On this special "After Dark" edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the gents join for an after-hours gathering in the Cross-Tyme Pub, as we explore the more esoteric side of archaeology and humanity's past. With that, our focus during this discussion has to do with the archaeology of magic.

We are joined by Dr. C. Riley Augé, the University of Montana's Anthropological Collections Facility curator and instructor of many archaeology and cultural anthropology courses, such as "Myth, Ritual, and Religion." She specializes in the anthropological and archaeological study of belief systems where her research and national and international publications emphasize the emotive and sensorial aspects of ritual behaviors and religious and magical beliefs. She was awarded the Society for Historical Archaeology 2016 Kathleen Kirk Gilmore Dissertation Award for her work on gendered magic, which is the basis for her book The Archaeology of Magic: Gender and Domestic Protection in Seventeenth-Century New England.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• C. Riley Auge: University of Montana
• The Archaeology of Magic: Gender and Domestic Protection in Seventeenth-Century New England

On this special holiday edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, after the team recaps some of the top archaeological stories of 2020, we are then joined by guests Andy Hemmings and Jim Dunbar, for a discussion of archaeological work being conducted along Florida's waterways.

Andy Hemmings grew up in Minnesota around the Twin Cities. In 1991 he graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Anthropology, and after doing contract archaeology for a time, he worked in the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department before heading to graduate school at the University of Florida. Hemmings received his Anthropology Masters in 1999, and Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Florida, followed by a Post-doctoral Fellowship with the Gault Project at the University of Texas.

Jim Dunbar is an archaeologist with a research focus on Paleoindian (and pre-Clovis) populations, primarily in Florida. He was an employee with the Bureau of Archaeological Research and is now engaged full-time in archaeological research. He has an extensive publication record and completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 2012. His research includes the excavations at Wakulla Springs (funded by National Geographic), as well as the Norden site, Page-Ladson on the Aucilla River, and dozens of other sites. And, as we have heard, he has probably seen more Paleoindian sites than anyone in Florida.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• NEWS: The Top 10 Archaeological discoveries 2020
• JUDITH JESCH ONLINE: University of Nottingham Bio Page

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team is joined for a wide-reaching discussion about ancient Scandinavia, Viking culture, and ancient texts by Professor Judith Jesch.

Jesch was educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania (USA), as well as Durham, where she received her BA in English Language and Medieval Literature, and Oslo, Norway, as part of the Leverhulme Study Abroad Studentship. Finally, she received her Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies in London at UCL. Before coming to Nottingham in 1985, Jesch worked as a Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). "During my time at Nottingham," she tells us, "I have been Head of the School of English Studies (2001-4), and was promoted to Professor of Viking Studies in 2002." The team enjoys quite a deep discussion on Viking Studies, runology, and much more with Professor Jesch on this holiday edition of the podcast.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• NEWS: Archaeologists in Norway find rare Viking ship burial using GPR
• JUDITH JESCH ONLINE: University of Nottingham Bio Page

On this special Legacy Series edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we celebrate International Archaeology Month with one of the most influential American archaeologists today: J.M. Adovasio, who led cutting edge excavations at Pennsylvania's Meadowcroft Rockshelter for several successive seasons beginning in the early 1970s.

J. M. Adovasio received his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1965 and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Utah in 1970. Since that time, he has served as a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution (1972 – 1973) and as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh (1973 – 1990). Adovasio is generally considered to be the world's leading authority in the arena of perishable artifact analysis. Since 1970, he has published books, book chapters, manuscripts, and technical papers numbering more than 400. These notably include The Invisible Sex (with Olga Soffer and Jake Page). He is also the author of Strangers in a New Land: What Archaeology Reveals About the First Americans, which is one of the most visually appealing and, arguably, simply one of the finest books on Paleoindian archaeology in the Americas.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• NEWS: How the Vampire Got His Fangs: An incisive history of a Halloween snarl
• J.M. ADOVASIO: James Adovasio - Archaeological Institute of America
• The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory
• The First Americans: In Pursuit of Archaeology's Greatest Mystery
• Strangers in a New Land: What Archaeology Reveals About the First Americans

On this edition of the program, Jason, James and Micah lead off with some discussion about recent discoveries in archaeology, which included a trove of Islamic coins that were unearthed during a salvage dig by archaeologists in Israel. We are then joined by a friend of the program, Doug Sain, Ph.D, a professional archaeologist who has overseen fieldwork throughout the southeastern United States, and who spent years working with lithic materials retrieved from the controversial Topper archaeological site in South Carolina.

Douglas Sain obtained his doctorate at the University of Tennessee, specializing in lithic technology and Paleoindian Archaeology. He received his Master's degree in Anthropology from Eastern New Mexico University and his Bachelor of Science degree from Appalachian State University. His thesis research documents Clovis blade technology and Technological organization at the Topper Site (38AL23) in Allendale County South Carolina. Beginning in 2005, he worked as a site supervisor at the Topper site in Allendale County, South Carolina, and with Dr. Al Goodyear, has published on Clovis blade technology in the Central Savannah River Valley of South Carolina. His dissertation research focused on Paleoindian lithic technology and the pre-Clovis component at the Topper Site.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• NEWS: Early Islamic gold coins unearthed by archaeologists in Israel
• PAPERS BY DOUG SAIN, Ph.D.
• Clovis Blade Technology at the Topper Site (38AL23): Assessing Lithic Attribute Variation and Regional Patterns of Technological Organization
• Pre Clovis at Topper (38AL23): Evaluating the Role of Human versus Natural Agency in the Formation of Lithic Deposits from a Pleistocene Terrace in the American Southeast

On this edition of the program we lead off with a discussion about new findings in a Texas cave which researchers think may challenge theories about an ancient climate change event in Paleoindian America. Then later in the program, we are joined by Dr. David Carballo of Boston University, who discusses his new book Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain (Oxford University Press). In his book, Dr. Carballo looks at the fall of the Aztec Empire before the Spanish, and the way this pivotal turning point in America set the stage for a more globalized world.

David is a specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology, focusing particularly on the prehispanic civilizations of central Mexico. Currently, ongoing projects at the ancient city of Teotihuacan include the Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga, Teotihuacan (PATT), and the Proyecto Plaza de las Columnas. The first seeks to understand urbanization, neighborhood organization, and the daily life of commoners through excavations and geophysical prospection within a southern district of the city. The second is focused on palace compounds and is aimed at understanding the city's political economy.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• Dr. David Carballo's page at Boston University's website
• Academia.edu Webpage
• Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we are joined by Bettina Arnold, who discusses the archaeological practices that occurred during the National Socialist regime in Nazi Germany, and their efforts to use the past as propaganda.

Arnold obtained her BA in Archaeology from Yale University and her MA and PhD degrees in Anthropology from Harvard University. She is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she served as the Co-Director of the Center for Celtic Studies from 2000-2009 and Coordinator of the Museum Studies Graduate Program from 1996-2012. Her area of expertise is the pre-Roman European Iron Age, but in the course of her career she has participated in archaeological projects ranging from the Middle Bronze Age through the early medieval period in western Europe. Since 1999 she has co-directed the "Landscape of Ancestors" research project in southwest-Germany focused on the burial record of the early Iron Age Heuneburg hillfort and its environs.

Among other projects, she has been involved in the study of socio-political history of archaeology and museum collecting, especially their involvement in identity construction in 19th and 20th century nationalist and ethnic movements in Europe and the United States.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
• Dr. Bettina Arnold's page at the University of Milwaukee
• "The past as propaganda: totalitarian archaeology in Nazi Germany"

Music featured in this episode:

• "Horizons" Scott Buckley (YouTube)
• "Phoenix" Lahar (YouTube)

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we are proud to present the first in our Legacy Series, featuring Tom D. Dillehay, Ph.D. These special podcasts will examine the life, careers, and work of some of the world's most prominent and influential modern archaeologists.

Dr. Dillehay is the Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Religion, and Culture and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies in the Department of Anthropology, Professor Extraordinaire and Honorary Doctorate at the Universidad Austral de Chile, International Professor in the Programa de Estudios Andinos in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru, Lima, and adjunct faculty at the Universidad Catolica de Temuco, Universidad de Tarapaca, Universidad San Sebastian in Chile and the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo in Peru. Professor Dillehay has carried out numerous archaeological and anthropological projects in Peru, Chile, Argentina and other South American countries and in the United States.

Professor Dillehay has published twenty-two books and more than three hundred refereed journal articles and book chapters. He currently directs several interdisciplinary projects focused on long-term human and environmental interaction on the north coast of Peru and on the political and cultural identity of the Mapuche people in Chile. Professor Dillehay has received numerous international and national awards for his research, books and teaching. Professor Dillehay is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

This episode will explore the incredibly important archaeological site of Monte Verde, Chile. The research conducted at this site by Dr. Dillehay and associates reveals some of the earliest and most important information concerning the peopling of the Americas.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
• Tom Dillehay's page at Vanderbilt University
• Tom Dillehay's TEDx talk, "Touching Deep Native American History"

Music featured in this episode:

• "Quiet Storm" Audio Library (YouTube)
• "Budda" Audio Library (YouTube)

On this edition of the podcast, we are joined first by Michael Frank of Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC, who we are proud to welcome to the Seven Ages family as a sponsor of the program. After a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology Field School, Michael worked conserving archaeological artifacts in the vast collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History. Heavily influenced during his time there by pioneering archaeologists Dr. Dennis Stanford and Dr. Pegi Jodry, Michael's specialty is analyzing and demonstrating the correct stages of how paleo objects were made by primitive peoples.

Then for the remainder of the program, we are joined by Andrew M. T. Moore, an honorary President of the Archaeological Institute of America. Since 1960, Dr. Moore has participated in archaeological surveys, excavations, and field research in England, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. His earlier research concentrated on the advent of agriculture and sedentary life in western Asia, especially in Syria, which was the focus of a recent paper he co-authored which was published in the journal Nature titled "Evidence of Cosmic Impact at Abu Hureyra, Syria at the Younger Dryas Onset (~12.8 ka): High-temperature melting at >2200 °C." In it, Moore and his colleagues present new evidence that strengthens the case for a cosmic impact that occurred around the time of the Younger Dryas 12,700 years ago.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
• Andrew M.T. Moore at the Archaeological Institute of America
• Evidence of Cosmic Impact at Abu Hureyra, Syria at the Younger Dryas Onset (~12.8 ka): High-temperature melting at >2200 °C

Music featured in this episode:

• "Modern Middle East" Vlog Music (YouTube)