Archaeology Books for Fun

How did a museum catalog number convince a man he was a reincarnated Egyptian? In Part 2 of Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past by Jeb J. Card, Tristan and Barbara talk about chapters 4 and 5. They discuss how hieroglyphs, mummies and lost civilizations like Atlantis became magnets for Victorian occultism and pop culture myths. Along the way they meet King Tut’s curse, Martian met...

What's it like to watch the moon rise over a 2,000-year-old lunar observatory, and see a meteor streak across the sky? In this special episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, Tristan talks with James W. Graham, author of Where the Moon Stands Still: Revealing the Cosmic Genius of Ohio's Indigenous Earthworks . They discuss how a journalist came to tell the story of the Newark Earthworks, a H...

Why did the Anglo-Saxons look at ancient monuments and name them Elf Burrow and Goblin Hill? And why does that make us want to visit? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan begin Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past by Jeb J. Card, a surprisingly funny book about how folklore, the occult, and archaeology have been tangled together from the...

Why did a hundred people have to sneak onto a golf course to watch the moon rise over a two-thousand-year-old observatory? In this series finale of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan close out Where the Moon Stands Still: Revealing the Cosmic Genius of Ohio's Indigenous Earthworks by James W. Graham with the long fight over who gets to access the Newark Earthworks. This...

What if a two-thousand-year-old earthwork in Ohio tracked the moon more precisely than anyone thought possible, and nobody believed it? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan continue Where the Moon Stands Still: Revealing the Cosmic Genius of Ohio's Indigenous Earthworks by James W. Graham, as a philosopher and an astronomer discover that the Newark Earth...

Could a two-thousand-year-old earthwork in Ohio really be built to follow the moon and what happens when two skeptics set out to prove it couldn't? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan begin a brand-new book, "Where the Moon Stands Still: Revealing the Cosmic Genius of Ohio's Indigenous Earthworks" by James W. Graham, following a philosopher and an astro...

How did online volunteers help uncover 50 previously unrecorded Nazca lines? In this series finale of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan close out Archaeology from Space by Sarah Parcak with its most hopeful idea: that anyone can join the search. Through crowdsourcing projects like her own GlobalXplorer°, volunteers scanning satellite imagery helped record 14,000 new sit...

Will robots and drones replace archaeologists? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak and her vision of the field's high-tech future, from "dig bots" and machine learning to thermal imaging and portable chemical scanners. They also follow her satellite hunt for a lost Egyptian capital, where space-shuttle e...

What does an entire buried city look like from space? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak and the chapter where satellite imagery uncovers the buried Egyptian city of Tanis (the real city Indiana Jones races to find in Raiders of the Lost Ark) revealing its streets, suburbs, and houses from orb...

Can satellites really find lost Viking settlements? In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan dig into "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak, following her satellite search for Norse sites along the coast of North America and Newfoundland. They unpack how buried turf longhouses reveal themselves from orbit through subtle changes in vegetation, wh...

In this episode of Archaeology Books for Fun, archaeologists Barbara and Tristan kick off their discussion of "Archaeology from Space" by Sarah Parcak, exploring how satellite imagery and remote sensing technology are transforming the way archaeologists find and study sites around the world. From Cold War spy satellites declassified in 1995 to a study estimating 18,000 unrecorded pre-Col...

This is the finale of Mary Anna Evans' archaeology-themed murder mystery "Relics", and the last stretch is pure chaos with answers, motives, and a whole lot of running for your life. In this episode, Barbara and Tristan wrap up the story with the final reveals, the fallout from the forgery scheme, and the motives behind what’s been happening in (and around) the dig. Even with all of...

This episode pulls back the curtain on an artifact forgery scheme in "Relics: A Faye Longchamp Mystery" by Mary Anna Evans; and suddenly a lot of earlier “weird stuff” starts to make sense. Barbara and Tristan unpack another mysterious death, a forgery ring moving fake antiquities, and a little relationship drama. Was it murder? Who’s behind the fakes? And has Joe finally found love? ___...

Destroying an artifact will do it, especially on an archaeological dig. In this episode, Barbara and Tristan continue "Relics" by Mary Anna Evans (Ch. 11–13), an archaeology-themed murder mystery. The mystery keeps building, the fieldwork drama escalates, and we break down the real-world archaeology and crew dynamics behind what’s happening on the page; all while puzzling our way through...

Was it a murder, or an accident? In part 2 (Ch. 6-10) of Mary Anna Evans' archaeology murder mystery "Relics" kicks off the mystery, while still giving Barbara and Tristan plenty of archaeology to dig into along the way. After a near-disaster of a date and a deadly bunkhouse fire, Faye finds yet another disaster in the “excavation” work done so far. ____ Support the show! https://www.fpan.us/give/

"Relics" by Mary Anna Evans is an archaeology-themed murder mystery, and we’re reading Chapters 1-5. What do “buffalo wallows” have to do with archaeology? Unfortunately… more than they should in this episode. We're kicking off the archaeology-themed murder mystery "Relics" by Mary Anna Evans (Ch. 1–5) and, even though nobody dies (yet), an archaeological site has still been murdered. Archaeologis...

Ancient horse history and archaeology: how horses spread across the ancient world, by sea to Japan, the Americas, Australasia, and even (briefly) Antarctica. With one boat, one horse, two rowers. Not the most efficient, but it was the best choice at the time. In this final Hoof Beats episode, Barbara and Tristan bring the story of humans and horses to the present. We cover how horses reached every...

How do you go from chariots to horseback riding? Archaeologists Barbara and Tristan explore what archaeology says about early horse riding, the development of bridles and other riding gear, and how horses reshaped power in the ancient world. And then there’s the weird, awkward transition stage: ancient Assyrian art shows two horses tethered together with a rider on each, one steering and one fight...

Why were ancient horses so difficult to domesticate? Archaeologists Barbara and Tristan explore what archaeology reveals about horse domestication, why it took so long to happen, and how these fast, high-strung animals shaped early human societies. Long before riding was common, horses were hitched to carts, literally putting the cart before the horse. What does that struggle tell us about ancient...

Did you know that ancient horses had toes? In this episode, Barbara learns all about them, and is not entirely comfortable with the idea. We’re kicking off a new book focused on the long relationship between horses and humans. We talk about how horses evolved, what early horses were like during the Ice Age, and what those first encounters between humans and horses may have looked like (and why the...

What is public archaeology, anyway? If we’re not digging in the dirt every day, what do public archaeologists actually do? In this short, conversational episode, we talk about our work in public archaeology, from cemetery conferences to 3D printing to journaling, we reflect on what we’re excited about in the year ahead. This episode is a little different from our usual format. Next time, we’ll kic...

Giant stone heads. Nomadic empires. Arctic survival. And a mysterious Bronze Age calendar. In this episode, we explore five more overlooked ancient cultures: the Olmec, Scythians, Thule Inuit, Únětice, and Xiongnu, and what they reveal about power, belief, and innovation in the ancient world. ___ We’re now on Goodreads, Instagram, and Threads! Follow us for episode updates, book thoughts, archaeol...

This episode features five ancient cultures: the Moche and Nok, known for their striking portraiture; the Mississippians and Nubians, famous for their pyramids and monumental architecture; and the Nabateans, who carved out their own distinct legacy in the rock-cut city of Petra. We’re especially excited to revisit the Mississippians and Moche, two cultures that featured in earlier episodes, and to...

We’re back with five more ancient cultures that don’t always get the spotlight, the Indus Valley, Lapita, Jōmon, Marajoara, and Minoans. The influence of these societies stretched across continents and left behind clues about everything from trade routes to foodways. We once again get excited about ancient sewage and plumbing, systems that were absolutely essential to keeping ancient citizens heal...

From horses and chariots to sewers and city-states, we’re diving into five fascinating, lesser-known ancient cultures. We’re kicking off "The Other Ancient Civilisations" by Raven Todd Da Silva (aka Dig it with Raven)! In this episode, we shine a light on: the Akkadians, Dilmun, Etruscans, Great Zimbabwe, and the Hittites. Whether you're new to these civilizations or brushing up, you...