The Dirt Dries Out - Ep 207

There have been an awful lot of news stories lately featuring “lost” sites or structures “revealed” by the effects of drought and climate change. Way to look on the positive side, I guess! We’ll take a look at some of these sites and more broadly, the effects of climate change on current archaeology. Both of your tired hosts were a bit punchy during recording, so this episode is ever so slightly goofy despite the gravity of the topic. But we hope you enjoy it!

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click this message for more info.

Links

• Drought is revealing archeological sites that were submerged when Lake Powell filled : NPR

• Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: WorldCat

• A fourth set of human remains is found at Lake Mead as the water level keeps dropping: NPR

• Lake Mead reveals sunken WWII-era boat as water levels plummet - CBS News

• Unexploded World War II bomb found in Italy's longest river as waters run dry - CBS News

• Hidden ancient Roman 'Bridge of Nero' emerges from the Tiber during severe drought | Live Science

• Drought Reveals Dolmen of Guadalperal, Popularly Dubbed ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine

• When context is key: “Hunger stones” go viral, but news first broke in 2018 | Ars Technica

• Are 'Hunger Stones' Emerging Along Europe's Rivers Due to 2022 Drought? | Snopes.com

• The Bronze Age city in Iraq gifted to archeology by drought | Science

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

ArchPodNet

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet

• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet

• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet

• Tee Public Store

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

• Motion

An Under-the-Weather Special - Ep 203

Anna is sick this week, so we've been unable to record new episodes. But rather than leave you hanging, we're releasing a lightly trimmed version of the latest episode of Old News. We've got human bone jewelry, the first Black Baptist church in colonial America, alleged art crimes, some seriously inclement weather, and more!

Old News is one of our monthly bonus episodes that comes with the Absolute Dirtbag tier over at Patreon.com/thedirtpodcast, so head over there if you want to support the show and get access to FOUR YEARS' WORTH of bonus content.

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click this message for more info.

Links

• Human bones used for making pendants in the Stone Age (Phys.org)

• French Authorities Detain Two Archaeologists, Including a Louvre Curator, as Part of an Ongoing International Art-Trafficking Dragnet (Artnet)

• Excavation of graves begins at site of colonial Black church (NBC News, AP)

• First Baptist Church Excavation Project (Colonial Williamsburg website)

• 5,200-year-old stone carving chrysalis found in north China (Xinhua)

• Rare coffee beans dating back 167 years ago found by archaeologists working on the Metro Tunnel project (9News)

• Jawbone Discovered in Spain May Be Oldest Known Hominin Fossil (Archaeology)

• A massive tsunami destroyed the Spanish city of Seville in the 3rd century, new study finds (El Pais)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

ArchPodNet

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet

• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet

• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet

• Tee Public Store

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

• Motion

The Dirt Goes Site-Seeing - Ep 202

This week, Anna and Amber debut a new (occasional) series: Site-Seeing! There are so many archaeological sites out there, and some of them tend to overshadow others. In order to learn about and showcase some lesser-known sites, your hosts will each present a brief exploration of a site previously unknown to either of them. This time, we feature Djenné, an ancient city in what is today Mali, and Ban Chiang, in what is today Thailand.

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click this message for more info.

Links

• Djenne-Djenno (World History Encyclopedia)

• Old Towns of Djenné (UNESCO)

• Djenné, Mali (BlackPast)

• Djenné (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• A Tribute to Islam, Earthen but Transcendent (The New York Times)

• Initial Encounters: Seeking traces of ancient trade connections between West Africa and the wider world (Afriques)

• Great Mosque of Djenné (Khan Academy)

• Storage vessel from Northeastern Thailand (Asian Art Museum)

• The Ban Chiang Project - Background (Institute of Southeast Asian Archaeology)

• Carabel type pot (Institute of Southeast Asian Archaeology)

• Ban Chiang Pottery and Rice (Expedition)

• Ban Chiang National Museum

• The Ban Chiang Project - Metals Database (Institute of Southeast Asian Archaeology)

• South California Museum Raids (2008) (Trafficking Culture)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

ArchPodNet

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet

• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet

• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet

• Tee Public Store

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

• Motion

Terra Nullius - Ep 194

Terra nullius is a Latin phrase meaning “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.

Members, check out an extended edition of this episode here.

Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar technology in archaeology? Check out the linked PaleoImaging course from James Elliot!

Connect with James on Twitter: @paleoimaging

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click this message for more info.

Links

• Rockall (Wikipedia

• When Will It Get Too Hot for the Body to Survive? (Slate)

• The Alaskan Island That Humans Can’t Conquer (Smithsonian Magazine)

• The bones that could shape Antarctica’s fate (BBC Future)

• Three High-Altitude Peoples, Three Adaptations to Thin Air (National Geographic)

• Tibetans inherited high-altitude gene from ancient human (Science)

• Sama (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• The Identity and Social Mobility of Sama-Bajau (Sari)

• Explorer Reaches Bottom of the Mariana Trench, Breaks Record for Deepest Dive Ever (LiveScience)

• What Land Did Europeans Actually Discover? [Infographic] (Popular Science)

• The Wilderness Act (Wilderness Connect)

• Son Doong 360 (National Geographic)

• The last unmapped places on Earth (BBC Future)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

ArchPodNet

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet

• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet

• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet

• Tee Public Store

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

• Motion

Cargo Cults: Actually a Thing? - Ep 191

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.

Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar technology in archaeology? Check out the linked PaleoImaging course from James Elliot!

Connect with James on Twitter: @paleoimaging

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy! Click this message for more info.

Links

• Cargo cults (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology)

• How “Cargo Cult” Is Born: Scientific Angle on an Old Subject (Pacific Islands Monthly, via Trove)

• 50 Years Ago: Cargo Cults of Melanesia (Scientific American)

• The Cargo Cults (Air Force Magazine)

• Strange Stories of John Frum (Cargo Cult, via JSTOR)

• In John They Trust (Smithsonian Magazine)

• 'Cargo Cults' and the Prince Philip Movement (CenSAMM)

• Prince Philip: the unlikely but willing Pacific deity (The Guardian)

• Prince Philip: The Vanuatu tribes mourning the death of their 'god' (BBC News)

• Cargo Cult Science (Caltech Library)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

ArchPodNet

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet

• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet

• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet

• Tee Public Store

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

• Motion