Spooktober: South American Horror Story - Ep65

This week, head south to the misty, mysterious island of Chiloé, Chile, where Amber tells Anna a story of a powerful cult of warlocks that held the island in their grip in the late 19th century CE. But, as in all good horror stories, the true villain is possibly something else entirely. Sit down for a hearty meal of the spookiest spaghetti and explore indigenous Mapuche governance, colonization, and whether the ghost stories of Chiloé might be more meaningful than they seem.

Content warning: there is a brief scene describing graphic violence, but we’ll warn you when it’s time for sensitive ears to skip ahead.

Links

• Into the Cave of Chile’s Witches (Smithsonian)

• The Myths and Mythologies of Chiloe, Chile's Most Haunted Island (Culture Trip)

• Myth and Magic Infuse Chilean Island (NPR)

• Invunche (Chiloé Mitologico)

• The Cave of Quicaví (VoiceMap Tours)

• La Enfermadad de todos en El Cuerpo Propia: Brujeria y performatividad del Tribual de la Raza Indigena en Chiloé (Universum)

• Rhetorical Imperialism (Digital Commons @DU)

• Shamans' Pragmatic Gendered Negotiations with Mapuche Resistance Movements and Chilean Political Authorities (Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power)

• Imbunches and Other Monsters: Enemy Legends and Underground Histories in José Donoso and Catalina Parra (Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies)

• Reyes Sobre La Tierra: Brujería Y Chamanismo En Una Cultura Insular. Chiloé Entre Los Siglos XVIII y XY

• Pueblos Originarios - Indigenous Populations of Chile Map

• The Cinematic Spell in an Island of Uncertainty (Anthrovision)

• Lore Episode 25, “The Cave”

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Spooktober: Cryptoanthropology - Ep 64

It's here! Spooktober is here! Your (g)hosts kick off the month with an exploration of things that go bump in the woods, and discuss what anthropology has to say about Bigfoot. Turns out, a whole lot. There’s skepticism, mild skepticism, and then there's theory that may finally break Anna altogether.

Links

• Is Bigfoot Real? The Long Strange Story of Our Search for Bigfoot (Popular Mechanics)

• People Have Been Chasing Bigfoot for 60 Years—Here's How It Began (History.com)

• Bigfoot 411

• Them + Us

• Homo heidelbergensis (Smithsonian Museum of Natural History)

• Bigfoot Culture and Belief of Sasquatch in the United States (Esri)

• The Science Behind Bigfoot an Interview With Dr. Jeff Meldrum (BYU-Idaho Radio)

• Are Other Hominins (Hominoids) Alive Today? (Relict Hominid Inquiry)

• Bigfoot DNA (Monster Talk)

• We Burn as Many Calories as Hunter-Gatherers, So What Makes Us Fat? (Time)

• How many humans would it take to keep our species alive? One scientist's surprising answer (NBC News)

• Bigfoot Skepticism (Monster Talk)

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The Professor Is In (And Pseudoscience Is Out) - Ep 63

This week, Anna and Amber welcome Very Special Guest Ken Feder (Central Connecticut State This week, Anna and Amber welcome Very Special Guest Ken Feder (Central Connecticut State University) to talk all things archaeological and pseudoarchaeological. Amber and Anna ask Ken about teaching strategies! Hot takes from critics! The real impact of archaeological research on living communities! The proper way to say 'Thames!' And more! Plus, why you should buy all of Ken’s books.

Links

• Ancient America: Fifty Archaeological Sites to See for Yourself

• “Outcasts” Build Their Own Village in 18th-Century Barkhamsted (Connecticut History)

• Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry

• Steph Halmhofer and Bones, Stones, and Books

• Archaeological Fantasies

• Kenneth Feder’s Faculty Bio

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Listening to the Oldies - Ep 62

This week, Anna and Amber sing you a little tune about musical instruments in the archaeological record, and the ways that we can access ancient music today. From the discoveries of the earliest known flutes, to jamming out with Homer, to some mind-blowing takes on sound and silence, consider it our first movement in this composition.

Links

Scales from Around the World (How Music Really Works)

A Biological Rationale for Musical Scales (PLOSOne)

A Voice from the Past (The New Yorker)

The European Music Archaeology Project Recreates Instruments of Old (New York Times)

Ice and Longboats: Ancient Music of Scandinavia (European Music Archaeology Project, Volume 2)

Ancient Greek music: now we finally know what it sounded like (The Conversation)

8 Oldest Musical Instruments in the World (Oldest.org)

Brookhaven Lab Expert Helps Date Flute Thought to be Oldest Playable Musical Instrument (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet (Smithsonian)

Sing like you mean it! - the Linguistics of Tonal Languages

Listen to Sappho Read By Stephen G. Daitz (The New Yorker Podcast)

Hear What Homer’s Odyssey Sounded Like When Sung in the Original Ancient Greek (Open Culture)

Homer Multitext Project

We can tell where a whale has travelled from the themes in its song (New Scientist)

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Story Time with Anna: Olaus and the Chamber of Confirmation Bias - Ep 61

Snuggle on down in your jimjams with a mug of your favorite warm beverage, as Anna tells Amber a bedtime story about a great moment in archaeological discovery. This week, we travel back to 17th century Sweden, where a professor named Olof Rudbeck changed the world with his research. No spoilers, so check out thedirtpod.com for this week's show notes and recommended reading.

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