Dave Spiller

PhD researcher in Late Antique archaeology and history. @trac_conference standing committee.

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

@ilikeadamsmith Cromwell was a soft touch on Christmas after the Long Parliament banned it. He put on England's first opera. He had an ink fight while signing Charles's death warrant. Say what you like about him but he was actually quite fun.

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

@CreativeDeduct @jimthegiant All four Green MPs have master's degrees. One has a PhD. Sian Berry's master's from Oxford is in metallurgy and Carla Denyer's from Durham is in mechanical engineering. You can go to state school and be well-educated.

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

TRAC-TiDA 2025 call for papers and posters!

Deadline: 31st August

https://t.co/phbpueHJsk

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

An absolute pleasure to review Todd Berzon's Classifying Christians for the new issue of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, great read if like me you long for that insight into the great Hippo's brain: https://t.co/euJ67XO4mg

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

@wylfcen And significantly, that lineage derived half its genetic ancestry from Brittonic and Latin speakers.

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

@BDSixsmith The point isn't that every single invasion was individually bad; D-Day was an invasion. The point is that Britain is not, historically, the non-militaristic modest little island it often likes to think of itself as.

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

IMPORTANT PLS SHARE. It's rumoured the English £9,250 tuition fee cap may be raised this pm for the 1st time in 8yrs, as University's finances are strained. As student finance misunderstandings abound, I've bashed out a few notes to help...

1. Higher tuition fees WON'T change what most pay each year. For most, they're paid for you by the student loans company and you repay afterwards only if you earn over the threshold. The amount you repay each year (9% over the threshold) solely depends on what you earn not on what you borrow.

2. Increasing tuition fees will only see those who clear the loan in full over the 40yrs pay more. That is generally mid-high to higher earning university leavers only, so the cost of increasing them will generally be born by the more affluent. Most lower and middle earning university leavers will simply pay 9% extra tax above the threshold for 40yrs (and higher tuition fees won't change that)

3. The rise is tuition fees is likely to be trivial compared to the changes the last govt made for 2023 starters. 2023 starters had their repayment thresholds dropped to £25,000 (from £27,295/yr) and had the time they had to keep repaying for (unless cleared) extended to 40years from 30years.

So these higher annual repayments for longer, increased by over 50% the amount many graduates will eventually have to pay back for going to university. Yet they were almost stealth changes because people can't intuitively feel the seismic impact.

Changing tuition fees is a more obvious rise, but in reality has far less of an impact on the amount most will repay (though combined with the 2023 changes it does certainly up the cost).

4. The biggest practical problem for students isnt tution fees (even if raised) its the fact maintenace loans aren't big enough. English maintenance loans have not kept pace with inflation. I'd urge the govt to couple the tuition fee loans with bigger living loans - if not it is a real risk to social mobility, with those from the poorest backgrounds likely to be worse affected.

I could write more, but will stop here, hopefully this gives an idea the issues are less straightforward than many feel.

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

Registration for Archaeo-Bodies workshop is now OPEN

9th December from 5:30 PM led by Dr Mauro Puddu, Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Ca' Foscari University of Venice

https://t.co/eY2DBnneGQ

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

Registration for Archaeo-Bodies workshop is now OPEN:

9th December

The bodies of archaeologists are essential to the life of archaeological sites - we will explore conditions under which archaeological sites are excavated, classified, politicised

https://t.co/eY2DBnmGRi

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

Registration for Archaeo-Bodies workshop is now OPEN

9th December from 5:30 PM led by Dr Mauro Puddu, Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Ca' Foscari University of Venice

https://t.co/eY2DBnmGRi

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

How does Roman archaeology deal with chronological uncertainty in its long study of changes to material culture? Hear from Christiane-Marie Cantwell

29th October

Do you have the time? Chronological Uncertainty and Cultural Change in the Roman Provinces'
https://t.co/n8GH8fKXzy

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

How does Roman archaeology deal with chronological uncertainty in its long study of changes to material culture? Hear from Christiane-Marie Cantwell

29th October

Do you have the time? Chronological Uncertainty and Cultural Change in the Roman Provinces'
https://t.co/n8GH8fLvp6

[mary beard @wmarybeard]

It would be nice if the media could see that what is really sexy about archaeology is the slow, aggregate of little discoveries and rethinking that change how we understand the past, not the over-hyped 'mega-discoveries' (that often aren't anyway). https://t.co/GJsu9sj7to

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

Don't forget to sign up for our upcoming webinar.

Christiane-Marie Cantwell from @UCamArchaeology will be giving a talk entitled:

Do you have the time? Chronological Uncertainty and Cultural Change in the Roman Provinces'

Book here: https://t.co/n8GH8fLvp6

@TheRomanSoc

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

https://t.co/KlCQJy6ZHj via @UKChange

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

@Baddiel Careful with the attribution though. No evidence of Deira ever having a dux even under Oswiu. This guy might not be totally legit.

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

The deadline for final submissions is fast approaching - if you’d like to be a part of the TRAC Webinar series 2024-25, please send us a 300-word abstract to [email protected]. More details below:

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

We are still actively searching for our next set of TRAC Webinar speakers for this October, open to researchers at all levels.

To submit a paper, please email a 300-word abstract as an attachment to [email protected] by 15th August 2024.

[TRAC @TRAC_conference]

Fancy taking part in a webinar series that engages with theoretical topics within Roman archaeology?
Look no further! Send us a 300-word abstract to [email protected] to get involved with our 2024/25 webinar series.
We look forward to reading your submission!

[Dave Spiller @davemspiller]

@AaronBastani I first went to Bishop Auckland for a dig in 2011. Practically a ghost town. Stayed in a grand old hotel run by a single employee. When I returned a few years later the change was palpable; shows just how easy it is for a town's fortunes to change.