Monthly Archives: December 2019

Goosefoot and ground elder

Earlier today I posted the following tweet: in response to an article on Phys.org that suggested that goosefoot could form an important food source. Well, if you’ve had amaranth in an Indian meal, or eaten quinoa, you’ve eaten Chenopodium. Goosefoot … Continue reading

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Seventeenth century robustness

Every year, I send out a Season’s Greetings tweet, usually enlivened by an amusing image I have shamelessly ripped off from somewhere. This year it came from some seventeenth century ballad sheet purely because the last two lines of the … Continue reading

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Masque and Commedia dell’Arte

Well it was Christmas Day Chez Moncur. We had feasted, talked, skyped those we should skype, phoned others and by mid evening we were heading for that Christmas day slump provoked by a combination of turkey, ham, champagne and mince … Continue reading

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Langurs and early iron age trade in the Arabian sea

Earlier today, I tweeted a link to a New Scientist report that a monkey in a Minoan wall painting from Thera had been identified as possibly a Grey langur from the Indus valley, a couple of thousand kilometres from Thera … Continue reading

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The Lofty Viol

Saturday night, and what to do? Well last night J and I went to a concert – the Lofty Viol of English early music in the old town hall, just 5 minutes walk from our house. And it was a … Continue reading

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Evidence for an early Christian site in Bahrain

A long time ago, I became fascinated with the story of Sighelm the ealdorman and whether he ever made it to India. This minor obsession broadened into a wider fascination with early travel and a possible pilgrim route via the … Continue reading

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