With over 70% of the earth’s surface covered in water, much of the world is inaccessible to archaeologists employing traditional, land-based archaeological techniques. Employing new procedures and methodologies, the father of underwater archaeology, Dr. George Bass, revolutionized the field in the 1960's by demonstrating that rigorous scientific an…

In this episode we explore the role of archaeology in climate science, examining contemporary and ancient climate change. Our guests, Assistant Professor Dr. John Marston at Boston University’s Department of Archaeology and the Director of the BU Environmental Archaeology Laboratory, and Dr. Catherine West, Research Assistant Professor and the Dire…

What do we really know about the Vikings? In this episode, Dr. Steve Ashby, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, discusses his fascinating research into the archaeology of everyday life in Viking-Age England, Scotland and Scandinavia. Dr. Ashby’s research on everyday hair combs found in many urban Viking-age s…

Archaeologist and museologist Dr. Asma Ibrahim joins the program to discuss the state of archaeology and heritage preservation in Pakistan. As one of the only female archaeologists operating in Pakistan, Dr. Ibrahim discusses her career path and the hardships she has had to overcome in pursuit of her goals. Though her work and research has spanned …

The prevalence of pipeline projects in CRM is bringing archaeologists into increasing contact with the material remains of industry and technology. However, as a field of inquiry, industrial archaeology is woefully understudied and underappreciated. In this episode, Dr. Timothy J. Scarlett of the Industrial Heritage and Archaeology Program at Michi…

The Town of New Philadelphia, Illinois was founded by ex-slave Frank McWorter in 1836, making it the first town legally registered by an African American in the US. Frank and his wife Lucy bought, worked and sold acres of land to help raise the enormous sums needed to purchase the freedom of family members. Since 2002, excavations and public archae…

Joining Dr. Schuldenrein in this week's episode is award-winning author and George Washington University Classics and Anthropology professor Eric H. Cline. Specializing in biblical archaeology and the Mediterranean world of the Late Bronze Age (1700-1100 BC), Dr. Cline discusses his recent book, “1177: The Year Civilization Collapsed” and his curre…

Everything you have ever wanted to know about Southeastern archaeology, but were too afraid to ask. Dr. David G. Anderson, a practitioner and academic with decades of experience in the Southeastern US and Caribbean, talks with Dr. Joe Schuldenrein about current research, new methodologies, and recent advances in the archaeology of the southeastern …

In 2016, the Buffalo Trace Distillery hired Kentucky archaeologist Nicolas Laracuente to lead an excavation of the remains of a late-19th century production facility buried and long forgotten underneath the floor of the active distillery. Dubbed the “Bourbon Pompeii,” these largely intact structural remains offer a unique glimpse into the heritage …

The world’s largest organization dedicated to the archaeology of the modern world turns 50 in 2017. Join us as Dr. Schuldenrein talks with Society for Historical Archaeology President Dr. JW Joseph about the importance, history and future of the SHA. In a reflection of the value of professional organizations like the SHA to the discipline, Dr. Jose…

In the lead up to the presidential inauguration on Jan 20, 2017, Dr. Joe Schuldenrein and special guest Dr. Kimball Banks explore the role the federal government plays in archaeological compliance and legislation. Starting with the Antiquities Act of 1906, the US government has been in the business of enacting legislation aimed at protecting Americ…

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 drastically changed archaeology by creating new and novel ways of building a career. Where once the blueprint of success was rooted in academia, now archaeologists are employed in a variety of jobs in applied anthropology and cultural resource management. Instructive for students and professionals alik…

Happy end of the year holiday's Indy Fans! Tonight mere days away from Christmas we have a themed show to further the spirit of the holidays! We are joined by Dr. Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist based in Wisconsin. The connection may not seem clear between maritime archaeology and Christmas, but there is a phenomenal story we about to be t…

A special episode devoted to the Dakota Access Pipeline. The DAPL, Energy Transfer Partners 1,170 mile pipeline traversing parts of North and South Dakota, threatens water sources and culturally significant sites in and around the Standing Rock Reservation. Protests over the placement of the pipeline through tribal land is but the most recent episo…

The 2016 presidential election and the Dakota Access Pipeline are two key issues facing American archaeology today. Join Dr Schuldenrein as he explores how the Trump administration and a republican controlled congress may impact archaeology and historic preservation, including threats to federal legislation. Currently, cultural and environmental pr…

While pirates have always been a source of public fascination, piracy has seen a recent surge in both news headlines and popular culture, including the newly-released film Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks. While the term pirate readily conjures up a variety of images, including peg-legs, nefarious skull and cross bone flags, and squawking parro…

The crusaders who launched a bloody holy war against the pagan societies of the Eastern Baltic left a profound legacy – the construction of spectacular castles that still exist today as ruins or preserved as historical monuments, and the development of towns that reorganized the region into a uniquely European society and brought it under Christend…

Researchers recently conducted radiocarbon tests on the bones of 30 scarlet macaws, originally excavated in 1897, stored at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. Their findings are causing the previous theories about the development of civilization in Mesoamerica to molt away. The macaw skeletons were much older than previously thought. Wh…

Almost 900 hundred years ago, hundreds gathered at North America’s only city, Cahokia, to take part in a funeral. As the crowds gathered, two bodies were carefully prepared and laid to rest on top of a cloak, while dozens of ritual human sacrifices were arranged in surrounding pits. Finding the remains in 1960 revolutionized archaeologists’ underst…

Almost 900 hundred years ago, hundreds gathered at North America’s only city, Cahokia, to take part in a funeral. As the crowds gathered, two bodies were carefully prepared and laid to rest on top of a cloak, while dozens of ritual human sacrifices were arranged in surrounding pits. Finding the remains in 1960 revolutionized archaeologists’ underst…

As excavators carefully brushed away the dirt, the eyes of Alexander the Great stared back at them unblinking. For many archaeologists it would have been the find of a lifetime, but by 2015 Dr. Jodi Magness and her team were used to finding unexpected. Since 2012 their team has returned to the site of Huqoq, unearthing an unexpected cultural fusion…

As excavators carefully brushed away the dirt, the eyes of Alexander the Great stared back at them unblinking. For many archaeologists it would have been the find of a lifetime, but by 2015 Dr. Jodi Magness and her team were used to finding unexpected. Since 2012 their team has returned to the site of Huqoq, unearthing an unexpected cultural fusion…

While pirates have always been a source of public fascination, piracy has seen a recent surge in both news headlines and popular culture, including the newly-released film Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks. While the term pirate readily conjures up a variety of images, including peg-legs, nefarious skull and cross bone flags, and squawking parro…

Special Encore: When asked to be a judge on 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty Dr. Todd Disotell said yes. Cryptozoology—the search for animals that may not exist, such as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster—isn’t one of his key research interests, but TV appearances enable him to talk about science in front of a huge audience. Working on the show also …

When asked to be a judge on 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty Dr. Todd Disotell said yes. Cryptozoology—the search for animals that may not exist, such as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster—isn’t one of his key research interests, but TV appearances enable him to talk about science in front of a huge audience. Working on the show also forced him to cr…

About a year ago the Iowa Dept. of Transportation discovered a sinkhole near Interstate 380 in Cedar Rapids. They found the sinkhole was the site of a 150 year old beer cave. Back in the 1850s Cedar Rapids built extensive beers caves to age and store beer under the breweries. The caves were abandoned following Prohibition. While the interstate has …

It’s an election year in the U.S. and many are anxiously wondering what November will bring. While the presidential race is in full swing (or sling—and you thought OUR jobs were dirty!) archaeologists, like the rest of the nation, are wondering whether the new president will REPresent their values or DEMonstrate a commitment to their goals. The pas…

One of the key issues in the debate of Evolution vs. Creationism centers on antiquity of events and the ability to determine them without “reasonable doubt”. Over the past half century plus, and especially in the last 20 years archaeological science has established and trial tested numerous dating techniques with various degrees of success. Dating …

Science and religion are often at ideological loggerheads concerning natural and human history. In this episode, Dr. Schuldenrein argues that archaeology is uniquely able to provide a bridge between traditional biblical understandings of the creation of the world and scientific theory and data. Using personal experience as an archaeologist in the H…

By Dr. Joseph Schuldenrein

In Madagascar today, and in the recent past, the dead are understood to inhabit the world alongside the living. Accounts of the 19th century tell of people possessed by the dead, of ghosts roaming abroad, and of the care that must be taken around them. How can archaeologists and anthropologists provide space in historical narrative for entities tha…

Although pipeline projects are often surrounded by controversy, archaeological survey and excavation is playing an increasingly vital role in project development. Federal regulations require that pipeline projects consider not just their environmental impact, but the cultural impact as well. Because archaeologists and pipeline projects have very di…

Imagine that you are an archaeologist carrying your equipment to site only to meet a polar bear along the way! Once you’ve arrived at site, weather conditions may mean the ground is too frozen to dig or you have a chance of getting hypothermia if you try waterscreening. While Indiana Jones is well known for his travels to far off places and harrowi…

Whether it is faerie circles, nighttime rituals, or pretty much Celtic ANY-thing, the public perception of Irish archaeology has a healthy dose of myth and mystery mixed in. In fact, the allure of Irish archaeology is often its seeming mysteriousness. So what do archaeologists actually know about Ireland and its Celtic inhabitants? On today's show …

Whether it is faerie circles, nighttime rituals, or pretty much Celtic ANY-thing, the public perception of Irish archaeology has a healthy dose of myth and mystery mixed in. In fact, the allure of Irish archaeology is often its seeming mysteriousness. So what do archaeologists actually know about Ireland and its Celtic inhabitants? On today's show …

Despite Indiana Jones' order to "get out of the library," archaeological training involves a fair amount of school work. At school, archaeologists must both intensively train in a particular focus, but must also gain a good understanding of areas of expertise outside their specialty. Recently, shifts in the archaeological job market have led many t…

The largest budgets and advanced research technologies in today’s archaeology are furnished by pipeline construction. While the construction of pipelines has not been without controversy, the growth of the oil and gas industries and the construction of pipelines accounts for a significant portion of archaeological projects in the U.S. In today’s ep…

In just under 2 weeks, archaeologists from all over the world will be converging on Orlando, FL for the annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting. In anticipation of the meeting, tonight’s episode is focused on the archaeology of Florida and the state’s public outreach program known as the Florida Public Archaeology Network. FPAN works to pro…

In a world of sensationalist headlines the Aztec would appear to be the ultimate players. But what do we really know and how do we reconcile contradictory trends and traditions? The archaeological record has provided compelling evidence for human sacrifice and brutal warfare in the interests of conquest and expansion. By the same token, magnificent…

In just under 2 weeks, archaeologists from all over the world will be converging on Orlando, FL for the annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting. In anticipation of the meeting, tonight’s episode is focused on the archaeology of Florida and the state’s public outreach program known as the Florida Public Archaeology Network. FPAN works to pro…

Before the Enterprise boldly “went where no person had gone before” or Indiana Jones shouted “THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!” there was the National Geographic Society. For over 100 years it has embodied a sense of adventure in faraway locales with the goal of changing the world through science and exploration. From the heights of Macchu Picchu to Mayan…

Before the Enterprise boldly “went where no person had gone before” or Indiana Jones shouted “THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!” there was the National Geographic Society. For over 100 years it has embodied a sense of adventure in faraway locales with the goal of changing the world through science and exploration. From the heights of Macchu Picchu to Mayan…

Picture it. Chicago. 1893. Twenty-six million people from all over the world flooded into the city to puzzle over the newest fashions trends including zippers, taste innovative new cuisines like brownies, and some even attempted the daredevil feat of riding the world’s first Ferris wheel. Over 100 years later, these “innovations” may seem like the …

Picture it. Chicago. 1893. Twenty-six million people from all over the world flooded into the city to puzzle over the newest fashions trends including zippers, taste innovative new cuisines like brownies, and some even attempted the daredevil feat of riding the world’s first Ferris wheel. Over 100 years later, these “innovations” may seem like the …

Not many have heard of Etzanoa. Not yet that is. Researchers believe they have discovered the “great settlement,” described by the explorer Don Juan de Oñate. Etzanoa was said to stretch for 5 miles and house 20,000 ancestors of the Wichita tribe near the confluence of two rivers. In a study led by our guest today, Dr. Don Blakeslee, they confirmed…

Humans are obsessed with the future and the technology that comes with it. Whether it's finding out when the new iPhone will be released, wondering when our hoverboards will REALLY fly, or scanning the skies for our new robot overlords, the idea of unplugging completely from life seems to be a thing of the past. As modern day people interested in t…

Humans are obsessed with the future and the technology that comes with it. Whether it's finding out when the new iPhone will be released, wondering when our hoverboards will REALLY fly, or scanning the skies for our new robot overlords, the idea of unplugging completely from life seems to be a thing of the past. As modern day people interested in t…

What do ghost hunters and archaeologists have in common? More than you might imagine! Archaeologists and ghost hunters are both interested in exploring long forgotten places in search of the people that once inhabited them. Data may be important as supporting evidence, but it is the story of these sites and their long gone inhabitants that captures…

Gather 'round Indy Fans. Today we go historical and fantastical with our guest and subject matter. The topic? Count Byron de Prorok, famous archaeologist in 1925 and disgraced scalawag just 6 months later. The Indy Team has hosted many shows illuminating the day-to-day practicalities of archaeology and dismantling the Indiana Jones fable. This week…

The holidays are coming to a close for the year. As a happy new year to all of you, Indy Fans, our final show for 2015 is related to the holy land where so many of our holidays are centered. Dr. Morag Kersel is joining us to tell us about her ‘Follow the Pots’ research program. Based in Israel the project aims to both investigate of the emergence o…