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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 26d

As old as humanity.

Reposted by Jim Leary

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

For #FindsFriday I offer this gorgeous 15,000 year old engraving of a reindeer calf, nervously standing next to its mum. Found in the Madeleine rock shelter in the Dordogne, France. Part of the excellent Ice Age Art exhibition at the Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, Bradford. 🏺

A photo of a fragment of bone with the outline of a reindeer calf carved onto it.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

That is a satisfied little face.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

Perhaps there’s a deliberate ambiguity and the viewer inserts their own impression.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

For me it’s the wide eyes and mouth.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

My personal favourite is this jaunty little wolverine stepping out of the past. Carved onto a bone pendant around 14,000 years ago and found in the Grotte de Eyzies in the Dordogne, France. 🏺

A photo of a small, thin fragment of bone, perforated at one end to be worn as a pendant, and with the outline of a wolverine engraved onto it.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

And here is a 12,500 year old engraving of three reindeer and a hairy headed ibex with a groovy goatee beard from Courbet Cave in the Midi-Pyrénées. 🏺

A photo of part of a rib with engravings of the heads of three reindeer and, in the middle, an ibex.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · 27d

For #FindsFriday I offer this gorgeous 15,000 year old engraving of a reindeer calf, nervously standing next to its mum. Found in the Madeleine rock shelter in the Dordogne, France. Part of the excellent Ice Age Art exhibition at the Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, Bradford. 🏺

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Sep 1

Very nice!

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 26

That’s fantastic! I hadn’t seen that article.

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Reposted by Jim Leary

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 24

I loved Galway, but this is so sad to see - lines of drying peat cut to fuel heaters and warm homes. This is an incalculable loss to the environment and to archaeology🏺. It's not big business doing this, but small householders keeping a tradition alive that should be long dead.

A photo of long, parallel lines of stacked drying lengths of peat on grass. The remnants of a raised bog in the background.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 25

That’s great - thanks Claire!

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 24

This is the peat face - the raised bog - the cuttings are taken from. A crucial carbon sink, an incredible archaeological record🏺, and wonderful biodiversity being moth eaten, gnawed away by ignorance.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 24

When I asked some peat cutters whether they’ve ever found any archaeology🏺, they told me some bog butter came out of this cutting a year or two ago. I asked what they did with it, and they laughed and said they had a cheese and wine party. Well-meaning but wrongheaded.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 24

I loved Galway, but this is so sad to see - lines of drying peat cut to fuel heaters and warm homes. This is an incalculable loss to the environment and to archaeology🏺. It's not big business doing this, but small householders keeping a tradition alive that should be long dead.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 18

I could work with those terms.

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 18

Perfect!

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 18

Ha! I’d happily be ruled by Conall!

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Reposted by Jim Leary

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 17

For #StandingStoneSunday I offer the Stone of Destiny, Lia Fáil, a one-metre granite pillar on a raised platform on the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath, Ireland. According to legend, High Kings of Ireland were crowned at the stone, which cried out if it was the true king. 🏺

A photo of a pale pillar-like standing stone surrounded by a circular bricked area on grass in the foreground, with views out across the landscape in the background.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 17

For #StandingStoneSunday I offer the Stone of Destiny, Lia Fáil, a one-metre granite pillar on a raised platform on the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath, Ireland. According to legend, High Kings of Ireland were crowned at the stone, which cried out if it was the true king. 🏺

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 14

😂 go on

Reposted by Jim Leary

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 13

I love Irish round towers! Like giant grey pencils or a child’s drawing of a rocket. They date to the medieval period and were probably used as belfries or places of refuge. This one is at Kilmacduagh monastery in Co. Galway. It’s over 30m tall and has a decidedly eccentric lean. 🏺

A photo of a long thin grey rocket-like tower surrounded by gravestones.

A photo of a long thin grey rocket-like tower surrounded by gravestones. From a different angle.

A photo of a long thin grey rocket-like tower surrounded by gravestones. Further away.

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 14

😂 Yes!

Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 13

Wonderful!

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Jim Leary @jimleary.bsky.social · Aug 13

That’s fabulous! I must visit!

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