find with uprights standing only 15 – 80cm tall 📷 Aug 2019 Small but perfectly formed 😍 #StandingStoneSunday

Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire. An unbelievably grand minster for a towns population of 7,300

In Paris, a new wall may hold some exciting remains of a town mentioned by Julius Caesar in his BG: Gallic Lutetia. And remains of the burnt portions “may correspond to Caesar’s account that the Gauls set fire to their settlement before fleeing the advancing Romans.” (Bellum Gallicum 7.58) (Gift 🔗)

Finds in the Lutterworth museum that come from a site called Tripontium on the ancient Roman road of Watling Street, near Rugby. This was a major Roman site and posting station. And this is what I love about little local museums, you find stuff you never knew existed.

** NEWS ** Excavations beneath the National Trust's Bath Assembly Rooms have uncovered a network of Roman ditches along with pottery, coins, glassware and a possible fragment of a military helmet, revealing substantial activity in an area previously unexplored for Roman settlement. 🧵

Had a road trip in the summer that included 2 days in Trier. Was totally blown away with the archaeology. I knew the history, read the Roman history books, but to stand on the sites and explore was something else. So much to see.

Fantastic news Latest records show that #RNLI donations have increased by 5000% over the past couple of weeks after far-right backlash. The RNLI is on track to record its highest annual fundraising total in its almost 200-year history. Donate here rnli.org/support-us/g...

Archaeologists unearth significant Roman burial chamber | The Independent www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...

I really do try to keep politics out of this space for me, but in present circumstances needs must….

Y Gaer Roman fort, Brecon. Hidden well behind farm buildings, this fort dates to 75 CE and was a vital link in the Roman’s defensive network in wales. Its occupiers were the Vettonian Spanish Cavalry Unit, a group of highly trained legionaires. #RomanoBritain

Some say it's the Battenburg of Britain. But I'd rather #MakeCakeNotWar

#GlassObjectThursday 🏺 #Roman blown glass flask with polychrome snake-thread decoration. 3rd C AD. Made in Rhineland, Cologne area. In British Museum

'Ancient Mieza Gymnasium Excavations Reveal Links to Philip II and Alexander the Great' greekcitytimes.com/2025/09/01/m... #ClassicsBluesky 🏺

A 2000-year-old Roman bridge has been discovered in Aegerten, Switzerland. Over 300 oak piles were unearthed. Based on current dendrochronological analysis, the earliest construction dates back to approximately 40 BC, while the most recent parts are from 369 AD. www.be.ch/de/start/die... 🏺

The Real Locations of Odysseus' Journey in Homer's Odyssey - GreekReporter.com greekreporter.com/2025/09/02/p...

Gaze into the extraordinary face of Sulis Minerva - the hybrid goddess who presided over the cult site of Aquae Sulis - Roman Bath 🤩 Discovered in 1727 this is thought to be the head from the original cult statue from the foundation of the site: www.romanbaths.co.uk/minervas-head 🎥 My own

I gave up with the BBC #KingAndConqueror drama part way through episode 1. You are far better off spending the time reading this….it’s what actually happened.

We can learn a lot from Troy’s trash. theconversation.com/we-can-learn...

New discovery: Archaeologists have uncovered a rare, intact Etruscan chamber tomb – a discovery hailed as one of the most significant finds in recent decades for understanding the ancient pre-Roman civilization.  news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2... 🏺

Still thrilling to see this face emerging after so many years! Feared lost but @durotrigesdig.bsky.social and his colleagues proved otherwise. What else survives... 🤔😍 #MosaicMonday

Roman mosaic depicting the story of Aeneas and Dido from Virgil’s Aeneid. Dates to c.350 CE and comes from Low Ham Villa in Somerset. Displayed (beautifully) at Taunton museum of Somerset. #Romanobritain

Bronze Age log boat at Taunton museum. Every time I visit this museum I take another picture of it. I think it’s stunning. #bronzeagebritain

For example, at the Hittite capital of Hattusha, the burnt remains of a grain silo allowed researchers to uncover the largest archaeobotanical assemblage in the world, shedding light on everyday life and taxation in the Hittite Empire 2/2 🔗 from 2020 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

The Great Fire of Rome began #OnThisDay (or maybe the day after) in AD 64, destroying almost 3/4 of the city. Whilst a disaster for the #Romans, burning events are very useful for archaeologists, as they preserve organic remains, such as grain, which rarely survive normally. 1/2 🏺 #Archaeology

Amber bead necklace, dating 6th c. BC, from Saal a.d.Saale-Waltershausen. It appears that amber served a dual purpose, enhancing the appearance and protecting the women who wore it during the Hallstatt period. The intriguing material, sourced from the Baltic region, underwent...🧵1/2 📷me 🏺

Right going to post this again - since I'm not great at Bluesky yet! If you're interested in #Archaeology in Gloucestershire do consider coming along or watching from the comfort of your home. Some great speakers!

#ReliefWednesday The Bridgeness Distance Slab, carved in the AD140s, marked the eastern end of the Antonine Wall, Rome's most northerly frontier. A dedicatory inscription is flanked by two reliefs which juxtapose military carnage and peaceful piety. (1/3)

metro.co.uk/2025/05/30/s...

One of my favourite sites and I’m so glad that this has been revealed by the archaeological record #durotriges25

The vaults underneath Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Suspension Bridge in Bristol. The hard hat tour is the best way to spend an hour. #industrialhistory

Roman relief depicting Roman Victory goddess found www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2025/05...

A snippet of Roman houses at Ephesus. This was truly magnificent.

London Roman amphitheater

#WorldTheatreDay 🎭 The Greek Theatre of Epidaurus in Greece is considered the most beautiful and best-preserved of its kind. Praised for its acoustics, symmetry, and beauty, it hosted music, singing, and dramatic performances that were included in Asklepios's worship.

This is one of the earliest depictions of the Colosseum, a bronze sestertius issued by the emperor Titus to commemorate the amphitheater's completion. Only ten are known to exist. You can see the spectators, the statues in the arches, even the quadriga over the entrance. 🏺 #ancientbluesky 1/ 📸 me

Lost Walls And North Gate Of Selinunte, Sicily’s Ancient Greek Polis, Rediscovered greekcitytimes.com/2025/03/27/l...

A glimpse of everyday life in ancient #Greece: a terracotta figurine depicting a man in front of a brazier. From Boeotia, Greece, dating 500-475 BC. On display at Altes Museum Berlin 📷 me 🏺 AncientBluesky

They are dog bones, all found in assemblages from bear baiting arenas and kennels at Bankside, Southwark. Fighting dogs were expensive, and pains were taken to ensure the animals' survival, hence the healed wounds. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...