The Dirt Podcast

This week, Anna and Amber hunker down around the campfire to talk about things that go bump in the night, and encounter some common themes from around the world. Amber fangirls over a baby-snatching Mesopotamian demon and stumbles upon a familiar monster in Native American myth, while Anna offers some DIY advice for combating medieval witches.

Content note: Younger listeners and those with delicate stomachs may want to skip this episode. Over on Dirt After Dark this month, we sunk our teeth into the sufficiently spooky topic of cannibalism, and we're sharing some of it with the main feed! What makes a person eat a person? How can archaeologists tell whether a person was cannibalized? Where has evidence of cannibalism been found? Why does Amber sound suspiciously enthusiastic about this topic? All this and more!

On this Very Special Episode in honor of International Archaeology Day, Anna and Amber (and coming soon, Dr. Potts!) take a look at all the things that can happen to an object, animal, or person as it decays, preserves, and transforms, becoming a part of the archaeological record.

This week, Anna introduces us to Bronze Age Britain and Amber tells us about the very, very unexpected discoveries at Cladh Hallan, Scotland. For maximum spookiness, don't read ahead: it's a real rollercoaster of a story about Bronze Age life, and death, and... after-death? Get ready, everyone. This one's nightmare fuel.

We talk to REAL LIVE FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST Dr. Jon Bethard about his career path from bassoons to bioarchaeology, the many duties of a coroner, life in Transylvanian villages, vampires (maybe), and his important work helping to identify victims of political conflicts and natural disasters all over the world.

In recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day, let's talk about the Taíno population of the Caribbean islands who first encountered Christopher Columbus in the fifteenth century, and the metamorphosis of Taíno identity from contact with Europeans through today. Plus! Fun word facts GALORE and some very special body-part-based navigation. And what IS a vomit spatula, anyway? Over on Patreon, Amber and Anna also delve into the archaeology that surrounds Admiral Don Cristóbal Colón's voyaging to and around the Americas.

This week we round out this month's coverage of indigenous Latin America with a look at the Ancestral Puebloans of the American Southwest. We couldn't fit 10,000 years of human experience and complexity into a single episode, so instead we highlight some architectural and engineering achievements, petroglyphs, and some of the mythological beings represented in them. Plus, the origins of the word "adobe" and a lengthy consideration of why the cultural appropriation of Kokopelli looms so large in our memory of the 1990s.

Anna and Amber attempt a run-through of the history of the Rarámuri of Chihuahua, Mexico. It's more than just sandals and beer, folks! Plus, a rundown of some of the biomechanics of ultramarathon running, and a theory for how Homo sapiens successfully overran Europe.

We attempt to help you (and ourselves) be less wrong about the most famous early Latin American cultures. Amber provides a crash course on Aztec, Inca, and Maya history and the thorny issues of contemporary indigenous cultural identity, while Anna chimes in with fun facts and Very Cool Things about each group!

It wouldn't be the internet if there weren't cats, so this week is the purr-fect op-paw-tunity to talk about felis catus. Apologies (a-paw-logies? No? Ok, we'll stop) in advance, there's an odd crackling in the final minutes, but don't let that stop you from learning all about the history of kitties, their domestication, and some of their silly antics from the past several millennia.

What better time to discuss the domestication and use of canis familiaris than here in the dog days of summer? Anna and Amber discuss recent research tracing how wolves evolved into the pups we know and love, the earliest dogs known in the archaeological record, the evolution of our relationship with them, and some Very Good Boys and Girls throughout history. Plus, medieval pet name suggestions, Amber chokes up about the Odyssey (typical), waggy little flop-eared foxes, and Anna’s Movie Minute takes on Alpha (2018).

We return to Flores to visit our old friends Homo floresiensis, this time with a Very Special Guest in tow! In this excerpt from our Patreon episode, Grace Veatch (Emory University) walks us through her research at Liang Bua, and introduces us to the many, many things rat bones can tell us. But first, Anna and Amber want to fill you in on some VERY EXCITING developments.

If you thought we were experts, well, that's about to change. This week, Anna and Amber wade out into the great unknown-to-them of British history and discuss Richard III and the events that led to the excavation of his remains from a parking lot in Leicester, England. Plus, the secret to Richard III's perfectly aligned teeth, other rulers whose final resting places remain a mystery, and the curse of Tamerlane's tomb (but also, his great eyebrows). BONUS: The premiere of the "Amber Googles It" theme tune!

This week, we fake it 'til we make it, tackling four archaeological hoaxes. Even when things aren't what they seem...they aren't what they seem. What's the deal with that stone giant in some guy's field? How can that mummified Persian princess be neither Persian nor a princess? Did someone stumble upon the final resting place of Jesus' little brother? Did Vikings inhabit Oklahoma in the 11th century? No. No, they did not.

Breaking news: it's a bonus episode! We're sharing our bountiful harvest of news with the main feed this month, and in this snippet, Anna and Amber highlight Roman horse-sandals, human sacrifice at Tenochtitlán, and a dinner party with some very, very aged meat on the menu. Plus, a very special guest drops into the studio and scares the daylights out of Amber. Twice.