And My Trowel

Where fantasy meets archaeology! The realms between fantasy and reality have collided and only archaeologists can pave the way through the unknown. Ash and Tilly, armed with two trowels and a backlog of archaeological theory, navigate to new, thrilling worlds, filled with magic and mayhem to answer those burgeoning questions that only archaeologists can answer.

The Graffiti Palimpsest (Part 1) - Ep 51
Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

The Graffiti Palimpsest (Part 1) - Ep 51

This episode, Ash and Tilly have a new quest from the Karnithril Collegium of Wall Lore to document vanishing graffiti. They are joined in their quest by archaeologist and visual science communicator Jona Schlegel, who shares her insight based on her previous research into graffiti along the Danube canal in Vienna. Together the three discuss those most pressing of questions: What actually is graffiti? How can you become a field archaeologist in different countries? And will Ash finally make Tilly that cup of tea?

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Legends and Lembas (Part 2) - Ep 50
Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

Legends and Lembas (Part 2) - Ep 50

In part two of their Lembas Bread quest, Tilly and Ash continue their ingredient hunt with Caroline Nicolay (Pario Gallico) in order to help the Lembas Appreciation Society analyse the oldest existing sample of the explementary whey bread. The team continue their discussion around living history, food, and experiential archaeology, asking the big questions of: what is food waste? How can we break down assumptions of food in the past? And are bogs actually fridges?

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

The Wizard of LiDAR (Part 2) - Ep 48

In this episode, Tilly and Ash continue with quest to map Mirkwood Forest with the help of Dr Wouter Verschoof-Van der Vaart! They continue to discuss the advantages of aerial imagery, multispectral scanning, and LiDAR, asking the big questions about how do you manage rising water in the Netherlands? What is hillsade? And what would an Ancient Egyptian cartoucherie charcuterie board look like?

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Rachel Roden Rachel Roden

The Wizard of LiDAR (Part 1) - Ep 47

Ash and Tilly have an especially exciting quest this episode, as thanks to a request from the Malgaroth Historical Society of Mirkwood, they will be working with the Eagles! In order not to look like idiots when attempting aerial scanning, they enlist the help of archaeologist and scanning expert Dr Wouter Verschoof-Van der Vaart. Together, the three discuss the varying paths you can take into a career in archaeology, the importance of fantasy fiction in archaeological career development, and why there’s no fantasy aerial scanning technology.

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Looking at the fantastic side of archaeology and the ARCHAEOLOGY side of fantasy.

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