Alison Fisk

The Romans really were ahead of their time … Scratched into this Roman floor tile is a sketch of what appears to be a lighthouse. Although, it also looks rather like a rocket preparing for launch! 🚀 😂 British Museum 📷 by me #TilesonTuesday #Archaeology

Back in Athens after far too long. Some cities feel like coming home, Athens is one of them.

An incredible whirlwind of a day today, installing the 'Faces of Dura-Europos' in the National Museum of Damascus, then greeting wonderful guests, including people from Dura (who travelled across the country to join us) and the Minister of Culture. So grateful for my incredible team and colleagues.

To bring a smile to your face, here’s a c. 4,500 year-old clay vase in the shape of a little hedgehog holding a bowl! 🦔 ❤️ From Chalandriani, Syros, Greece. Early Cycladic II period. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, 📷 ArchaiOptix #Archaeology

I was in Syros last month - and was impressed by the small Cycladic figurines, such as this one, from Chalandriani. It’s about 9” tall. 📷 Mine

Roman Floor Mosaic at Bulla regia Archeological site in #Tunisia. 3rd Century A.D. #Archaeology #Art #History

We all need a bit of good cheer, and this hare has it to spare

One of the half-human, half-deer headdresses from the important Mesolithic site at Star Carr in North Yorkshire. Dating to around 9000 BC, over 30 headdresses have been found at the site. This example is part of the collections at the British Museum. 📸 My own #Mesolithic #StarCarr

Halloween is near! It's time to post this marvellous articulated #Roman skeleton, presumably meant to be a reminder to enjoy life to the fullest, since pleasure ends irrevocably with death. In Petronius’ Satyricon, the host of a dinner party brings out a small skeleton with moveable...🧵 1/2

I guess the sock I saw at the BM Roman Army exhibition was on loan from the V&A. I’d love a pair as a solution to the problem of how to wear flip-flops with socks about my flat in cold weather!

A lovely Romano-British brooch in the form of a cheerful little hare! ❤️ Copper alloy decorated with enamel, 2nd-3rd century AD. 📷 British Museum www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... #Archaeology

The ancient Canosans were of the opinion that more pigment and gilding was better, and - contrary to a well-known historian who found their work 'vulgar' - I completely agree. This polychrome bust of an aristocratic woman looks like a classic movie film star, ready for her closeup. 🏺 1/ 📸 me

A wooden Roman sword, dating 1st century AD. Found in Carlisle. The sword, crafted entirely from wood, was a practice weapon used by Roman soldiers during training drills - or a kid's toy. ⚔️ 📷me (taken in 2025 at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, a loan from Tullie House Museum Carlisle). 🏺

Socks and sandals are nothing new! These well-preserved woollen socks from Egypt feature a split-toe design allowing them to be worn with thonged sandals to keep toes cosy in chilly weather some 1,500 years ago! 🩴🧦 V&A Museum 📷 by me #Archaeology

Somewhere in a Roman brickyard, around 1800 years ago, a fresh tile was drying peacefully ahead of firing - until a dog trotted straight across it. Centuries later, the tile has made it into a museum: not because of an emperor, but thanks to one dog who accidentally walked his way into history. 📷️me

A delicate little Roman glass basket. I love the inventiveness of the ancient glass worker who made this delightful vessel about 1,800 years ago 📷 by me #Archaeology

The view from the summit of Aran Fawddwy mountain in Eryri/Snowdonia earlier today 🤩 A grand panorama looking south, taking in the Breiddin hills at Welshpool to Pen y Fan in the Beacons 👌 📷 My own

The Sphinx and the Pyramids of #Giza, photographed by Maxime du Camp in 1849. The chest area of the Sphinx had only recently been uncovered, previously the statue was covered with sand up to the shoulders.

A knockout archaeological discovery! 🥊 Rare Roman leather boxing gloves used for sparring, so remarkably preserved that a boxer’s knuckle imprint is still visible in the smaller glove! Excavated in 2017 from the cavalry barracks at Vindolanda, near Hadrian’s Wall 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology

I saw these on Tuesday on my trip to #Vindolanda - fantastic museum as is the one at Corbridge #Walls #BlueSkyArtShow #Romans

Some of the best archaeological finds are the smallest, simplest and most personal Late Iron Age decorated bone weaving / personal grooming combs like this are among our favourites 😀 Found in Wookey Hole Caves #Somerset and now in Wells and Mendip Museum 📷 August 2026 #FindsFriday

Two of the Lewis Chessmen currently on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Discovered in 1831 on a beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the chessmen date to the late 12th or early 13th century. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #LewisChessmen

A Roman 'voodoo doll' from Eining. Hand-modeled clay figurines with puncture holes are commonly referred to as 'voodoo dolls'. Archaeological and epigraphic evidence indicates that these figurines were pierced with nails or needles by individuals attempting to influence or harm a person. 🧵1/2 📷️me

1,900 year-old Roman birthday invitation! 🎉 🥳 From Claudia Severa to her friend Sulpicia Lepidina, it’s one of the earliest known examples of writing in Latin by a woman! Found at Vindolanda fort, it gives a glimpse of social life on Rome’s northern frontier! 📷 me #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology

This is so cool!

Finally got to see Burgh Castle, one of 3 Saxon Shore Roman forts on the coast of Norfolk. 9 forts dot the South East Coast. Burgh was a harbour for sea-going ships and a town (vicus) too, as well as military base in the 3rd C AD, and beyond. 📷 my own #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #RomanBritain

The mid-4th century remains of the Commanding Officer’s House (Praetorium) at Binchester Roman Fort (Vinovia). Located near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, the site is now managed as part of the Auckland Project. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #Binchester #AucklandProject

What a charming #Egyptian bronze figure of a shrew! Since shrews are animals that find their way in the dark they were connected to the descending phase of the sun’s nocturnal journey. Late Period (746-332 B.C). On display at Museum Hohentübingen. 📷️ me

Wow, the world’s oldest shipwreck found off coast of Turkey! “A time capsule at the bottom of the sea” 🌊 A trade ship heading for Troy or Minoan Crete sank with a cargo of storage jars. Residue tests will show what they contained c. 4,700 years ago! #Archaeology www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A remarkable ancient Iberian silver patera (offering dish) with a wolf devouring a human head (!), encircled with snakes. It’s surrounded by two friezes: one showing nine hunting scenes, the other a procession of male and female centaurs. In Iberian culture, the wolf was a psychopomp … 🏺 1/ 📸 me

A fascinating little ring from the Punic necropolis on Ibiza. It depicts a bearded man in profile, but his hair and beard are composed of two birds (!), and his collar is a dolphin. 😮 The Punic inscription reads 'Belonging to Abdim'. 🏺 1/ 3rd-2nd c. BCE. #MuseoArqueológicoNacional 📸 me

Some archaeological finds may appear unremarkable and ordinary, yet they often are more interesting than any treasure, such as this Roman glass square bottle remarkably containing a rare find – preserved ointment. The waxy mass of fatty acids and glycerine contains plant fibres from...🧵1/2 📷 me

Surviving Bronze Age timbers which are preserved at Flag Fen Archaeology Park in Cambridgeshire. The timbers formed part of a remarkable 1km causeway which was built across marshy ground. 📸 My own. #Woodensday #FlagFen #BronzeAge #Archaeology

The British Iron Age is the pits There's somewhere between 140-170 pits recorded from inside the Caburn hillfort in East #Sussex (the largest being Roman) Plans: the 1928 survey by E Cecil Curwen and the 1999 #RCHME survey published in Sussex Archaeological Collections 137 #HillfortsWednesday