The Dirt Digs Pride - Ep 96

Amber and Anna are holding their very own Pod Pride Parade this week! We talk about the possible genetic influences behind human sexuality and discuss instances of queerness in archaeology (and some TRULY bad takes from news outlets). We also discuss gay icons from ancient history, badass queer archaeologists, and more!

Links

• No ‘gay gene’: Massive study homes in on genetic basis of human sexuality (Nature)

• Genetics of Sexual Behavior

• Sexuality Studies in Archaeology (Annual Reviews in Anthropology)

• The Oldest Known Gay Man? (ABC News)

• First homosexual caveman found (Telegraph)

• 'Gay Caveman' Story Overblown, Archaeologists Say (LiveScience)

• Is That Skeleton Gay? The Problem With Projecting Modern Ideas Onto The Past (Forbes)

• Alexander the Great or Alexander the Gay? (University of Liverpool)

• Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Cardiff)

• Queering Hippolytus: Asexuality and Ancient Greece (Notches)

• Sapphistry on the Spoil Heap: Lesbianism and Female Homosociality in Early Archaeology (TORCH)

• In Han Dynasty China, Bisexuality Was the Norm (JSTOR Daily)

• Feminisms, Queer Theories, and the Archaeological Study of Past Sexualities (World Archaeology)

• Historical archaeology (The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

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

Teeth and Trowelblazing with Special Guest Dr. Brenna Hassett - Ep 95

This week, Anna and Amber chat with researcher, author, science communicator, founding TrowelBlazer, and wearer of many hats, Dr. Brenna Hassett! We learn that we've all got a mouthful of clocks, that women have always been a part of the digging sciences, and that networks truly matter.

Links

• Dr. Brenna Hassett (UCL)

• @brennawalks on Twitter

• TrowelBlazers

• Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death

• And Dr. Hassett mentioned two books by Angela Saini:

  • Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story

  • Superior: The Return of Race Science

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

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

Hunting and Gathering - Ep 94

This week, Anna and Amber have foraged up an episode all about hunting and gathering. We also examine anthropology and ethnography, and the problematic origins of these disciplines. We discuss the Grandmother Hypothesis, wax rhapsodic about salmon, and...Amber tells another honey story.

Links

• Hunter-Gatherers (Foragers) (Human Research Area Files)

• Hunter-Gatherer Culture (National Geographic)

• What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa (Journal of Archaeological Research)

• Hunter-gatherer studies and human evolution: a very selective review (American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

• The Ethnohistory and Anthropology of ‘Modern’ Hunter-Gatherers (The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers)

• AnthroBites: Scientific Racism (AnthroPod)

• Grandmothering, menopause, and the evolution of human life histories (UNM Digital Repository)

• Whales and humans linked by 'helpful grandmothers' (BBC)

• Why Grandmothers May Hold The Key To Human Evolution (NPR)

• The Evolutionary Importance of Grandmothers (The Atlantic)

• The Surprisingly Sticky Tale of the Hadza and the Honeyguide Bird (Atlas Obscura)

• Honey, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, and human evolution (Journal of Human Evolution)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

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

Rapa Nui! - Ep 93

This week, Anna and Amber voyage to the island of Rapa Nui, famous for its monumental stone heads, and for the idea that its islanders caused their own collapse through environmental exploitation. Turns out, that's probably not what happened! Tune in to learn more about what archaeology and anthropology can tell us about the real stories of the Rapanui people.

Links

• A model-based approach to the tempo of “collapse”: The case of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (Journal of Archaeological Science)

• Rethinking Easter Island’s Historic “Collapse” (Sapiens)

• The Archaeology of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania)

• Indigenous World 2019: Rapa Nui (Easter Islands) (IWGIA)

• Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources (PLOSOne)

• Easter Island Statue Project

• The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island (Journal of Archaeological Science)

• Easter Island Mystery Solved? New Theory Says Giant Statues Rocked (National Geographic)

• Object: Hoa Hakananai'a ('lost or stolen friend') (British Museum)

• Rock art of Easter Island : symbols of power, prayers to the gods (via WorldCat)

• Cristián Moreno Pakarati (Rapa Nui Pioneers Society)

• Tangata Manu, The Bird-Man and its Origins (moeVaruna)

• The Soft, Warm, Wet Technology of Native Oceania (Whole Earth Review)

• Easter Island land dispute clashes leave dozens injured (BBC News, 2010)

• Police evict Rapa Nui clan from Easter Island hotel (BBC News, 2011)

• Fighting for Survival on Easter Island (Cultural Survival)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

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

Not Before I've Had My Coffee - Ep 92

Anna and Amber fill your brain mug with piping hot knowledge about the archaeology, genetics, and culture behind some of our favorite morning drinks.

Links

• A history of coffee:

• Coffee botany:

• Origins of coffee:

• First writings on coffee:

• World's oldest tea:

• Tea and the Silk Road

• Tea origin story:

• Tea genetics:

• History of yerba mate:

• Yaupon use by Indigenous Americans:

• Yaupon archaeological residues:

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast

Affiliates

• Wildnote

• TeePublic

• Timeular

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