Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

Gladiator training with Svenja Fabian (part 2) - Tea-break 47

It’s time for part two of Matilda’s chat with ex-gladiatrix Svenja Fabian all about the topic of gladiatorial training! But how exactly would gladiators have trained in the past? Could anyone have become a gladiator? And what’s the ancient Roman equivalent of a sport’s bra? Listen in to find out the answers and much more!

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

Nirrti and the Chaos of Pride - DiA 06

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Pride isn't only for us humans. In some cases, it's a trait that even plagues the gods, well, false gods in this case. In this detour, we'll head into the southwest and to the far reaches of the galaxy through a wormhole to find where hubris gets you.

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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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Mythic Breakdown of The Raven - DiA 05

Deep dive into the history and mythology woven into Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven from 1845. Follow the raven through the chamber door and into a world of myth and mystery. No one but Edgar Allan Poe could have written quite like this. Join in with the deep dive into the Styx while we discuss as many mythological and legendary pieces Poe brought into his short story.

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

Can't Make Dragons Without Clay (Part 1) - Trowel 61

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This episode Ash and Tilly are scaling it down and looking at how to analyse tiny little clay dragons from the Pennykettle Dragon Sanctuary. The catch? They are alive! Which means that any destructive methods of analysis covered in previous episodes are no longer on the table. Luckily for our clay-ignorant duo, they are joined by archaeologist and professional potter Emma Harrison. Together, the three chat about playing around with clay, the diversity of sentient objects in fantasy fiction, and how a pair of socks can unveil Tilly’s childhood trauma.

Books mentioned:

  • Kiln people (David Brin)

  • Paladin’s Strength (T Kingfisher)

  • Swordheart (T Kingfisher)

  • Nettle and Bone (T Kingfisher)

  • The Fire Within (Chris O’Lacey)

  • The Lord of the Rings (J. R.R. Tolkien)

  • Foundryside (Robert Jackson Bennett)

  • Foul Days (Genoveva Dimova)

  • Blackthorn and Grim (Juliet Marillier)

  • Buried Deep and Other Stories - “Seven” (Naomi Novik)

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

Moundbuilder Myths and Viking Runestones in (or around) the Great Plains? - Plains 36

Carlton is back on the mic after the holiday break to talk about the Moundbuilder Myth, the Kensington Runestone, and the Heavener Runestone. Are they legit? Well tune in to this weeks episode to find out!

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Eliminate Anthropology - CRMArch 326

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The hosts discuss Jose Leonardo Santos’s article on negative public attitudes toward anthropology and the claim that the discipline is struggling, including department closures and doubts about career outcomes. They argue the article mostly compiles familiar viewpoints without enough outside perspectives or practical solutions, and debate whether anthropology and higher education are truly in crisis or whether some critiques rely on weak, clickbait-style data. Much of the conversation centers on academia’s disconnect from CRM work, saying graduates often lack practical skills, critical thinking, and the ability to take feedback, leaving CRM firms to train them from scratch. They compare community college “train-to-standard” education with selective four-year programs and emphasize professional self-improvement, then invite Santos to join the podcast for a Socratic-style discussion.

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Digging Deep with Norma Gregory, African Diaspora Industrial Heritage Historian - HeVo 104

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On this month’s episode, Jessica speaks with Dr. Norma Gregory (founder and director of Nottingham News Centre) about her efforts to document and educate the public on the industrial heritage history of the African diaspora. Dr. Gregory’s work to develop her book on Jamaicans in Nottingham led her to shift her life work to making sure that Black coal mining history got the attention that it deserved. We talk about some of her different efforts to promote this history as well as how all of us can do better public education in our own work. We also talk about her work for the Windrush museum, on Nottingham Carnival heritage, as well as her future dream vision for continuing this work.

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Dr Norma Gregory & Black Miners’ Heritage

Industrial Heritage & Archaeology

Windrush Scandal UK

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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!

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Tombs of the Tomb Builders Part 1: The Lost City of the Pyramid Builders - TPM 31

In the first part of this two-episode series on the tombs of the tomb builders, host Stephanie Rice journeys beyond the iconic monuments of the Giza Plateau to explore the long-overlooked settlement of the pyramid workers.

Often overshadowed by the Great Pyramids themselves, the massive wall known as Heit el-Ghurab, aka the “Wall of the Crow”, once concealed the remains of a thriving community. Ongoing excavations have revealed barracks, bakeries, administrative buildings, and, most importantly, carefully constructed cemeteries that challenge long-standing myths about enslaved labor or alien technologies.

This episode examines the archaeological evidence for a socially stratified yet respected workforce: laborers buried in modest but well-built tombs, artisans interred higher on the hillside, and even small mastabas and pyramids constructed for workers. Through burial architecture, grave goods, and settlement remains, we uncover a story not of disposable bodies, but of skilled Egyptians who brought their regional traditions with them in life and in death.

Offline Sources Cited:

  • David, A. Rosalie (editor). 1996. The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce. Routledge, London New York.

  • Forshaw, Roger. Trauma Care, Surgery and Remedies in Ancient Egypt: A Reassessment.

  • Lehner, Mark. 2015. Labor and the Pyramids: The Heit El-Ghurab “Workers Town” at Giza. In , pp. 397–522.

  • Lehner, Mark. 2023. Combinatorial Evolution and Heterogeneous Cohabitation at the Giant Pyramids. Journal of Urban Archaeology 8:21–46.

  • Steinkeller, Piotr, and Michael Hudson. 2015. Labor in the Ancient World: A Colloquium Held at Hirschbach (Saxony), April 2005. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies No. volume 5. ISLET, Dresden.

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Boonie Bears: Blast Intro the Past (2018) - Screens 122

Today we’re exploring the world of the Boonie Bears, China’s biggest animation brand. In the sixth feature film, the bears _Blast into the Past—_30 thousand years, to be exact, to a time when dinosaur skeletons dotted the landscape and humans were at war with wolves... and giants pandas took their name literally, and rainbow terror birds defied the physics of flight, and cavemen punched lava bombs out of the air with their bare hands!

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Dogs, Death, and Mourning in Human Culture - Ethno 30

In this episode of Ethnocynology, David talks about the book he's writing, reflects on the recent passing of his dog and his uncle, and what those have in common. With an upcoming trip to Mexico to research dogs in ancient and classical Mexican culture, David weaves in themes of dogs as spiritual constants and symbols of death around the world, including ancient Persia and China. He also asks the audience to consider how dogs and death may go hand in hand in their own lives.

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

The Living Traditions of Rock Art with Dr Joakim Goldhahn - Rock Art 159

In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Joakim Goldhahn about his journey through archaeology and rock art, from Scandinavia to Australia. Together, they explore the cosmology of Scandinavian burials linked to rock art, as well as the living traditions of rock art in Kakadu National Park and the lifeways of Indigenous Australians. Central to the discussion is a reflection on archaeological responsibility: how working outside these cultural traditions requires humility, accountability, and a commitment to building genuine, impactful relationships with Indigenous peoples and communities.

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So long, farewell... - ABC 14

After two years of running, this is the final episode for the Archaeo Book Club Podcast. Hosts and book club admins Ash, Judith, and Tilly bid a fond farewell by sharing their favourite past reads of the club, as well as the most anticipated books on their 2026 reading list. To all of our listeners, thank you for tuning in! And remember that just because the podcast is stopping doesn’t mean that the book club is. If you want to continue the discussion, please do come along and join our free Discord server to join our community and share your love of archaeology and books. Hopefully see you there!

Books mentioned:
Beowulf (Maria Dhavana Headley)
The Emperor’s Babe (Bernadine Evaristo)
The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
The Vaster Wilds (Lauren Groff)
Crocodile on the Sandbank (Elizabeth Peters)
Beds and Chambers in Late Medieval England: Reading, Representation and Realities (Hollie L.S. Morgan).
Inside the Neolithic Mind (David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce)
Scents of Arabia: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Olfactory Worlds (Arnulf Hausleiter and Barbara Huber)

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  • For rough transcripts of this episode, go to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/archaeo-book-club/14

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Dan Farah’s Movie Age of Disclosure and his Interview on Bill Maher’s Club Random - Pseudo 179

Dan Farah released a documentary called “Age of Disclosure” which is all about how aliens are among us and we are fools for not believing him. Bill Maher interviewed him on his Club Random podcast, and I watched it.

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Gladiator training with Svenja Fabian (part 1) - Tea-break 46

Let’s get down to business, to talk about gladiatorial training! In this episode, Matilda is joined by Svenja Fabian, who is a retired gladiatrix, or female gladiatorial re-enactor. Svenja’s shares her experiences in this particular field of re-enactment, and helps to bust some myths about gladiators in ancient Rome. But what actually is a gladiator? Did women really fight in gladiatorial battles? And why is it unlikely that people would have used the thumbs up/thumbs down signals? Tune in to find out!

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Archaeology of Discworld (Part 2) - Trowel 60

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It’s part two of Ash and Tilly’s archaeological survey of the Discworld (as popularised through the written works of Sir Terry Pratchett), and if you thought Tilly had rambled enough in the last episode, you have underestimated her ability to spout information about this fantasy book series! Listen in to hear about the significance of material culture, the impact of belief systems, and why comedic writing is comparable to archaeological research.

Books mentioned:

Godkiller (Hannah Kaner)

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The Long Way Home: To Oaxaca and Back with Dave Williams - Plains 35

In this episode of The Great Plains Archaeology Podcast, Carlton sits down with Dave Williams to discuss the intellectual and professional journey that brought him from Mesoamerican archaeology in Oaxaca, Mexico, back to working across the Central Great Plains. Rather than focusing on institutional roles, this conversation centers on how archaeological training, regional perspective, and lived field experience shape how archaeologists understand place and the past.

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Do Unversity Rankings really matter? - CRMArch 325

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In this episode, the hosts discuss the latest U.S. News & World Report university rankings and question their relevance to archaeology and cultural resource management (CRM). They argue that Ivy League prestige and rankings have little to no impact on hiring or success in archaeology, emphasizing that program quality, practical skills, and experience matter far more than a school’s name. The panel shares examples where Ivy League graduates were not stronger candidates and notes that perceived academic “elite” advantages are often statistical noise or social bias. Overall, the episode encourages students and parents to focus on strong, field-relevant programs rather than chasing rankings or prestige.

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

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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