Viper’s Daughter by Michelle Paver - Ep 25

It’s been two years since we published the last episode, and it’s been ten years since Michelle Paver published the last of her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series of Mesolithic set books that had started with Wolf Brother. But we’re both back! We kicked off this podcast with Wolf Brother back in 2015 and now I get to talk to the author as she publishes a new book in the series, Viper’s Daughter, that sees Renn, Torak and Wolf journey to the far north and encounter new tribes, new dangers and the last surviving mammoths.

Links

• Wrangel’s Island Mammoths

• PreHistories Episode 2: Wolf Brother

• Buy Viper’s Daughter

• Michelle Paver on Twitter

• Michelle’s Website: https://wolfbrother.com/

Contact

• Twitter: @prehistpod

Find this show on the educational podcast app, Lyceum.fm!

Boy with the Bronze Axe - Episode 23

The Boy with the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler is set in the Neolithic Orkney settlement of Skara Brae. Though written for children this book is also really interesting for adults thinking about how interpretations of Skara have changed over the years. Kim talks to Orkney resident and specialist Caroline Wickham-Jones about the archaeology behind the book when it was written in 1968 and how it could be updated for the 21st century

Guests

Caroline Wickham-Jones https://www.mesolithic.co.uk/contact-me/

Host: Kim Biddulph @kimbiddulph

Links

• Buy The Boy with the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler: http://amzn.eu/75Jo45n
• Podcast on Schools Prehistory (Kim's website) about Boy with the Bronze Axe: http://www.schoolsprehistory.co.uk/2015/01/19/book-review-the-boy-with-the-bronze-axe-by-kathleen-fidler/
• Buy Caroline Wickham-Jones's non-fiction book about Orkney - Between the Wind and the Water: http://amzn.eu/fAbc9Qz
• Silverskin by Joan Lennon - a book about Skara Brae written in 2016: https://www.birlinn.co.uk/Silver-Skin.html
• Clips from the BBC's documentary Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08819tl
• Episode 2, Series 4 Expedition Unknown: Origins of Stonehenge: http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/expedition-unknown/episodes/origins-of-stonehenge
• Historic Scotland's webpage about visiting Skara Brae: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/skara-brae/
• Orkneyjar - for all things Orkney: http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/sites.htm
• Ness of Brodgar excavations website: http://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/

Archaeologists preparing a raft to take cores in the loch of Skaill. This picture also illustrates how different Skara Brae is from the era depicted in The Boy With The Bronze Axe . The picture is taken by Sue Dawson and the work is funded by Historic Environment Scotland.

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver - Episode 2

My guests are Matt Ritchie, Forestry Commission Scotland's archaeologist, Donald Henson, studying for a PhD in Public Perceptions of the Mesolithic at York University, and James Dilley of Ancient Craft and about to embark on a PhD as well. matt quickly disabuses me of the notion that Wolf Brother is set in the Scottish Mesolithic (which is the only reason I had him on in the first place) and then we chat about the wondrous period of hunter-gatherers, wildwoods, and magic in the forest.

Book Details

• Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, published in 2005 by Orion Books.
• Mezolith by Ben Haggarty, published in 2010 by Random House.

Click on the photo! (http://owlscotland.org/resources/resource-library/wolf_brothers_wildwoods)

Click on the photo! (http://owlscotland.org/resources/resource-library/wolf_brothers_wildwoods)

Guest Contact Details

• Donald Henson: dh625@york.ac.uk
• James Dilley: Twitter - @ancientcraftUK
• Matthew Ritchie: matthew.ritchie@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

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