Adrián Maldonado
@archaeonado.bsky.social
Galloway Hoard Researcher at National Museums Scotland. Author of Crucible of Nations: Scotland from Viking Age to Medieval Kingdom and other archaeology content. https://www.nms.ac.uk/profile/dr-adrian-maldonado See also @almostarch.bsky.social
Pinned
Adrián Maldonado
@archaeonado.bsky.social
· Aug 13
Thrilled to say the new Whithorn guidebook by me is now available to buy online!
A Maldonado 2025. Cold Case Reopened: A Guide to Whithorn’s Early Medieval Archaeology. Whithorn Trust
I'll be speaking about it at this year's Wigtown Book Festival - stay tuned!
www.whithorn.com/product/whit...
A Maldonado 2025. Cold Case Reopened: A Guide to Whithorn’s Early Medieval Archaeology. Whithorn Trust
I'll be speaking about it at this year's Wigtown Book Festival - stay tuned!
www.whithorn.com/product/whit...
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
THURS 20th & FRI 21st Nov
See Prof. Steve talk about Govan and Glasgow over the last 1,500 years!
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of UofG Archaeo for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
See Prof. Steve talk about Govan and Glasgow over the last 1,500 years!
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of UofG Archaeo for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
November 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM
THURS 20th & FRI 21st Nov
See Prof. Steve talk about Govan and Glasgow over the last 1,500 years!
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of UofG Archaeo for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
See Prof. Steve talk about Govan and Glasgow over the last 1,500 years!
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of UofG Archaeo for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
The smell of the past
Give us your best #archaeofragrance
Eg: The Celts by Wales Perfumery: 'An olfactory journey through the ancient Celtic world, celebrating the tribes who shaped the identity of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, and Brittany' walesperfumery.com/product-cate...
Hat tip @justrena.bsky.social
Eg: The Celts by Wales Perfumery: 'An olfactory journey through the ancient Celtic world, celebrating the tribes who shaped the identity of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, and Brittany' walesperfumery.com/product-cate...
Hat tip @justrena.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 2:39 PM
The smell of the past
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Carved in Stone is HERE!!! @archaeonado.bsky.social called it “the best book on the Picts ever written,” so you should definitely check it out over at www.stoutstoat.co.uk/carvedinstone
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
November 12, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Carved in Stone is HERE!!! @archaeonado.bsky.social called it “the best book on the Picts ever written,” so you should definitely check it out over at www.stoutstoat.co.uk/carvedinstone
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
🏺 #picts #archaeologysky #rpg #ttrpg #indiettrpg #dnd #pathfinder
The phenomenal and enigmatic rock crystal and gold 'jar' of Bishop Hyguald from the heart of the Galloway Hoard is NOW on display for the first time ever. It was held back for Kirkcudbright while the rest of the Hoard continues its world tour in Melbourne (1/2)
Gold jar from Galloway Hoard on display in Kirkcudbright
It resembles a perfume bottle and a Latin inscription on it suggests it had a religious function.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 2:51 PM
The phenomenal and enigmatic rock crystal and gold 'jar' of Bishop Hyguald from the heart of the Galloway Hoard is NOW on display for the first time ever. It was held back for Kirkcudbright while the rest of the Hoard continues its world tour in Melbourne (1/2)
New shirt alert! Thanks to @northernpicts.bsky.social for being such brilliant nerds npixts.teemill.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
New shirt alert! Thanks to @northernpicts.bsky.social for being such brilliant nerds npixts.teemill.com
The latest from the legendary Prof Sally Foster, who has now tracked down most of the known fragments of the Stone of Destiny as part of her longstanding research on 'authenticity' and early carved stones in Scotland (1/2) www.thenational.scot/news/2560130...
New Stone of Destiny fragments uncovered by Stirling University expert
NEW research led by Stirling University has revealed the existence and fate of many fragments of the Stone of Destiny, including those secreted away…
www.thenational.scot
November 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The latest from the legendary Prof Sally Foster, who has now tracked down most of the known fragments of the Stone of Destiny as part of her longstanding research on 'authenticity' and early carved stones in Scotland (1/2) www.thenational.scot/news/2560130...
Important stuff from @eddiecstewart.bsky.social with applications to stuff I'm writing about perceptions of early medieval island church sites as well - big recommend
Could contemporary rewilding represent an act of marginalisation?
@eddiecstewart.bsky.social looks to the past to suggest an alternative future for Scotland's 'wild' places in a new EUP blog post 👉
@eddiecstewart.bsky.social looks to the past to suggest an alternative future for Scotland's 'wild' places in a new EUP blog post 👉
Wicked Wild Wastes? - Edinburgh University Press Blog
Dr Edward Stewart challenges contemporary notions of rewilding, suggesting an alternative future for Scotland's 'wild' places.
euppublishingblog.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Important stuff from @eddiecstewart.bsky.social with applications to stuff I'm writing about perceptions of early medieval island church sites as well - big recommend
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
A great opportunity to see Prof. Steve talk about Govan and Glasgow over the last 1,500 years!
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of Glasgow Archaeology for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of Glasgow Archaeology for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
November 3, 2025 at 6:06 PM
A great opportunity to see Prof. Steve talk about Govan and Glasgow over the last 1,500 years!
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of Glasgow Archaeology for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
Stones, Saints, Ships and Slaves: an archaeology for Glasgow 850 - Prof. Driscoll of Glasgow Archaeology for the 2025 Glasgow Archaeological Society Dalrymple Lecture Series - FREE online and in person.
Great wee episode of Gone Medieval on Yeavering and the artefacts on display at the Ad Gefrin museum. Can't wait to hear more about the recent excavations pca.st/episode/bf34...
Ad Gefrin: Anglo-Saxon Palace
pca.st
November 4, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Great wee episode of Gone Medieval on Yeavering and the artefacts on display at the Ad Gefrin museum. Can't wait to hear more about the recent excavations pca.st/episode/bf34...
Social media: it was all worth it just for this
New NPixts Furnace of the Damned Band T-shirt just landed in the NPixts store. Touring Northern Pictland in 2026 including Forres, Lossie, Burghead, Findhorn and Johnny Foxes Inverness 🤣🤣🤣
Free UK post till midnight Sunday!
npixts.teemill.com/product/furn...
npixts.teemill.com/product/furn...
Free UK post till midnight Sunday!
npixts.teemill.com/product/furn...
npixts.teemill.com/product/furn...
Furnace of the Damned! (Women\/Slimmer fit)
Rock on with Northern Pictland's finest!
npixts.teemill.com
November 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Social media: it was all worth it just for this
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh! Our ethereal expert Dr Hannah Mac Auliffe @maynoothuniversity.ie guides us through the darkness of #samhain a time for feasting, mischief & terror in medieval Irish literature, when the veil between worlds is thin, & ghastly ghouls abound. open.spotify.com/episode/6gQ6...
Spooky Samhain with Dr Hannah Mac Auliffe
open.spotify.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh! Our ethereal expert Dr Hannah Mac Auliffe @maynoothuniversity.ie guides us through the darkness of #samhain a time for feasting, mischief & terror in medieval Irish literature, when the veil between worlds is thin, & ghastly ghouls abound. open.spotify.com/episode/6gQ6...
Exciting time to be studying Picts and Vikings!
A new consideration of the chronology of the key settlement of Buckquoy, Orkney - shows that the buildings here belong firmly in the Pictish tradition. This leads to a wider consideration of the timings and character of the Viking Age in the Northern Isles.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Buckquoy, Orkney: addressing the Pictish-Viking transition in northern Scotland | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
Buckquoy, Orkney: addressing the Pictish-Viking transition in northern Scotland
www.cambridge.org
October 31, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Exciting time to be studying Picts and Vikings!
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Hotter than the fires of hell alright, and dramatic when it's being done, heat, smoke, action - images of iron-smelting at UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @experimentarchaeol.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Hotter than the fires of hell alright, and dramatic when it's being done, heat, smoke, action - images of iron-smelting at UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @experimentarchaeol.bsky.social
Just in time for Halloween, a new Pictish vision of hell
In PSAS 153, 2024 @socantscot.bsky.social Jane Geddes argues the weird 'beehive' surrounded by headless corpses on Sueno's Stone, Forres, is the furnace of the damned
Nice shout-out to #CrucibleOfNations as a bonus
doi.org/10.9750/PSAS...
In PSAS 153, 2024 @socantscot.bsky.social Jane Geddes argues the weird 'beehive' surrounded by headless corpses on Sueno's Stone, Forres, is the furnace of the damned
Nice shout-out to #CrucibleOfNations as a bonus
doi.org/10.9750/PSAS...
October 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Just in time for Halloween, a new Pictish vision of hell
In PSAS 153, 2024 @socantscot.bsky.social Jane Geddes argues the weird 'beehive' surrounded by headless corpses on Sueno's Stone, Forres, is the furnace of the damned
Nice shout-out to #CrucibleOfNations as a bonus
doi.org/10.9750/PSAS...
In PSAS 153, 2024 @socantscot.bsky.social Jane Geddes argues the weird 'beehive' surrounded by headless corpses on Sueno's Stone, Forres, is the furnace of the damned
Nice shout-out to #CrucibleOfNations as a bonus
doi.org/10.9750/PSAS...
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Scottish Society for Northern Studies day conference!! lots on Picts and Vikings www.ssns.org.uk/events/ssns-... #scotland #history #archaeology #medievalsky
SSNS 2025 Day Conference - Scottish Society for Northern Studies
We are happy to announce our next in-person conference at 10:45 BST on 22nd November in Arbroath. The conference will be followed by an optional visit to the St Vigeans Sculptured Stones Museum. There...
www.ssns.org.uk
October 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Scottish Society for Northern Studies day conference!! lots on Picts and Vikings www.ssns.org.uk/events/ssns-... #scotland #history #archaeology #medievalsky
Finally got the chance to meet this guy last week. A completely unique and haunting cross from Riasg Buidhe, Colonsay, in the gardens of Colonsay House. Its dating remains up for debate, ranging from the 7th to the 10th century AD www.trove.scot/image/384171
October 21, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Finally got the chance to meet this guy last week. A completely unique and haunting cross from Riasg Buidhe, Colonsay, in the gardens of Colonsay House. Its dating remains up for debate, ranging from the 7th to the 10th century AD www.trove.scot/image/384171
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
🎯 Our #totaliser reaches 83%!
Can YOU help us get over the line?
🎯 tghts.enthuse.com/cf/graveyard...
Can YOU help us get over the line?
🎯 tghts.enthuse.com/cf/graveyard...
October 8, 2025 at 1:14 PM
🎯 Our #totaliser reaches 83%!
Can YOU help us get over the line?
🎯 tghts.enthuse.com/cf/graveyard...
Can YOU help us get over the line?
🎯 tghts.enthuse.com/cf/graveyard...
Publication alert! An all-too-rare collab with Prof Stephen Driscoll, updating his chapter for the venerable old Archaeology of Britain textbook in its shiny new 3rd edition. A snapshot of current work on early medieval Scotland and Wales. Put it on your reading lists!
doi.org/10.4324/9780...
doi.org/10.4324/9780...
Early medieval Celtic Britain | 12 | v3 | The early historic period |
The vacuum created by the collapse of the Roman province of Britannia created a vortex of movement which would shape the centuries to come. Some Roman citizens
doi.org
October 8, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Publication alert! An all-too-rare collab with Prof Stephen Driscoll, updating his chapter for the venerable old Archaeology of Britain textbook in its shiny new 3rd edition. A snapshot of current work on early medieval Scotland and Wales. Put it on your reading lists!
doi.org/10.4324/9780...
doi.org/10.4324/9780...
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Probably from an early Viking raid, Jonah and the 'whale' feature on this Insular crozier found on the Swedish island of Helgö in Lake Mälaren, that region's central trade hub and productive site before the rise of Birka on neighbouring Björkö.
My 📷 | Ref. Historiska museet
My 📷 | Ref. Historiska museet
October 6, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Probably from an early Viking raid, Jonah and the 'whale' feature on this Insular crozier found on the Swedish island of Helgö in Lake Mälaren, that region's central trade hub and productive site before the rise of Birka on neighbouring Björkö.
My 📷 | Ref. Historiska museet
My 📷 | Ref. Historiska museet
HES asking the public which properties they should dump next?
"...the strategy acknowledges that 'not all sites and collections are equally important' and that 'it may not be possible or necessary for us to be the custodians of a place forever'"
"...the strategy acknowledges that 'not all sites and collections are equally important' and that 'it may not be possible or necessary for us to be the custodians of a place forever'"
Historic Environment Scotland embarks on 'difficult and emotional' decisions over future of 300 properties
www.scotsman.com/heritage-and...
www.scotsman.com/heritage-and...
'Difficult and emotional' decisions start on future of 300 of Scotland's historic sites
There are tough talks ahead on the future of Scotland’s prized historic sites as climate change, costs and rising visitor numbers take their toll
www.scotsman.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:27 PM
HES asking the public which properties they should dump next?
"...the strategy acknowledges that 'not all sites and collections are equally important' and that 'it may not be possible or necessary for us to be the custodians of a place forever'"
"...the strategy acknowledges that 'not all sites and collections are equally important' and that 'it may not be possible or necessary for us to be the custodians of a place forever'"
Thanks to the Wigtown Book Festival for hosting the Whithorn Trust to formally launch the new guidebook Cold Case Reopened: A Guide to the Early Medieval Archaeology of Whithorn. 106 people filled the Main Hall on a dreich Wednesday evening! Get your copy here www.whithorn.com/product/whit...
October 2, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Thanks to the Wigtown Book Festival for hosting the Whithorn Trust to formally launch the new guidebook Cold Case Reopened: A Guide to the Early Medieval Archaeology of Whithorn. 106 people filled the Main Hall on a dreich Wednesday evening! Get your copy here www.whithorn.com/product/whit...
Reposted by Adrián Maldonado
Need to get that central parting just so? This is the (C13th) tool for you! A rare gravoir made of red deer antler found at Eilean Donan Castle & now @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social. This one's for @cfwood.bsky.social, thanks to @archaeonado.bsky.social for posting. www.thenational.scot/news/2550068...
September 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Need to get that central parting just so? This is the (C13th) tool for you! A rare gravoir made of red deer antler found at Eilean Donan Castle & now @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social. This one's for @cfwood.bsky.social, thanks to @archaeonado.bsky.social for posting. www.thenational.scot/news/2550068...
Cool colleagues doing cool stuff again - that's Dr Blackwell @earlymedieval.bsky.social nearly blurred out back there in this story of cool medieval finds from excavations at Eliean Donan Castle www.thenational.scot/news/2550068...
Rare medieval hair-styling tool found during Highland castle excavation
A RARE 13th-century tool for styling hair has been acquired by a museum after it was discovered in an excavation ...
www.thenational.scot
September 29, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Cool colleagues doing cool stuff again - that's Dr Blackwell @earlymedieval.bsky.social nearly blurred out back there in this story of cool medieval finds from excavations at Eliean Donan Castle www.thenational.scot/news/2550068...
Scenes from the Wigtown Book Festival
September 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Scenes from the Wigtown Book Festival