The Archaeology of...

A bumper final episode for the series sees Jim and Brenna joined by returning guest hosts Dr Jennifer Jones and Dr Rick Peterson. Never ones to miss a bandwagon, the team embrace a World Cup theme pitching Spain’s Neanderthals against Wales while proving, along the way, why this is definitely an archaeology podcast and not a football one. Listeners are also treated to our brand-new theme song by t...

Human childhood is so unusually long Jim and guest host Dr Jennifer Jones decide a second episode is needed to dive deeper and explore its later stages such as the teenage years. After a book advertising power move, Brenna shocks Jim and Jennifer with orangutangs parenting habits, before moving into the importance of later childhood in knowledge transition. Ranging from ancient Sumerian tablets to...

Friend of the show and original listener Dr Jennifer Jones joins Jim as co-host as Brenna moves across the table to discuss why humans are so weird and outliers in terms of childhood when compared with other mammals. Starting off by thinking about the biology of childhood allows Brenna to explore how humans ended up with such a long childhood. Along with some excellent puns and some sad stories ab...

In this second part, Brenna and guest host Dr Rick Peterson widen the trench and turn their attention to Jim’s excavations of the Norman ringwork castle and associated village at Lowther, Cumbria. Jim explores the idea that the castle and settlement may have been a plantation site, raising the possibility that people were forcibly relocated to Cumbria. This prompts a wider discussion ranging from...

Brenna is joined by guest host Dr Rick Peterson, as Jim takes a turn in the expert chair to discuss the Archaeology of… Norman Castles. It turns out Brenna knows next to nothing about castles, so this conversation turned into our first two-parter. Jim ruins Brenna’s preconceptions about castles by discussing their origins as earth and wooden structures that come in a variety of shapes and sizes. L...

Jim and a very excited Brenna are joined by our original listener Dr Jennifer Jones to discuss the Archaeology of... Cave Bears. A prehistoric species of bear that went extinct around 25,000 years ago. Using isotope analysis of Cave Bears from across Europe Jennifer discusses what we know about their ecology and what may have caused their extinction – climate change or modern humans. This leads to...

Jim and Brenna are joined by Dr Rick Peterson to discuss the Archaeology of... the earliest northerner, ‘Ossick Lass’ a 11,000 year old early Mesolithic burial.  Rick discusses his detailed work with local archaeologist Martin Stables at a cave in Great Urswick on the Furness peninsula, Cumbria, UK. Including the discovery of a series of prehistoric burials along with tiny early Mesolithic jewelle...

Jim and Brenna are joined by Dr Allie Stewart to discuss the Archaeology of... Dental Biographies, which is a fancy way of saying… teeth, little treasure troves of information. Whilst giving a good excuse for anyone who doesn’t want to floss, Allie explains how dental biographies can inform on familial connections and individual stories.  Using the example of two early medieval burials (apologies...

Jim and Brenna are joined by Prof Dave Robinson to discuss the Archaeology of... drugs, yes we’ve gone for sensationalism in only the 2nd episode.   Dave discuses one of the first confirmed archaeological findings of hallucinogens with rock art, in California. Jim and Brenna learn some cool new words, including entheogen, why they really shouldn’t take datura and get shocked by drugged hawkmoths!...

In the first episode of the series Jim and Brenna are joined by Prof Duncan Sayer to discuss the Archaeology of... Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries.  Duncan explains why Brenna should care about Anglo-Saxon burials and how she might even get her own chair at a funeral. Jim gets excited about modifying Anglo-Saxon swords and we delve into the detail of Oakington early Anglo-Saxon (6th-7th Century AD) cemeter...