Mammoths and Empires with Todd Braje - TAS 343
Chris interviews archaeologist and author Todd Braje about his upcoming book, “Mammoths and Empires” from Pegasus Books. We discuss some of the bigger themes in the book and his motivation for writing it.
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Drought Archaeology, "Stonehenge" in Lake Michigan and "Noah's Ark" Research + BONUS - TAS 342
This week we are back to the news with three recent archaeology stories! First up, we discuss a National Geographic report on Turkey’s rapidly shrinking lakes, noting that receding water is exposing submerged archaeological sites like the Basilica of St. Neophytos in Lake Iznik while creating preservation and excavation challenges. We then critique a BBC Science Focus story that compares a mile-long stone alignment in Lake Michigan to Stonehenge. Archaeologists actuallysay that hunting drive lines are plausible explanations, and that simplified claims about lake history and age are misleading. And finally, we review an IFLScience article debunking more claims that Noah’s Ark was found in the Urartu region, emphasizing that the Durupinar formation is widely regarded as a geological feature.
Also, members can enjoy a bonus segment about parasites in Roman poop!
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Segment 1
Segment 2
A secret Stonehenge under Lake Michigan is baffling archaeologists
A 9,000-year-old caribou hunting structure beneath Lake Huron
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Chris Webster
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A Sitcom about Archaeology (DIG) with Author Kate Myers - TAS 341
Is this what archaeology needs? We think so! On November 23, 2026 Peacock and NBC Universal will release a new comedy based on Kate Myers book, Excavations, released in 2023. It will star Amy Poehler and Hugh Laurie. In this episode, Chris talks with the author about the book and the making of the TV show.
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Journal Club - September 2026 - Ghost DNA and Carved Turtles - TAS 340
This week we have the latest installment of the journal Club! Ash and Tilly from the And My Trowel podcast join us for a lively discussion about two recent news articles. Join us to learn about ghost DNA, turtle figurines (or not?), and all the ways Americans eat and drink tea and scones incorrectly!
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Researchers identify traces of two ‘ghost’ ancestors in modern human DNA
Recovering signatures of archaic hominin introgression using ancestral recombination graphs
Archaeologists Dug up 25 Turtles Carved During the Ice Age. They May Point to a Lost Mountain Cult.
Recently dug turtle figurines expose ancient ritual heritage
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Ancient Inscriptions - TAS 339
In this episode of The Archaeology Show, we follow three discoveries that reveal how much ancient meaning can survive—and how much can still elude us. First, we look at rare Neolithic obsidian arrowheads from central Anatolia, etched with one-of-a-kind geometric designs that took real effort to carve, yet remain impossible to interpret. Then we head deep into Spain’s Cova de les Dones, where a hidden chamber holds 120 Latin inscriptions—evidence of an organized Roman cult centered on a mysterious “Lady,” Domina, and the name “MALACI.” Finally, we travel to Wetar Island in eastern Indonesia, where a 4,000-year-old painted stone plaque provides the first portable example of Austronesian Painting Tradition art, suggesting seafarers carried shared symbols and identities across the ocean long before pottery arrived.
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120 Roman-Era Inscriptions Found Deep in a Spanish Cave Point to a Mysterious Goddess Named 'Domina'
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Chris Webster
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Maya Astronomer Named, and Controversy Over Utah Monuments and Smithsonian Signage - TAS 335
In today’s archaeology news episode, we discuss three articles, starting with a discovery at the Maya city of Xiulán, Guatemala: a small room interpreted as a scribe/astronomer workspace with 11 hieroglyphs naming Sak Ton Wax (“white-chested fox”) and more than 50 mathematical “micro texts” tracking Venus and Mars as the author. We then cover a report that President Trump reduced Grand Staircase–Escalante and Bears Ears by nearly three million acres, opening lands to mining and ending the Bears Ears Commission’s tribal co-stewardship. Finally, we discuss a report on an executive order to post warnings outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History about “inaccurate information,” and we argue it politicizes history and promotes alternative narratives.
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Save Ancient Studies Alliance - TAS 334
On today’s episode Chris interviews Dr. David Danzig from the Save Ancient Studies Alliance. It’s a great website dedicated to education and outreach. They’ve got a conference coming up on July 19th and 20th for people listening in real time. It’s free and open to all. Check out the livestream options at the links below.
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Timelines: 1450 - Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, and Constantinople - TAS 333
In this “Timelines: 1450” episode, we travel across continents and centuries to see what was happening at the same time in different places around the world: Angkor Wat in the jungles of Cambodia, Machu Picchu in the Andes, and Constantinople in Turkey. Join us as we uncover their origins, uses, and the mysteries that still surround these awe-inspiring sites.
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Presenting: Journal Club - TAS 332
Each month on the APN Discord channel the management of the APN will get together and discuss an article or two from recent archaeology and scientific journal publications. You can join live and free on the Discord and see our shining faces! We thought we’d use this show to present the audio from that first recording. We’re aiming for the first Monday of every month. Let us know what you think!
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Apple News: https://apple.news/AzsyzHT5XQyGJc7jweQl4mg
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Chris Webster
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Did Archaeologists Find a Lost Incan City? - TAS 331
This week we cover three archaeology stories in the news recently. First, ancient and unusual rock art in the Caucuses. Then we head over to Spain where researchers have excavated several graves at a monastery, including the queen who founded it. And finally, Natianal Geographic's June cover story is all about a long lost Incan city that may (or may not!) have been identified in Peru.
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Monte Verde Dethroned? - TAS 330
In episode 330 of The Archeology Show, we discuss the latest controversy over the site of Monte Verde in southern Chile, long considered a cornerstone pre-Clovis site dated to about 14,500 BP. We summarize a March 2026 study led by Todd Surovell arguing the key occupation layer is much younger (about 8,200–4,200 years ago) based on geological and stratigraphic analyses, including an 11,000-year-old tephra layer allegedly beneath deposits, claims of redeposited older wood from erosion and flooding, and luminescence dating of nearby sediments. We then review strong criticism, including scathing critiques from about 30 researchers including Tom Dillehay (author of the original work), disputing sampling locations, assumptions about redeposition, and whether the tephra identification is correct. It seems like both sides raise points but more collaborative research is needed before rewriting interpretations of early human peopling of the Americas.
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When did humans arrive in the Americas? A new study reignites the debate
A mid-Holocene age for Monte Verde challenges the timeline of human colonization of South America (Not open access)
ScienceAdviser: New dating of ancient Chilean site reopens old wounds
Study suggests younger age for Chile's important Monte Verde archaeological site
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Is Destroying Archaeology for the Border Wall OK? Ep 329
Today we bring you three stories from the news. The first is about an overcrowded cemetery in Colorado and it brings into question other cemeteries that date back over 100 years and the accuracy of records. Next we head to Scotland where a man-made island has been shown to have much more interesting architecture than previously though - and it’s much older than researches believed. Finally, we talk about the archaeology being destroyed by Trump’s border wall with Mexico.
Today we bring you three stories from the news. The first is about an overcrowded cemetery in Colorado and it brings into question other cemeteries that date back over 100 years and the accuracy of records. Next we head to Scotland where a man-made island has been shown to have much more interesting architecture than previously though - and it’s much older than researches believed. Finally, we talk about the archaeology being destroyed by Trump’s border wall with Mexico.
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Segment 1
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“They Don’t Care”: Trump’s Border Wall Construction Damages 1,000-Year-Old Sacred Indigenous Site
Las Playas Intaglio Damaged by Border Wall Construction in Arizona
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Chris Webster
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Early Hominin Structures, Pompeii Discoveries, and the Band of Holes in Peru - TAS 328
In this week’s episode, we cover three archaeology news stories. First up, a Nature-backed report on unusually old woodworking from Kalambo Falls, where waterlogged conditions preserved a wedge, digging stick, and notched logs dated by luminescence to about 476,000 years ago, suggesting advanced planning and challenging simple “Stone Age” assumptions. We then discuss a Pompeii discovery of two skeletons outside the city walls near Porta Stabia, including a man apparently shielding his head with a terracotta bowl and carrying an oil lamp, and we debate the benefits and risks of an AI-generated scene reconstruction. Finally, we examine Peru’s Monte Sierpe “Band of Holes,” over 5,200 aligned pits mapped by drones and analyzed via microbotanical remains, with a study proposing early market use and later Inca-style accounting patterns resembling quipu, while we question how and why such a vast system was built and used.
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Chris Webster
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Unraveling Ancient DNA: Neanderthals, Natural Selection, and Burial Mysteries - TAS 327
In our latest episode, we unravel fascinating stories of ancient DNA in the news! Uncover the touching story of Anglo-Saxon siblings buried together over 1400 years ago. Then we look at groundbreaking research revealing how natural selection shaped more genes than we ever imagined. Finally, join our exploration of the mysterious origins of Neanderthals!
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From Pharaohs to Crosses: Egypt’s Hidden Worlds - TAS 326
Three discoveries, one shifting landscape: a mysterious buried structure beneath the ancient city of Buto, the newly identified tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II near the Valley of the Kings, and the remains of a massive Coptic monastery at Al-Qalaye. We dig into what the finds reveal about Egypt’s long arc—from dynastic power to Christian communities—and how modern tools are changing what archaeologists can see.
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Mysterious Structure Found Buried Beneath an Ancient Egyptian City
The last missing tomb from this wealthy Egyptian dynasty has been found
Archaeologists Discovered the Remains of One of the Largest Christian Monasteries Ever
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Chris Webster
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Treasures, Seated Skeletons, and Egyptian Receipts - TAS 325
This week on The Archaeology Show, we tour three very different windows into the ancient world: a 5,000-year-old tomb packed with remarkable treasures, a surprising discovery of upright-buried skeletons beneath a French school, and tens of thousands of Egyptian notes and receipts that capture everyday life in vivid detail. We unpack what these finds reveal about status and burial ritual, how archaeologists interpret unusual body positions, and what “boring” paperwork can tell us about work, money, and people behind the monuments. Three discoveries, one big question: what survives—and what it can still say.
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Segment 1
Segment 2
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Chris Webster
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Blackened Teeth, Jaw Surgery, and Ancient Knitting - TAS 324
This week we are back with some News stories! First, we discuss evidence from an Iron Age cemetery in northern Vietnam showing intentional, permanent tooth blackening dating back 2,000 years. Then, we cover a 2,500-year-old Pazyryk culture burial in southern Siberia where CT scans of a mummified woman’s skull suggest a severe jaw injury was stabilized with surgical sutures. And finally, we summarize Bronze Age textile finds from Anatolia dated roughly 1915–1745 BCE and later, including the earliest regional evidence of nalbinding (single-needle “knitting”) and an indigo-dyed hemp fragment identified as the oldest known blue-dyed textile in Bronze Age Anatolia.
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Early Human Footprints, Ancient Clothing, and a 150-Year-Old Drink - TAS 323
From a 150-year-old alcohol bottle unearthed in Utah—where the “real treasure” might be what it once tasted like—to footprints in White Sands New Mexico which are more than 20,000 years old, this episode spans the surprisingly fragile side of archaeology. We also dig into a discovery being called the oldest clothing in human history, and what it can (and can’t) tell us about early humans, preservation, and the everyday technologies that rarely survive.
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Segment 1
Segment 2
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Chris Webster
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Ancient Egyptian Rock Art, a Funeral Pyre in Africa, and an Animal Skull Collection - TAS 322
This week we deep dive three interesting archaeology news stories. First up, a rock art panel from Ancient Egypt depicts the conquest of the nomadic groups that lived in the Sinai peninsula. Then, we head over to Africa, where a burial that is the oldest example of intentional cremation with an intact funeral pyre has been found. Finally, Neanderthals collected animal skulls and placed then in a cave 43,000 years ago, and, as usual, archaeologists are baffled!
Links
5,000-year-old rock art from ancient Egypt depicts 'terrifying' conquest of the Sinai Peninsula
Wadi Khamila, the god Min and the Beginning of „Pharaonic” Dominance in Sinai 5000 years ago
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Strat Chat: Troy – Digging Deeper into the Layers of Legend - TAS 321
In Episode 321 of The Archaeology Show, we take a deep dive into the long and complex history of Troy. We discuss the stratigraphy of the site, starting from modern times and moving backward through key periods, including the famous era of the Trojan War as described by Homer. The episode covers the archaeological discoveries, the evolution of the city's fortifications, trade networks, burial practices, and cultural significance. We also delve into the early archaeological excavations and the ongoing debate about the historicity of the Trojan War.
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