The Archaeology Show

Presenting: Journal Club - Ep 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! Links https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526391-ancient-teeth-hint-at-links-between-denisovans-and-homo-erectus/ Apple News: https://apple.news/AzsyzHT5XQyGJc7jweQl4mg Contact Chris Webster chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com Rachel Roden rachel@unraveleddesigns.com RachelUnraveled (Instagram) ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet APN Shop Affiliates Motion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Did Archaeologists Find a Lost Incan City? - Ep 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. Links Scientists Found ‘Messages from the Dead’ on the Walls of an Ancient Tomb Skeletal remains of Queen Elisenda, one of the most powerful rulers in medieval Europe, unearthed in Barcelona — along with several others who bore unexplained stab wounds The Search for the Inca’s Lost Citadel Contact Chris Webster chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com Rachel Roden rachel@unraveleddesigns.com RachelUnraveled (Instagram) ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet APN Shop Affiliates Motion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Monte Verde Dethroned? - Ep 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. Links 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 'Speculation' and 'egregious failure': 30 researchers publish scathing critiques of study that questioned date of early human occupation of Monte Verde in Chile Contact Chris Webster chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com Rachel Roden rachel@unraveleddesigns.com RachelUnraveled (Instagram) ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet APN Shop Affiliates Motion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Links Segment 1 State Archaeologist proposes closing overcrowded Lafayette Cemetery; City Council tables decision Segment 2 This Island in Scotland Is Actually a Man-Made Mini Landmass Resting on a Wooden Platform, New Discovery Shows Segment 3 “They Don’t Care”: Trump’s Border Wall Construction Damages 1,000-Year-Old Sacred Indigenous Site Las Playas Intaglio Destroyed During Border Wall Expansion Awe, Anger, Sorrow: Thoughts on the Las Playas Intaglio Las Playas Intaglio Damaged by Border Wall Construction in Arizona Contact Chris Webster chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com Rachel Roden rachel@unraveleddesigns.com RachelUnraveled (Instagram) ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet APN Shop Affiliates Motion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Early Hominin Structures, Pompeii Discoveries, and the Band of Holes in Peru - Ep 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. Links Segment 1 World’s oldest wooden structure was built by an unknown species, nearly 200,000 years before modern humans evolved (earth.com) Hominins built with wood 476,000 years ago (Nature) Segment 2 This Man Fled Pompeii as Mount Vesuvius Erupted. Archaeologists Found Him 2,000 Years Later, Holding a Bowl to Protect His Head and a Lamp to Light His Way Segment 3 Study suggests these 5,200 holes dug into a mountain were some form of ancient accounting (earth.com) Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte Sierpe (‘Band of Holes’) in the Pisco Valley, Peru (Cambridge University Press) Contact Chris Webster chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com Rachel Roden rachel@unraveleddesigns.com RachelUnraveled (Instagram) ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet APN Shop Affiliates Motion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.