The Shindig - An Archaeology Podcast

What can a cow bone tell you about a medieval army? More than you'd think. In this episode of The Shindig host Gretchen Kessler sits down with David Romera Fernández , for a fascinating deep-dive into zooarchaeology. In this episode, you'll discover: What zooarchaeology actually is — and why it's not just "old bones" How to tell a cow's age from its skeleton — and why that matters for understandin...

In this episode of The Shindig , Gretchen chats with archaeologist Ben Spillane, a specialist who has worked with Rubicon on a number of projects including creamtion cemeteries, stone beads and more. This conversation is about the fascinating world of the Bronze Age. Expert insight, relaxed conversation, and a glass of wine, this is history brought to life. The Shindig is a Rubicon Archaeology Pro...

Click to learn more about Rubicon Archaeology: https://www.rubiconarchaeology.com/link-tree In this episode, we’re kicking things off with a brand new host and diving straight into a fascinating topic: Conflict Archaeology. Our guests bring two very different — but equally exciting — perspectives: 🧠 Damian Shiels explores conflict archaeology from an academic point of view, helping us understand...

🎙️ The Shindig: A Special Interview with Colm Moloney In this special edition of  The Shindig , host Luke Barry sits down with Colum Moloney, founder of Rubicon Archaeology, to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary. Thought lost to a corrupted hard drive, this insightful interview was recovered and now serves as a time capsule of Rubicon’s journey from humble beginnings to internation...

The incredibly well preserved WW1 trenches and battlefields of Flanders fields on the Western Front are the focus of this remarkable interview with Simon Verdegem, a battlefield archaeologist for BAAC Vlaanderen, Skylarcs, and Head Archaeologist for Dig Hill 80, an internationally crowdfunded WW1 battlefield archaeology project.   Join Dr. Tom and Luke as they investigate the fascinating and...

In this episode, Dr. Tom and Luke dive into the rich history of the Brookside Meadows Roman villa complex! From Bronze Age and Iron Age activity to not one, but two Roman villas and rare evidence for potential early medieval life, Red River Archaeology Group Site Director Francesca Giarelli and Project Manager Louis Stafford uncover the site's evolution and the significance of an area being develo...

A sensational early medieval archaeological discovery in northern England! A lost Anglo-Saxon estate centred on textile making and metal-working that, amazingly, also appears to have been used as a campsite for the Viking Great Army as they campaigned in Northumbria and Scotland has been uncovered in Northumberland. Prompted by the finds from responsible metal detectorists who reported their finds...

This weeks episode features James Eogan & James Hession. They spoke to us ahead of the book launch of the incredible "Places For The Living Place For The Dead - Archaeological discoveries on the N25 New Ross Bypass". In this episode they discussed the archaeological significance of the new Ross Bypass for the N25, with a focus on the area's prehistoric and medieval history, and the importance...

In this episode, Dr. Jane Kershaw and Prof. Rory Naismith discuss the origins, sources, and circulation of a revolutionary silver coin currency during the ‘long 8th century’ in early medieval northwestern Europe. Jane and Rory are co-authors of a transformative new study, which can be read about in the Antiquity Open Access paper, ‘Byzantine plate and Frankish mines: the provenance of silver in no...

In this episode, our own Dr. Enda O Flaherty talks about heritage infrastructure preservation in Ireland, with a particular focus on the fascinating development of 'greenways', which can be defined as linear active-travel paths, parks, or areas of cultural interest that often incorporate historic (linear) infrastructure like defunct railway lines. We explore the challenges of balancing the needs o...

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Rebecca Boyd about the fascinating topic of Viking-Age towns in Ireland, from how Vikings helped create the first urban settlements, to discovering the smells, sights and sounds of daily life within a home. For the big picture, we chat about Scandinavian-influenced urbanism across Viking-Age Ireland and Europe, but balance this with a focus on the microscopic patter...

In this episode, Dr. Tom talks with Kenneth and Kirsty from the Caithness Broch Project, a pioneering scheme to build a ‘broch’ – massive Iron-Age drystone towers concentrated in Caithness, northern Scotland – for the first time in 2,000 years. Brochs are the tallest prehistoric structures found in Britain or Ireland, with these ‘pinnacles of prehistoric Scottish architecture’ potentially reaching...

The Devil's Dollar: In this US Civil War episode, Dr. Ryan K. McNutt talks about the Union's attempted naval blockade of Confederate ports. More than this, however, Ryan discusses the dark secret at the heart of official British neutrality: Clyde-built 'blockade runners', fast and agile shallow-drafted paddle steamers that could evade Union patrols on their short dashes to and from the Caribbean,...

We enter the world of the 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Trumpington Cross burial, from the vanishingly rare - and stunning - gold and garnet pectoral cross found on the teenager's chest and the bed on which she was buried, to this young woman's distant origins in central Europe. Drs. Leggett, Rose and Brownlee talk about a fascinating range of topics, including potential cultural links between early med...

We chat with the Red River Archaeology Group's Graphics & IT Manager Hannah Sims about her life in archaeology and the fascinating and intricate world of archaeological illustration! The Shindig is a Rubicon Archaeology Production. Keep up to date with everything Rubicon here: Click for More Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bone Chests of Winchester Cathedral: We talk with Dr. Cat Jarman about her best-selling book, The Bone Chests, which tells the remarkable archaeological and historical detective story of the Winchester Cathedral chests that purport to hold the remains of some of the most famous kings, queens and bishops in the history of England and Wessex! It's an amazing true story of cutting-edge science an...

We marvel at the beauty of the prehistoric phenomenon of 'Atlantic Rock Art', most known for its distinctive yet enigmatic cup-and-ring marks, that swept Atlantic Europe from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, but did you know about the race to record and protect it? In this episode, Clare Busher O'Sullivan talks with Tom about her fascinating work on Atlantic Rock Art in south-west Ireland,...

An almost incredible discovery has been made in Scotland’s stunning Western Isles: human-made islets in lochs, known in Scotland and Ireland as crannogs, were being constructed by Neolithic communities. Previously, these remarkable sites, phenomena both of waterside habitation and ritual activity, had been thought to be a development of the Late Bronze Age or early Iron Age, but new archaeological...

A Viking Cemetery in northern England: Adam Parsons of Oxford Archaeology tells us about the spectacular Cumwhitton Viking cemetery in Cumbria, subject of the brilliant ‘Shadows in the Sand: Excavation of a Viking-age Cemetery at Cumwhitton’, which Adam co-authored. Initially discovered by metal detectorists Peter Adams and George when they found two Viking-style oval brooches, Oxford Archaeology...

From an industrial revolution led my medieval monks to the Industrial Revolution of coal, salt and railways - via Bonnie Prince Charlie and the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans that was fought on the site! - this Dig It! Special podcast hops on board the 1722 Waggonway Project with Chairman, Ed Bethune. In a compelling chat about a Scottish site of international importance, Ed talks to us about 'The 172...

If you are fascinated by the Viking Age and love dogs, wolves or horses, then this is the archaeology and history podcast for you! In this episode, Dr. Tom Horne chats with Drs. Ruth Carden, Mary Valante and Rena Maguire of the Viking Dublin Dogs research team about their fascinating work on understanding the characteristics of dogs, wolves and horses, and what made them so important to the people...

Adam Parsons is a brilliant archaeological illustrator, writer and editor with Oxford Archaeology who has worked in archaeology for over 20 years. What's more, he has devoted his spare time to being brilliant at early medieval public outreach, making exact reproductions of historical artefacts for museums, universities, and individuals and being part of Cumbraland, a living history group dedicated...

A celebration of creativity and storytelling in archaeology outreach: join Luke and Tom as they talk about creating archaeological media that communicates a love and enthusiasm for archaeology, history and heritage, and how this helps interest as many people and communities as possible in a diverse local and global audience in our shared past. The Shindig is a Rubicon Archaeology Production. Keep...

We chat with Rubicon Heritage's Jennifer McCarthy about her life in archaeology and her advice to archaeologists starting their careers in the fascinating world of commercial archaeology. Rubicon Heritage is part of the Red River Archaeology Group. The Shindig is a Rubicon Archaeology Production. Keep up to date with everything Rubicon here: Click for More Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

The Galloway Hoard is one of the most spectacular Viking-Age hoards ever discovered, its multiple packages and layers containing not only a huge volume of remarkable silver and gold jewellery and a stunning lidded silver vessel, but also an astonishingly rare collection of the organic materials - in this case, silk, leather, wool, animal gut, wood, and some very special dirt - that almost never su...