A daily briefing of the archaeology and history of sites around the world.
Temple Mount - Episode 350
The Temple mount is a hill that forms the eastern section of the Old City of Jerusalem, which (as its name suggests) is the original city of Jerusalem mentioned in countless ancient books and is now a .9km square neighborhood separated from modern Jerusalem by the old city walls.
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Skellig Michael - Episode 349
Skellig Michael is the larger of two Skellig islands off the southwestern coast of Ireland. A Gaelic Christian Monastery was founded there sometime between the 6th and 8th centuries and remained in use until the 12th century.
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Ur - Episode 348
Ur was an important Sumerian coastal city-state in ancient Mesopotamia. The Sumerians were the people who invented the first writing system that relied on symbols to create words, instead of the hieroglyphic, pictograms and pictures that had been used before. Mesopotamia was a historical region that spanned over much of the Middle East.
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Tunnel of Eupalinos - Episode 347
Today, making tunnels is easy. How many of us live near subways or drive through them. But someone had to do it first. OR (in today’s case) second.
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Machaquila - Episode 346
Machaquila was once a city of monuments. Now it stands as a monument to looters and the encroaching world around it.
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Baghdad - Episode 345
If any city could tell enough tales for thousand and thousand of thousand and one night, Baghdad is definitely one.
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Delphi - Episode 344
Yeah - that Delphi. The Oracle of Delphi isn't the only thing that was there. Great architecture and many stories and myths are also associated with the site.
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Darband Cave - Episode 343
Darband Cave is a lower Paleolithic cave located in northern Iran. It contains the easiest evidence for prehistoric humans in that time.
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Batujaya - Episode 342
Located in West Java, Indonesia, Batujaya is at least 30 structural mounds across a five square kilometer area that dates back to at least the fifth and sixth centuries.
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Amphipolis - Episode 341
The remains of Amphipolis, an Ancient Greek city that was later a Roman city, is famous for many things including battles between the Spartans and Athenians and as a place for Alexander the Great spent a great deal of time.
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Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum - Episode 340
Likely built during the Eastern Han dynasty, AD 25 to 220, the Tomb is a fascinating cross-shaped structure with a complicated history.
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Copán - Episode 339
Part of the Maya civilization, Copán was a capital city of the major Classic Period kingdom. It was occupied for more than 2,000 years!
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Nesactium - Episode 338
A fortified town from pre-Roman times, Nesactium's ruins are located in Croatia.
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Hell Gap - Episode 337
Before Hell Gap, there were more than a few gaps in our knowledge of the past.
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La Blanca - Episode 336
A Maya site dating back to at least 250 AD, La Blanca probably served as a frontier post or trading center in support of a larger city.
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Lemonweir Glyphs - Episode 335
Petroglyphs in Wisconsin? That's right. And they're fine examples of local animals of the time along with more abstract designs.
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Akrotiri - Episode 334
Thought to be the basis for the legend of Atlantis, Akrotiri was a real place that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption around 1627 BC.
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Indian Mound Cemetery - Episode 333
Centered around one of the only unexcavated Hopewellian mounds on the East Coast, Indian Mound Cemetery is also home to several important politicians of the last few centuries.
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The Amarna Letters - Episode 332
Almost tossed in the trash, the Amarna Letters are actually clay tablets that paint a curious picture of Egyptian New Kingdom politics.
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Kennewick Man - Episode 331
Found next to a river I the Pacific Northwest and embroiled in controversy for the next couple decades, Kennewick man answered some questions but generated more.
