We've reached the point where we're having to actively degrade the UI and remove useful features of the small scientific database I co-maintain (https://xronos.ch) to try and reduce the extreme load imposed by (unwanted and politely-asked-to-go-away) AI crawler bots. Conversations about new features have to ask whether it's going to make the crawler load problem worse.

#OpenData #OpenScience #AIslop #Archaeology

Toxic plant on Ming dynasty-era surgical tools may be world’s oldest chemical evidence of topical anesthetic

An analysis of residue on centuries-old surgical tools reveals the use of a toxic anesthetic in Ming dynasty-era Chinese medicine.

#ancient-china #archaeology
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-china/toxic-plant-on-ming-dynasty-era-surgical-tools-may-be-worlds-oldest-chemical-evidence-of-topical-anesthetic

Apparently it's #WorldTurtleDay! A #Roman enamelled copper alloy fibula (a decorative pin for fastening garments) in the shape of a #turtle. 🐢

Dating 2nd century AD.

On display at Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

📷 me

#RomanArchaeology #archaeology

#archaeology #history #books
Archaeologists have recovered a rare medieval notebook from a latrine in Germany. The book is about 750 years old and made of wooden tablets coated in wax with a leather binding. Eight of the ten pages have been written on in Latin. Designed to hold temporary thoughts or notes the wax could be smoothed away ready for another day. However some of the earlier thoughts can be seen. The latrine contained other artefacts too. https://www.medievalists.net/2026/05/medieval-notebook-discovered-in-german-latrine/

Und nicht vergessen: Morgen ist Neumond.

https://www.thomasweibel.ch/meton/

#newmoon #moon #astronomy #mathematics #mechanics #history #moonphase #antiquity #archaeology #webdev #javascript #sciencehistory #digitalhumanities #astrophysics #physics

Stacy Psaros reviews the current exhibition at the Toledo Art Museum, which focuses on magic and curses in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia.

https://wildhunt.org/2026/05/cursed-the-power-of-magic-in-the-ancient-world-brings-ancient-magic-to-the-midwest.html

#pagan #witchcraft #archaeology #cursed #toledomuseumofart #religion #review

A hoard of coins from England, Germany, Denmark, and Norway itself have been discovered in Innlandet County in Norway. The coins come from the period of conversion from ancient heathenry to Christianity.

https://wildhunt.org/2026/05/more-than-4000-viking-age-coins-discovered-in-norway.html

#pagan #heathen #archaeology #coinhoard

Largest Viking Age coin hoard ever found in Norway with more than 3,150 silver coins

https://archaeologymag.com/2026/05/largest-viking-age-coin-hoard-in-norway/

#history #archaeology #anthropology #norway #vikings

For #AncientSiteSaturday the aqueduct of Segovia/Spain. It was built in the late 1st/early 2nd c. AD and supplied water to the city until the 20th century. It's one of the best-preserved #Roman aqueducts and an impressive work of engineering.

📷 #archaeology #RomanArchaeology

The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism announced the discovery of a statue of the goddess Athena from the Augustinian period that is nearly two meters tall in the ancient city of Laodikeia.

https://wildhunt.org/2026/04/two-thousand-year-old-statue-of-athena-discovered-in-turkey.html

#pagan #archaeology #turkey #athene #athena #homer #odyssey

#Shipwreck timbers were, by necessity, frequently used in #Orkney architecture, but I never expected to find them in my own house. Whilst doing some window work, we uncovered patches of white harl, harkening back to the 17/18 c name Quhythouse (White House), and some substantial timber lintels with diagonally-spaced through-holes, one with a sheared-off trunnel still inserted.

#fensterfreitag #archaeology

XXL transport containers: Two huge #Roman wooden barrels in an outstanding state of preservation, found in Xanten.
Both had a capacity of approx. 1250 l and were used to transport #wine from the Mediterranean region to the Lower Rhine. They were recycled for lining wells.

On display at Römermuseum Xanten

📷me

#archaeology #romanarchaelogy

A post about the Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh exhibition I was lucky enough to see in London - https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2026/04/15/tutankhamun-treasures-of-the-golden-pharaoh/ #archaeology #AncientEgypt #Exhibition #review

#archaeology #history #technology
The Romans were innovators who created a type of early machine gun. The polybolus, was ahead of its time. It was capable of firing multiple metal tipped bolt projectiles in quick succession. Now the walls of Pompeii have been found to bear scars which are probably a result of this machine. Besieged by general Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 89 BCE during the Social Wars. There are also accounts of the machine from 3rd century BCE. https://www.popsci.com/science/ancient-roman-machine-gun-pompeii/

Homo habilis is the earliest named human. But is it even human?

Between 2 million and 3 million years ago, humans appeared in Africa — but identifying them in the fossil record is turning out to be surprisingly difficult.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/homo-habilis-is-the-earliest-named-human-but-is-it-even-human #globalmuseum #archaeology

Genetic record for domestic dogs pushed back by 5,000 years

“Researchers have identified the earliest known dog genomes, which push the genetic record for #dogs back by more than 5,000 years.

They recovered these genomes from remains of between 14,000 and 16,000 years old found at #archaeology sites that span Europe and the Middle East.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00900-6

Cahokia was the largest pre-Columbian urban area north of Mexico on the North American continent. At its peak, around 1000 years ago, it may have had a population of 40,000 people, possibly being larger than London or Paris at the time.

Can you find Cahokia on a #map?

Click to guess: https://www.whereintheworldgame.com/?id=177&type=q

More info here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cahokia-142690669?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

#History #Geography #Archaeology #Indigenous #NativeNations

A language lesson.
#firstnations #language #archaeology

https://khelsilem.substack.com/p/on-the-coast-salish-homeland

Luxor and Qurna (Western Thebes)
Check out my latest travel blog about my recent trip to #Egypt.
#archaeology #Egyptology #travel #photography
https://www.debborahdonnelly.ca/blog/qurna-egypt