Rebecca Tyson
@tyguson.bsky.social
PhD student at University of Bristol; RHS Marshall Fellow (2024-25) at Institute of Historical Research; 11th-century Normandy, maritime and riverine environments, the Norman invasion fleet.
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/rebecca-tyson
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/rebecca-tyson
I’ve caught up on #DrawingDiggingforBritain with my final drawing of a Roman sword chape. Thank you @richardosgood.bsky.social for facilitating this annual creative outlet again. I plan to keep my pens and paints out now rather than put them away for another 12 months.
February 6, 2026 at 10:55 PM
I’ve caught up on #DrawingDiggingforBritain with my final drawing of a Roman sword chape. Thank you @richardosgood.bsky.social for facilitating this annual creative outlet again. I plan to keep my pens and paints out now rather than put them away for another 12 months.
Skull of a young man (17-24 years old) from a mass grave dating to the ninth century. The individual had survived an earlier trepanation and was around 1.9m tall #DrawingDiggingforBritain
February 4, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Skull of a young man (17-24 years old) from a mass grave dating to the ninth century. The individual had survived an earlier trepanation and was around 1.9m tall #DrawingDiggingforBritain
I love a @logastonpress.bsky.social delivery day, especially now my thesis is handed in and I can read for pleasure again. Logaston Press books are so beautifully illustrated, it feels like a treat!
February 2, 2026 at 10:49 AM
I love a @logastonpress.bsky.social delivery day, especially now my thesis is handed in and I can read for pleasure again. Logaston Press books are so beautifully illustrated, it feels like a treat!
I’ve now caught up on last night’s #DrawingDiggingforBritain and decided to draw the stone anchor found in the River Wear while @toriherridge.bsky.social was filming.
January 29, 2026 at 3:15 PM
I’ve now caught up on last night’s #DrawingDiggingforBritain and decided to draw the stone anchor found in the River Wear while @toriherridge.bsky.social was filming.
I have just submitted my PhD thesis, and now I am going to drink this Norman Conquest-themed cider. #MedievalSky
January 28, 2026 at 3:53 PM
I have just submitted my PhD thesis, and now I am going to drink this Norman Conquest-themed cider. #MedievalSky
My town’s annual Mari Lwyd and Wassail is always a joyful day in dark and wet January. This year there was a bonus Krampus (it didn’t look very joyful though!)
January 24, 2026 at 3:48 PM
My town’s annual Mari Lwyd and Wassail is always a joyful day in dark and wet January. This year there was a bonus Krampus (it didn’t look very joyful though!)
I definitely didn’t do this lovely little bone box justice this evening, at least in part because I could barely take my eyes off the screen when it was opened. I hope there will be analysis of the ‘mud’ inside to see if an ointment can be identified. #DrawingDiggingforBritain
January 21, 2026 at 10:41 PM
I definitely didn’t do this lovely little bone box justice this evening, at least in part because I could barely take my eyes off the screen when it was opened. I hope there will be analysis of the ‘mud’ inside to see if an ointment can be identified. #DrawingDiggingforBritain
I had a bit of a disaster while #DrawingDiggingforBritain this evening when one of my pens leaked everywhere. Thankfully it narrowly missed last week’s drawing. I loved the cross-Channel connections that this little coin represented.
January 14, 2026 at 10:10 PM
I had a bit of a disaster while #DrawingDiggingforBritain this evening when one of my pens leaked everywhere. Thankfully it narrowly missed last week’s drawing. I loved the cross-Channel connections that this little coin represented.
My apologies, this is indeed the bottle from the Roman cemetery near Penrith, and not Carlisle. In my haste to get the rough outline down I clearly missed the shift from these finds to those from Carlisle. Thank you for pointing this out. I’ve fixed my little drawing now 🙂
January 8, 2026 at 5:58 PM
My apologies, this is indeed the bottle from the Roman cemetery near Penrith, and not Carlisle. In my haste to get the rough outline down I clearly missed the shift from these finds to those from Carlisle. Thank you for pointing this out. I’ve fixed my little drawing now 🙂
The 1,800-year-old finds from Carlisle were beautiful, and it’s amazing that they survived intact. #DrawingDiggingforBritain
January 7, 2026 at 10:45 PM
The 1,800-year-old finds from Carlisle were beautiful, and it’s amazing that they survived intact. #DrawingDiggingforBritain
I’m so glad #DrawingDiggingforBritain is happening again this year. Over the last 2 years I’ve really enjoyed the shared excitement and creativity inspired by the new archaeological discoveries in every episode. I haven’t picked up my pens and pencils since last Jan so I’m looking forward to this.
January 7, 2026 at 10:15 AM
I’m so glad #DrawingDiggingforBritain is happening again this year. Over the last 2 years I’ve really enjoyed the shared excitement and creativity inspired by the new archaeological discoveries in every episode. I haven’t picked up my pens and pencils since last Jan so I’m looking forward to this.
2025 was a year of professional highs and personal lows. Highlights included sailing down the Seine in a reconstructed 11th-c cargo ship and giving a paper at the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies. In January I’ll submit my PhD thesis, so I’m looking forward to seeing what 2026 will bring.
December 31, 2025 at 11:36 AM
2025 was a year of professional highs and personal lows. Highlights included sailing down the Seine in a reconstructed 11th-c cargo ship and giving a paper at the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies. In January I’ll submit my PhD thesis, so I’m looking forward to seeing what 2026 will bring.
The full-size willow-woven horse sculpture at Tredegar House is extremely impressive. It was designed and sculpted by Sarah Hatton.
December 30, 2025 at 11:40 AM
The full-size willow-woven horse sculpture at Tredegar House is extremely impressive. It was designed and sculpted by Sarah Hatton.
A piece of tideline treasure- a small white quartz pebble. Though abundant on the shores of the Irish Sea, these bright, sea-tumbled pebbles have nonetheless been treasured for millennia in this region and are associated with remembrance.
December 23, 2025 at 1:53 PM
A piece of tideline treasure- a small white quartz pebble. Though abundant on the shores of the Irish Sea, these bright, sea-tumbled pebbles have nonetheless been treasured for millennia in this region and are associated with remembrance.
I’ve had an excellent couple of days at the Fécamp herring festival. A charter from 1088 granted the abbey of Fécamp permission for a herring fair. Today, as well as the vendeurs and grilleurs, there is the crowning and weighing of a Herring Queen (equiv to 1,501 herring, incase you wanted to know).
November 30, 2025 at 11:50 AM
I’ve had an excellent couple of days at the Fécamp herring festival. A charter from 1088 granted the abbey of Fécamp permission for a herring fair. Today, as well as the vendeurs and grilleurs, there is the crowning and weighing of a Herring Queen (equiv to 1,501 herring, incase you wanted to know).
The Sunday morning bells of La Trinité de Fécamp from Jardin Guillaume de Volpiano
November 30, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The Sunday morning bells of La Trinité de Fécamp from Jardin Guillaume de Volpiano
The first proper frost of the winter in my part of the Wye valley. It is definitely a hot chocolate day today.
November 26, 2025 at 9:07 AM
The first proper frost of the winter in my part of the Wye valley. It is definitely a hot chocolate day today.
It’s a beautiful morning, and I’m off to do some digging with Cardiff University.
November 24, 2025 at 8:42 AM
It’s a beautiful morning, and I’m off to do some digging with Cardiff University.
In the early hours of this morning, following 119.6mm of rainfall in 12hrs, the River Monnow burst its banks and flooded Monmouth. The usual river level is just under 2m, this morning it was 6.63m- even higher than the record-breaking level during the floods in 2020 (6.57m). Absolutely devastating.
November 15, 2025 at 11:05 PM
In the early hours of this morning, following 119.6mm of rainfall in 12hrs, the River Monnow burst its banks and flooded Monmouth. The usual river level is just under 2m, this morning it was 6.63m- even higher than the record-breaking level during the floods in 2020 (6.57m). Absolutely devastating.
Finally, for completeness, here we are approaching Pevensey Bay in lovely conditions at sunset. Hastings is to the right and Beachy Head to the left. The seamarks of Beachy Head and Fairlight are like arms funnelling you in from the English Channel when making a passage from the Somme. #MedievalSky
November 12, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Finally, for completeness, here we are approaching Pevensey Bay in lovely conditions at sunset. Hastings is to the right and Beachy Head to the left. The seamarks of Beachy Head and Fairlight are like arms funnelling you in from the English Channel when making a passage from the Somme. #MedievalSky
Yep, and that is high water too! This is what the Somme estuary looks like at low tide looking out towards the English Channel...
November 12, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Yep, and that is high water too! This is what the Somme estuary looks like at low tide looking out towards the English Channel...
In contrast to the harbours along the Alabaster coast, the Somme estuary is vast and easily accessible. This is where you have to come if you can't get into harbours along the way or if you're travelling as a fleet. It's very shallow though, hence the constant depth readings #MedievalSky
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 PM
In contrast to the harbours along the Alabaster coast, the Somme estuary is vast and easily accessible. This is where you have to come if you can't get into harbours along the way or if you're travelling as a fleet. It's very shallow though, hence the constant depth readings #MedievalSky
The last video I took before it got so bouncy and windy that all I could do was hold on and focus on navigating us into Fécamp in the dark (a harbour that the pilot guide says not to attempt in the northerly gale force conditions we were in at the time). It was a long, wet day/night #MedievalSky
November 12, 2025 at 11:57 AM
The last video I took before it got so bouncy and windy that all I could do was hold on and focus on navigating us into Fécamp in the dark (a harbour that the pilot guide says not to attempt in the northerly gale force conditions we were in at the time). It was a long, wet day/night #MedievalSky