Dr Jo Ball
@drjeball.bsky.social
#Roman & conflict archaeologist; Lecturer in Ancient History at Manchester Met University; University Teacher at the University of Liverpool; Early Career Research Fellow at the Centre for Integrative Research in Conflict Archaeology.
Pinned
Dr Jo Ball
@drjeball.bsky.social
· Jun 30
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
A #Roman bronze medicine box, with a sliding lid and separate compartments to store medical substances like herbs and mineral products.
Found in Nida, present-day Frankfurt-Heddernheim, dating 2nd/3rd century AD.
On display at Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt.
📷 me
🏺 #archaeology
Found in Nida, present-day Frankfurt-Heddernheim, dating 2nd/3rd century AD.
On display at Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt.
📷 me
🏺 #archaeology
January 29, 2026 at 4:28 PM
A #Roman bronze medicine box, with a sliding lid and separate compartments to store medical substances like herbs and mineral products.
Found in Nida, present-day Frankfurt-Heddernheim, dating 2nd/3rd century AD.
On display at Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt.
📷 me
🏺 #archaeology
Found in Nida, present-day Frankfurt-Heddernheim, dating 2nd/3rd century AD.
On display at Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt.
📷 me
🏺 #archaeology
A #Roman glass ridged bowl, in a lovely shade of pale green. It was made about 2000 years ago & was found in #Pompeii
#AncientBlueSky
#AncientBlueSky
January 29, 2026 at 4:52 PM
A #Roman glass ridged bowl, in a lovely shade of pale green. It was made about 2000 years ago & was found in #Pompeii
#AncientBlueSky
#AncientBlueSky
A #Roman gladiator's helmet, missing the face mask it originally had, found in Hawkedon (Britain). It dates to the C1st AD, suggesting that gladiatorial combats were introduced to Roman Britain quite early in its history 🏺 #AncientBlueSky
January 26, 2026 at 11:20 PM
A #Roman gladiator's helmet, missing the face mask it originally had, found in Hawkedon (Britain). It dates to the C1st AD, suggesting that gladiatorial combats were introduced to Roman Britain quite early in its history 🏺 #AncientBlueSky
An animal footprint on a #Roman tile from Dalton Parlours, a villa in West Yorkshire - amazing to think of it walking over the drying clay more than 1600 years ago!
#AncientBlueSky
#AncientBlueSky
January 19, 2026 at 12:04 AM
An animal footprint on a #Roman tile from Dalton Parlours, a villa in West Yorkshire - amazing to think of it walking over the drying clay more than 1600 years ago!
#AncientBlueSky
#AncientBlueSky
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
Article about retrieval of items stolen from the British Museum. 654 out of an estimated 1,500 missing items have been recovered 🏺 #AncientBluesky
Inside the hunt for British Museum’s missing treasures
More than two years have passed since the British Museum revealed it was missing hundreds of precious artefacts. Alex Ross spoke to the man tasked with tracking the prized items down
www.independent.co.uk
January 11, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Article about retrieval of items stolen from the British Museum. 654 out of an estimated 1,500 missing items have been recovered 🏺 #AncientBluesky
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
FOI requests show that in 2024/2025, payments to individual finders & landowners for 'Treasure' rewards cost us £7,280,321.26
1/2
bigbookoftorcs.com/2026/01/11/t...
#Archaeology #Treasure #Detecting 🏺
1/2
bigbookoftorcs.com/2026/01/11/t...
#Archaeology #Treasure #Detecting 🏺
‘That belongs in a museum’: The true ‘cost’ of detecting in England and Wales.
By Tess Machling [A download/print PDF version can be found at the end of the paper] ‘My members don’t want to be quasi-archaeologists, they want to go out on a Sunday, dig around, get dirty, find …
bigbookoftorcs.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:17 AM
FOI requests show that in 2024/2025, payments to individual finders & landowners for 'Treasure' rewards cost us £7,280,321.26
1/2
bigbookoftorcs.com/2026/01/11/t...
#Archaeology #Treasure #Detecting 🏺
1/2
bigbookoftorcs.com/2026/01/11/t...
#Archaeology #Treasure #Detecting 🏺
A loaf of #Roman bread, which was being baked in an oven in #Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79; it was carbonised by the disaster & left in the oven until being excavated nearly 1800 years later 🏺 #AncientBlueSky
January 11, 2026 at 11:21 AM
A loaf of #Roman bread, which was being baked in an oven in #Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79; it was carbonised by the disaster & left in the oven until being excavated nearly 1800 years later 🏺 #AncientBlueSky
A snowy scene in the Alps, viewed from 39,000ft one year ago today
January 9, 2026 at 6:25 PM
A snowy scene in the Alps, viewed from 39,000ft one year ago today
It would be so cool if this carnyx really did have links to the Boudican Revolt, as suggested by its find spot (I'm not sure we could ever be certain though, sadly)
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
‘Extraordinary’ iron age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:45 AM
It would be so cool if this carnyx really did have links to the Boudican Revolt, as suggested by its find spot (I'm not sure we could ever be certain though, sadly)
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
An assortment of engraved #Roman gems, found in the drains of the legionary bathhouse at Caerleon (Wales). Originally set in pieces of jewellery - especially rings - until the glue softened in the heat & they fell out; similar collections are found in many Roman bathhouse drains
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
January 5, 2026 at 5:59 PM
An assortment of engraved #Roman gems, found in the drains of the legionary bathhouse at Caerleon (Wales). Originally set in pieces of jewellery - especially rings - until the glue softened in the heat & they fell out; similar collections are found in many Roman bathhouse drains
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
A #Roman mosaic from a villa in Baiae (Italy), now underwater due to seismic activity in the region. Baiae - a coastal town not too far from Naples - was once a pleasure resort for Rome's elite (📷 Andreas Solaro/AFP)
🏺 #RomanSiteSaturday #AncientBlueSky
🏺 #RomanSiteSaturday #AncientBlueSky
January 3, 2026 at 7:58 PM
A #Roman mosaic from a villa in Baiae (Italy), now underwater due to seismic activity in the region. Baiae - a coastal town not too far from Naples - was once a pleasure resort for Rome's elite (📷 Andreas Solaro/AFP)
🏺 #RomanSiteSaturday #AncientBlueSky
🏺 #RomanSiteSaturday #AncientBlueSky
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
For #RomanSiteSaturday, here is the magnificent Theatre of Dougga in Tunisia, one of the best preserved in Africa
Built in 168 AD, it could hold 3500 people (though Dougga only had ~5000 inhabitants). Likely people came from far and wide to see plays here!
📸 Mine
#archaeology #photooftheday 🏺
Built in 168 AD, it could hold 3500 people (though Dougga only had ~5000 inhabitants). Likely people came from far and wide to see plays here!
📸 Mine
#archaeology #photooftheday 🏺
January 3, 2026 at 8:39 AM
For #RomanSiteSaturday, here is the magnificent Theatre of Dougga in Tunisia, one of the best preserved in Africa
Built in 168 AD, it could hold 3500 people (though Dougga only had ~5000 inhabitants). Likely people came from far and wide to see plays here!
📸 Mine
#archaeology #photooftheday 🏺
Built in 168 AD, it could hold 3500 people (though Dougga only had ~5000 inhabitants). Likely people came from far and wide to see plays here!
📸 Mine
#archaeology #photooftheday 🏺
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
Anyone for a game? This #FrescoFriday we're admiring a detail from the splendid White Bedroom of the #domus of the #Farnesina in #Rome, 30-20 BCE. A tall lady, gowned and crowned, holds a baton or scroll case against her shoulder like a racquet handle. She may be a statue. #AncientBluesky 🏺
January 2, 2026 at 12:15 PM
Anyone for a game? This #FrescoFriday we're admiring a detail from the splendid White Bedroom of the #domus of the #Farnesina in #Rome, 30-20 BCE. A tall lady, gowned and crowned, holds a baton or scroll case against her shoulder like a racquet handle. She may be a statue. #AncientBluesky 🏺
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
#FindsFriday
A cast copper alloy trumpet brooch dating from the early #Roman period, that is c. AD75-175. The brooch is in excellent condition with body, spring, pin and foot still intact. Findspot Cumbria.
FindID: 623650
(see Alt for more)👇
#Archaeology #History
#AncientBlueSky🏺
A cast copper alloy trumpet brooch dating from the early #Roman period, that is c. AD75-175. The brooch is in excellent condition with body, spring, pin and foot still intact. Findspot Cumbria.
FindID: 623650
(see Alt for more)👇
#Archaeology #History
#AncientBlueSky🏺
January 2, 2026 at 1:59 PM
#FindsFriday
A cast copper alloy trumpet brooch dating from the early #Roman period, that is c. AD75-175. The brooch is in excellent condition with body, spring, pin and foot still intact. Findspot Cumbria.
FindID: 623650
(see Alt for more)👇
#Archaeology #History
#AncientBlueSky🏺
A cast copper alloy trumpet brooch dating from the early #Roman period, that is c. AD75-175. The brooch is in excellent condition with body, spring, pin and foot still intact. Findspot Cumbria.
FindID: 623650
(see Alt for more)👇
#Archaeology #History
#AncientBlueSky🏺
The tombstone of a #Roman soldier named Gaius Valerius, who served in the Legio XV Apollinaris as a tubicen - a military musician who played a tuba to give commands, particularly on the battlefield. He died at the age of 36 after 16 years of service in the #RomanArmy
🏺 #AncientBlueSky
🏺 #AncientBlueSky
January 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM
The tombstone of a #Roman soldier named Gaius Valerius, who served in the Legio XV Apollinaris as a tubicen - a military musician who played a tuba to give commands, particularly on the battlefield. He died at the age of 36 after 16 years of service in the #RomanArmy
🏺 #AncientBlueSky
🏺 #AncientBlueSky
Happy New Year - 2026 already, wow!
In the #Roman world, lamps were often given as New Year's gifts - on this example, a winged Victory inscribes a shield with a wish for happiness in the new year, surrounded by coins & dried fruits (also traditional new year gifts).
In the #Roman world, lamps were often given as New Year's gifts - on this example, a winged Victory inscribes a shield with a wish for happiness in the new year, surrounded by coins & dried fruits (also traditional new year gifts).
January 1, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Happy New Year - 2026 already, wow!
In the #Roman world, lamps were often given as New Year's gifts - on this example, a winged Victory inscribes a shield with a wish for happiness in the new year, surrounded by coins & dried fruits (also traditional new year gifts).
In the #Roman world, lamps were often given as New Year's gifts - on this example, a winged Victory inscribes a shield with a wish for happiness in the new year, surrounded by coins & dried fruits (also traditional new year gifts).
A lovely #Roman necklace, made of gold & small chunks of emerald - a delicate, beautiful, & timeless piece of jewellery, made more than 1800 years ago.
December 27, 2025 at 11:18 AM
A lovely #Roman necklace, made of gold & small chunks of emerald - a delicate, beautiful, & timeless piece of jewellery, made more than 1800 years ago.
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume.
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
December 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume.
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
#FindsFriday A mystery stone head on display at Castell Henllys Iron Age fort in Pembrokeshire, found locally in north Pembrokeshire
Not a typical 'Celtic' head but nonetheless possesses many features which could suggest an Iron Age date 🧐🤔
📷 My own, last week
Not a typical 'Celtic' head but nonetheless possesses many features which could suggest an Iron Age date 🧐🤔
📷 My own, last week
December 5, 2025 at 9:01 AM
#FindsFriday A mystery stone head on display at Castell Henllys Iron Age fort in Pembrokeshire, found locally in north Pembrokeshire
Not a typical 'Celtic' head but nonetheless possesses many features which could suggest an Iron Age date 🧐🤔
📷 My own, last week
Not a typical 'Celtic' head but nonetheless possesses many features which could suggest an Iron Age date 🧐🤔
📷 My own, last week
Reposted by Dr Jo Ball
This small bronze figurine of a naked Gaulish woman projects great vulnerability - which was certainly the point, but not in a good way. She's identified by her torc and represents the eroticization of a conquered people. 🏺
Found in the River Seine, Paris. Roman, 100-200 CE. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
Found in the River Seine, Paris. Roman, 100-200 CE. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
December 5, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This small bronze figurine of a naked Gaulish woman projects great vulnerability - which was certainly the point, but not in a good way. She's identified by her torc and represents the eroticization of a conquered people. 🏺
Found in the River Seine, Paris. Roman, 100-200 CE. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
Found in the River Seine, Paris. Roman, 100-200 CE. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
A beautiful #Roman glass bowl, cobalt blue with an irregular white swirling pattern - it must have looked fantastic on an ancient table! (📷 Bonhams) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky
December 3, 2025 at 8:05 PM
A beautiful #Roman glass bowl, cobalt blue with an irregular white swirling pattern - it must have looked fantastic on an ancient table! (📷 Bonhams) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky