The Dirt Podcast

The Dirt Podcast

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The Dirt Podcast episodes

  • It's Time to Talk About the Future - Ep 100

    This week, for our ONE HUNDREDTH EPISODE, Anna and Amber bend their brains around the archaeology of the future and the future of archaeology. What will excavation look like in 100, 1,000, or 5,000 years? What about human evolution? Human culture? Language? We come up with more questions than answers, and have a great time doing it. THANK YOU for getting us to Episode 100!

    Links

    • Chicken Bones May Be the Legacy of Our Time (Smithsonian)
    • The broiler chicken as a signal of a human reconfigured biosphere (Royal Society Open Science)
    • Changes in the lead isotopic composition of blood, diet and air in Australia over a decade: Globalization and implications for future isotopic studies (Environmental Research)
    • Dietary Heterogeneity among Western Industrialized Countries Reflected in the Stable Isotope Ratios of Human Hair (PLoS One)
    • The Future of Archaeology Is 'Spacejunk' (The Atlantic)
    • The Future of Archeology Is Plastic (Medium)
    • The past, present and future of human evolution (Nature)
    • What May Become of Homo sapiens (Scientific American)
    • Edible Insects and Human Evolution (via Project MUSE)
    • Dougal Dixon - After Man (A Zoology of the Future) 1981 (Monster Brains blog)
    • Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future (via WorldCat)
    • How Afrofuturism Can Help the World Mend (Wired)
    • The Long Now Foundation
    • What will English language look like in the future? (Oxford Academic on YouTube)
    • What will the English language be like in 100 years? (The Conversation)
    • Esperanto (Encyclopedia Britannica)
    • Incubus (1966) on YouTube
    • Hello (Adele Cover) - Esperanto version (YouTube)
    • Pleistocenese: A Language of 40,000 Years Ago (Justin B. Rye)
    • Futurese: The American Language in 3000 AD (Justin B. Rye)
    • Beyond Biohazard: Why Danger Symbols Can’t Last Forever (99% Invisible)

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        1 hr
      • People of Size - Ep 99

        Amber and Anna explore perceptions of human body shape in different times and places. What’s the difference between fatness and obesity? Why should we look askance at BMI? What is UP with Peter Paul Rubens and his damp, shiny nudes? And more!

        Links

        • The Bizarre and Racist History of the BMI (Medium’s Elemental)
        • A History of Obesity, or How What Was Good Became Ugly and Then Bad (Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease)
        • The evolution of human fatness and susceptibility to obesity: an ethological approach (Biological Reviews)
        • A Brief History of Obesity: Truths and Illusions (Clinical Oncology News)
        • Obesity in the paleolithic era (Hormones)
        • Obesity in the Neolithic Era: A Greek Female Figurine (Obesity Surgery)
        • The significance of Sarah Baartman (BBC)
        • Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia (via Worldcat)
        • Socio-cultural norms of body size in Westerners and Polynesians affect heart rate variability and emotion during social interactions (Culture and Brain)
        • How paradise became the fattest place in the world (CNN)
        • How a Powerful Obesity Gene Helped Samoans Conquer the South Pacific (Gizmodo)
        • A thrifty variant in CREBRF strongly influences body mass index in Samoans (Nature Genetics)
        • “Un-Hottentoting the Queen of Punt” (via Academia.edu)
        • The Expedition to Punt (Nova)
        • Queen of Punt (Clinical Infectious Diseases)
        • When Fat Was in Fashion (New York Times)

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            1 hr 16 min
          • Oscan the Right Questions - Ep 98

            This week, on a special sponsored episode, Anna and Amber explore some of the lesser-known Italic cultural groups that were peripheral to Ancient Rome. We seek out Samnites and uncover Umbrians. We also take a brief tour of Etruscan wine country.

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              51 min
            • Hip Neanderthals with Mayowa Adeboyega - Ep 97

              These hips don't lie. Amber and Anna talk with paleoanthropologist Mayowa Adeboyega about her research on the evolution of the pelvis. Mayowa also gives us some insights on the experience of being Black in academia, and how she uses science communication and the occasional silliness to make anthropology more accessible.

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                53 min
              • The Dirt Digs Pride - Ep 96

                Amber and Anna are holding their very own Pod Pride Parade this week! We talk about the possible genetic influences behind human sexuality and discuss instances of queerness in archaeology (and some TRULY bad takes from news outlets). We also discuss gay icons from ancient history, badass queer archaeologists, and more!

                Links

                • No ‘gay gene’: Massive study homes in on genetic basis of human sexuality (Nature)
                • Genetics of Sexual Behavior
                • Sexuality Studies in Archaeology (Annual Reviews in Anthropology)
                • The Oldest Known Gay Man? (ABC News)
                • First homosexual caveman found (Telegraph)
                • 'Gay Caveman' Story Overblown, Archaeologists Say (LiveScience)
                • Is That Skeleton Gay? The Problem With Projecting Modern Ideas Onto The Past (Forbes)
                • Alexander the Great or Alexander the Gay? (University of Liverpool)
                • Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Cardiff)
                • Queering Hippolytus: Asexuality and Ancient Greece (Notches)
                • Sapphistry on the Spoil Heap: Lesbianism and Female Homosociality in Early Archaeology (TORCH)
                • In Han Dynasty China, Bisexuality Was the Norm (JSTOR Daily)
                • Feminisms, Queer Theories, and the Archaeological Study of Past Sexualities (World Archaeology)
                • Historical archaeology (The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality)

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                    54 min
                  • Teeth and Trowelblazing with Special Guest Dr. Brenna Hassett - Ep 95

                    This week, Anna and Amber chat with researcher, author, science communicator, founding TrowelBlazer, and wearer of many hats, Dr. Brenna Hassett! We learn that we've all got a mouthful of clocks, that women have always been a part of the digging sciences, and that networks truly matter.

                    Links

                    • Dr. Brenna Hassett (UCL)
                    • @brennawalks on Twitter
                    • TrowelBlazers
                    • Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death
                    • And Dr. Hassett mentioned two books by Angela Saini:
                    • Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story
                    • Superior: The Return of Race Science

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                        1 hr 17 min
                      • Hunting and Gathering - Dirt 94

                        This week, Anna and Amber have foraged up an episode all about hunting and gathering. We also examine anthropology and ethnography, and the problematic origins of these disciplines. We discuss the Grandmother Hypothesis, wax rhapsodic about salmon, and...Amber tells another honey story.

                        Links

                        • Hunter-Gatherers (Foragers) (Human Research Area Files)
                        • Hunter-Gatherer Culture (National Geographic)
                        • What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa (Journal of Archaeological Research)
                        • Hunter-gatherer studies and human evolution: a very selective review (American Journal of Physical Anthropology)
                        • The Ethnohistory and Anthropology of ‘Modern’ Hunter-Gatherers (The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers)
                        • AnthroBites: Scientific Racism (AnthroPod)
                        • Grandmothering, menopause, and the evolution of human life histories (UNM Digital Repository)
                        • Whales and humans linked by 'helpful grandmothers' (BBC)
                        • Why Grandmothers May Hold The Key To Human Evolution (NPR)
                        • The Evolutionary Importance of Grandmothers (The Atlantic)
                        • The Surprisingly Sticky Tale of the Hadza and the Honeyguide Bird (Atlas Obscura)
                        • Honey, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, and human evolution (Journal of Human Evolution)

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                            45 min
                          • Rapa Nui! - Ep 93

                            This week, Anna and Amber voyage to the island of Rapa Nui, famous for its monumental stone heads, and for the idea that its islanders caused their own collapse through environmental exploitation. Turns out, that's probably not what happened! Tune in to learn more about what archaeology and anthropology can tell us about the real stories of the Rapanui people.

                            Links

                            • A model-based approach to the tempo of “collapse”: The case of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (Journal of Archaeological Science)
                            • Rethinking Easter Island’s Historic “Collapse” (Sapiens)
                            • The Archaeology of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania)
                            • Indigenous World 2019: Rapa Nui (Easter Islands) (IWGIA)
                            • Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources (PLOSOne)
                            • Easter Island Statue Project
                            • The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island (Journal of Archaeological Science)
                            • Easter Island Mystery Solved? New Theory Says Giant Statues Rocked (National Geographic)
                            • Object: Hoa Hakananai'a ('lost or stolen friend') (British Museum)
                            • Rock art of Easter Island : symbols of power, prayers to the gods (via WorldCat)
                            • Cristián Moreno Pakarati (Rapa Nui Pioneers Society)
                            • Tangata Manu, The Bird-Man and its Origins (moeVaruna)
                            • The Soft, Warm, Wet Technology of Native Oceania (Whole Earth Review)
                            • Easter Island land dispute clashes leave dozens injured (BBC News, 2010)
                            • Police evict Rapa Nui clan from Easter Island hotel (BBC News, 2011)
                            • Fighting for Survival on Easter Island (Cultural Survival)

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                                1 hr 7 min
                              • Not Before I've Had My Coffee - Ep 92

                                Anna and Amber fill your brain mug with piping hot knowledge about the archaeology, genetics, and culture behind some of our favorite morning drinks.

                                Links
                                • A history of coffee:
                                • Coffee botany:
                                • Origins of coffee:
                                • First writings on coffee:
                                • World's oldest tea:
                                • Tea and the Silk Road
                                • Tea origin story:
                                • Tea genetics:
                                • History of yerba mate:
                                • Yaupon use by Indigenous Americans:
                                • Yaupon archaeological residues:

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                                    47 min
                                  • The Dirt Digs Down Under - Ep 91

                                    Description: Anna and Amber make a long-overdue trip to Australia this week. How did humans get there? How long ago did they arrive? What have they been doing since then? We cover these and other big brain-exploding topics for your education and entertainment!

                                    Links

                                    • Humans First Arrived in Australia 65,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests (The New York Times)
                                    • Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago (Nature)
                                    • The first genomic history of Australia’s peopling (ScienceDaily)
                                    • The spread of people to Australia (Australian Museum)
                                    • Mungo Lady and Mungo Man (Visit Mungo)
                                    • A 42,000-year-old Man Finally Goes Home (Smithsonian)
                                    • Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander collection timeline (Australian Museum)
                                    • Explore cultural objects, art & technology (Australian Museum)
                                    • Identifying Aboriginal Sites (Aboriginal Heritage Office)
                                    • Indigenous Archaeology: Historical Interpretation from an Emic Perspective (Nebraska Anthropologist)
                                    • Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies (AIATSIS)
                                    • ‘Dreamtime’ and ‘The Dreaming’ – an introduction (The Conversation)

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                                        1 hr 6 min

                                      About The Dirt Podcast

                                      From the publisher's feed

                                      Join Anna and Amber; friends, archaeologists, and big nerds, for an exploration of the lives of people in the past.