The Library Ghost

    The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, began in Europe around 7,000 BCE with early farmers in the Balkans.  It spread across the continent, and lasted until about 2,000 BCE, when the European Bronze Age began.  Agriculture arrived in southeastern Europe from the Levant, along with new technologies, including pottery and domestication of animals.  One common change was the move from flaked stone tools to ground or pecked stone tools, which take longer to make.  Typical Neolithic artifacts of this type include spindle whorls, net weights, mace heads, and hoes or adzes. General information      The Benaki Museum. " Greek history - Neolithic period (6800-3200 BC) ." YouTube . April 4, 2017.     NOVA PBS Official. " Ötzi the Iceman: A 5,000-Year-Old True Crime Murder Mystery | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS ." YouTube . January 24, 2024. Architecture and engineering     Archaeology Now. " Tiny Lectures: Mysterious G...

      The mid-nineteenth century in Britain covers the first three decades of the Victorian era.  The United States struggles through the American Civil War, while France endures the fall of the Second Republic, followed by the brief Second Empire .  Further east sees the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire's loss in the Crimean War, and the unifications of both Germany and Italy.  General information      Durbin, Holly Poe. " Crinoline Era Consumerism ." YouTube . Posted October 18, 2020.     English Heritage. " Fashion Through History: Episode 1 – Victorians ." YouTube . Posted February 9, 2023.     Glasscock, Jessica. " Nineteenth-Century Silhouette and Support ." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.      Oshinsky, Sara J. " European Revivalism ." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolit...

    This post mainly covers the period from 1100 CE to 1400 CE, when the Italian Renaissance escapes containment.  Strangely, there is not a lot of material out there from historians or living history organizations...  A lot of these links are from the Met and other art history sources. General information     Cambrian Chronicles . " The Prince of Wales: What Everybody Gets Wrong ." YouTube . Posted October 17, 2022.      HistoryExtra. " Why medieval peasants were REVOLTING | What really caused the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 ." YouTube . Posted March 10, 2025.      History Hit. " What Was Everyday Life Like In Medieval Britain? " YouTube . Posted July 6, 2022.     Norris, Michael. " Feudalism and Knights in Medieval Europe ." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Architecture and engineering     CBS Sunday Morning. " Building a medieval castl...

    Sadly, there do not seem to be many public-facing videos on pre-decimal coinage in Britain, nor the sou/solidus system in continental Europe.  Let me know if you know of any videos or articles that cover the topic! General information      Birchwood, Vasi. " I Slept on a Medieval Mattress for a Week ." YouTube . March 7, 2025.     Draper, Jenny. " Sometimes They're John, Sometimes They're Eleanor: A Genderqueer Sex Worker In Medieval London ." YouTube . February 23, 2022.      Rowe, Kaz. " Debunking 6 Lies You've Been Told About the Middle Ages ." YouTube . November 1, 2020. Arts and architecture      Birchwood, Vasi. " I Tried Medieval Pottery ." YouTube . December 19, 2025.     Donner, Morgan. " Dissecting the Medieval Bed (and making one *mostly* from scratch!) ." YouTube . February 24, 2023.     Draper, Jenny. " 700-Year-Old Palace Ruins In London: The London History Sho...

    Another "Overview of Life in..." post, this time about the Roman Republic and Empire.  I highly recommend the Yale Course "Roman Architecture," which is completely free and a great introduction to it subject matter.  (Also, I would like everyone to notice all the ways in which I did not make this about ancient Mediterranean agriculture, even though my heart yearns for it.) General information      Beard, Mary. " Women to the Front ." British Museum . Posted March 6, 2024.      Khan Academy. " Roman social and political structures | World History | Khan Academy ." YouTube . Posted December 27, 2016.     Lightfoot, Christopher. " The Roman Empire (27 B.C.–393 A.D.) ." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.      Smarthistory. " Ancient Rome — Reborn — thanks to virtual reality ." YouTube . Posted May 14, 2019.     —. " The Roman Repub...

     In case anyone else ever needs a bibliography of works relating to oil and wine presses in antiquity... here they all are! Greece      Hadjisavvas, Sophocles and Chaniotis, Angelos. "Wine and olive oil in Crete and Cyprus: socio-economic aspects." British School at Athens Studies , Vol. 20 (2012), pp. 157–173.      Maniatis, George C. "The Byzantine Olive Oil Press Industry: Organization, Technology, Pricing Strategies." Byzantion , Vol. 82 (2012), pp. 259–277.      Margaritis, Evi and Jones, Martin. "Olive oil production in Hellenistic Greece: the interpretation of charred olive remains from the site of Tria Platania, Macedonia, Greece (fourth--second century B.C.)." Vegetation History and Archaeobotany , Vol. 17, No. 4 (July, 2008), pp. 393–401. Italy      Frezzotti, G. and Manni, M. Olive Oil Processing in Rural Mills . Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1956.  ...