The Dirt Podcast

This week, on a special sponsored episode, Anna and Amber explore some of the lesser-known Italic cultural groups that were peripheral to Ancient Rome. We seek out Samnites and uncover Umbrians. We also take a brief tour of Etruscan wine country. Contact Email the Dirt Podcast Affiliates Wildnote TeePublic Timeular Find this show on the educational podcast app, Lyceum.fm!

These hips don't lie. Amber and Anna talk with paleoanthropologist Mayowa Adeboyega about her research on the evolution of the pelvis. Mayowa also gives us some insights on the experience of being Black in academia, and how she uses science communication and the occasional silliness to make anthropology more accessible. Contact Email the Dirt Podcast Affiliates Wildnote TeePublic Timeular Find thi...

Amber and Anna are holding their very own Pod Pride Parade this week! We talk about the possible genetic influences behind human sexuality and discuss instances of queerness in archaeology (and some TRULY bad takes from news outlets). We also discuss gay icons from ancient history, badass queer archaeologists, and more! Links No ‘gay gene’: Massive study homes in on genetic basis of human sexualit...

This week, Anna and Amber chat with researcher, author, science communicator, founding TrowelBlazer, and wearer of many hats, Dr. Brenna Hassett! We learn that we've all got a mouthful of clocks, that women have always been a part of the digging sciences, and that networks truly matter. Links Dr. Brenna Hassett (UCL) @brennawalks on Twitter TrowelBlazers Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life...

This week, Anna and Amber have foraged up an episode all about hunting and gathering. We also examine anthropology and ethnography, and the problematic origins of these disciplines. We discuss the Grandmother Hypothesis, wax rhapsodic about salmon, and...Amber tells another honey story. Links Hunter-Gatherers (Foragers) (Human Research Area Files) Hunter-Gatherer Culture (National Geographic) What...

This week, Anna and Amber voyage to the island of Rapa Nui, famous for its monumental stone heads, and for the idea that its islanders caused their own collapse through environmental exploitation. Turns out, that's probably not what happened! Tune in to learn more about what archaeology and anthropology can tell us about the real stories of the Rapanui people. Links A model-based approach to the t...

Anna and Amber fill your brain mug with piping hot knowledge about the archaeology, genetics, and culture behind some of our favorite morning drinks. Links A history of coffee: Coffee botany: Origins of coffee: First writings on coffee: World's oldest tea: Tea and the Silk Road Tea origin story: Tea genetics: History of yerba mate: Yaupon use by Indigenous Americans: Yaupon archaeological residues...

Description: Anna and Amber make a long-overdue trip to Australia this week. How did humans get there? How long ago did they arrive? What have they been doing since then? We cover these and other big brain-exploding topics for your education and entertainment! Links Humans First Arrived in Australia 65,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests (The New York Times) Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,...

We've talked tiny plants, but this week we're going EVEN SMALLER. Anna and Amber chat with Dr. Kristen Wroth, who studies plant micro-remains like phytoliths to learn about ancient human behavior. We talk about favorite plants, field stories, and more! Links Phytoliths: What They Are and What They Tell Us (Environmentalscience.org) Phytoliths: A Comprehensive Guide for Archaeologists and Paleoecol...

We took paragraphs from two very out-of-date archaeology papers and took out lots of key words. Then, listeners sent in their own word lists, with which we filled in those paragraphs! The results were very silly, and we had a lot of fun! Stay tuned for upcoming live events, and come hang out with us on our stream! Links twitch.tv/thedirtpodcast Contact Email the Dirt Podcast Affiliates Wildnote Te...

Like most of you, we've been staying at home for the past several weeks, so we thought--what better way to distract our listeners from THEIR households than a look at OTHER people's households! Anna and Amber talk about how archaeologists' concept of "house" and "home" and "living space" has shifted over the years, and take a look at some ancient examples of home life. Links The Archaeology of Hou...

Cue the tense cinematic score. We’re talking about art crimes, both solved and unsolved! Heists, forgeries, and criminal masterminds abound, as we discuss the “value” of art, and why the black market for art and antiquities continues to thrive. Links 8 of the Most Notorious Art Forgeries in History (Mental Floss) Museum's Collection Of Purported Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Are Fakes, Experts Say (NP...

This week, Anna and Amber talk about those pesky Big Questions: How are we here? Why are we here? Where do dragons come from? Turns out, people have been coming up with explanations, myths, and stories for questions like this since prehistory.  Links Here There Be Dragons: Etiologies Creation Stories from around the World: Encapsulations of some traditional stories explaining the origin of the Ear...

Anna and Amber venture beneath the waves this week to bring you an episode about shipwrecks and underwater archaeology! We visit a few of the most famous ships in Davy Jones' Locker, Amber learns that underwater archaeology means more than "just pick it up from the bottom," and Anna dusts off that pirate accent. Links The popular “pirate accent” is based on Robert Newton’s performance in the movie...

The grass is always greener on the other side (of the Holocene). What is today a vast and inhospitable home to many people and creatures was, between ten and five thousand years ago, a lush environment replete with lakes, forests, and grasses. We examine the first clues that suggested a Green Sahara to researchers, explore the technologies and societies that lived there, and contemplate what the S...

Settle into your comfiest chair for Book Club with Anna and Amber this week. We talk about our favorite books, movies, and TV shows with archaeological or anthropological themes! We've also got some tips for listeners on how to get your literary fix while you're sheltering in place. Links 8 Home Library Apps to Keep Your Book Collection Organized (Book Riot) Thanks to Bookshop, There Is No Reason...

This year's April Fool's Day episode is on the biggest thing that never was: giants! Dive normal-sized-headfirst into conspiracy theories and hoaxes surrounding giants in the archaeological record, and meet some giants that didn't exist in Saudi Arabia, India, the Caucasus, and Appalachia. Links Did the Smithsonian Destroy Thousands of Giant Human Skeletons? (Snopes) "Skeleton of Giant" Is Interne...

Anna and Amber chat with Dr. Madelynn von Baeyer about archaeological plants. How do you find 'em? What can they tell us? What's the best archaeological plant? And what does any of this have to do with MUMMIES?!? Links Madelynn von Baeyer Bio Early Lives: The Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age at Çadır Höyük (Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies) Three Ancient Eg...

Anna and Amber chat with Dr. Briana Pobiner, a researcher and educator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Human Origins Program. We talk favorite hominins, meat science, evolutionary education, how to get the most out of a frolic through the museum, and some of the zillion other things Dr. Pobiner does. Links Briana Pobiner (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) Bria...

In this episode, Amber and Anna talk about talking. It’s finally an episode on linguistics! We think about Neanderthal speech, wrestle with syntax and semantics, and have a whole language family reunion. Links What is Speech? What is Language? (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) The Neanderthal Throat—Did Neanderthals Speak? (Sapiens) Introduction to Linguistics (UCLA Linguistics) Glott...

This week, Anna and Amber take a look at foodways in the archaeological record of North America. What does archaeological evidence say about what was cooked, who was cooking, and what vessels were used to prepare and store food? What evidence is there for recreating ancient and pre-contact diets? How does this fit in with contemporary food sovereignty movements among Indigenous people? How great a...

This week, Anna and Amber are joined by Dr. Damien Huffer, a bioarchaeologist and crime fighter. Dr. Huffer’s work was featured way, way back in Episode 36, “The Unsettling Business of Curating Human Remains,” and Anna and Amber are keen to learn more. How does one get into this line of work? What makes people want to own parts of other people? What’s being done to stop trafficking, and what lies...

In the early first millennium BCE, the city of Hasanlu was destroyed in a single, terrible day. Excavations reveal murdered civilians and a citadel engulfed in fire, but who was responsible for destroying this town on the road to everywhere in Iron Age Western Asia? This week, Anna and Amber tell Hasanlu's story, and of the academic drama that followed its excavation (and continues to this day). L...

This week, Anna gets out her box of slides from her recent trip to Bulgaria. We discuss some of the deep history (and prehistory) of Bulgaria, as well as some mythology and folk traditions. Then, we have a chat about some of our favorite ways to experience different communities and cultures when we travel. (Hot tip: EAT EVERYTHING) Links Late Neandertals and Early Modern Humans in Western Europe (...

Anna and Amber are joined by forensic archaeologist Kimberlee Moran to talk about the unique story of the First Baptist Church cemetery in Philadelphia, PA. Our story this week has twists, turns, and more information about preserved brains than you might think possible! Links Kimberlee Moran (Rutgers University - Camden) Arch Street Project Old bones found - and nobody's in charge (Philadelphia In...