The Prehistory Guys

Do we layer too much significance on people and things from prehistory and the past - simply because they are old? Do we confer special status on them in the absence of direct connection? 00:00 - Greetings & introduction 02:55 - A reverence for ‘things’ from the past 14:37 - A reverence for the people of the past 18:59 - Were people more spiritual in the past? 22:26 - William Stukeley’s legacy...

A new study out of Notre Dame University, Indiana has suggested that accepted estimations for population levels at Çatahöyük and other Neolithic villages in Anatolia may be grossly inflated. In the past We have been told that Çatalhoyuk could have had up to 10,000 inhabitants at any one time - now this paper says maybe not so much. In fact, maybe less than 1,000 people lived there. This is a prett...

Why do certain places take on significance in the human psyche? How do places of pilgrimage arise? Why are Göbekli Tepe, Stonehenge and other sites where they are? We look at an aspect of human behaviour that is rarely taken into account when trying to explain what our ancestors were up to. The Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge Podcast is the place where we discuss matters of prehistory at a more concept...

In the process of developing and making Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge, we're lifting the corner of the carpet on all sorts of aspects to do with the Neolithic period that we perhaps would not have otherwise. And so it is with the topic of this discussion - obsidian: we had absolutely no idea how crucial this 'black stuff' was to the spread of farming from Anatolia and the fertile crescent into Europe...

As the first steps in making the Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge film project, a few weeks ago Rupert and I spent three days at Göbekli Tepe with access to the whole site - we've been down amongst the T-pillars, we've seen the places where the people lived, we've seen excavations that are normally out of the public eye and much more - all in the company of the head archaeologist there, Lee Clare. So th...

In the very first 'Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge' podcast, we aim to provide a context for the phenomenon of the T-Pillar sites of South Eastern Turkïye and to set the scene for the journey we are about to embark upon with the whole Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge film project , In order to fulfil the promise of the project our prehistory focus has shifted over to the Levant and the Fertile Crescent.  And...

Every week we make an exclusive short podcast for our Patreon supporters called 'The Monday Moot'. It's a kind of a sandbox where we air our thoughts on aspects of prehistoric archaeology. Sometimes, those thoughts become worthy topics for a wider audience and this is one of those instances. Here, Michael & Rupert ask if the word 'henge' has an impact on the way we view our circular earthworks in...

We take you to The Scottish Isles, Bohemia and South Carolina! More fingerprints on pottery have been found at the Ness of Brodgar and it turns out that they all belong to young adult men and that the most recent print to be found belonged to a thirteen year old boy! A team of archaeologists from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen have discovered a long barrow, built around 3,800BC on the le...

This is an excerpt from a longer YouTube interview conducted with Professor Timothy Darvill in August 2021. The argument over the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel doesn't go away and although it may seem that the general consensus is that it's a bad idea, that impression is incorrect. One authoritative archaeological voice is that of Tim Darvill's and here we present a view from someone who was in at the in...

Hope you'll find it in your hearts to excuse the clickbaity title - but then again it is a truly valid use of the word 'alien'. The rocks in question are certainly not where they belong and pose a genuine mystery as to why they are where they have been found - down near Avebury henge in Wiltshire, 280 miles from their origin. We hope you enjoy our discussion, but rocks aside, we're very glad to ha...

This is the audio from a Prehistory Guys YouTube video released in March 2022. https://youtu.be/ubMqZv_eozY Back in February we received an email from whoever deals with Tim Darvill's press releases with an embargoed link to his new paper: 'Keeping Time at Stonehenge'. We felt honoured to be included in a trusted circle - and normally would have done something about it by now, but, as you know, ci...

🟢 IF YOU'D LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE - SEE OUR CROWDFUNDING LINKS BELOW 🟢 Dr. Lee Clare is the research co-ordinator and archaeologist in charge of the excavations at Göbekli Tepe. He took on the position of research coordinator of the DFG long-term project at Göbekli Tepe in 2015, and in 2019 moved to the DAI’s Istanbul Department where he is now acting consultant for prehistoric archaeology. The imag...

We talk with archaeologist Sue Greaney, Senior Properties Historian with English Heritage and Editor of PAST, the newsletter of the Prehistoric Society about her passion for archaeology and her responsibilities at Stonehenge and other sites managed by English Heritage. The main reason we wanted to get her on, though is that Sue is the author of a fantastic new piece of research on the Mega Henge c...

We're very proud to bring you our interview with Professor Alice Roberts - anatomist and biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham. Alice will need no introduction for many of you, but to understand why we were so thrilled that she agreed to be on the show, as per Rupert's intro: Before becoming a writer and pres...

Our second interview with Tim Darvill and a riveting first-person deep dive through prehistoric archaeology from in-the-moment practical concerns of current practice, through to the more philosophical concerns confronting the modern day antiquarian.  We talk about Stonehenge, long barrows, bluestones, emerging narratives for the Neolithic, prehistory in the press ... and much more!

More for your money in this Prehistory Flash: we've expanded the format to include more than one item to help return us to more of the podcast style delivery. Hope you enjoy! There will be video versions to follow. This time: Pythagorian geometry in Mesopotamia 1,000 before Pythagoras New finds at King Arthur's Stone in Herefordshire and possibly the earliest coin factory in the world! 🔵 PATREON:...

This is ground breaking research from the Balkans where researchers are piecing together the apparently widespread use of cosmetics as far back as six and a half thousand years ago. Tiny ceramic bottles have been excavated across a wide region of the Balkans and Transdanubia, and as long ago as the 1930s it was suggested that they might be for cosmetics or medicines. So Bine Kramberger from the In...

30,000 years ago, close to the banks of the river Danube, it seems that the saddest of events occurred to a family living there during the Paleolithic period. Michael and Rupert bring you some of the background to this story emerging from the latest aDNA study of remains found in the town of Krems in Austria. 🔵 PATREON: We have a friendly and enthusiastic Patreon community helping us create our c...

Welcome to another prehistory guys interview, introducing you to archaeologists and historians, all too often hidden behind the scenes, finding out what they’re up to while the world isn’t watching. This time we're talking with Dr Lee Bray, lead archaeologist for the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, south west England. Lee started out in geology before making the move into archaeology, and to Exet...

12th feb 2021 BBc broadcast a programme hosted by Professor Alice Roberts called 'Stonehenge, the Lost Circle Revealed'. Both leading up to and afterwards, there was a flurry of headlines in the press ranging from the reasonably restrained to the outright sensational. To cut to the chase, the end result has been - to the dismay of many in the archaeological community and both Rupert and I - the th...

"Welcome to another prehistory guys interview, introducing you to people, often hidden in the background, whose work is really making a difference to our understanding of humanity in prehistory "Today we’re talking with Dr Kenny Brophy Senior lecturer of archaeology at the University of Glasgow. Kenny’s work focuses mainly on the British Neolithic, particularly of Scotland, and he has written copi...

IT'S BACK! Rupert & I are delighted to present you with a recording of us producing our first audio podcast after a long break. We're back to our old format with Pushing Back the Boundaries, news, a central topic and finishing off with Stonehead of the Month and a bit of Whimsy. Scroll down for links to some source material. There is a video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/fEegOLUPfk4...

Despite any number of challenges over the past six years, including more recently the Covid lockdowns of course, Amanda has kept driving the project of giving the museum a complete overhaul and redesign, and with her team has created a breathtaking set of galleries that cover the full span of human history in the Cotswolds. One thing that makes Amanda so rare, is that she is a museum director with...

In fact, some of Tom’s recent research has even shed light on different funerary practices in the Bronze Age, revealing some fascinating discoveries about ways that people related to, or looked after the remains of their departed. (We first reported on this in a piece in the Prehistory Show #3. https://www.patreon.com/posts/prehistory-show-42771218) Tom's work is really bringing some clarity to th...

The aim of these two chaps is to transform the economy of Caithness, no less - up in the North East corner of Scotland! And the medium by which they're going to achieve this? By building an Iron Age Broch of course! Crazy? Not so fast. There's method in their madness, but you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out why. Help support us and join our Patreon community See acast.com/privacy for...