The Machine Barrow
@machinebarrow.bsky.social
Field studies and recovered material. Contemporary archaeology, deep time, lost futures, occultaria and the avant-garde. Home of Abyssal Press, Abyssal Press Editions and Carrier Wave.
All Souls' Day. In Brittany the last person to die in a parish each year was said to become its Ankou, death's servant, for the year after. The alignments of Kermario at Carnac: about a thousand stones in rows over 1.1 kilometres. Postcard, 1900–30. Library of Congress. #megaliths
November 2, 2026 at 8:01 AM
All Souls' Day. In Brittany the last person to die in a parish each year was said to become its Ankou, death's servant, for the year after. The alignments of Kermario at Carnac: about a thousand stones in rows over 1.1 kilometres. Postcard, 1900–30. Library of Congress. #megaliths
All Saints' Day. 'The orphans at their mother's grave', Melander & Bro., Chicago, 1889. The mother is there too, top right, laid into the plate as a second, fainter exposure. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #ghosts #stereograph
November 1, 2026 at 8:00 AM
All Saints' Day. 'The orphans at their mother's grave', Melander & Bro., Chicago, 1889. The mother is there too, top right, laid into the plate as a second, fainter exposure. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #ghosts #stereograph
Halloween. 'The ghost', a stereograph by L. M. Melander & Bro., Chicago, about 1874. She is see-through because she stood in the scene for only part of the exposure. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #Halloween #ghosts
October 31, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Halloween. 'The ghost', a stereograph by L. M. Melander & Bro., Chicago, about 1874. She is see-through because she stood in the scene for only part of the exposure. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #Halloween #ghosts
Inside the Table des Marchands at Locmariaquer, a Neolithic passage grave. The pointed backstone is carved with rows of crooks. The roof slab is one piece of a huge carved stone, and another piece roofs the tomb at Gavrinis, four kilometres away. Postcard, 1900–30. Library of Congress. #megaliths
October 30, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Inside the Table des Marchands at Locmariaquer, a Neolithic passage grave. The pointed backstone is carved with rows of crooks. The roof slab is one piece of a huge carved stone, and another piece roofs the tomb at Gavrinis, four kilometres away. Postcard, 1900–30. Library of Congress. #megaliths
The Hammersmith Ghost, February 1804. In January an excise officer out hunting the ghost shot dead Thomas Millwood, a bricklayer in white work clothes. Francis Smith was convicted of murder; the sentence became a year's hard labour. Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0, cropped and greyscaled by us.
October 29, 2026 at 8:01 AM
The Hammersmith Ghost, February 1804. In January an excise officer out hunting the ghost shot dead Thomas Millwood, a bricklayer in white work clothes. Francis Smith was convicted of murder; the sentence became a year's hard labour. Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0, cropped and greyscaled by us.
The Horn Dance at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, photographed by Alfred Parker in September 1893. Six dancers carry reindeer antlers, and one was radiocarbon dated in 1976 to about 1065, give or take eighty years. It is still danced every September. Cecil Sharp, Sword Dances, 1911. #folkcustom
October 28, 2026 at 8:02 AM
The Horn Dance at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, photographed by Alfred Parker in September 1893. Six dancers carry reindeer antlers, and one was radiocarbon dated in 1976 to about 1065, give or take eighty years. It is still danced every September. Cecil Sharp, Sword Dances, 1911. #folkcustom
A 'spirit' photograph, John K. Hallowell and the photographer S. W. Fallis, Chicago, 24 February 1901. The faces that ring the sitter are cut-outs laid over the plate. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #spiritphotography #ghosts
October 27, 2026 at 8:03 AM
A 'spirit' photograph, John K. Hallowell and the photographer S. W. Fallis, Chicago, 24 February 1901. The faces that ring the sitter are cut-outs laid over the plate. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #spiritphotography #ghosts
A dolmen in a farmyard at Erdeven, near Carnac, 1858, with a wooden bench set in front of it and three people standing in its shade. Henry Taylor's photograph, from J. M. Jephson's Narrative of a Walking Tour in Brittany, 1859. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #megaliths
October 26, 2026 at 8:01 AM
A dolmen in a farmyard at Erdeven, near Carnac, 1858, with a wooden bench set in front of it and three people standing in its shade. Henry Taylor's photograph, from J. M. Jephson's Narrative of a Walking Tour in Brittany, 1859. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #megaliths
The wicker image. Caesar wrote that some of the Gauls built huge figures of woven osier, filled them with living men and set them alight. He was describing people he was at war with. Etching by J. Smith after Richard Verstegan and Aylett Sammes. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #folkhorror
October 25, 2026 at 8:00 AM
The wicker image. Caesar wrote that some of the Gauls built huge figures of woven osier, filled them with living men and set them alight. He was describing people he was at war with. Etching by J. Smith after Richard Verstegan and Aylett Sammes. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #folkhorror
The Heygate Estate site, Elephant & Castle, December 2017. The estate was finished in 1974 with 1,214 homes. Its tenants were moved out from 2007 and the blocks came down between 2011 and 2014. The scheme that replaced it promised 2,704 homes, 82 of them at social rent.
October 24, 2026 at 8:00 AM
The Heygate Estate site, Elephant & Castle, December 2017. The estate was finished in 1974 with 1,214 homes. Its tenants were moved out from 2007 and the blocks came down between 2011 and 2014. The scheme that replaced it promised 2,704 homes, 82 of them at social rent.
Ricking the Reed. P. H. Emerson photographed the reed cutters of the Norfolk Broads, whose reed went for thatch, for Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads, made with the painter T. F. Goodall. P. H. Emerson, 1886. Library of Congress. #photography #Norfolk
October 23, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Ricking the Reed. P. H. Emerson photographed the reed cutters of the Norfolk Broads, whose reed went for thatch, for Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads, made with the painter T. F. Goodall. P. H. Emerson, 1886. Library of Congress. #photography #Norfolk
Rows of menhirs in the fields on Ménec, near Carnac, photographed by Henry Taylor in 1858 for J. M. Jephson's Narrative of a Walking Tour in Brittany. The Ménec rows run for about a kilometre. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #megaliths #Carnac
October 22, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Rows of menhirs in the fields on Ménec, near Carnac, photographed by Henry Taylor in 1858 for J. M. Jephson's Narrative of a Walking Tour in Brittany. The Ménec rows run for about a kilometre. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. #megaliths #Carnac
The Nut, from the Earsdon sword dance, Northumberland. The dancers weave their swords into a five-pointed star that locks itself together, and the leader raises it. Cecil Sharp read these dances as the remains of an animal sacrifice. Cecil Sharp, Sword Dances of Northern England, 1911. #folkcustom
October 21, 2026 at 8:01 AM
The Nut, from the Earsdon sword dance, Northumberland. The dancers weave their swords into a five-pointed star that locks itself together, and the leader raises it. Cecil Sharp read these dances as the remains of an animal sacrifice. Cecil Sharp, Sword Dances of Northern England, 1911. #folkcustom
Stonehenge, 1901. Stone 56 had leaned for years, and while it was winched upright in a timber cradle William Gowland dug around its foot. He had learned to excavate on burial mounds in Japan, and his finds showed the monument was older than metal. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #Stonehenge
October 19, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Stonehenge, 1901. Stone 56 had leaned for years, and while it was winched upright in a timber cradle William Gowland dug around its foot. He had learned to excavate on burial mounds in Japan, and his finds showed the monument was older than metal. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #Stonehenge
EQUALITY by Peter Drew over the bed, and on the wall beside it Seletti's Love in Bloom Giant heart vase, designed by Marcantonio.
October 17, 2026 at 8:01 AM
EQUALITY by Peter Drew over the bed, and on the wall beside it Seletti's Love in Bloom Giant heart vase, designed by Marcantonio.
Death and the Maiden, after the dance of death painted on the wall of the Dominican cemetery at Basel during the Council of Basel. The wall came down in 1805, and we know it largely from prints like this. Etching attributed to J.-A. Chovin. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #dansemacabre
October 15, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Death and the Maiden, after the dance of death painted on the wall of the Dominican cemetery at Basel during the Council of Basel. The wall came down in 1805, and we know it largely from prints like this. Etching attributed to J.-A. Chovin. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #dansemacabre
'If there is No Warning.' A flash of heat and light lasting about twenty seconds, then after an interval the blast wave, as thunder follows lightning. Do not look at the flash. Advising the Householder, HMSO, 1963. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #ColdWar #CivilDefence
October 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM
'If there is No Warning.' A flash of heat and light lasting about twenty seconds, then after an interval the blast wave, as thunder follows lightning. Do not look at the flash. Advising the Householder, HMSO, 1963. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #ColdWar #CivilDefence
Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton, hanged at Tyburn for witchcraft on 19 April 1621. Her case was a pamphlet soon afterwards and a play, The Witch of Edmonton, the same year. This portrait was etched in 1794. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #witchcraft #history
October 13, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton, hanged at Tyburn for witchcraft on 19 April 1621. Her case was a pamphlet soon afterwards and a play, The Witch of Edmonton, the same year. This portrait was etched in 1794. Wellcome Collection, public domain. #witchcraft #history
Two vocabularies run through the talk about AI, one for how the thing works and an older one for what it is to us. The second is usually waved off as loose metaphor. Circle and Triangle takes it seriously. https://themachinebarrow.substack.com/p/circle-and-triangle
October 12, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Two vocabularies run through the talk about AI, one for how the thing works and an older one for what it is to us. The second is usually waved off as loose metaphor. Circle and Triangle takes it seriously. https://themachinebarrow.substack.com/p/circle-and-triangle
