Nina Willburger
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drnwillburger.bsky.social
Nina Willburger
@drnwillburger.bsky.social
19K followers 3.5K following 3.4K posts
Archaeologist | Permanent Representative of the Director, Archäologisches Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg | Adjunct lecturer State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart | Private account, views are mine 🖖
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drnwillburger.bsky.social
Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · Nov 9
Hello new followers and welcome! My focus is on #archaeology, you can expect posts from me covering a wide range of topics, e.g. objects, exhibitions, and latest discoveries, primarily from the European Paleolithic to the early medieval period.
I may also share posts about nature and Star Trek.

🏺
Reposted by Nina Willburger
drnwillburger.bsky.social
An Etruscan vessel in the shape of Charun, the demon of death.
Dating around 400 BC.

On display at Antikensammlung München

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology
A pottery vessel in the shape of a human head, displayed on a clear pedestal. The vessel has a detailed face with arched eyebrows, deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, and a black-painted beard with geometric patterns. The ears are adorned with large hoop earrings, and a gold-colored nose ring with a red pendant hangs from the septum. The top of the vessel flares into a black-painted cylindrical opening with decorative patterns.
February 6, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
malcolmstoneman.bsky.social
Samian ware bowl (fragment)
Found at site of Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend, Newcastle.

The bowl is decorated with a man on horseback and a bear.

The fort stood at the end of the extension to Hadrian’s Wall.

#FindsFriday #Roman
A bear seems to chase a man on horseback in this scene on a fragment of a Samian ware bowl.
February 6, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
kpw1453.bsky.social
One of the Lewis Chessmen - currently on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Found in 1831 on a beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the Chessmen dates to the late 12th or early 13th century. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #LewisChessmen #NMS
February 6, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
ideasroadshow.bsky.social
🔎 Read this thoughtful essay about how the 'standard account' of the competition between Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi obscures almost as much as it reveals.

🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #medievalsky #AdoorableThursday #renaissance

ideasroadshow.substack.com/p/revolving-...
Revolving doors
The oft-overlooked details of Lorenzo Ghiberti's famous reliefs of the Florentine Baptistery
ideasroadshow.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:50 PM
drnwillburger.bsky.social
An Etruscan vessel in the shape of Charun, the demon of death.
Dating around 400 BC.

On display at Antikensammlung München

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology
A pottery vessel in the shape of a human head, displayed on a clear pedestal. The vessel has a detailed face with arched eyebrows, deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, and a black-painted beard with geometric patterns. The ears are adorned with large hoop earrings, and a gold-colored nose ring with a red pendant hangs from the septum. The top of the vessel flares into a black-painted cylindrical opening with decorative patterns.
February 6, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
drnwillburger.bsky.social
#RomanFortThursday: a #Roman dagger and and two dagger sheaths, both elaborately decorated with inlays (silver, brass, enamel).
Found in the Roman fort at Ehingen-Risstissen, dating 1st century AD.

On display at our branch museum Limesmuseum Aalen

🏺 #archaeology
A close-up of three objects on a black background: a plain iron dagger blade without a handle, next to two richly decorated metal dagger sheaths, both elaborately decorated with inlays made of silver, brass, enamel (geometric and circular patterns). There is also a small heavily rusted fragment in the lower left visible.
February 5, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
alisonfisk.bsky.social
A little bear figurine carved out of amber some 6,000 years ago 🐻❤️

A hole runs through the bear’s torso suggesting it was threaded on a cord, perhaps worn or carried as a protective charm.

Found in a peat bog near Słupsk, Poland, in 1887.

📷 National Museum in Szczecin

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
Photo by G. Solecki/A. Piętak of a small figurine of a bear carved out of amber between 9600 and 4100 BC. The amber is a deep translucent orange. The display lighting makes it glow in places. The bear's head is carved to show ears, mouth, nostrils and eyes. A hole runs through the bear’s torso, suggesting it was threaded onto a cord. Dimensions: Length 10.2 cm, Height 4.2 It was discovered in Słupsk during peat mining in 1887. According to the museum catalogue ‘’Shortly after its discovery, the figure underwent conservation work to restore its original appearance as it was covered with a layer of dull patina from the exposure to the minerals contained in the peat. Already at that time, at the end of the 19th century, it was assumed the restoration had gone too far. The figure was stripped entirely of patina, the anatomical features of the animal were emphasised, the eyes and nostrils were sharply drawn, and the amber was carefully polished”. In 2013, a competition was organised by the Education Department of the National Museum in Szczecin, for children to choose a name for the bear. The winning name was ‘Słupcio’,
February 6, 2026 at 8:04 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
chapps.bsky.social
A Corinthian delight: three examples of ancient caricatures. The pyxis at the top shows a child-like Herakles drawing water from a fountain. On the lower left, a kylix depicting a woman playing the usually all-male drinking game kottabos. On the lower right, Artemis and her curious dog. 🏺 1/

📸 me
February 5, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
sokolowskilukasz.bsky.social
📘 New volume out! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭: 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 (@bloomsburyacad.bsky.social)
Co-edited with F. Mazzilli & R. Montoya Gonzáles.
My chapter: Roman Syria, #Palmyra & glocal visual culture
🔗 link in comments
#RomanArchaeology #Glocalization #VisualCulture
February 5, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
isabellemarie.bsky.social
Small Bone from Possible War Elephant Identified in Spain.
archaeology.org/news/2026/02...
News - Small Bone from Possible War Elephant Identified in Spain - Archaeology Magazine
CÓRDOBA, SPAIN—According to a Live Science report, a 2,250-year-old bone unearthed in 2019 during excavations […]
archaeology.org
February 5, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
isabellemarie.bsky.social
Breathing in the past: How museums can use biomolecular archaeology to bring ancient scents to life.
phys.org/news/2026-02...
Breathing in the past: How museums can use biomolecular archaeology to bring ancient scents to life
Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have revealed that ancient objects can retain the molecular fingerprints of past aromatic practices. These molecules provide unprecedented insight into anci...
phys.org
February 5, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
kpw1453.bsky.social
The northern defences of Birrens Roman Fort (Blatobulgium) in Dumfriesshire - an outpost fort for Hadrian’s Wall. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain #Birrens
February 5, 2026 at 7:02 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
malcolmstoneman.bsky.social
Central Station, Newcastle

Porte cochère, covered entrance way for vehicles, of 1862

Still with original iron gates, with pierced upper panels.

Passengers pass them daily to enter the station, but vehicles no longer use the porte cochère.

#MetalworkThursday
#IronworkThursday
#AdoorableThursday
Iron gates with pierced upper panels & closed square designs below.
February 5, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
chapps.bsky.social
First night in #NYC, and it’s crazy that this is the view from my room, 22 stories above the city. Tomorrow, the #MetMuseum.
February 5, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
sokolowskilukasz.bsky.social
🔗 www.bloomsbury.com/uk/global-th...
bsky.app
February 5, 2026 at 1:20 PM
drnwillburger.bsky.social
#RomanFortThursday: a #Roman dagger and and two dagger sheaths, both elaborately decorated with inlays (silver, brass, enamel).
Found in the Roman fort at Ehingen-Risstissen, dating 1st century AD.

On display at our branch museum Limesmuseum Aalen

🏺 #archaeology
A close-up of three objects on a black background: a plain iron dagger blade without a handle, next to two richly decorated metal dagger sheaths, both elaborately decorated with inlays made of silver, brass, enamel (geometric and circular patterns). There is also a small heavily rusted fragment in the lower left visible.
February 5, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
drnwillburger.bsky.social
For #ReliefWednesday a representation of Minerva, the #Roman goddess of wisdom, arts, crafts, and warfare. She's carrying the helmet, a lance and a shield. The deity is accompanied by an #owl, her sacred animal.
Found in Burgstall an der Murr.

📷 Landesmuseum Württemnberg

🏺 #archaeology
Rectangular sandstone relief with a standing figure of Minerva in high relief. She wears a long garment and helmet, she's holding a lance in her right hand and an oval shield at her left side. On her right sight an owl is visible.
February 4, 2026 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
msur.bsky.social
#Römer in Württemberg ! 🏺 #archaeology
(auch im kleinen Burgstall an der Murr!)
- und nur ein paar römische Meilen entfernt:
die vor Ort zu besichtigende Römerstraße in Benningen am Neckar - streckenweise direkt unter dem heutigen Asphalt
: links: 📷me, rechts LDA Esslingen
neben einem modernen Gebäude die frei liegende römische Straßen, mit Pflaster- u.a.-Steinen, grün bewachsen schnurgerade asphaltierte Landstraße, vorne aufgegraben, darunter ist der Schichtenaufbau der Römerstraße (Stein- und Schotterlagen) auf Erde sichtbar)
February 4, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
isabellemarie.bsky.social
Medieval Burial Found in Croatian Bronze Age Burial Mound.
archaeology.org/news/2026/02...
News - Medieval Burial Found in Croatian Bronze Age Mound - Archaeology Magazine
PULA, CROATIA—Croatia Week reports that researchers from Juraj Dobrila University of Pula conducted an excavation […]
archaeology.org
February 3, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
durotrigesdig.bsky.social
From the NE, the ramparts of Flowers Barrow Iron Age hillfort, atop a cliff at the seaward end of a ridge overlooking Worbarrow Bay, give a great idea of how the enclosure originally dominated the land 🤩

It's one of our favourite #Dorset hillforts (just don't tell the others)

#HillfortsWednesday
A green grass and yellow gorse and heather covered hills rises above the sea in the distance with a white track way in the foreground and to the left
February 4, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
drtobydriver.bsky.social
This is such exciting news for the prehistory & early history of western Britain & the wider European seaways, providing further firm evidence for the tin trade documented by classical authors 👇
February 4, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
alisonfisk.bsky.social
Vendel Helmet 1. Iron helmet with bronze fittings from a boat grave in Vendel, Uppland, Sweden, c. 550–793 AD.

📷 Swedish History Museum samlingar.shm.se/object/F0DD4...

#Archaeology
This Swedish History Museum photo shows a frontal view of a helmet known as Vendel Helmet I. It is a rounded iron helmet with cast bronze fittings riveted into the iron and a face guard. The iron is rusty brown in colour and the bronze decoration is now greenish in colour, displayed against a black background. The helmet has a raised crest (ridge) running from front to back which combines with the two curved bronze eyebrows which are textured with fine lines and terminating in stylised animal heads, to form a mythical beast. Below the eyebrows, are two large almond-shaped eye holes in a rusty face guard. Between the eye holes is a small beared human face which stares at the viewer. From here, a long rusty noseguard runs downward.
February 4, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
kpw1453.bsky.social
One of the surviving ramparts of Burghead Fort - a Pictish promontory fort in Moray. The fort was occupied between 6th and 10th centuries AD, and was a major centre of Pictish power. 📸 My own. #HillfortsWednesday #Burghead #Picts
February 4, 2026 at 7:01 AM
drnwillburger.bsky.social
For #ReliefWednesday a representation of Minerva, the #Roman goddess of wisdom, arts, crafts, and warfare. She's carrying the helmet, a lance and a shield. The deity is accompanied by an #owl, her sacred animal.
Found in Burgstall an der Murr.

📷 Landesmuseum Württemnberg

🏺 #archaeology
Rectangular sandstone relief with a standing figure of Minerva in high relief. She wears a long garment and helmet, she's holding a lance in her right hand and an oval shield at her left side. On her right sight an owl is visible.
February 4, 2026 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Nina Willburger
drjeball.bsky.social
A #Roman glass bowl in cobalt blue with white irregular swirls; it was made about 2000 years ago, probably in Italy, but ended up in a C1st AD grave in Roman Britain

#AncientBlueSky #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology #AncientRome
February 3, 2026 at 8:19 PM