Terra nullius is a Latin phrase that has several meanings, in legal discourse and more informally. The literal translation means “nobody’s land,” but historically it has tended to mean something closer to *grabby hands.* What does it mean when a place is considered no one’s? Are there still places where people aren’t? Are there places where we've never been? The answers may surprise you. Or…they might not.

Welcome to episode one of our themed month: The Dirt at Sea! The oceans (and seas and lagoons and fjords and so on) have provided people with food and other resources for hundreds of thousands of years. We’ll be discussing some examples of this from the archaeological record. We’ll also investigate how archaeology can get at the relationship between people and the big blue – and it’s much more than just reconstructing ancient coastlines.

First used to describe religious movements that emerged in Melanesia following contact with Allied military personnel in World War II, cargo cults are sects and ritualized behaviors intended to summon outsiders (and their stuff) back and bring about a new age. We’ll explore theories for why they come about, discuss some examples of cargo cults in the traditional definition, and consider what parallels might exist in other cultures.

We’ve had plenty of instances on the show (in the main feed and especially in Old News) of archaeological research bearing out information that existed already in the historical and oral traditions of Indigenous groups. We’ll discuss some examples of this, and we’ll also examine the relationship of Indigenous science and knowledge with the Western systems that actively invalidate and exclude them.

Hello, friends! We’re moving our episode schedule slightly—episodes will now be coming out on Wednesdays!! But in the meantime—This is a shortened version of a much longer chat that's available to our Patreon members (link below to join and support the show)! Anna and Amber chat about some changes in their personal lives, plus some updates to The Dirt.

Settle in for a HEFTY episode, folks! This week, your best Assurbani-pals Amber and Anna examine the world of the Neo-Assyrian empire. This means some substantial time spent context-setting, thanks to the complex nature of early Mesopotamian politics, religion, warfare, and state propaganda. Then we look further at that carefully crafted state propaganda and its influence on Assyriology. THEN we get into a bit of archaeology, and finally, discuss the Neo-Assyrian legacy and descendant communities. What a ride!

Thanks for sticking with us during this semi-hiatus, y’all. We’re regrouping, and new things will be coming your way very soon! In this episode from the archives, we 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?

In this re-release of an EARLY classic, take a whirlwind tour of the Swahili coast and the economic and cultural exchanges over land and sea it has enjoyed for more than a thousand years, before zooming in on the very powerful, and very cool, medieval sultanate of Kilwa Kisawani.

We're bouncing back from some bumps in the road this week, and bring you a short and sweet episode about some of the history and archaeology of two sweet substances--maple syrup and sugarcane. Show notes coming soon!

Hello, lovely listeners--a whole bunch of life stuff has smacked us right in the face recently. Thank you so much for your patience and continued support--we really love you. This week's classic episode is all about mounds and the people that built (and absolutely did not build) them.

Amber's traveling for work this week, so we bring you a perfectly dry-aged episode from years past. We bring you a fascinating, poignant, and thoroughly delightful interview with Very Special Guest Lynne Engelbert, a handler with the Institute for Canine Forensics. Learn what the talented pups at the ICF do for a living and prepare to be amazed!

How do we know what people ate in the past? How did they make their food? How did food fit into the social aspect of life in the past? We discuss old old recipes, spicy Sichuanese history, an herbal mystery, how food changed our faces, and more!