Zoetrope Histories

This is a shameless plug for next term's courses with the WEA. For 11 weeks starting from the 15th in Cullercoats, and the 16th in Acklington, I will be running two-hour sessions for adults on the history of the English language, from the Anglo Saxons to the modern day. It's shaping up to be really good fun, covering everything from the strange stories behind many of our individual words, and why modern spelling is so confusing, to talking like an Elizabethan criminal or a Victorian lady. Give me a shout if you want more details! (the Acklington one is online at https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/201 8/CourseInfo.aspx… - the other should follow soon)

I've been trying to get my head around the Maya calendars (there are three, and they all work in completely different ways!). I've looked up my birthday - 9 Etznab, 6 Sak, 12.18.0.5.18, for anyone who wants to work out how old I am... Etznab means flint, obsidian, or blade, and can be associated with healing and self-sufficiency. Sak means "white storm" and is associated with change and daytime. Also my animal is a fish. Only one of these things rings true to me.... :)

Speaking of ochre, a piece has been in the news this month, as archaeologists have found the (currently) oldest ever piece of "art", a piece of ochre with cross hatched lines from around 73,000 years ago. It's interesting, but I prefer the earliest known British figurative art, carved onto bone about 10,500 years ago. Can you see what it is?

This week I'm doing three full-day Stone Age workshops, which includes trying out some cave painting techniques. It's more authentic than ever now that I've learned how to use simple earth pigments like ochre without them just blowing into dust when dry. The secret is to mix the earth pigments with milk powder!

Now that my lurgy is finally backing off, I had my first day as part of the English Heritage summer Hands On History crew today - a day at the beautiful Belsay Castle making Lego castles! (well, technically helping children make Lego castles. Mostly :) ) http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/…/ha nds-on-history-buil…/

A short visit to Segedunum today to watch the gladiators at training has reminded me I want to tell everyone about this - https://segedunumromanfort.org.uk/whats-o n/roman-lates - an idea I had a while ago which is finally coming to fruition, with games, food, drink, stories, music, make-up, and everything a Roman would want from a night out. Except the orgies and the bloodletting. Turns out you really can't have everything. But this should be really good fun nonetheless.

Telling children all about the Rainhill trials again tomorrow - in front of Rocket itself! A contest between two sensible entries, an extra-heavy one, one that had never been tested on actual rails... and a horse on a treadmill.

From the 11th of September, my WEA classes will tackle the topic of the supernatural in medieval and early modern Britain (well, mostly Britain, with a few forays). Tuesdays at Cullercoats, Wednesdays at Acklington. Meet the Green Children of Woolpit and the Drummer of Tedworth; learn which creature is the dragon's greatest enemy, how to make a witch bottle, and what to say to a vengeful medieval ghost... I'm looking forward to writing this one!

Maybe I should get one of these for my Maya workshops....!

I spent the morning at Vindolanda with That History Bloke, making our very own Roman face pots! Fingers crossed they survive the firing...

I was Florencing about at Marine Park, Whitley Bay, today, when Richard and I were shown something very special indeed...

Oooh, amazing new discoveries over in Guatemala - laser scanning has found thousands Maya structures hidden in the rainforest, mostly platforms for houses or causeway roads... It's now thought the population might have reached 15 million (book a workshop to find out more about their lives! :) ) www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42 916261

Harlow Green Primary impressively had put up pictures of our Anglo Saxon session before I'd even left the building! (The horrified expression of the boy holding the _beeswax_ candle, btw, is because someone had just told him that it was made of earwax :) https://www.harlowgreen.org/…/…/amazi ng-anglo-saxons-part-1/

One of my WEA students has sent me some photographs from last term's session on seventeenth century material culture, lots of fun was had...

Back into school for the first time in 2018, and also the first outing for my new improved Florence Nightingale dress, which has travelled to me from America!

I've just discovered this page: https://twitter.com/Jamie_Woodward_ - loads of amazing pictures of mammoths, wooly rhinos, and even cave lion cubs preserved in the permafrost...

This should be amazing! I've often pointed teachers in the direction of Otzi for further stone age inspiration... https://www.theguardian.com/…/otzi-icem an-mummy-brought-to-…

Today I have been some sort of rubbish superhero. Go into the staff toilet as an ordinary stone age person, and after half an hour, emerge as... Nightingale Woman!