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hugh-willmott.bsky.social
Archaeologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield Archaeology🏺 monasteries ⛪ and the occasional cat 🐈‍⬛ https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hpdh/people/history-staff/hugh-willmott https://www.hugh-willmott.co.uk/ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-7796
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Thinking about hill figures, another I’m really interested in is the Westbury White Horse. What you see today was permanently ‘preserved’ to prevent erosion by being covered in concrete in 1957. But what lurks beneath is rather more interesting… (1/4)

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Talking again to @helengittos.bsky.social about hill figures, I'm reminded of a 🧵 I posted elsewhere about my favourite ones excavated by TC Lethbridge on Wandlebury Hill, Cambridge in 1954. His findings were dismissed by his contemporaries as a combination of natural & invented features (1/5)

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

With summer just around the corner, I thought I'd share one of my favourite tiles excavated at #CerneAbbey last year. Perhaps we'll find the other half in a few weeks time? #TilesOnTuesday

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Wow, what better way to end a stressful week than to see one’s collaborative research featured on the cover of @appliedspec.bsky.social! All credit to @sheonashankland.bsky.social for leading this impactful project 🏺🦴

submitted 76 days ago • 1 comment

Last week I had the opportunity to revisit my favourite pub carpet for the first time in several years. It's experienced a lot of wear since I last saw it, and now looks even more medieval! A perfect offering for #TilesOnTuesday ?

submitted 86 days ago • 1 comment

Really chuffed that our publication of the gorgeous Scremby Cup has been selected as cambridgeuparchaeo.bsky.social paper of the month ☺️ With Roman enamelwork 🏺, an Anglo-Saxon burial ☠️ and of course lard 🐷, there's a bit of something for everyone! And it's free to download for the next 30 days

submitted 127 days ago • 1 comment

Two possible responses to the way 2025 is already unfolding. I'm not sure which approach to adopt in the coming days/weeks.

submitted 147 days ago • 0 comments

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

submitted 156 days ago • 1 comment

Personally, I'd love to see local byelaws insisting "googly eyes" be placed on every public sculpture. I'm just worried the Great British public would respond with "goolies" instead www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...

submitted 164 days ago • 3 comments

I'm not sure which is more pleasing, finding out my research is currently fronting the science page of Newsweek, or the fact the Scremby bowl shares top billing with a cat... 🏺 🐈‍⬛ www.newsweek.com/mystery-uniq...

submitted 166 days ago • 1 comment

Got to say I’m rather honoured to have been able to excavate this amazing cup and also rather pleased with our analysis and publication! 🏺

submitted 170 days ago • 3 comments

Nice to see this article highlighting our research into the Scremby Cup. It's got to be the most unusual object I've ever excavated and it has a fascinating biography to it! 🥛🐖 www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

submitted 171 days ago • 2 comments

My Mrs is trying to persuade me that the cat has shed his summer coat with the changing season. I remain unconvinced…

submitted 173 days ago • 1 comment

For anyone outside of the sector, here's a very accessible and succinct overview of the imminent collapse in UK higher education It's worth highlighting that only 12% of university income comes from direct government funding... theweek.com/education/uk...

submitted 181 days ago • 1 comment

This picture of me intently examining a rather unusual 'find' uncovered by @lawrence-shaw.bsky.social at #CerneAbbey this summer seems particularly appropriate for #FindsFriday 🏺 🐈‍⬛

submitted 181 days ago • 0 comments

I'm very excited with these professional photographs for the report on the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Scremby, which I excavated shortly before the pandemic. The clarity of the mineralised fabric surviving on the back of this cruciform brooch (c.AD 475-550) is astounding! #FindsFriday #FabricFriday

submitted 188 days ago • 0 comments

On a cold and rather dull day, what could be better to cheer one up than this rather chipper fellow! One of my favourite floor tiles that we've excavated at #CerneAbbey! 🏺 #TilesOnTuesday

submitted 191 days ago • 6 comments

For #FindsFriday I thought I would share one final montage of medieval window glass fragments excavated this summer at #CerneAbbey Although they've clearly seen better days they're lovely nonetheless!

submitted 195 days ago • 1 comment

Medieval window glass usually weather black when buried, like the fragments in my previous post. But this 13th-century piece from #CerneAbbey is remarkably well preserved and really shows the artistry of the painters. For scale, the crosshatched lines are spaced 1-2mm apart 😍

submitted 196 days ago • 3 comments

Thought I would share this picture of some delicately painted medieval window glass from my excavation at #CerneAbbey this summer. They're sat on the surface of a mortar floor where they had lain since the were discarded at the Dissolution 485 yrs ago ⛪

submitted 196 days ago • 0 comments

This morning, Monty our new rescue cat has gone into 'puddle mode'. A picture of pure kitty contentment! 🐈‍⬛ 💤 #CatsInBaskets

submitted 196 days ago • 1 comment