The Dirt Diaries

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! Now that we are in October, it's time to talk about some graves the media has termed "vampire burials." Did the Greco-Romans have vampires?

What do these graves tell us about their communities, superstitions, and magical practices? And... should we call them deviant burials instead?

We're also talking about the restless dead: who they were, why they were restless, and who led them! Yes, we will chat briefly about Hekate herself!

Grab some nails, an iron sword, an offering, and crack open your books for this one!

- Stay curious.

Travel with me, my socials, and more!

https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

For more on the Sagalassos finds and the Polish "anti-vampire" burial, see:

Claeys J, Van de Vijver K, Marinova E, Cleymans S, Degryse P, Poblome J. Magical practices? A non-normative Roman imperial cremation at Sagalassos. Antiquity. 2023;97(391):158-175. doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.171

Poliński, D., Zagrodzka, M., Grzybowski, T., Borrini, M., Lynch, P. A., Cybulska, M., … Czyżewski, Ł. (2026). A unique, non-normative burial of a young adult female from a 17th-century cemetery in Pień, north-central Poland. A multidisciplinary approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, Reports, 74(105967), 105967. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105967

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! We are staying in Pompeii this week as we look at what may be the last offering left before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. And new studies also show that the eruption wasn't the only thing going on!

But while reports have always stated the eruption occurred on August 24, 79, is that true? Well, a charcoal finding may change that!For this, I'm bringing in the help of a professional, Dr. Caitie Barrett, an archaeologist whose focus highlights the everyday lives of people and the cross-cultural exchange between Egypt and the larger Greco-Roman world. She currently serves as co-director of the Casa della Regina Carolina (CRC) Project, a joint Italian/American excavation project at the site of Pompeii. As a National Geographic Explorer, she hopes to capture the profound human aspects of Pompeii before the eruption, as seen in National Geographic's series Pompeii: Out of Time, streaming now.

For more from Dr. Barrett, follow her on Instagram: @caitie_barrett

Check out her National Geographic Explorer page: https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/caitie-barrett

For more on her project she is co-directing: https://blogs.cornell.edu/crcpompeii/

See her in action now on Pompeii: Out of Time, streaming now.

-Stay curious

Travel with me, my socials, and more!

https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! We've talked about the mysteries of Dionysus and his secret cult, so we're examining the evidence concerning an ancient goddess of Egypt: Isis. With new discoveries in Pompeii and Turkiye, we're talking about the secret initiation, festivals, her mythology, and more!What do we know? Who was initiated? And most importantly, would you join?Grab your mythology books for this as we talk about Isis, the goddess of 10,000 names.-Stay curiousTravel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! Since new archaeological discoveries came out last year about ancient tattoos on an ice mummy from Siberia, I thought it was time to bring this season 1 episode to video! Ancient ink is super rare to find in the archaeological record, and we're covering a few instances today, including one of a monogram to Archangel Michael, I was inspired by the new report on the skeletal analysis of almost 4,000-year-old Egyptian princesses, which shows evidence that they may have been trained in the weaponry they were later entombed with, so today we are diving into other cases of warrior women. We're talking about those who were found alongside weapons, those who may have inspired legends, and misidentified graves!Who was buried here? What do their remains tell us? And were these women ancient warriors?Grab your shovel and maps for this one!-Stay curiousTravel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries!

We are back for a bit for a redux of an episode from season 1. I was inspired to do so because during my recent trip to Bodrum in Turkiye, I saw these artifacts in person!

We're talking gold, silver, copper, and of course...tin, breaking down what we have learned, testing, what the final port was, and how expensive this shipwreck was!

Grab your scuba gear; we're heading underwater this week!

-Stay curious

Travel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! I was inspired by the new report coming out on the skeletal analysis of almost 4,000-year-old Egyptian princesses, showing evidence that they may have been trained in the weaponry they were later entombed with, so today we are diving into other cases of warrior women. We're talking about those who were found alongside weapons, those who may have inspired legends, and misidentified graves!Who was buried here? What do their remains tell us? And were these women ancient warriors?Grab your shovel and maps for this one!-Stay curiousTravel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! We are staying in the realm of mythology, meeting reality as we talk about the famed Nike of Samothrace. This goddess announced victory in the past, but which battle was immortalized in marble on the Aegean island of Samothrace? We're diving in! Be sure to bring your chisels to get the drapery just right, as we talk about the Hellenistic masterpiece also known as the Winged Victory. -Stay curiousTravel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! I hope you brought a mirror or a reflective shield, because we are heading to the edge of the world to take a peek inside Medusa's lair. Her image was found at the base of a pillar of Heracles a few years ago. So what was the image of a gorgon doing in a place connected to mythology? Who put her here and why?At world's end, we are looking for the answers!-Stay curiousTravel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! It is finally the time you all have been asking for: we are delving into the era of ancient Greek heroes and examining the helmets and shields available to Bronze Age warriors in the Aegean.

And now that the full trailer is out, it's time we chatted about what we could have had. From me to you, I wish you all could see how incredible this time period is, and maybe one day we will get the epic armor we deserve. So what shields did they have? Do we have any surviving armor, and, more importantly, does it even offer protection?

Grab your translations of Homer's work and get ready to be a warrior of the mind because we're talking about dressing a Bronze Age hero.

-Stay curious

Travel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn

Welcome back to the Dirt Diaries! We are back in the tombs today to see what we have for three female rulers of Egypt: a mother who ensured Egypt would be there for her son to rule, a woman at the end of her family line, and one who has often been vilified for taking too much power from her step-son. Yes, we are talking about Merneith (dynasty I), Sobekneferu (dynasty XII), and Hatshepsut (dynasty XVIII).What do we have? What do we know? And what do we still have to uncover?-Stay curiousTravel with me, my socials, and more!https://beacons.ai/dirtdiaries.tenn