The ArchaeoTech Podcast

By Archaeology Podcast Network

What's The ArchaeoTech Podcast about?

Chris Webster, MS and Dr. Paul Zimmerman discuss topics between the intersection of archaeology and technology. Join them as they talk Artificial Intelligence, Drones, Sub-Surface monitoring, and all things tech.

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The ArchaeoTech Podcast episodes:

04.25.2024
How Technological Innovation Can Drive Greater Accessibility and Inclusivity in Archaeology - Ep 212
Archaeology is always seen as a field pursuit and for the most part, it is. However the interpretations of archaeology should be accessible to all. Our guests today, Dr. Alessandro Sebastiani and Dr. Laura Morabito presented their thoughts on accessibility...
12.07.2023
Studying Archaeological Sites and Artifacts with New Technologies with Denisse Argote - Ep 211
On this episode we bring back Dr. Denisse Argote to talk about some of the new things she and her team are doing in Mexico. We get an update on Teotihuacan and other research. We even talk about ray guns...
11.23.2023
A update on tDAR with Keith Kintigh - Ep 210
We bring back one of the founders of tDAR, Keith Kintigh for this episode. Keith gives us the tDAR backstory and tells us how it's staying relevant in a world of AI and digital archaeology. We talk about tDAR's future...
11.09.2023
Finding Medieval Walls in Mongolia with Gideon Shelach-Lavi - Ep 209
We have an interesting interview today with Gideon Shelach-Lavi. He's part of a team that is researching walls in Mongolia. These walls span a large distance and range of time and some are contemporaneous with the Great Wall. Gideon talks...
08.31.2023
Using Lidar to Analyze Chacoan Road Profiles - Ep 208
We're talking about Chacoan road networks again! A few years ago we interviewed Sean Field. He was doing research on the road networks coming into and out of Chaco Canyon. Sean Field is at it again with another paper but...
08.17.2023
Machine Learning–Based Identification of Lithic Microdebitage - Ep 207
We talk to Dr. Markus Eberl about his team's use of a particle scanner to analyze micro-debitage. They used machine learning to analyze the data set and tried to learn more about early life than we could otherwise. Transcripts For rough transcripts...
07.20.2023
We ask AI about Digital Archaeology - Ep 206
Artificial Intelligence programs like ChatGPT and Google's "Bard" seem to be the hot topic of conversation these days. They're being used to write papers, finish reports, and reply to emails, among other thing. But, what do they really know? Chris...
07.06.2023
Photogrammetry and GIS in Human-Occupied Digital Landscapes - Ep 205
Today we talk about gaming and archaeology, but, in a very different way than I've hear done in the past. Our guests, Andrew Reinhard and Sara Zaia have written an article for Advances in Archaeological Practice about doing photogrammetry and...
06.22.2023
Using Artificial Intelligence to Translate Ancient Text and Find New Sites - Ep 204
While Paul is out we've got Rachel Roden guest co-hosting the show today. She's a co-host of The Archaeology Show with Chris. Today, they talk about three current news articles all referencing using AI in an archaeological context. AI is...
06.08.2023
Dogs and Geophysics with Paul Martin - Ep 203
On episode 189 we talked to a guest about a project in Louisiana where, as an aspect of survey, they utilized dogs to find an historic Civil War-era cemetery. Well, on today's show, we have the gentleman that was hired...
05.25.2023
Data Strategies on a CRM Project in Saudi Arabia - Ep 202
Paul spent a couple months in Iraq on a CRM project. For a project of this scale and complexity, not to mention out of the country, there are a lot of pieces to consider. Paul takes through the tech they...
05.11.2023
Refining Archaeological Data Collection and Management - Ep 201
The February 2023 issue of Advances in Archaeological Practice highlights the efforts of people trying standardize and fix data management in archaeology. There's a massive data problem in this field, from the collection of data to the longterm management of...
04.27.2023
A look back at eight years of ArchaeoTech - Ep 200
Take a walk down memory lane with this episode of the ArchaeoTech Podcast. Hear clips from the different hosts and eras of the show over the past eight years. Also, discover many of the topics we've discussed and the variety...
03.30.2023
Past Archaeo "Tech": Where Are They Now? - Ep 199
We're going through the tech and companies from the first 50 episodes of the ArchaeoTech podcast. Where are they now since we started this podcast in 2014? Some are still going strong and others have struggled or failed. Find out...
03.16.2023
GIS in CRM with Heather McDaniel McDevitt - Ep 198
Today we chat with Heather McDaniel McDevitt, co-host on the CRM Archaeology Podcast about GIS in CRM archaeology—her experiences and her opinions. We've got whats, hows, and whys galore, all grounded in her wisdom gained from many years studying, doing,...
03.02.2023
Commercial Systematic Mechanical Auger Sampling with Chelsea Colwell-Pasch - Ep 197
Chelsea Colwell-Pasch has developed an awesome, powerful, and quick digging machine for archaeological prospection - aka, automated shovel testing! Well, not automated. You still need to run it. But, it's fast and gentle on the artifacts. We talk to her...
02.16.2023
Tech in Conferences: "Post-" COVID, what have we learned? - Ep 196
Conferences have pretty much never changed in the archaeology world. We're still doing the same things we've done for decades. Sure, the abstract station is gone and now there is often an app to see what's up next, but, there's...
02.02.2023
The Changing Landscape of Archaeological Survey - Ep 195
Though excavation is pretty much synonymous with archaeological fieldwork in the popular and professional imagination, the bulk of the work that we, as archaeologists, do is survey. In the decades that Chris and Paul have been doing archaeological survey we've...
01.19.2023
Completely modeling an excavation with Photogrammetry - Ep 194
We start today's show with a discussion about the current uses to Twitter and Mastodon after Elon Musk's takeover. For the last two segments, however, we talk about a novel way photogrammetry is being used on an excavation in Bulgaria....
01.05.2023
Archaeologial Metallurgy in the News - Ep 193
It's a news episode! We found three articles that all happen to deal with archaeological metallurgy. From sourcing to melting with a laser, there's a lot you can tell about an object based on what it's metals are either composed...
12.22.2022
Geophysics in the Middle East with Marco Wolf - Ep 192
Paul worked with Marco Wolf on his travels to Ur this past fall of 2022. Marco is interested in all things digital and they talked a lot about some of the techniques they were both using on their projects. On...
12.08.2022
Magnetometry on the Lagash Project - Ep 191
Paul spent two months in Iraq this fall (2022). The first was working at Ur, in Iraq. The second was back to Lagash, just down the street. One of the things they did on this trip was a fresh magnetometry...
11.24.2022
GPR and Geophysics with Dr. Dan Bigman - Ep 190
(ENCORE of Ep 123) Dr. Dan Bigman from Bigman Geophysical joins the show once again to talk about GPR and other methods in a CRM context. Of course this works for any project, but, we focused on contract archaeology for...
11.10.2022
Using Specialized Dogs to Find Historic Burials - Ep 189
Zach Overfield joins us to talk about a recent project he was involved with in Louisiana with his employer, HDR. They were tasked with identifying whether culture resources exist, including an historic cemetery, near a railroad bridge. Through a combination...
10.13.2022
PROMO: Virtual Reality Experiences with Rock Art and Cultural Heritage with Blue Planet and Eric Hanson - ROCK ART 89
The Archaeology Podcast Network is taking a bit of a break for October, 2022. In the mean time, we're introducing you to some of the other fantastic shows that we produce. Here's an episode from The Archaeotech Podcast about representing...
09.29.2022
Map It! - Ep 188
Today Paul talks about this magnetometry training that he recently received. They're using it on the project in the Middle-East that he's been going on the past few seasons. Then, we discuss a recent publication that combined many forms of...
09.01.2022
Working in the Middle East with Paul - Ep 187
On this episode Paul tells us all about doing CRM in Saudi Arabia for the last few months. We talk about the field methodologies they used, how they stored and processed data, and just what working over there is generally...
08.21.2022
Field Safety Tech - Ep 186
In the wake of some tragic events AND an unseasonable hot summer we're talking about field safety tech. Good tech can not only keep you safer, but, it can make you more efficient as well. Sometimes just being more efficient...
08.04.2022
Building the Virtual Rosewood Cemetery - Ep 185
Dr. Ed Gonzalez-Tennant joins us again in Paul's absence to tell us about the site he's been working on for many years now: The Rosewood Cemetery in Florida. Situated on private land, the Rosewood cemetery is difficult to get to and difficult to...
07.21.2022
Getting Started with QGIS - Ep 184
Dr. Edward Gonzalez-Tennant joins us again as a guest co-host while Paul is surveying in the middle east. Ed is an expert in QGIS and on today's show he tells us how to get started and gives us some of his tips,...
07.07.2022
Teaching That Tech-Mindset with Dr. Ed Gonzalez-Tennant - Ep 183
Dr. Edward Gonzalez-Tennant has been on the show before talking about some of his research. Now we bring him on to co-host while Paul is out and in this episode we talk about his transition from Florida to Texas and how he's...
06.23.2022
New 3D Software for Artifact Documentation and Analysis - Ep 182
Archaeologists have been 3D scanning artifacts for a while now. But, what do you do with those scans? We post them on websites, use them in reports, and try to do some analysis, but, it's not consistent. This new paper from PLOS...
06.09.2022
Gamification of Education with RISC - Ep 181
MEMBERS CHECK YOUR BONUS PAGE FOR A GREAT BONUS SEGMENT! We talk a lot about how to get archaeologists to learn more outside the field of archaeology in order to better understand archaeology. On this episode we talk to JD Calvelli from the...
05.26.2022
Open Source Protocols - Ep 180
An important component of scientific research is reproducibility. In other scientific fields like medicine, protocols (step-by-step instructions) help ensure that another lab or another researcher can test our results. Lately, protocols for various technical aspects of archaeological research have been published, so Chris and...
05.12.2022
On Hedgehogs and Marvelous Minds: A New Technology for Point Data Collection? - Ep 179
We love it when archaeologists look at other technologies that on first glance are not appropriate for archaeology. However, they're willing to give it a try and report on the results! The researches in the article we discuss used an indoor positioning system...
04.28.2022
Lagash Spring 2022 Recap - Ep 178
Paul's back and fresh off his trip to Irag! We've been talking about the technical approach to the fieldwork and survey for a few months now and Paul's here to tell us how it went. There's a some great lessons learned in...
04.14.2022
Archaeology and Robotics with Daniel Carvalho - Ep 177
Daniel Carvalho is a researcher working on applied robotics for archaeology. He's interested in creating an actual robot for archaeological use. We're not talking drones or computer programs alone. We're talking about robots that can do a multitude of tasks for archaeology and...
03.31.2022
GPS and GIS with Matt Alexander [Encore] - Ep 176
We've always wanted to have a GPS expert on the show to unpack terms and talk about the latest tech. Now we have it! Matt Alexander joins us to talk all things GPS and explain some of those terms you may have...
03.17.2022
Mechanized Archaeology using Paleo Digger - Ep 175
Brian Fritz is an archaeologist and inventor that saw an issue with deep digging in Pennsylvania. To help out he developed a new machine that can basically do an auger test down to 7 meters, log the levels along the way, and...
03.03.2022
Automated Archaeological Feature Detection Using Deep Learning on Optical UAV Imagery - Ep 174
There's a lot in this episode and we start with Paul telling us about some of the tech he's taking to Iraq this month. Chris gives a Starlink usability update and talks about his new augmented reality glasses. Finally, we discuss the linked...
02.17.2022
Starlink and Listener Feedback - Ep 173
In this potpourri episode Chris and Paul discuss the practicalities of Chris's new Starlink setup and some of the great listener feedback from recent episodes, including a home-grown tech project that knocked our socks off. Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays...
02.03.2022
Stratum, a New Field Data Recording Application - Ep 172
Today we talk with Cora Woolsey about how and why she set out to founded an archeological technology company. She tells us the ins and outs of starting the business, her motivations for building new software, and gives us details about the process. Intersted...
01.20.2022
Paleoimaging with James Elliott - Ep 171
We've talked extensively about non-destructive techniques for looking into the ground. But, what about this human body or ancient collections? What about other materials? Our guest this week talks about the use of x-rays and other similar technologies in archaeology and how they're...
01.06.2022
Mobile GIS Solutions - Ep 170
Over the summer Paul had experience with a couple different tablet-based GIS solutions. They're some of the most popular on the market. What were his impressions of those and are the suitable for the project he's working with in Iraq? We discuss those...
12.23.2021
Muons and More - Ep 169
Chris and Paul discuss a couple recent articles. One describes the use of muons as a non-invasive technique for looking inside solid objects, and the other discusses the authors' R project for visualizing chronology. They might not seem related, but both articles predict...
11.25.2021
Droning on with Paul in Iraq - Ep 168
Paul was invited on a project in Iraq and has returned to tell us all about it. What was getting to Iraq like? How'd the preparation for photogrammetry go? We find out about the Lagash Archaeological Project and how the project went. Links ...
11.11.2021
Best Practices for Digital Field Archaeology - Ep 167
We've got a guest from Wildnote on today to talk about best practices when going in the field with your digital forms. There is some Wildnote feature stuff in here, but, most of this is applicable to anyone using digital recording devices in...
10.28.2021
Why archaeology will be the next harbor for technology - Ep 166
Paul and Chris talk about a Heritage Daily article that seems a bit starry-eyed about the role of archaeology in current and future technological innovations and use. The article linked below broadly discusses a number of technologies and we take a few of...
10.14.2021
Why Digital Archaeology? A Case Study - Ep 165
Archaeologists have been using digital technologies to augment traditional field archaeology for several decades (GPS and mapping mostly). However, as modern technologies continue to enter the archaeological space, most researchers are using these techniques almost as a second thought. The authors of this...
09.30.2021
Hot Takes on a Cool Discovery -OR- We're putting our foot in it - Ep 164
A recent paper discussing footprints found years ago in New Mexico is shaking up the archaeological community. The footprints were dated to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago - problematic because concrete evidence for the earliest sites sits at around 14,000 years ago....

What's The ArchaeoTech Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The ArchaeoTech Podcast episodes:

How Technological Innovation Can Drive Greater Accessibility and Inclusivity in Archaeology - Ep 212

Studying Archaeological Sites and Artifacts with New Technologies with Denisse Argote - Ep 211

A update on tDAR with Keith Kintigh - Ep 210

Finding Medieval Walls in Mongolia with Gideon Shelach-Lavi - Ep 209

Using Lidar to Analyze Chacoan Road Profiles - Ep 208

Machine Learning–Based Identification of Lithic Microdebitage - Ep 207

We ask AI about Digital Archaeology - Ep 206

Photogrammetry and GIS in Human-Occupied Digital Landscapes - Ep 205

Using Artificial Intelligence to Translate Ancient Text and Find New Sites - Ep 204

Dogs and Geophysics with Paul Martin - Ep 203

Data Strategies on a CRM Project in Saudi Arabia - Ep 202

Refining Archaeological Data Collection and Management - Ep 201

A look back at eight years of ArchaeoTech - Ep 200

Past Archaeo "Tech": Where Are They Now? - Ep 199

GIS in CRM with Heather McDaniel McDevitt - Ep 198

Commercial Systematic Mechanical Auger Sampling with Chelsea Colwell-Pasch - Ep 197

Tech in Conferences: "Post-" COVID, what have we learned? - Ep 196

The Changing Landscape of Archaeological Survey - Ep 195

Completely modeling an excavation with Photogrammetry - Ep 194

Archaeologial Metallurgy in the News - Ep 193

Geophysics in the Middle East with Marco Wolf - Ep 192

Magnetometry on the Lagash Project - Ep 191

GPR and Geophysics with Dr. Dan Bigman - Ep 190

Using Specialized Dogs to Find Historic Burials - Ep 189

PROMO: Virtual Reality Experiences with Rock Art and Cultural Heritage with Blue Planet and Eric Hanson - ROCK ART 89

Map It! - Ep 188

Working in the Middle East with Paul - Ep 187

Field Safety Tech - Ep 186

Building the Virtual Rosewood Cemetery - Ep 185

Getting Started with QGIS - Ep 184

Teaching That Tech-Mindset with Dr. Ed Gonzalez-Tennant - Ep 183

New 3D Software for Artifact Documentation and Analysis - Ep 182

Gamification of Education with RISC - Ep 181

Open Source Protocols - Ep 180

On Hedgehogs and Marvelous Minds: A New Technology for Point Data Collection? - Ep 179

Lagash Spring 2022 Recap - Ep 178

Archaeology and Robotics with Daniel Carvalho - Ep 177

GPS and GIS with Matt Alexander [Encore] - Ep 176

Mechanized Archaeology using Paleo Digger - Ep 175

Automated Archaeological Feature Detection Using Deep Learning on Optical UAV Imagery - Ep 174

Starlink and Listener Feedback - Ep 173

Stratum, a New Field Data Recording Application - Ep 172

Paleoimaging with James Elliott - Ep 171

Mobile GIS Solutions - Ep 170

Muons and More - Ep 169

Droning on with Paul in Iraq - Ep 168

Best Practices for Digital Field Archaeology - Ep 167

Why archaeology will be the next harbor for technology - Ep 166

Why Digital Archaeology? A Case Study - Ep 165

Hot Takes on a Cool Discovery -OR- We're putting our foot in it - Ep 164