The Past Macabre

In this episode, host Stephanie Rice kicks off a series on landscape archaeology, beginning with the study of what could be seen from ancient tombs and where those tombs were visible from within the surrounding region.

Journey across three distinct ancient landscapes: The Neolithic passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth at Brú na Bóinne in Ireland; Norse burial cairns of late Iron Age Norway and Iceland; and the Ojoka Kofun (おじょかこふん/王女丘古墳) from the Yamato Period in Japan.

Through these sacred sites, discover how ancient people viewed and interacted with their funerary landscape.

Offline sources used:

Dowling, Ger. "Exploring the hidden depths of Tara’s hinterland: geophysical survey and landscape investigations in the Meath–north Dublin region, eastern Ireland." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Vol. 81. Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Gjerland, Berit, and Christian Keller. 2009. Graves and Churches of the Norse in the North Atlantic: A Pilot Study. Journal of the North Atlantic:161–177.

Shima City Board of Education, 2016, "Shima City Buried Cultural Properties Survey Report 4: Excavation Report of Ojoka Tumulus (Shijima Tumulus Group No. 11)," Shima City Board of Education

von Hackwitz, Kim, and Karl-Johan Lindholm. 2015. Landscapes of Mortuary Practices. ANCIENT DEATH WAYS:143.

Wheatley, David. 2022. Cumulative Viewshed Analysis: A GIS-Based Method for Investigating Intervisibility, and Its Archaeological Application. In Archaeology and Geographic Information Systems, pp. 171–185. CRC Press.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/36

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In this episode of The Past Macabre, step into the chaotic period of the Late Bronze Age Collapse to investigate one of history's oldest recorded high-profile murder cases. Egypt was already struggling from years of crop failures, famine, and the world's first recorded labor strike when a highly coordinated network of conspirators chose to exploit the chaos of a sacred celebration to assassinate the pharaoh Ramesses III.

Through a detailed examination of ancient legal records and archaeological excavations at the scene of the murder we'll explore the ancient investigation, trial, and sentences of those found guilty.

We'll also look at the modern CT scans of Ramesses III’s mummy that confirmed his cause of death after modern researchers were left unsure for over 130 years. Join host Stephanie Rice as we explore how this ancient crime reveals deep community fears, fracturing social responsibilities, and what the breakdown of cosmic balance, or Maat, meant to the living.

Offline sources cited:

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/35

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Three discoveries, one shifting landscape: a mysterious buried structure beneath the ancient city of Buto, the newly identified tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II near the Valley of the Kings, and the remains of a massive Coptic monastery at Al-Qalaye. We dig into what the finds reveal about Egypt’s long arc—from dynastic power to Christian communities—and how modern tools are changing what archaeologists can see.

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In 1976 near the ruins of the ancient capital Yin, archaeologists rediscovered the tomb of Fu Hao and it transformed our understanding of the Shang Dynasty. Most royal tombs were ravaged by looters, but the final resting place of Fu Hao remained perfectly preserved. Now we know in addition to her duties as queen, she was also a military general, priestess, and she managed lands of her own.

For Women's History Month, learn about the life of this legendary figure through the contents of her tomb. From bronze Yue axes symbolizing her military authority to the world’s oldest jade archery ring to trade goods from far off lands, learn about some of the artifacts that helped us rediscover a warrior queen from the first dynasty of Ancient China.

Offline Sources Cited:

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In celebration of Women's History Month, this episode is about four lesser-known goddesses of the ancient Egyptian afterlife whose primary roles were to protect, nourish, and occasionally punish those within the city of the dead. While famous deities often dominate pop culture, these four goddesses offer a unique window into how the Egyptians viewed the natural world and the social roles of mortal women.

Discover the stories and archaeological footprints of Imentet who was the personification of the West; Khefethernebes and Meretseger who were both from the Theban Necropolis; and Hapetnebes from the Abydan Necropolis.

From the royal tombs to the graffiti of tomb builders, this episode traces how the divine feminine provided a sense of security for both the physical body and the soul on its journey through the Duat.

Offline Sources Cited:

El Menyawy, Habiba. 2021. The Goddess Xft-Hr Nb.s. Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality 0(0):1–33.

Iwaszczuk, Jadwiga. 2017. Sacred Landscape of Thebes during the Reign of Hatshepsut. Royal Construction Projects. Topography of the West Bank, Vol. 1. Institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences (IKŚiO PAN), Warsaw.

Jacquet-Gordon, Helen K. 1967. The Illusory Year 36 of Osorkon I. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 53:63–68.

Nagy, Z. 2017. A Study of Scribal Practice in the Late Ramesside Letters: Characteristics of Scribal Mechanisms Deployed in Hieratic to Determine Negative Aorists, 'Not yet' Forms, Second Tenses, Terminatives and Stative Formations PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

Rummel, Ute, et al. 2020. Landscape, Tombs, and Sanctuaries: In Ritual Landscape and Performance, edited by Christina Geisen, 13:pp. 89–120. Proceedings of the International Conference on Ritual Landscape and Performance, Yale University, September 23-24, 2016 No. Yale Egyptology.

Töpfer, Susanne, Paolo Del Vesco, and Federico Poole (editors). 2022. Deir El-Medina through the Kaleidoscope: Proceedings of the International Workshop, Turin 8th-10th October 2018. Formazione e Ricerca No. Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, Modena.

Zago, Silvia. 2022. The Otherworld (with)in This World: Imhet as a (Super)Natural Conduit between Dimensions in Egyptian Sources. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 81(2):283–304.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/33

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In this episode, step inside Deir el-Medina, the remarkably well-preserved village of the artisans who built the royal tombs of ancient Egypt. Known in antiquity as Pa Demi or “the village”, this desert settlement near Thebes (modern Luxor) was home to the skilled workers of the Set Maat, the “Place of Truth,” where pharaohs like Tutankhamun, Ramesses II, Nefertari, and Hatshepsut were laid to rest.

Through tomb art, legal documents, and everyday texts, Deir el-Medina offers one of the most intimate portraits of non-elite life in ancient Egypt.

Explore the lives of three individuals whose stories survive in astonishing detail. Meet Ramose, the wealthiest man in the village, whose decorated tombs and appeals to fertility goddesses reveal private hopes for an heir. Follow his adopted successor, Qenherkhepeshef, a prolific scribe whose tomb preserved the famous “Book of Dreams,” a guide to omens written in red and black ink. Finally, Naunakhte, whose surviving will shows that women in the New Kingdom owned property and controlled how it was inherited.

Offline Sources Cited:

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/32

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In the first part of this two-episode series on the tombs of the tomb builders, host Stephanie Rice journeys beyond the iconic monuments of the Giza Plateau to explore the long-overlooked settlement of the pyramid workers.

Often overshadowed by the Great Pyramids themselves, the massive wall known as Heit el-Ghurab, aka the “Wall of the Crow”, once concealed the remains of a thriving community. Ongoing excavations have revealed barracks, bakeries, administrative buildings, and, most importantly, carefully constructed cemeteries that challenge long-standing myths about enslaved labor or alien technologies.

This episode examines the archaeological evidence for a socially stratified yet respected workforce: laborers buried in modest but well-built tombs, artisans interred higher on the hillside, and even small mastabas and pyramids constructed for workers. Through burial architecture, grave goods, and settlement remains, we uncover a story not of disposable bodies, but of skilled Egyptians who brought their regional traditions with them in life and in death.

Offline Sources Cited:

David, A. Rosalie (editor). 1996. The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce. Routledge, London New York.

Forshaw, Roger. Trauma Care, Surgery and Remedies in Ancient Egypt: A Reassessment.

Lehner, Mark. 2015. Labor and the Pyramids: The Heit El-Ghurab “Workers Town” at Giza. In , pp. 397–522.

Lehner, Mark. 2023. Combinatorial Evolution and Heterogeneous Cohabitation at the Giant Pyramids. Journal of Urban Archaeology 8:21–46.

Steinkeller, Piotr, and Michael Hudson. 2015. Labor in the Ancient World: A Colloquium Held at Hirschbach (Saxony), April 2005. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies No. volume 5. ISLET, Dresden.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/31

• The Past Macabre Research Notes on Substack
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• Loving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!
• Website | The Giza Plateau Mapping Project
• Website | Information about the worker's cemetery at Heit al-Ghurab from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

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In this episode, host Stephanie Rice shares information about the origins of Ancient Egyptian kingship during the Predynastic period.

Discover the real archaeological evidence of two different rulers known as King Scorpion that inspired the Scorpion King from The Mummy franchise. But unlike the cinematic portrayal, the real kings didn't amass and sustain their power through military conquest.

Explore the Tomb of Scorpion I at Abydos which was filled with imported wine, lapis lazuli, and the first evidence of writing in Egypt. Learn about the ceremonial Scorpion Macehead that depicts Scorpion II planting crops.

Together, their stories reveal that Egypt’s first kings built their power through prosperity, order, and the sacred duty to sustain life not through warfare.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/30

• Bard, Kathryn A. "Political Economies of Predynastic Egypt and the Formation of the Early State." Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 25, No. 1, March 2017.
• Dodson, Aidan. "The First Dynasty." In The First Pharaohs: Their Lives and Afterlives. American University in Cairo Press, 2021.
• Hendrickx, Stan and Renée Friedman. "Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscription 1 and the Relationship between Abydos and Hierakonpolis during the early Naqada III Period." Göttinger Miszellen (GM) 196, 2003.
• Leeman, Diane. Abydos Tomb U-j of Predynastic Egypt. Compiled 2007, Revised 2018.
• Stevenson, Alice. "The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation." Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 24, 2016.
• Teeter, Emily, ed. Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 33, 2011.
• Wilkinson, Toby A. H. "What a King Is This: Narmer and the Concept of the Ruler." The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 86, 2000.

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• Loving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!
• Website | The Scorpion Macehead at the Ashmolean Museum
• Website | Information about the Narmer Palette from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

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In this continuation of The Past Macabre’s exploration of fossils and myth, host Stephanie Rice examines how ancient cultures interpreted fossil discoveries and connected them to tales of monsters, heroes, and gods.

Through oral traditions, archaeological finds, and texts from the Mexica (Aztecs) and Maya of Mesoamerica, the Hopi, Zuni, and Dine (Navajo) of the American Southwest, pre-Christian Ireland, and Classical Greece, this episode explores what these stories tell us about humanity’s enduring curiosity about the natural world.

Offline Sources Cited:

• Bierhorst, John. 1992. History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca. University of Arizona Press.
• Mayor, Adrienne. 2000. The First Fossil Hunters. Princeton University Press.
• Newman, Sarah E. 2016. Sharks in the Jungle: Real and Imagined Sea Monsters of theMaya. Antiquity 90(354):1522–1536.
• Romano, M., 2024. Fossils as a source of myths, legends and folklore. Rend. Online Soc. Geol. It, 62, pp.103-117.
• Solounias, Nikos and Adrienne Mayor. 2004. ANCIENT REFERENCES TO THE FOSSILS FROM THE LAND OF PYTHAGORAS. Earth Sciences History 23(2):283–296.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/29

• See photos related to episode topics on Instagram
• Loving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!
• Website | More information about the Hopi from the Hopi
• Website | More information about the Zuni from the Zuni
• Website | More information about the Dine (Navajo) from the Dine
• Website | Paleontology of ancestral lands of the Hopi, Zuni, and Dine - Petrified Forest NP
• Website | One woolly mammoth's journey at the end of the Ice Age (NPR's coverage of Élmayųujey’eh, a very well preserved wooly mammoth found near one of the oldest sites of human habitation in Alaska)
• Open Access Article | A Kachina by Any Other Name: Linguistically Contextualizing Native American Collections
• Open Access Article | Pleistocene record of mammals and pollen from Mexico (Las Tazas, Valsequillo, Puebla) and their paleoenvironmental interpretation
• Open Access Book | The Popol Vuh: The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of the Kichés of Central America
• Open Access Book | The Codex Borgia (Pre-European text of the Aztec deities, rituals, and calendar)
• Open Access Book | The Eskimo about Bering strait (19th century ethnography documenting Yup'ik and Inuit culture)
• Open Access Book | Traces of the Elder Faiths in Ireland (19th century ethnography of pre-Christian beliefs in Ireland)
• Video | Megaloceros the Giant Deer ~ with Dr Roman Croitor (information about Irish elk from Evolution Soup)

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As the APN takes a break this holiday season we’re taking this opportunity to bring you episodes of other network shows you may not be aware of. Please enjoy this episode of the Heritage Voices Podcast!

Heritage Voices: Nunalleq Digital Museum - Ep 98

For this episode of Heritage Voices, Jessica Yaquinto speaks with Charlotta Hillerdal (University of Aberdeen), Jaqueline Nalikutaar Cleveland (Native Village of Kwinhagak), Lonny Alaskuk Strunk (Native Village of Kwinhagak), and Alice Watterson (University of Iceland). The team explains how climate change was causing artifacts to erode out on the shoreline, so the Native Village of Quinhagak (Kwinhagak)  requested an archaeological excavation so that their heritage would be documented. They describe how what would happen to those artifacts and how to educate the community and larger public about their heritage remained a constant concern and area of discussion. The team described the process of creating this public education resource and how they conveyed the sense of place and focused on incorporating the language into the digital exhibit.

• Heritage Voices on the APN
• Nunalleq Digital Museum: multi-vocal narration of a Yup'ik past
• Nunalleq Digital Museum
• Nunalleq: Archaeological Excavation and Conservation Lab
• Nunalleq 2024
• Rick receives Friends of First Alaskans Ted Stevens Award
• Nunalleq Education Resource
• Yugtun
• How Did You Live? Writing A Song for Nunalleq
• Climate & Nunalleq
• Ellavut Cimirtuq (Our World Is Changing) – TrimTab Media

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