Eleven Years Of Blogging [Aardvarchaeology]

Today is Aard’s tenth anniversary! And 16 December was my eleventh anniversary as a blogger, since I blogged at Blogspot for over a year before I came to Scienceblogs.

2016 has been a good year for the blog’s traffic: about 540 daily readers which is better than 2014 and 2015, very encouraging! It hasn’t been a great year for me professionally though, with a number of really bad disappointments in academia, mostly related to nepotism, and quite a lot of financial worries. The latter luckily turned out to be unfounded. And I’m pleased with having directed my biggest excavation yet and published my first pop-sci book. Also it’s been a really good year for me as a dad.

Of course, many people will remember 2016 for big triumphs of right-wing populism in the UK and US, and for a sad string of celebrity deaths. I say let’s remember that Austria elected a Green president over a Brown one, and Keith Richards is not only still alive but still touring!

As for my blogging plans for 2017, I don’t foresee any particular changes, largely because I have nothing particular planned for other aspects of my life. As far as I know today I’ll spend 2017 finishing a book on the Medieval castles of Östergötland at 75% while editing Fornvännen at 25%. You’ll find me here, Dear Reader.