Brenna Hassett
@brennawalks.bsky.social
Archaeologist, biological anthropologist, and 1/4 of Team TrowelBlazers. I also write intense footnotes.
Pinned
Hellloooo wow how do people find time for social media these days. And welcome to my TAG talk! Which was in fact about just that “the existential panic of keeping a social media based project like @trowelblazers.bsky.social alive when we can barely keep our heads above water: a DEI Story”
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
Our Parish Priest once spoke from the pulpit to remind us not to rise from our places in society. A very bright pal was kept from college cos her Dad said it was ‘not for our sort’. The idea that education is not for everyone is currently rife in UK and US: may we be preserved from such ignorance!
As we reflect on sixty years of free secondary education and how it has transformed Ireland, it’s worth remembering that some people thought it was a mistake in its first few years.
Who would object to free secondary education? In 1966, quite a few. jrnl.ie/7159629
Who would object to free secondary education? In 1966, quite a few. jrnl.ie/7159629
Who would object to free secondary education? In 1966, quite a few.
There was even a pushback against school buses as a nature walk spoiled or an impromptu GAA match missed.
jrnl.ie
September 13, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Our Parish Priest once spoke from the pulpit to remind us not to rise from our places in society. A very bright pal was kept from college cos her Dad said it was ‘not for our sort’. The idea that education is not for everyone is currently rife in UK and US: may we be preserved from such ignorance!
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
Home time home time home time bye bye turkish archaeology see you next year :)
September 10, 2026 at 7:04 AM
Home time home time home time bye bye turkish archaeology see you next year :)
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
The River Ribble conveniently deposited these human skulls from lots of different periods in one place to give us an excellent time transect of DNA samples. Respect your rivers and they will deliver.
September 1, 2026 at 4:00 PM
The River Ribble conveniently deposited these human skulls from lots of different periods in one place to give us an excellent time transect of DNA samples. Respect your rivers and they will deliver.
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
Free version here: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...
The Legend of Ea-Naṣir: How a Babylonian Businessman Became an Internet Meme
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UCL Discovery
UCL Discovery is UCL's open access repository, showcasing and providing access to UCL research outputs from all UCL disciplines.
discovery.ucl.ac.uk
August 25, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Free version here: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...
Do you know how many people in this world suddenly care about the ancient world and our sources of information on it nope sorry there is no such thing as peak ea-nasir ;)
Ps I love @gabemoshenska.bsky.social on this
journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/...
Ps I love @gabemoshenska.bsky.social on this
journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/...
August 25, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Do you know how many people in this world suddenly care about the ancient world and our sources of information on it nope sorry there is no such thing as peak ea-nasir ;)
Ps I love @gabemoshenska.bsky.social on this
journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/...
Ps I love @gabemoshenska.bsky.social on this
journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/...
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
Race scientists are like asbestos: unwisely built into the fabric of universities many years ago, will absolutely kill people, and require careful but total removal.
Also, mostly harmless if embedded in concrete.
Also, mostly harmless if embedded in concrete.
August 21, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Race scientists are like asbestos: unwisely built into the fabric of universities many years ago, will absolutely kill people, and require careful but total removal.
Also, mostly harmless if embedded in concrete.
Also, mostly harmless if embedded in concrete.
😂
One of these things is not like the others… one of these things just doesn’t belong. 🤦🏻♀️
August 14, 2026 at 3:55 PM
😂
Oh this should be good
One of the most impressive feminist bioanth scholars I know has written a new book that sounds BRILLIANT
📚 #BookSky
📚 #BookSky
MY BOOK IS HERE (for me at least, you need to pre-order it right now!). Check out my unboxing (unenveloping?) video and me telling you about a few of the most feminist rage-y chapters.
bookshop.org/p/books/preg...
bookshop.org/p/books/preg...
August 13, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Oh this should be good
[waits nervously in bone kickers]
Yes, please
Dig, which reunites Poehler with Parks & Recreation's Mike Schur, arrives this November. www.avclub.com/peacock-rele...
August 11, 2026 at 10:37 AM
[waits nervously in bone kickers]
Just maybe apropos of nothing but also possibly my email inbox could we maybe look at the trend for centralizing admin and them outsourcing administrative labour in higher education right back out to academics and come up with a fun new term for it?
I’ll go first! ‘Rentier Bureaucracy’
🫠
I’ll go first! ‘Rentier Bureaucracy’
🫠
August 3, 2026 at 5:48 AM
Just maybe apropos of nothing but also possibly my email inbox could we maybe look at the trend for centralizing admin and them outsourcing administrative labour in higher education right back out to academics and come up with a fun new term for it?
I’ll go first! ‘Rentier Bureaucracy’
🫠
I’ll go first! ‘Rentier Bureaucracy’
🫠
Hello let’s do archaeology 😍😍😍 it’s Asikli Hoyuk season! Check out Hasan Dag in the background looming all Mordor-y
July 30, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Hello let’s do archaeology 😍😍😍 it’s Asikli Hoyuk season! Check out Hasan Dag in the background looming all Mordor-y
Running inside joke being that there are Very Good Reasons there aren’t many people crazy enough to write a book about human evolution ;)
Useful short piece on how new research often forces us to change our minds about the past — I learned this the hard way, having to rewrite my kids’ book about the Stone Age (cowritten with @brennawalks.bsky.social) 5 times in 9 months due to new discoveries! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on ancient DNA: a female shaman exposes our flawed assumptions about the past | Editorial
Editorial: Thanks to new technology we are are acquiring insights into earlier times, and realising how little we truly know
www.theguardian.com
July 28, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Running inside joke being that there are Very Good Reasons there aren’t many people crazy enough to write a book about human evolution ;)
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
From shaman to metalworker to Guardian Editorial.
July 27, 2026 at 9:14 PM
From shaman to metalworker to Guardian Editorial.
Oh my loving and actual god, someone (Jonathan Witcoski) made a PLAYABLE antikythera survey project. If this is not the best use of open data for world building in #archaeology idk what is. jwitcoski.github.io/raiders-of-a... one for @clmorgan.bsky.social
Raiders of Antikythera — Field Journal
jwitcoski.github.io
July 26, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Oh my loving and actual god, someone (Jonathan Witcoski) made a PLAYABLE antikythera survey project. If this is not the best use of open data for world building in #archaeology idk what is. jwitcoski.github.io/raiders-of-a... one for @clmorgan.bsky.social
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
Palaeolithic archaeologists ⬇️
July 22, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Palaeolithic archaeologists ⬇️
Surely it was Becky? Or @toriherridge.bsky.social ??
I joined over 3 years ago and I think it was Becky Farbstein*... Loved giving out the codes I had too!
*though she doesn't have an account now, so if it was you, correct me if I'm wrong!
*though she doesn't have an account now, so if it was you, correct me if I'm wrong!
Tomorrow is "Shoutout the Person Who Gave You a Bluesky Invite Code" Day.
It was a cool time for cool people to drag other cool people here.
It was a cool time for cool people to drag other cool people here.
July 22, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Surely it was Becky? Or @toriherridge.bsky.social ??
What a lovely endorsement!
A quite superb series from the BBCRadio3 Essay strand, where @brennawalks.bsky.social dives deep into the archaeology & anthropology of the earliest forms of human music-making. Essential listening
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, The Dawn of Music, A Secret Chord
When did we, as a species, start to sing? Dr Brenna Hassett unearths our musical origins.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 22, 2026 at 9:32 AM
What a lovely endorsement!
But Brenna you’re a bioarchaeologist why do you do survey in Greece GEE GUYS I WONDER 😘🏺
July 19, 2026 at 9:02 AM
But Brenna you’re a bioarchaeologist why do you do survey in Greece GEE GUYS I WONDER 😘🏺
The overbearing cicadas of Chios, as featured in episode one ;) γεια σου παιδιά!! Είμαστε εδώ… 😘🇬🇷 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
July 19, 2026 at 8:24 AM
The overbearing cicadas of Chios, as featured in episode one ;) γεια σου παιδιά!! Είμαστε εδώ… 😘🇬🇷 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Extraordinarily fitting that the last goat themed episode of my little adventure in bbc radio programming airs right before I go out to η νησί μου, chios 🐐🇬🇷🐐. There Will Be Pots 🏺 (honestly v low goat ratio, certainly no antikythera) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, The Dawn of Music
Archaeologist Dr Brenna Hassett examines how over the millennia we have come to make music
www.bbc.co.uk
July 17, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Extraordinarily fitting that the last goat themed episode of my little adventure in bbc radio programming airs right before I go out to η νησί μου, chios 🐐🇬🇷🐐. There Will Be Pots 🏺 (honestly v low goat ratio, certainly no antikythera) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Brenna Hassett
Completely wonderful seeing Oliver Beer's show with him, and exploring together many shared ideas of #art & #archaeology, around what caves do to humans and humans do to caves...
This exhibition of sound-paintings, music & film is just gorgeous, go see it at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London!
🏺
This exhibition of sound-paintings, music & film is just gorgeous, go see it at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London!
🏺
July 17, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Completely wonderful seeing Oliver Beer's show with him, and exploring together many shared ideas of #art & #archaeology, around what caves do to humans and humans do to caves...
This exhibition of sound-paintings, music & film is just gorgeous, go see it at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London!
🏺
This exhibition of sound-paintings, music & film is just gorgeous, go see it at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London!
🏺
Please understand that my cats are called enkidu and Gilgamesh 😅
July 17, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Please understand that my cats are called enkidu and Gilgamesh 😅
My last episode airs tonight!!! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... shout out to all those years spent around goats ;)
BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, The Dawn of Music, The Sound of Skin and Sinew
How did the farming of animals change our music making? Dr Brenna Hassett digs deeper.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 17, 2026 at 8:46 PM
My last episode airs tonight!!! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... shout out to all those years spent around goats ;)