The One Where Ross Isn’t The Only Paleontologist: A Deep Discussion with Amy Atwater - Ruins 5
Episode 5’s guest, Amy Atwater, is the Paleontology Collections Manager/Registrar at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. She is also just an all-around bad-ass. She is an avid science communicator, and does so through presentations, videos, and her massively popular instagram account @Mary_annings_revenge. Amy was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and has a slew of peer-reviewed publications. She also has published work in The Huffington Post and has even appeared on PBS EONS.
We talk with her about how she got into paleontology, how she escaped the field of anthropology and how David and Connor are recovering paleontologists. We define the difference between archaeology and paleontology (Archaeologists Don’t Dig Dinosaurs!) while discussing deep time and stratigraphy. David and Amy discuss curation life and security and Amy explains who Mary Anning is and why she is so vengeful. We finish with a discussion about mental health in Academia. And, big surprise, Connor makes another crappy dad joke. Make sure and get your T-Rex arms clapping and waving as you begin listening to Episode 5 of A Life in Ruins Podcast.
Links
Amy’s Socials:
Instagram: @Mary_annings_revenge
Youtube rap battles:
https://youtu.be/I3CQvTpfyak
https://youtu.be/cf95lU-YbXw
Contact
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Plants, Architecture, and Old Guns - TAS 70
Today’s show was recorded at KNVC.org in Carson City Nevada. Chris is joined by his co-host for this episode, Brian Woods. We talk about about plants, architecture, and guns.
Links
TAU Researchers Indentified Millennia-Old Animal, Plant Remains on Tiny Cave Flint Tools
Italy’s “House of the Archaeologist” expresses history through materiality
137-year-old Winchester rifle found in Nevada has a new home
Contact
Chris Webster
Boats, Phones, and Drones...Oh my! - Ep 110
Today Paul and Chris talk about new boats, drones (of course), issues with the iPhone X in the field, and other random tech topics. It’s a catch-all episode today and we hope you enjoy it!
App of the Day
Webby: Motion-X GPS
Paul: Google News
Contact
Chris Webster
Twitter: @archeowebby
Paul Zimmerman
Twitter: @lugal
Email: paul@lugal.com
The Weird and the Wonderful: Imagined Zooarchaeologies of Video Games - Animals 13
Simona and Alex finally get to be experts in this fun episode imagining the zooarchaeologies of video games! Using the hundreds (and, if you're Alex, THOUSANDS) of hours of gaming experience, Simona and Alex go through popular video game series (The Witcher, Fallout, Dragon Age, and Skyrim) and try to reconstruct and compare some of the weirder creatures you encounter.
Links and References
Galinas, B. et al. (2015) Dragon Age: The World of Thedas - Volume 2, Dark Horse Comics
Johnson, E. (2018) Fantastic Bones and Where to Find Them. I Feel It In My Bones.
Merciel, L. (2014) Dragon Age: Last Flight, Tor books
Sapkowski, A. (2015) The Sword of Destiny, Gollancz
Contact
Alex Fitzpatrick
Twitter: @archaeologyfitz
Simona Falanga
Twitter: @CrazyBoneLady
Music
"Coconut - (dyalla remix)"
Archaeological Adventures with the National Trust with Rosalind Buck - Arch and Ale 25
Archaeology and Ale is a monthly series of talks presented by Archaeology in the City, part of the University of Sheffield Archaeology Department’s outreach programme.
This month Archaeology and Ale proudly present:
Rosalind Buck on “Archaeological Adventures with the National Trust”
Rosalind Buck has made a career out of her adventures in archaeology! In this episode, Rosalind teaches us about how archaeologists are helping the National Trust to look after their properties in the East Midlands.
For more information about Archaeology in the City’s events and opportunities to get involved, please email archaeologyinthecity@sheffield.ac.uk or visit our website at archinthecity.wordpress.com.
You can also find us on Twitter (@archinthecity), Instagram (@archaeointhecity), or Facebook (@archinthecity)
Content Warning: Listener discretion is advised, as there is adult language. Thank you.
Them There Hills: Mounds and the Myth of the Moundbuilders - The Dirt 56
It’s all about mounds and moundbuilders on this week’s episode with Anna and Amber.
Links
Cahokia: The Great Native American Metropolis (via WorldCat)
Watson Brake, a Middle Archaic Mound Complex in Northeast Louisiana (American Antiquity)
12th-Century Cahokia Was a “Melting Pot” (Archaeology)
Cahokia and the Excavation of Mound 72 (Lithics Casting Lab)
The Ancient Mounds of Poverty Point: A Place of Rings (via WorldCat)
Moundbuilders (Newberry)
Early pottery: Technology, Function, Style, and Interaction in the Lower Southeast (via WorldCat)
White Settlers Buried the Truth About the Midwest’s Mysterious Mound Cities (Smithsonian)Check out Ken
Feder’s take on the myth of the moundbuilders over on Archaeological Fantasies. He’s also the author of this week’s Dirt Book Club entry, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and
Contact
Interview with a Senior Archaeologist and Uber Driver - CRMArch 169
We talk a lot about the need for a side hustle in CRM Archaeology. On today's episode we talk to an archaeologist from Australia that now lives and works in the U.S. and is also a driver for Uber. He's a senior archaeologist and is making it work.
Links
Follow Our Panelists On Twitter
Bill @succinctbill; Doug @openaccessarch; Stephen @processarch; Bill A. @archaeothoughts; Chris W @Archeowebby, @DIGTECHLLC, and @ArchPodNet
Blogs:
Bill White: Succinct Research
Doug Rocks-MacQueen: Doug’s Archaeology
Stephen Wagner: Process - Opinions on Doing Archaeology
Chris Webster: Random Acts of Science
Roman Routeways of Sheffield and North Derbyshire with David Inglis - Arch and Ale 24
Archaeology and Ale proudly presents - David Inglis on “Follow the Yellow Brick Roads: the Roman Routeways of Sheffield and North Derbyshire.” This talk took place on Thursday 28th February at the Red Deer, Sheffield.
For more information about Archaeology in the City’s events and opportunities to get involved, please email archaeologyinthecity@sheffield.ac.uk or visit our website at archinthecity.wordpress.com.
You can also find us on Twitter (@archinthecity), Instagram (@archaeointhecity), or Facebook (@archinthecity)
Content Warning: Listener discretion is advised, as there is adult language. Thank you.
Troy Story: Heinrich Schliemann and the Power of Lying - Dirt 55
This week, we play some of the Classics: a look at Troy, the Trojan War, and its discovery. Enter Heinrich Schliemann, the archaeologist (nope) who excavated the site of Hisarlik, in present-day Turkey, found evidence of the end of the Iliad (nope), went on to excavate other Homeric heroes (again, nope), and completely changed the game for public interest in archaeological research and the possibility that Homer was based on historical events (actually, this one is true). Come for Amber attempting to recite the Aeneid, stay for Anna throwing books in disgust.
Contact
Tephrochronology with Dr. Jamie Anderson - ArchaeoTech 109
New APN Volunteer producer, Dr. Jamie Anderson, joins Paul and Chris today to talk about her masters and PhD research that used some interesting dating methods. One of those was Tephrocronology, or, dating using ash layers. Combined with other methods, Tephrocronology is a powerful tool. We talk about that and other dating methods.
Links
Jamie Anderson on Twitter: @bix783
App of the Day
Webby: Pheramor
Paul: IFAB Laws of the Game
Contact
Chris Webster
Twitter: @archeowebby
Paul Zimmerman
Twitter: @lugal
Email: paul@lugal.com
An Arctic Expedition - Dirt 54
Amber's too cold, Anna's too hot, and we've both lost our dang minds! In an effort to think about something other than the summer heat, this week we're offering you a sampler platter of some of the amazing archaeology from the Arctic regions up north! Learn how people got to the Arctic, what some of them did when they got there, and what's happening to Arctic sites now in light of global warming. Also hyenas. Refreshing!
Links
The Peopling of the Americas: Evidence for Multiple Models (Discover)
Late Pleistocene exploration and settlement of the Americas by modern humans (Science)
Beringia (National Parks Service)
These First Americans Vanished Without a Trace — But Hints of Them Linger (LiveScience)
The ancient people in the high-latitude Arctic had well-developed trade (EurekAlert)
Do Canadian Carvings Depict Vikings? Removing Mammal Fat May Tell (LiveScience)
How Did Prehistoric Hyenas Reach the Americas? Through the Arctic (Ha’aretz)
As the Arctic Erodes, Archaeologists Are Racing to Protect Ancient Treasures (Smithsonian)
The Unalaska Sea Ice Project (Boston University Zooarchaeology Laboratory)
What Clam Thermometers Tell Us About Past Climates (Sapiens)
Clamshells and Climate Change: What seal bones and clamshells teach us about past climate (The Brink)
The Dirt Book Club!
The earth is faster now: indigenous observations of Arctic environmental change, by Igor Krupnik and Dyanna Jolly
The last imaginary place: a human history of the Arctic world, by Robert McGhee
Contact
Alternative Lodging - CRMArch 168
From tents to hotel rooms CRM Archaeologists have seen it all when it comes to lodging. We sleep in our cars, double up in rented houses, and try to rack up those hotel points when we can. For the last few years, though, a new player had been shaking things up. With AirBnB anyone can rent out some or all of their residence and for archaeologists working on small town with few lodging options, this can be a real game changer for quality of life. On today's show we talk about the AirBnB trend and what it means for archaeology.
Links
Follow Our Panelists On Twitter
Bill @succinctbill; Doug @openaccessarch; Stephen @processarch; Bill A. @archaeothoughts; Chris W @Archeowebby, @DIGTECHLLC, and @ArchPodNet
Blogs:
Bill White: Succinct Research
Doug Rocks-MacQueen: Doug’s Archaeology
Stephen Wagner: Process - Opinions on Doing Archaeology
Chris Webster: Random Acts of Science
Cultural Appropriation - TAS 69
Chris Webster is joined again by Brian Woods in the studio at KNVC Community Radio in Carson City Nevada for a chat about goddess figurines and cultural appropriation.
Links
Contact
Chris Webster
Archaeology In The News for May 2019 - TAS 68
Chris Webster is joined again by Brian Woods in the studio in Carson City, Nevada for the radio show on 95.1 FM and Carson Community Media.
Links
Contact
Chris Webster
Reclaiming Indigenous Histories and the Indigenous Paleolithic - HeVo 31
On today’s episode Jessica hosts Dr. Paulette Steeves (Cree-Metis), Associate Professor at Algoma University. We especially focus on the Indigenous paleolithic and how Dr. Steeves is showing that it was very different than how it is presented by the field of archaeology. We also talk about the Bering Strait theory and why the academy is so resistant to that narrative being challenged. In the beginning of the episode Dr. Steeves walks us through her career, including some incidents that were not so flattering for the field, and finish our by talking about what it would take to decolonize the academy and anthropology.
"In early February 1999 I was standing on the corner outside of an old brick building which housed my favorite used bookstore in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The store, which was situated on the edge campus and the entrance to Main Street was a magical place of dreams and respite, where I went for brief sojourns from the real world. The store also contained glassed in shelves with a wonderful collection of nickel candies, from which I created magical brown paper sacks of joy and happiness for my three children. As I exited the book store my oldest son Jesse who was 21, ran up to me, and smiled an accepted his bag of candy. He looked me in the eyes and thanked me and hugged me then just out of the blue he said; “no matter what ever happens to me, don’t you ever give up on your education, promise me you will never give, you will keep going and finish you bachelors and go on to a higher degree, be a doctor, be a lawyer, keep going, promise me you will never give up”, so that day in early February I promised him, I would never give up. Just a week later he was gone, crossed over from this world, and my promise to my son to never give up was the last conversation we had. This story is dedicated to my oldest son Jesse Blue Steeves Dec1, 1977-Feb 18, 1999, I can tell him now that thanks to his love and foresight, I never gave up."
Links and References
“'Just watch me': Challenging the 'origin story' of Native Americans”
Steeves, P. (2017). Unpacking Neoliberal Archaeological Control of Ancient Indigenous Heritage. Archaeologies, 13(1), 48-65.
Steeves, P. (2015). Decolonizing the Past and Present of the Western Hemisphere (The Americas). Archaeologies, 11(1), 42-69.
Steeves, P. (2015). Academia, Archaeology, CRM, and Tribal Historic Preservation. Archaeologies, 11(1), 121-141.
Holen, S. R., Deméré, T. A., Fisher, D. C., Fullagar, R., Paces, J. B., Jefferson, G. T., ... & Holen, K. A. (2017). A 130,000-year-old archaeological site in southern California, USA. Nature, 544(7651), 479.
Holen, S. R., Deméré, T. A., Fisher, D. C., Fullagar, R., Paces, J. B., Jefferson, G. T., ... & Holen, K. A. (2018). Broken bones and hammerstones at the Cerutti Mastodon site: a reply to Haynes.
PaleoAmerica, 4(1), 8-11.
Haynes, G. (2017). The Cerutti Mastodon. PaleoAmerica, 3(3), 196-199.
Dr. Steeves
Contact
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science with Dr. Michele Koons - TAS 71
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is a massive organization that strives to teach the public about the world around us. Dr. Michelle Koons is the Curator of Archaeology at the DMNS and brings us a report on what they're doing these days and what you can see and participate in if you visit. We talk about one such project in detail: The Magic Mountain Community Archaeology Project.
Links
Contact
Chris Webster
Ancient Ink with Aaron Deter-Wolf - Ruins 4
If you’ve been following us for a bit, you might notice that archaeology isn’t just pyramids or that ancient aliens bullshit...it’s the study of human behavior. And one world-wide human behavior that you’ve probably all observed, is the practice of tattooing and body modification. Well, that’s not really our niche, but lucky for you, we’re bought one of the world’s leading experts on the archaeology of tattooing to talk with us today. In fact, he co-wrote the book on it!
Tonight’s guest, Aaron Deter-Wolf, is currently the Prehistoric Archaeologist at the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. Aaron is responsible for managing prehistoric sites on State-owned lands, as well as conducting archaeological excavations and publishing research on the results of those studies. Most importantly, Aaron is a prominent advocate for public archaeology, as evidenced by his work with the state of Tennessee, his scholarly publications, and his new Instagram @archaeologyink.
Contact
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Managing Billable Expenses and Safety - CRMArch 167
We often hear of companies in the field of CRM Archaeology skimping on things like ice and water in for field crews. Should these be billable, line-item expenses, or just the cost of doing business like the light bill at the office? Also, where is that line between what the company should provide and what employees should provide?
Links
Follow Our Panelists On Twitter
Bill @succinctbill; Doug @openaccessarch; Stephen @processarch; Bill A. @archaeothoughts; Chris W @Archeowebby, @DIGTECHLLC, and @ArchPodNet
Blogs:
Bill White: Succinct Research
Doug Rocks-MacQueen: Doug’s Archaeology
Stephen Wagner: Process - Opinions on Doing Archaeology
Chris Webster: Random Acts of Science
A Fishy Situation - Animals 12
Alex and Simona attempt to make it through an entire episode of our most hated type of bone: fish bones. Listen as they talk about the difficulties of dealing with archaeological fish and why they are actually quite important! Oh, and lots of complaining. Ugh...fish bones.
Bibliography
Killgrove, K. (2019) Vat of Ancient Fish Sauce May Confirm Date that Pompeii Was Destroyed. Forbes.
Luff, R. (1984) Animal Remains in Archaeology
Great Britain: Shire Archaeology
Rackham, J. (1994) Interpreting the Past: Animal Bones
Ryder, M. L. (1968) Animal bones in archaeology
Great Britain: Blackwell Scientific Publications
Archaeological Fish Resource from the University of Nottingham
The North Atlantic Biocultural Organisation (NABO) Fish Identification Manual
Contact
Alex Fitzpatrick
Twitter: @archaeologyfitz
Simona Falanga
Twitter: @CrazyBoneLady
Music
"Coconut - (dyalla remix)"
Cities: The First 6000 Years - TAS 67
Whether you live in a city or not we all are familiar with cities and how they impact our lives. Some of us live in them and others just visit them when we need things or social interaction that we can’t get elsewhere. Our guest today has studied the history of the city and some of what Dr. Monica Smith has found may surprise you.
Links
Contact
Chris Webster