Archaeological Context

Historical accounts, archaeological data and recent environmental research brought to light multiple accounts, where the fates of entire civilizations have been affected by climatic events and resulting social conflict. In this episode of archaeological context, we focus on the first century BCE in the eastern Mediterranean region. A period marked by the end of the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty i...

The myth of El Dorado played a significant role in driving the European conquistadors to explore and conquer large parts South America starting in the sixteenth century CE. But did this El Dorado actually exist, and where was it, or better who was it? In this episode of archaeological context, we will cover the source of the El Dorado legend, as it originates from specific rituals performed by the...

In this special episode of archaeological context, I want to highlight a bit of a different topic, as we will focus on a time period and especially geographical region, not often featured in archaeological discussions: A 17thcentury UNESCO world heritage site, located on the Westcoast of Africa. Specifically, we will explore Christiansborg Castle in Osu, a suburb of Accra, the capitol of Ghana. I...

Since 2011 the Syrian civil war, with armed confrontations between regime and various opposition forces, led to a traumatic process that has strained the ethnic and social fabric of the country. Much of Syria lies in ruins, and also its archaeological heritage has been a major casualty of the conflict, especially regarding the deliberate destruction and systematic looting of antiquities by forces...

The stone age site of Herxheim in Western Germany is counted among the most important and at the same time enigmatic prehistoric localities of Europe, because in the ditches surrounding an Early Neolithic settlement, the skeletal remains of hundreds of individuals were found. But these were not proper burials, as the bones were smashed beyond recognition and the skulls shaped to bowl-like artefact...

The unprovoked Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 marks the largest armed conflict in Europe since the second World War, and at least six million Ukrainians had to flee their home country. This ongoing war also damaged or destroyed many archaeological sites and museums featuring the rich cultural heritage in eastern and southern Ukraine. My friends Dr Pavlo Shydlovski and Dr Marta Andriiov...

Welcome back to another episode of 23 minutes archaeology, where we continue with part 2 of or look at Ötzi, the prehistoric Iceman. Because soon after the recovery of the mummy, and its significance was understood, the site of his discovery at the Tisenjoch-mountain was extensively researched. In the process, many parts of Ötzis equipment were found and uncovered from the ice. And for us archaeol...

The Iceman, this may sound like the name of a wrestler or comic-book hero, but today we’re actually talking about one of the most sensational archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Exactly 30 years ago in 1991 this now world-famous mummy was discovered accidentally, in the Ötztal Alps between Austria and Italy, at an altitude of 3210 meters. At the time of discovery, it was unclear what a...

I grew up loving the film “gladiator” with Russel Crow and Joaquin Phoenix. And probably since the beginning of film, gladiators were an integral part of the display of ancient Rome. Take the figure of Spartacus for example; probably his first appearance on the screens was in an Italian silent movie from 1913, then came the masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick in 1960 or the more recent, the tv-series...

Maybe you know the movie “The Game changers” by UFC-fighter James Wilks. The premise of this documentary was him finding out, that roman gladiators ate very little to no meat. Before this, James Wilks was sure that animal protein was essential for the upkeep of energy levels, the growth of muscles and the healing from injuries. But after reading recent research papers on the subject, he was convin...

As the title already indicates, in this episode we examine the diet of “Celtic warriors”. First, I present the late Iron Age cemetery of Münsingen and highlight why this site from Switzerland became such an important reverence point for Celtic archaeology: because based on the evolution of the characteristics of the fibulae grave goods a so-called typo-chronology could be established. Then we talk...

This episode is one of the major reasons why I decided to start recording a podcast in the first place. We will remain with prehistoric nomadic steppe tribes, which are attributed to the umbrella term of Scythians, but shift our focus, from present day Ukraine, some 5000 km to the east, to one of the most remote regions on earth, the Siberian region of the Altai mountains. There, over two-thousand...

For Episode 2 we come to a topic, which fascinates me since many years: The mysterious Scythians who lived in the Eurasian steppe, some 2500 years ago. I’ll begin with a quick overview of these people from the antiquity and thanks to the preserved writings of the Greek author Herodotus, we have the unique opportunity to learn about them almost from first hand. I then compare Herodotus statements a...

Welcome to 23 minutes archaeology with Noah! For episode 1 I will give a general introduction concerning the limitations of archaeological research, especially in the reconstruction of burial rites. I chose an example to illustrate how we work and try to find clues on prehistoric funerary practices. We will look at over 50-thousand-year-old, intentional burials of Neanderthal-individuals, found in...