I’m Dr ELEANOR SCOTT, an archaeologist & historian with a side-line in politics. I also cover ‘dig’ life; and there’s section on here about Gertrude Bell.
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Twitter/X @DrElScott. Contact me via the website.
NEWS: July 2024. I’m currently working on branching out on to Substack and audio (via this website and You Tube), and lining up lots of new content, most of which of which will continue to be free.
BELOW: PREVIOUS BLOG ARTICLES RELEVANT TO THE CASS REPORT. THESE POLITICIANS ARE NOT OFF THE HOOK.
Penny Mordaunt, THAT Mumsnet Webchat, and a Brewing Children’s Safeguarding Scandal
When ‘webchats’ with intelligent women go disastrously wrong … Herein lies a masterclass
THERE’S MORE ON POLITICS BELOW
In Archaeology Blog - ‘Musculoskeletal Disorders in Archaeologists Who Dig’
In Politics Blog - ‘Ed Balls Should Stick To Dad Dancing - Debate With Prof Stock Is Beyond Him’
In Politics Blog - ‘Penny Mordaunt Seeks Out Her Prime Directive’
In Politics Blog - ‘Phil Shaddock RIP - The Man Who Ate The Raffle Prize’
In Politics Blog - ‘Penny Mordaunt - All At Sea With Liz Truss’
In Politics Blog - ‘The “Support of Penny Mordaunt”? I’d Rather Trust a Fifth Columnist’
In Politics Blog - ‘Margaret Foster, Friend of the ‘Hancock Dynasty’, and Jacqui Hancock to be Voted on as Honorary Aldermen’
In Politics Blog - ‘The Unease Around Penny Mordaunt: A Mumsnet Explainer’
In Archaeology Blog - ‘Women in Archaeology: My Meeting with Dr Larch Garrad, Isle of Man’
In Politics Blog - ‘Mike Hancock and his ‘Category X’ Parliamentary Pass - his Victim ‘Annie’ Says ‘Enough’
Long Read in Archaeology Blog - ‘When Gertrude Met Vita: the Friendship of Gertrude Bell and Vita Sackville-West’
MORE GERTRUDE BELL
'How someone died is not always relevant to how they lived; but in the case of Gertrude Bell, I believe that the circumstances of her death tell us a great deal about how she felt about her own life'
Gertrude Bell, T E Lawrence, Sir Mark Sykes and the ‘Spanish Flu’
Gertrude Bell, Photographer: from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea
'The lack of interest in these photographs is an omission from the telling of the Bell story, I think, because these images and the friends who helped in their creation are part of Bell's beginning.'
Gertrude Bell led some impressive expeditions across the desert landscapes of the Middle East, but rarely was she without her baggage animals or a cart to carry her dinner service, provisions and equipment, and a servant (or two) to prepare her meals.
'These were the turbulent years when the Ottoman Empire was in decline and the western colonial powers – especially Britain – were busy creating modern political geography'
The monks gave us breakfast and the Rosens went off to a Lutheran service while I took a kavass and stood in the streets photographing the women
Hello and welcome to the main site hub.
Image links are below, full drop-down menu above. I’m on Twitter @DrElScott (clicky link at bottom of the page).
I'm Dr Eleanor Scott and I write primarily about archaeology and history, as well as inclusive practice (including food!) in the field and political issues of the day. It features an Archaeology Blog, Open Access articles, and some previously unpublished papers. The material is varied and includes Roman Britain, the classical world, infanticide, and Gertrude Bell. (I've now separated out a Dig Food Blog from the main Archaeology Blog.) I also have a Political Blog here, and I write a bit about Urban Life and urban bio-diversity. Thanks for reading.
ARCHAEOLOGY BLOG
Infanticidal Women: The Strange Resurgence Of Murder Trials In A Corner Of Modern England
Island Stories from the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Iceland
'That same night, the screaming started, as giant cockroaches flew into the communal awning and landed on people's backs and heads'
'As at Greenham, they acted against the grain of their landscapes towards the women, redefining their orthodox masculinities, and I think that that is worth acknowledging'
'Who's married to who?'
'And already - see? - the subject is fetishised’
POLITICS
Two Generations of Vigil and Protest
'How the Liberal Democrat Party tolerated Hancock - and they did tolerate him - and his beliefs and 'lifestyle' is one of the saddest chapters ever in liberal political history.'
Will imploding business plans make Portsmouth’s student sky-hutches redundant?
DIG FOOD BLOG
How and why to feed your volunteers well on a dig - and how and why to include and enable
'Food is essential, food is emotional and food is political. I think that the dig director who doesn’t ‘get’ this is seriously missing a trick'
Bulk food recipes you can make for everyone - in a cramped shed
'Dig food is dig fuel - never underestimate its importance for powering an excavation'
Vegan recipes for digs and fieldwork conditions
'I've never yet been on a dig where there wasn't at least one vegetarian or vegan. And there's always been a tedious ass-hat trying to wind them up - and that really needs to bite the dust'
'Welcome to the 2018 season of posts about inclusive fieldwork food for volunteers, students and staff on archaeological digs and fieldwork projects. ... in my view, no-one should be dissuaded from participating in fieldwork because of having a diabetic condition'
Recipes for mains, sides and desserts for a week and more, that are vegan AND gluten-free AND Type2-friendly
'This blog piece is part of a series that explores the relationship between food, well-being and inclusion in the field. It's a broad brush overview of what can be achieved, on a budget ... it's also about making a rainbow of inclusive food that looks like you want to eat it and will be satisfied by it in a fieldwork setting'
Preparation & store cupboard
'It is actually possible to perform a neat trick and to make decent meals on a dig or in a fieldwork setting that are vegetarian and vegan and gluten-free and compatible with eating plans recommended for people with Type 2 diabetes'
'vegan ... gluten-free ... and the acetic acid in vinegar can help to prevent blood-glucose "spikes" in people with eg Type-2 diabetes '
In Dig Food Blog - ‘Cheapo Meals: Tinned Tomatoes on Toast’ (the ultimate basic, from the 16th century)
In Dig Food Blog - ‘Cheapo Meals: Sardines on Toast’ (and other fishy stories)
In Dig Food Blog - ‘Cheapo Meals: Eggs on Toast’ (and other eggy stories)
In Dig Food Blog - ‘The Humble Mushroom - Is It Worth It?
In Dig Food Blog - ‘Are 30p Meals Really Possible, Including Hidden Costs? No, Not Really’
ARCHAEOLOGY PAPERS
Full PDF file - Open Access
'What is a villa?' 'Where might a field scatter of Roman material reasonably indicate the presence of a villa?'
MORE POLITICS BLOG
'This is my nature'
Hmm. Could there possibly be an Azerbaijan connection?
'... in the last few days I've been reading about the Football Association's (mis)handling of the Mark Sampson case, particularly the allegations of his poor conduct involving women, and the saga has perhaps inevitably planted elements of the Hancock debacle at the forefront of my brain again.'
THE URBAN LIFE BLOG
Cats, fecking fleas and what to do about it
Crow Freedom! Our rescue crow - Mortimer's story
This was a dilemma for us. The only circumstance where it's appropriate to rescue a wild bird is when it's injured and there is danger nearby - and this little bird was most definitely injured, still flightless, next to a main road and at the mercy of cats, dogs, foxes, rats, people and traffic
Don’t waste them - freeze them
'Trees are an extraordinarily cost-effective way of maintaining urban ecosystems for everyone's benefit. And our beautiful, fragile bats need them to survive'
'It's going to be up to individual city councillors to take a stand and do the right thing, as in Bromley - and not, as in Sheffield, do the wrong thing. These are, sadly, worrying times
Spring into Summer in the Urban Garden
I started this blog to chart our year, loving urban wildlife, growing herbs, fruits and vegetables, and cooking & eating what we grow.
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