The Archaeology Show

The Coffee With an Indian Podcast, hosted by Brian Melendez, is a raw look at growing up and living a tribal lifestyle. Brian weaves an emotional narrative of his life that is sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and always instructive. 

Similar in technology and acoustic style to the xylophone, lithopones are rocks that have been used to make music and sounds for thousands of years and all over the planet. Long and usually skinny, lithophones are rocks that are either natural or have been shaped to produce certain sounds or notes. On today's episode we talk to Marilyn Martorano about her research into lithophones in the American Southwest.

April is back from field school! This was the 10th year anniversary of the Amache Field School, run by Dr. Bonnie Clark of the University of Denver. April is a Co-Director of the field school and she has a report on what the did, what they found, and what's next. Amache is a fascinating place with a complicated history. If you have questions, please reach out and we'll get them to the right people.

It's just Chris today! April is out on her field school. Chris talks about some current archaeology in the news and gives his take on the stories. He also talks about three great new shows coming to the Archaeology Podcast Network this summer.

On June 1st Chris Webster and Comedian Brian Woods did a live science and comedy show at the Reno Collective in Reno, Nevada. I'm posting it here because it's very relevent to this group. 

Chris saw a video several months ago that really challenged his preconceived notions of what the past was like. That video was a promotional video about New York City shot in 1911. There is no commentary, it's not scripted, and it just looks like cut-together scenes of life in the big city in that year. It's fascinating. April and Chris spend most of the show talking about that video, what it means, and what we can learn from it. They also talk about the rephotography movement and other representations of the past.

Massive technological innovations now allow scientists to extract and analyze ancient DNA as never before, and genomics is emerging as important a means of understanding the human past as archeology, linguistics, and the written word. In his new book Who We Are and How We Got Here (Pantheon), David Reich describes how the human genome provides not only all the information that a fertilized human egg needs to develop but also contains within it the history of our species. Join Reich as he discusses how the genomic revolution and ancient DNA are transforming our understanding of our lineage as modern humans, and how DNA studies reveal a deep history of inequality—among different populations, between the sexes, and among individuals within a population. He examines how research contradicts the orthodoxy that there are no meaningful biological differences among human populations, at the same time using evidence provided by genomics and ancient DNA to show that the differences that do exist do not conform to familiar and often pernicious stereotypes. Reich, a pioneer in analyzing ancient human DNA, is a professor in the department of genetics at Harvard Medical School and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Sir Barry Cunliffe returns for the third time to The Archaeology Show! On today's show, we talk to him about the Ancient Celts and the second edition of the book with the same name. Archaeologists have learned a lot about the ancient Celts since the first edition of the book was released and we scrape the surface on this show.

Historian Billy Griffiths has written a very interesting and unique book related to the historical and ancient past of Australia. Quite a few people came together to create the narrative of history that we know today and their stories are told in this book. Before they did their work the history of Australia was very misunderstood. Check out his podcast then go read the book and learn something new about an amazing place.

Why do textbooks cost so much? Part of the reason is that for one person to do it they need to be compensated. Another reason is that books are big, have lots of color pages, and are expensive to produce. That's why this Open Textbook idea is interesting. Today we talk to Katie Kirakosian - a professor at UMASS that is leading a team that is making a North American Archaeology textbook that will be free to download and use for everyone! It's a very interesting idea and we explore a lot of topics surrounding open access on this episode.

We're joined on today's show by historian and author Justin Jacobs. Jacobs wrote "Indiana Jones in History: From Pompeii to the Moon". It's a great read about the real circumstances in history that produced Indiana Jones-like behavior regarding the acquisition of antiquities across the world. In the final chapter, Jacobs gives an academic breakdown of the franchise and says what he things the 5th movie (Out in 2020) could be about.

Triblism developed out of actual tribes and the need to defend your family - since you were likely related to everyone in the tribe. It's also evolutionary and helps protect your genes. Those early tribes would eventually evolve into societies that lived in larger towns and cities. This has developed into nationalism on a larger scale. Also, things within our lives that we think are benign might not be. Students yelling to kill or crush the other team at college sporting events, for example.

The American Veterans Archaeological Recovery project, or, AVAR provides a great opportunity for veterans to gain experience in a new skill and work with a team again like they did in the military. It's therapeutic, instructional, and awesome for all involved and Stephen Humphreys joins us to tell us all about AVAR.

Much of archaeological site interpretation is based on a bias of not only typical male and female responsibilities, but also, activities that take place during the day time. Both of those are assumptions that need to change. Editors Nancy Gonlin and April Nowell produced a book called, "Archaeology of the Night" to get other archaeologists to consider their work from the perspective of the night. What are we missing by not considering special artifacts and features that may be designed for use at night? This is a fascinating episode that challenges our assumptions about site interpretation.

Chasing Earhart is an upcoming multi part documentary film series that will explore Amelia Earhart's life, times, family, friends, and all the lore and theories that have sprung up in the wake of her disappearance.