Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland

@womenof1000

Art & research project illustrating the lives of women from around the world 1000 years ago: PhD student at Edinburgh Uni in Celtic & Scottish Studies, researching herring gutters & their music. she/her, disabled 🏳️‍🌈

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Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 17d

Slowly making progress...

Closeup of part of a sketchbook page. An Indigenous Nicaraguan woman has wide eyes and is wearing a lot of body paint. Her necklace is a humanoid snuff inhaler. You can see tobacco plants in the process of being drawn with coloured pencils behind her.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 19d

Things are getting psychedelic in the next Women of 1000 picture set in Nicaragua. Stay tuned... 🍄🐆

Closeup of a drawing in ink and pencil. It's a fisheye lens view of a woman with wide eyes and dilated pupils, wearing makeup and a necklace with jaguar teeth and a humanoid inhaler.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 20d

Artists! Show your long hair art!

A Japanese woman with long black hair sits at a black lacquered writing desk. The green blinds are up on part of the wall of the room, letting in the moonlight. She looks out at the moonlit garden with a somewhat melancholy, pensive expression. She wears voluminous purple robes that spill across the floor behind her. She holds an ink brush above a blank scroll of paper. Behind her in the room are a biwa lute and a black lacquered cabinet.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 21d

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you heal well and soon. Here's a pic of my kitty Merlin. He brings lots of joy! And heartbreak when he doesn't want to hang out with me...

Photo of a grey and white cat with amber eyes and a pink nose looking out of a box. You can see pink geraniums and a garden through the window behind him.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 25d

Ooh, excited to check this book out! I've got some illustrations of women in African kingdoms from the year 1000 if you're interested in checking them out on my website. womenof1000ad.weebly.com/africa.html

Ghanjaya and Azasenaa, an illustration set in medieval Chad of a queen and her new daughter-in-law, riding a horse and a camel

The Spirit Mediums of Sanga, an illustration of two women performing a ritual in the Classic Kisalian kingdom in the Congo

The Merchant Wives of Tadmekka, an illustration of three Tuareg women at a market

The Royal Dancer of Gao, an illustration of a woman dancing at a royal ceremony in Mali

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 27d

Second place goes to the School of Scottish Studies Archives in Edinburgh! I spent every day here for 3 months during my masters and loved every minute of it.

Stone terraced buildings in Edinburgh. The archive is on the far left of the image and has a blue sign next to the door.

Closeup showing the stair railing in front of the door to the archive. The door is black, and there is a pretty white geometric design framing the glass above.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 27d

My favourite archive exterior has got to be Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick.

Photo of the outside of the Shetland Museum and Archives at the golden hour. The building has a long shed-like part, then three stone triangular parts, and finally a wooden part that sticks out and resembles the sail of a ship.

Building from another angle in daytime. Here you can see the wooden sail-like part from a different angle. There are boats on the beach in front of it.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 28d

This is the truth! There are trans people included in my Women of 1000 series. You can go to the 'Queer Women' section on this page of the website if you want to learn more about their stories. womenof1000ad.weebly.com/women-by-the...

Two Filipino women are performing a ritual on a woven mat outside. One is an old woman sitting and the other is standing and dancing slowly. The old woman pours rice wine out of a white jug with a phoenix head. The younger woman holds a flail of dried palms. They are wearing detailed, colourful textiles and a lot of gold jewellery. On the mat are offerings of hibiscus flowers and rice balls, and the two ritual musical instruments of a conch shell and a bamboo trumpet. Behind them is a balete tree with a Philippine long-tailed macaque watching them from beneath it. The carved pillars of a torogan house are in the background, with a cat in shadow peeking out from behind one. Mountains and forests are in the distance

Two Samoans stand laughing together outside a fale house. On the left is a woman holding her stomach laughing. On the right is a fa’afafine with her hand to her face in laughter. They are both wearing flowers in their hair. The woman has a necklace of snail shells and a skirt made of an ‘ie toga or fine mat, while the fa’afafine wears a teuila ‘ula (ginger flower necklace) and siapo barkcloth skirts. Behind them is a vista of plumeria flowers and cliffs overlooking an ocean bay.

A transgender Indigenous woman smiles up at the sky. She has linear tattoos on her cheeks and chin. The skin beneath her lip is pierced with two long stone labrets, and she has amber and bone beads hanging from her nostrils. Her hair is tied back in a bun, and her bangs move gently in the breeze. Behind her is a rocky coastal landscape and distant mountains. A northern fulmar flies overhead.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· 29d

"I'm Batman"

Ceramic red pedestal bowl that has a figure of a man turning into a bat on it. The decoration is elaborate. The object is from Costa Rica and dates to between 300 BC and AD 300. Image from the website of the Denver Art Museum.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jul 10

Still plugging away at The Jaguar Within for Women of 1000 research. For fiction, I'm enjoying Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky got more tedious as it went on, so this is a very different take on post-apoc robots to read after it. Plus, the cover rocks!

Cover of the book The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art by Rebecca R. Stone. The cover features a ceramic figure of a shaman's head with animal fangs and wide eyes. There are multicoloured circles radiating out from the figure.

The cover of Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. A golden robot arm is holding chopsticks to pick up red and purple thick biang biang noodles from an orange container. Below is an orange San Francisco cityscape with golden robots superimposed on top.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jul 9

Seriously depressing to see generative AI art used in presentations at @imc-leeds.bsky.social this year. Images like this being used to illustrate historical sites are poor methodology.

Closeup of an AI generated image meant to illustrate a medieval site. There is floating headscarf around an invisible person, and a boy wearing modern clothing (a grey hoodie, black jeans, and modern shoes.)

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jul 7

SO much fun listening to a talk at @imc-leeds.bsky.social about Sophia and Adelheid's role in the election of Henry II in 1002. Laurence Leleu argues that they were originally on opposing sides of the conflict before an incident at one of their feasts in April 1002. Here's my pic of the sisters!

Two white women walk down the hallway of a medieval cloister. They are wearing splendid robes in gold, red and blue. Through one of the cloister windows, a garden can be seen. The two women are engaged in a heated discussion.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jul 3

What's everyone reading, heading into the weekend? I've got a thesis read, a Women of 1000 read, and a fiction for fun read!

Cover of James Nott's 'Going to the Palais: A Social and Cultural History of Dancing and Dance Halls in Britain, 1918-1960.' It shows people in recoloured photo style standing outside a dance hall.

Cover of Rebecca R. Stone's book 'The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art.' It shows a ceramic effigy of a person snarling with jaguar teeth and very wide eyes, with spirtals in different colours emanating from the effigy.

The cover of 'Service Model' by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It shows a robot holding a teapot silhouetted against a green urban landscape and moon.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 30

Advertise your account with a Simpsons image

Meme of Marge Simpson holding a potato. The potato is labelled "Women of 1000," and Marge is captioned saying, "I just think they're neat."

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 27

🌈 If you see this, quote with your art to celebrate Pride 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Two middle-aged Indigenous Patagonian women sit around the fire. They are both wearing guanaco skin cloaks with intricate patterns painted on the outside. The one on the left looks up at the constellation Crux, while the one on the right gazes at her with a fond smile. There are two dogs sleeping by the fire on either side. Behind Crux is a long pink and blue nebula in the night sky.

Two white nuns kiss against a tree in an orchard. One has her legs wrapped around the other while she is pressed against an apple tree. The apples hang from branches above them. The orchard also has a hazelnut tree and a pear tree, with stone grave slabs laid into the ground between the trees. A painted high cross casts a long shadow that doesn’t quite reach the women.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 18

I included these socks in this illustration of a Persian noblewoman, Cihrzād duxt bin Silēxūr!

A Persian woman reclines on an ornate wooden bench with cushions. She is wearing gold jewellery and colourfully embroidered tunic, trousers, and socks with slippers. A Saluki dog sits below her on a red and gold carpet decorated with horses and elk. The wall is decorated with mosaics and painted stucco. Two large windows open out onto a view of mountains covered in trees. A brass brazier burns in the corner over a tiled floor. Small blue stained glass squares cast reflections on the floor.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 18

What a stunning reconstruction, engagingly presented!! My fave images are this rather sapphic Mary and Elizabeth, the lost pilgrims with their hats, and the Miracle of the Dyer!

Surviving medieval painting on stone showing Mary and Elizabeth embracing. Mary has Elizabeth's chin in her hand and leans in.

Reconstructed painting of two English pilgrims meeting an old man who is actually St John in the Holy Land. They are wearing wide-brimmed hats and cloaks.

Reconstructed painting of the Miracle of the Dyer. Mary looks on as Jesus miraculously removes the black dye from the textiles. The dyer looks like he is concentrating and maybe in awe.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 16

Post the best picture you have ever taken of your pet (if you feel like it):

Merlin, a grey and white cat, as a kitten. He is sitting on the back of a green chair and looking up at an unknown sight, his expression one of refined curiosity.

Merlin, a grey and white cat, standing on a bookshelf. He is squishing his head against the book above him, perhaps attempting to learn Gaelic literature through osmosis.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 16

Introduce yourself with four video games

Cover of the Sims 2. Shows a group of Sims interacting with each other or looking at the player.

Cover of the GameBoy Advance version of The Urbz: Sims in the City. Shows three Urbz on an orange city background.

Cover of the Gamecube game Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. Shows the farmer boy with the three bachelorettes and some farm animals and babies.

Cover of the Gamecube game Super Smash Bros Melee. Shows Mario, Link, Bowser and Pikachu fighting.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 15

What is everyone reading? I'm taking notes for my thesis on this great new book about relationships and family in Scotland.

Book cover. Turquoise background with a black and white photo of Scottish people on top of a photo stack. The cover text reads: "Working-Class Courtship, Marriage, and Divorce in Scotland, 1855-1939" by Eleanor Gordon, Jeff Meek, and Katie Barclay

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 12

Join me in the Andaman Islands for the latest Women of 1000 AD story~ womenof1000ad.weebly.com/yare.html #MedievalSky #Skystorians 🗃️ Thanks to @norree.bsky.social for help adjusting the scan!

A young Andamanese woman sits on dirt steps reinforced with bamboo. She has white diamond patterns painted on her dark skin and short cropped black hair. She wears ornaments of shell and bark on her legs, ankles, waist and neck. A human skull painted in strips of red hangs on her back. She is smoking a crab claw pipe and looking pensively out to the sunrise over the sea.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 9

My great-aunt Ann was one of these women! Here she is with her mother, my great-grandmother Margaret Campbell, in the 1980s. Both Margaret and Ann lived to 100! Aunt Ann was a real character. She never married - "And it wasn't that I wasn't asked!" and travelled the world skiing and birdwatching.

Black and white photo of two white women wearing coats and standing with trees.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 9

I saw people are sharing their header images. Here's mine! You've got women here from pre-modern Peru, Spain, Mexico, Japan, American Samoa, the Netherlands, Mali, the Gila River Indian Community, Afghanistan, and Argentina! #MedievalSky #Skystorians 🗃️

10 vertical panels showing women from my historical illustrations

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 6

Sneak peek of my next Women of 1000 pic, set in the Andaman Islands over a thousand years ago!

Closeup of a sketchbook page. A young Andamanese woman is outlined in ink, and her skin and hair are slowly being coloured in. She has elaborate white clay patterns on her skin and is smoking a crab claw pipe.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· Jun 1

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride from Women of 1000! 🏳️‍🌈 Guess what ... women have always been queer! That's just history, folks!

Illustration of Murasaki Shikibu, a medieval Japanese author, pondering a love letter she's about to write to a woman

Illustration of two baylan priestesses, at least one of whom is trans, in the pre-colonial Philippines

Cis woman and a fa'afafine, aka a transfeminine person, laughing together in pre-modern American Samoa

Two lesbian nuns making out against a tree in a graveyard in medieval England

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· May 25

Ayy, it's apparently #GlobalAfricaDay! If you want to learn some stories about women of medieval Africa, check out the dedicated section on my website! womenof1000ad.weebly.com/africa.html #MedievalSky #Skystorians 🗃️

A Black woman with thin golden chains hanging down from a headdress over her body sits astride a horse. She is looking appraisingly at a young Black woman sitting on a camel, who returns her gaze. The woman on the horse has elaborate jewellery, and her horse is decorated with silver and gold. The woman on the camel is wrapped in a colourful headscarf. Behind them are dunes in the sun.

Two Black women are at the side of a lake. One is sitting on an unseen stool. Her face is painted white with chalk, and she wears an elaborate headdress with feathers, furs, shell beads, and copper chains. She is shaking a gourd rattle and has her eyes closed. The other woman is crouching beside her, ringing a large copper bell in one hand. She has smaller bells tied to her belt, and she has a necklace with an ivory figurine. Her hair is arranged in a complicated stepped hairstyle held together with iron pins. Both women have modified front teeth and scarification patterns on their bodies, and they are both singing.

Three Tuareg women gather at a market. They are wearing red robes with gold embroidery and indigo cloaks. Two have short hair with a fringe, while the other wears her hair in long braids and has on an embroidered cap. Behind them is a market scene, with a merchant calling them over. The two short-haired women look interested and flirtatious, while the third woman frowns. One of the short-haired women holds a large bowl of green, blue and brown. All three of the women wear elaborate golden earrings, bracelets and pectorals, as well as glass bead necklaces.

A Jewish woman stirs cloth inside a dye vat. The metal vat is sitting over a brick oven with a flame visible at the front. The woman wears a simple brown robe with a green veil held around her face by a blue cloth band over her forehead. The liquid and cloth in the vat are green. An oxidized blue cloth hangs to dry on a stand, and there is a sack with undyed white cloth behind the woman. Outside the workshop window is a street scene.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· May 23

Happy #WorldTurtleDay! Here's a piece from 2019 of a little girl encountering a turtle in Ua Huka, French Polynesia, over a thousand years ago. People followed the turtles to settle islands like Ua Huka. 🐢🇵🇫

A brown-skinned baby with dark curly hair crawls across the beach. She is looking curiously at a turtle in the foreground. Behind her, two women sit reclining and talking. Their arms, faces and legs are tattooed. They are sitting in front of dunes that give way to a sloping jungle background.

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· May 23

I'm a simple person...

Fake title card from Star Trek the Animated Series: GAS CLOUD OF URANUS written by P.P. Ouranous

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· May 16

lol

How many have you read? You've read 7 of 100 out of the Guardian's Best Novels

Women of 1000 || Meg Hyland@womenof1000· May 16

In the year 1000, their family was granted special aristocratic privileges that would be inherited through her maternal line.