The Archaeology Show

New York City has had a long and varied history. From the time of the Native Americans to the late 1800s when the boroughs were folded into the city limits many people, cultures, and events have left their mark. That mark leaves a material culture that has been excavated by teams of archaeologists over the last half-century or more. That artifact collection now has a home and as a result, this boo...

The Archaeology Podcast Network is taking a bit of a break for October, 2022. In the mean time, we’re introducing you to some of the other fantastic shows that we produce. Here’s an episode from one of our newer shows, “Tea Break Time Travel.” Enjoy! The trowel is generally considered to be the essential piece in any archaeologist's toolkit, but how long have trowels been around and what kinds of...

The Archaeology Podcast Network is taking a bit of a break for October, 2022. In the mean time, we’re introducing you to some of the other fantastic shows that we produce. Here’s the “A Life in Ruins” Podcast with one of their more popular episodes. Enjoy! On this episode of A Life In Ruins Podcast, we have our good friend and frequent collaborator Stefan Milo on the podcast. Stefan is in the proc...

It's been a few weeks since we have had a news episode and in that time there has been so many great stories we had trouble deciding which ones to chose! First up is a million year old skull found in in China. Then we head over to Greece where researchers theorize that mysterious stone spheres are part of a board game. And finally, a discussion about the recent Scientific American cover story "The...

On this episode Dr. Stefani Crabtree and Dr. Jennifer Dunne join us to discuss their recent paper on the new field of Archaeoecology. While it is often acknowledged that there is an overlap between the fields of archaeology and ecology, it has not been defined as a separate area of study until now. The study of Archaeoecology aims to show not only how humans impact nature, but also how the ecosyst...

A few episodes back we mentioned a documentary and book called Lady Sapiens: a journey into prehistory to look at women's roles and realign our assumptions. Thomas Cirotteau is a director and directed the documentary Lady Sapiens that looks at new research in this area. We bring him on to talk about this subject and some other things he's working on. Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast a...

In the subfield of experimental archaeology, researchers use historic and pre-historic methods and materials to recreate different artifacts and items in the archaeological record. By doing this we learn how peoples of the past made the things we find during excavation, which adds to the context of the life people lived at that particular time period. This week we discuss 3 examples of experimenta...

We recently spent some time in Glacier National Park, and while we were there we took a tour of the park lead by Jack Gladstone, a member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. We were blown away by not only his cultural knowledge of the area, but also his amazing singing and songwriting! We just had to share (with Jack's permission of course!) some of the tour, plus some information on the prehistor...

In the past, nighttime urban activities have been overlooked by archaeologists, In this episode we interview Nan Gonlin and Meghan Strong about their latest edited volume that focus on the ancient nocturnal landscape and lightscape. Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click this message for more info. Start your own podcast with Zenca...

As drought continues to ravage the northern hemisphere, there is a silver lining as receding waters reveal previously covered archeological sites. Today we talk about 3 things that have been revealed including the Stonehenge of Spain, hunger stones in central Europe, and Nero's Bridge in Rome. Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click...

We're taking a deep dive on ancient writing on this episode! After talking about the recent deciphering of Linear Elamite on the last episode we just wanted more. We'll talk about what writing means and mention other undeciphered languages. In the last two segments we'll talk about first written scripts in China and Mesoamerica. And for members, we've got a cool bonus segment about a curious artif...

This week we discuss three recent archaeology news articles. First up is the recent discovery of 12,000 year old human footprints in the salt flat of UT. Then, we head over to Israel where a Roman coin with a zodiac symbol on it was found under water. And finally, researchers believe they have deciphered the ancient Iranian script, Linear Elamite. Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads...

On todays show we take a look at 3 recent archaeological news stories. First, a new national park in Canada is being developed in corporation with the First Nations tribes in the area. Then, research at an ancient Iraqi fortress may be the remains of an ancient city that was previously lost. And finally, new analysis of DNA found in 14,000 year old modern human DNA in China has been linked to Nati...

This week enjoy Season 1, Episode 2 of The Archaeology Variety Show. This episode originally aired back in March 2022. Segments : Where Are We? Last two weeks on the APN Interview with Andrew Kinkella Andrew’s Website Kinkella Teaches Archaeology - YouTube Archaeology or Aliens Archeologists Found the Location Where Jesus Walked on Water Archaeologists find 6,500-year-old pottery bearing the name...

In 210 BCE Qin Shi Huangdi, the self-proclaimed first emperor of China was laid to rest surrounded by a terra cotta version of his army and court. But what was going on at the same time in other places in the world? In this episode we talk about the terra cotta army in China. Then we move over to Europe/Northern Africa because the end of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage was coming to...

News from the English Countryside is dominating the podcast today! We've got a 4,800 year old stone circle on top of a henge and two from Stonehenge. The first is about the parasites that the early builders of Stonehenge suffered from and the second is about ancient pits, lots of them, found in the area around Stonehenge. Those ancients really DID love their stones in circles! Interested in sponso...

This week we interview Dr. Spencer Pelton, the Wyoming State Archaeologist, about his work on the Powers II red ochre quarry site. He recently co-authored a paper about that site, and in it they reveal that the dating results make the Powers Site potentially the oldest quarry site in North America. It's a fascinating and unique site and Dr. Pelton graciously shares his expertise on red ochre, how...

Randomly, there were lots of shipwreck stories in the news this week, so we decided to do a themed episode! First up, we have a story about a shipwreck recovery off the coast of Oregon. Then we move over to a viking age shipyard that was discovered in Sweden. And finally, the excavation of a ship from the middle ages presents a unique challenge to archaeologists. Interested in learning about how t...

MEMBERS: CHECK YOUR AD-FREE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS EPISODE'S BONUS SEGMENT! We've got a lot to cover in this news episode. We start with a tale of the Swiss Army Knife of southern Africa. Then we talk about a site in Iraq visible now because of drought and being recording in a rapid way. Then we go to Turkey to talk about the most famous site in the world: Gobekli Tepe. But wait, there's more! For mem...

There's a lot in the archaeology news as field seasons around the world kick off into high gear! This week we've got stories about the quantifying inequality among past societies, the conservations efforts around the last ship to bring slaves to the United States, and giant statues in Sardinia. That's giant statues, not statues of giants! Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar...

ENCORE: We recently had the opportunity to visit Chichen Itza in Yucatán, Mexico. It was an incredible experience, but, being archaeologists, we of course came away with more questions than were answered! In this episode we give a brief overview Mayan civilization, including Chichen Itza, and then talk about our experience on an incredibly touristy tour! The take away is, do a little research ahea...

There have been many foundational people in archaeology and the life and achievements of one are now fully coming to light with a new book from Oxford University Press. "The First Black Archaeologist: A Life of John Wesley Gilbert" (Oxford University Press 2022), written by Dr. John W. I. Lee is a fascinating tale of an archaeologist that paved the way for so many that came after him. Join us as w...

As with most times archaeology is represented in fiction there are some major inconsistencies in this movie. However, it's a fun comedy and at least you won't be bored watching it. We discuss what they got right and what they got wrong about archaeology, anthropology, and lost cities. There's even a bonus segment with a real lost city! Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar tec...

We've got a few articles that are all over the place - literally - this week. The first is about a re-analysis of what was thought was an ancient harbor in Italy. Turns out there's more to it. Next we talk about, well, the prehistoric world in general as it pertains the role of women. As with everything, there's more to that story and it's way more complex than early researchers would have liked....

This week we have a timelines episode focused on 2200 BCE. At that time, Stonehenge as we know it today was just completed in the UK. Conversely, the Akkadian empire began to fall in Mesopotamia, and the impressive Old Kingdom in Egypt also came to an end. Join us for a discussion about what was happening in 3 world powers in year 2200 BCE! Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and simila...