The Past Macabre

The APN is taking a holiday break. In the mean time, enjoy this special episode from one of our other great podcasts.

Rock Art Podcast: Kimberly Rock Art wth Dr. Damien Finch - Episode 144

PROMO: In this episode, Dr. Alan Garfinkel speaks with Dr Damien Finch from the University of Melbourne about Kimberly Rock Art and his work on the application of radiocarbon dating to determine the age of rock art. They discuss how scientific techniques can be applied to past human activity and, of course, rock art!

Rock Art Podcast Page

Dr Damien Finch Biography

Australia’s oldest known Aboriginal rock paintings

Light and shade: how the natural 'glazes' on the walls of Kimberley rock shelters help reveal the world the artists lived in

This 17,500-year-old kangaroo in the Kimberley is Australia's oldest Aboriginal rock painting

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Throughout history, people have uncovered fossils and tried to explain them using the knowledge and stories of their time. In this episode of The Past Macabre, host Stephanie Rice explores how ancient discoveries of prehistoric bones may have inspired some of humanity’s most enduring myths about dragons and other legendary creatures.

From China’s loong, whose image appeared in tombs thousands of years before the first dynasties, to the Greek and Roman tales of sea monsters and winged serpents, this episode traces how archaeology and paleontology overlap in uncovering the roots of these mythical beings and the human fascination with what fossils.

Offline Works Cited:

• Boaz, Noel T., and Russell L. Ciochon. 2004. The Bones of Dragon Hill. In Dragon Bone Hill: An Ice Age Saga of Homo Erectus, edited by Noel T. Boaz and Russell L. Ciochon. Oxford University Press.
• Crump, J., & Crump, I. 1963. Dragon Bones in the Yellow Earth: The story of archaeological exploration & research in northern China in the present century. Dodd, Mead, and Company.
• Romano, M., 2024. Fossils as a source of myths, legends and folklore. Rend. Online Soc. Geol. It, 62, pp.103-117.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/28

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• Open Access Article | Finding the origins of dragons in Carboniferous plant fossils
• Website | Educational resources for teaching grades 8-12 about Greek myths related to fossils (interesting info for anyone, not just students)
• Open Access Article | Sea Monsters in Antiquity: A Classical and Zoological Investigation
• Open Access Book | Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Things (English Translation)

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After two decades of anticipation, the Grand Egyptian Museum has finally opened and it is wonderful in every sense of the word! In this episode of The Past Macabre, host Stephanie Rice explores how the world’s largest archaeological museum breathes new life into ancient funerary traditions.

Join her on a journey through three extraordinary exhibits that reimagine Egypt’s afterlife: the digital recreation of Khnumhotep II’s tomb; the complete collection of Tutankhamun’s treasures that have been reunited for the first time since they were excavated; and the solar boats that were buried next to the Great Pyramid that were meant to carry Khufu in the afterlife.

Through technology, artistry, and careful conservation, these exhibits at the Grand Egyptian Museum bring Ancient Egyptian lives to modern visitors.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/27

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• Website | GEM Official
• Website | Egypt's Ministry of Tourism
• Website | Tutankhamun's Galleries
• Website | Conservation Center at the GEM
• Video | Digital Tomb of Khnumhotep II
• Video | Original Tomb of Khnumhotep II

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In this episode, Stephanie is joined by special guest Virginia Lucas, curator and archaeologist of the Lost City Museum for a look at the history of The Lost City, also known as Pueblo Grande de Nevada. It was an Ancestral Puebloan settlement in southern Nevada and once thrived as a major agricultural exporter and trade hub along the Muddy River. The city was abandoned around 1250 CE after a shift in the local climate caused a long period of drought. Centuries later, its ruins were flooded by the construction of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, only to reemerge now that modern droughts have lowered the water levels once again.

We'll explore the museum dedicated to both the site itself and the historical archaeology previously done here. We'll also discuss how the Lost City’s rise, abandonment, and rediscovery by western researchers reflect broader questions about memory, cultural continuity, and the importance of working with descendant communities when researching history and sharing it with the public.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/26

• Euler, Robert C. “Southern Paiute Archaeology.” American Antiquity 29.3 (1964): 379–381.

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• Website | The Lost City Museum
• Website | Moapa Band of Paiutes
• Website | Learn more about the Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute People) and find travel itineraries that support indigenous groups across Nevada
• Video | Interview with Everett Pikyavit, elder and master basket weaver from the Moapa Band of Paiutes
• Open Access Article | The Archaeology of Pueblo Grande de Nevada: Past and Current Research
• Open Access Journal | New Findings from the Far Western Puebloan Region: Papers in Honor of Margaret Lyneis

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Around the world and throughout our entire written history, humanity has believed that the dead can return to the land of the living, even if only for a short time. Through ancient texts and archaeological research, we can trace how people long ago understood hauntings, feared the unburied, and tried to keep the dead at rest.

In this Halloween special, discover just a few of the stories of ghosts, revenants, vampires, and other restless dead from ancient to medieval sources. From the oldest texts in the world in Ancient Mesopotamia that speak of the ghosts that walked among the living, to the first Classical story to identify necromancy in Ancient Greece, to the Norse sagas of heroes defeating terrifyingly strong draugr, and the origins of vampires in Slavic lore. Explore archaeological discoveries of graves referred to as "deviant" or "anti-vampire" burials from Greek and Slavic cemeteries where the dead were physically stopped from rising again.

These ancient tales of the dead also reveal what the living feared, what they valued, and how they coped with loss.

Offline works cited:

• D. Karakantza, Efimia, Alexandros Velaoras, and Marion Meyer. 2025. Ancient Necropolitics: Maltreating the Living, Abusing the Dead in Greek Antiquity. BRILL.
• Gardela, Leszek. Gardeła L. 2015. Vampire Burials in Medieval Poland. An Overview of Past Controversies and Recent Reevaluations, Lund Archaeological Review 21, 107-126.
• Sulosky Weaver, Carrie Lynn. 2022. Marginalised Populations in the Ancient Greek World: The Bioarchaeology of the Other. Edinburgh University Press
• Wypustek, Andrzej. Sorcery Among Powerless Corpses. An Interpretation of the ‘Restless Dead’ in Greek Curses, Imprecations and Verse Inscriptions. The Wisdom of Thoth. Magical Text in Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations, 121-129. Archaeopress.

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• Free English Translation of The Odyssey by Homer - Project Gutenberg
• Greek Phasmata (Ghosts) by Greek Myth Comix
• Video: Mesopotamian Ghost Busting with Dr. Irving Finkel
• Open Access Article: Apotropaic Practices and the Undead A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland
• Open Access Article: The Living and the Dead in Slavic Folk Culture Modes of Interaction between Two Worlds

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/25

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In this episode, we’ll explore the rediscovery and legacy of Thonis-Heracleion, a sacred port city that was lost beneath the Mediterranean Sea for over 1200 years. During its peak, the city stood as both a major checkpoint for foreign merchants entering Egypt and a spiritual center tied to the worship of Amun, Khonsu, Osiris, Aphrodite, and many more Egyptian and Greek deities.

Rituals connected the site to Canopus through the Osirian Mysteries, and I'll share details about the archaeological evidence of these rites, including a sacred barge that carried the statue of Osiris between the two cities. As with its neighbor Canopus, Thonis-Heracleion became closely associated with a Greek mythical hero. According to Herodotus, this was where Heracles (Hercules) set foot in Egypt for the first time and Heracles became syncretized with Khonsu over time.

Listen now to explore how the rediscovery of Thonis-Heracleion has helped reshape our understanding of Egypt’s sacred coastline during the Late Period and Ptolemaic Dynasty.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/24

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There’s so much info to share about Canopus that it needed a second episode!

In this episode, we take a look at some of the myths and deities associated with Canopus as well as earlier finds that have provided us with important details about the city.

According to myth, the city began a the site where a Homeric hero met a gruesome end. It grew to become the main trade hub connecting Mediterranean routes to the Nile, a sacred city of several deities, and an internationally famous center of healing.

Under the Ptolemies, Canopus became the site of the Mysteries of Osiris, blending Greek and Egyptian rituals of death and rebirth in order to gain sacred knowledge. We’ll explore all we know about this mysterious annual ritual and others that were held here.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/23

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• Info on Canopus and Other Underwater Archaeology Projects in Alexandria from Lead Archaeologist Franck Goddio
• Ancient recipes for cyprinum, a perfume made from henna grown at Canopus
• Text of Canopus Decree
• Text of Nicander's Theriaca

• Abdel-Rahman, R. 2018. Recent Underwater Excavations at Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus. Annales Du Service Des Antiquités de l’Égypte (ASAE) 92:233–258.
• Buraselis, K., M. Stefanou, and D. J. Thompson. 2013. The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Egypt Museum. Canopus & Heracleion: Sunkencities.
• Fraser, P. M. 1972. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Goddio, F., and A. Masson-Berghoff. 2016. Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds. Thames & Hudson / British Museum, London.
• Goddio, Franck. Projects: Sunken Civilizations: Canopus.
• Lavan, L., and M. Mulryan (editors). 2011. The Archaeology of Late Antique Paganism. Brill, Leiden.
• MacDonald, W. L., and J. A. Pinto. 1995. Hadrian’s Villa and Its Legacy. Yale University Press, New Haven.
• Marriner, N., C. Morhange, and C. Flaux. 2017. Geoarchaeology of the Canopic Region: A Reconstruction of the Holocene Palaeo-Landscapes. Méditerranée 128:51–64.
• PAThs-ERC. East Canopus: Sacri Lapides Aegypti.
• Sidebotham, S. E. 2011. Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route. University of California Press, Berkeley.
• Sidebotham, S. E. 2019. Ports of the Red Sea and the Nile Delta: Trade and Cultural Exchange. In The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy, edited by W. Scheidel. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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At the end of August, archaeologists announced extraordinary new finds from the sunken city of Canopus, located off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. For the first time in 25 years, artifacts were raised from the seabed, including a sphinx inscribed with Ramses II’s name, statues from the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, and shipwreck remains.

In this episode, we'll explore both these latest underwater discoveries and geological surveys that are helping researchers understand what caused Canopus to sink, because understanding how people of the past adapted to disasters could help us find solutions for today’s climate-threatened coastal cities.

Listen now to learn about the artifacts, myths, and history of Canopus.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/22

• See photos related to episode topics on Instagram
• Loving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!
• Info on Canopus and Other Underwater Archaeology Projects in Alexandria from Lead Archaeologist Franck Goddio
• Ancient recipes for cyprinum, a perfume made from henna grown at Canopus
• Text of Canopus Decree
• Text of Nicander's Theriaca
• Abdel-Rahman, R. 2018. Recent Underwater Excavations at Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus. Annales Du Service Des Antiquités de l’Égypte (ASAE) 92:233–258.
• Buraselis, K., M. Stefanou, and D. J. Thompson. 2013. The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Egypt Museum. Canopus & Heracleion: Sunkencities.
• Fraser, P. M. 1972. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Goddio, F., and A. Masson-Berghoff. 2016. Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds. Thames & Hudson / British Museum, London.
• Goddio, Franck. Projects: Sunken Civilizations: Canopus.
• Lavan, L., and M. Mulryan (editors). 2011. The Archaeology of Late Antique Paganism. Brill, Leiden.
• MacDonald, W. L., and J. A. Pinto. 1995. Hadrian’s Villa and Its Legacy. Yale University Press, New Haven.
• Marriner, N., C. Morhange, and C. Flaux. 2017. Geoarchaeology of the Canopic Region: A Reconstruction of the Holocene Palaeo-Landscapes. Méditerranée 128:51–64.
• PAThs-ERC. East Canopus: Sacri Lapides Aegypti.
• Sidebotham, S. E. 2011. Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route. University of California Press, Berkeley.
• Sidebotham, S. E. 2019. Ports of the Red Sea and the Nile Delta: Trade and Cultural Exchange. In The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy, edited by W. Scheidel. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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Many different cultures from China and Southeast Asia honor the dead on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month during the Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as Zhongyuan in Daoism and Yulanpen or Ullambana in Mahayana Buddhism. In this episode, we’ll trace the origins of ancestor worship to ancient Shang Dynasty Oracle Bones, or “Dragon Bones,” which were used to inscribe petitions to ancestral spirits and hold the earliest evidence of Chinese writing. Then we’ll explore how regional variations of those ancient beliefs blended with the Buddhist Ulambana Sutra (or Mulian Rescues His Mother from Hell), Daoist visions of the afterlife, and Confucian teachings on filial responsibility. Over time, these influences eventually gave rise to the Hungry Ghost Festival which has continued to evolve into modern celebrations that weave together ancient traditions and modern lifestyles to honor both personal ancestors and members of the community lost in historical tragedies.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/21

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• Learn More About Chinese History with the China History Podcast
• Los Angeles Hungry Ghost Festival 2025
• Video: Taiwan’s “Ghost Grappling”
• Video: Mulian Saves His Mother Performance at Kiew Lee Tong Temple in Singapore

• Campany, Robert F. 1991. Ghosts Matter: The Culture of Ghosts in Six Dynasties Zhiguai. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) 13:15.
• Chan, Selina Ching. 2023. Unequal Inscriptions of the Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong. China Perspectives(132):49–59.
• Deutsch, Lauren W. Chinese Joss Paper Offerings.
• Liu, Jingyu. 2020. The Unimpeded Passage: The Making of Universal Salvation Rites and Buddho-Daoist Interactions in Medieval China.
• Shirin, Shakinah. 2021. Past and Present Rituals of Hungry Ghost Festival. Intercultural Communication.
• Zhao, Yin. Indian Cultural Elements on the Ullambana Festival.

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The Wag Festival is one of the oldest named celebrations in Ancient Egypt, a summertime rite honoring both the death of Osiris and the memory of departed loved ones. Each year, the living gathered to share feasts with the dead with offerings of bread, beer, and beef to sustain them in the afterlife. In this episode, we’ll explore the festival’s connection to the Osiris Myth and uncover its traces in the archaeological record, from tomb reliefs and inscribed stone offering tables to the very first Pyramid Texts in the tomb of Unas. Along the way, you’ll hear about some of the specific foods and offerings that graced these ancient tables.

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/20

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• More information about the Pyramid Texts including a map of the walls of the Pyramid of Unas, resources to study more Pyramid Texts, and a complete translation of the Pyramid Texts
• Isis and Osiris by Plutarch free English translation
• Recipe for Eish Baladi (Egyptian pita)
• Emelʹjanov, Vladimir Vladimirovič (editor). 2021. Temporal Concepts and Perception of Time in the Ancient Orient: Proceedings of the Workshop “Calendar Festivals of the Ancient Orient” Held in St. Petersburg 20th-21th November 2020. St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers, St. Petersburg.
• Gautschy, Rita, Michael E Habicht, Francesco M Galassi, Daniela Rutica, Frank J Rühli, and Rainer Hannig. 2017. A New Astronomically Based Chronological Model for the Egyptian Old Kingdom. Journal of Egyptian History.
• Hafez, Hayam, and Dalia Mohamed. 2025. An Offering Basin of Mr-Sw-Anx No. 519/1234. مجلة کلية الآثار . جامعة القاهرة 18(28):165–200.
• Kahl, Jochem. 2022. Manuscripts and Monuments: The Ten Contracts of Djefai-Hapi and Economies of Knowledge. Manuscript and Text Cultures (MTC) 1:83–111.
• Lappin, David F. Illahun Lunar Texts and the Astronomical Dating of the 12th Dynasty.
• Puchkov, Alexander. 2024. Sothic Dating of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The World of the Orient 2024.
• Romanova, Olena. 2014. “Inscriptions from the Tomb of Metjen in the Context of Egyptian (Auto)-Biographies and Social History of the Beginning of IV Dynasty”, in Ukrainsky Istorichny Zbirnyk 2010 (Ukrainian Historical Collection). Vol. 17. Kyiv, 2014 17:6–33.
• Soleiman, Saleh. 2017. The Inscribed Lintel of Ptahshepses at Saqqara. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 103(1):103–116.
• Spalinger A. (2013), "Further Thoughts on the Feast of WAgj", Études et Travaux, T. XXVI, pp. 616-24.

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