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.
Read MoreThe 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 Sahara’s past might suggest about its future.
Read MoreSettle 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.
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreAnna 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?!?
Read MoreAnna 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreThis 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 are potatoes? All this and more!
Read MoreThis 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 ahead?
Read MoreIn 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).
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreAnna 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!
Read MoreWe're back! Anna and Amber are marching to a very special beat this week, as we talk about sound-induced trances and other ways in which people achieved altered states in the past. Tune in, turn on, and join us!
Read MoreThis week is a little different! As we head into a brief holiday break, we want to show our fellow archaeologists some love. We took to Twitter, and in this episode we share some fieldwork stories from you, our listeners! Amber and Anna also share their own field experiences.
Read MoreTime to throw the devil horns and apply superfluous umlauts to vöwëls, because this week The Dirt is totally metal! Metallurgy, that is. How and when did humans first use metals, and what can we learn about them? Some come straight from the ground, others from far, far away, some from a combination of raw materials, and some? Some come FROM OUTER SPACE.
Read MoreThis week, Anna and Amber get philosophical as they look for clues into how people through time and space have answered the question: when it comes to deserving help, who counts? What does care look like? What does charity look like?
Read MoreThis week Anna and Amber told you we’re going to the park, but really it’s a trip to the v-e-t in an episode all about evidence for animal care and veterinary medicine in the archaeological record. Learn how archaeologists assess animal welfare from bone analysis, ancient Egyptian animal medicine, a snapshot of life on a medieval French farm, and more, including 2nd millennium BCE pro tips on how to get your horse absolutely jacked.
Read MoreIt’s the second half of our two-episode series on Japan! This week, Amber and Anna explore some of the traditions and material culture surrounding Japanese food. We research rice, sample sake, banter about bento, and MAYBE MAKE THE BEST SERIES OF PUNS EVER HEARD ON THE SHOW.
Read MoreThis week, it’s a sponsored episode (thanks Elizabeth!) and part one in a two-part series on ancient Japan. This week—the Jomon, prehistoric Japanese hunter-gatherers, and their descendants, the Ainu indigenous people. Also, some bears.
Read MoreThis week, Anna and Amber decided to clean up their act and take a look at the history of bathing and hygiene. We’re dipping our toes into Roman baths, sweating through Finnish and Russian saunas, discussing the shrewd marketing behind the “Halitosis Effect,” and more. Plus, what even IS soap, anyway?
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