This week we have the latest installment of the journal Club! Ash and Tilly from the And My Trowel podcast join us for a lively discussion about two recent news articles. Join us to learn about ghost DNA, turtle figurines (or not?), and all the ways Americans eat and drink tea and scones incorrectly!

• Researchers identify traces of two ‘ghost’ ancestors in modern human DNA
• Recovering signatures of archaic hominin introgression using ancestral recombination graphs
• Researchers traced 20% of our ancestry to a “ghost” population. Here’s what that means. @‌Ella Al-Shamahi
• Archaeologists Dug up 25 Turtles Carved During the Ice Age. They May Point to a Lost Mountain Cult.
• Recently dug turtle figurines expose ancient ritual heritage

• Chris Webster
  • chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com
• Rachel Roden
  • rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
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In this episode of The Archaeology Show, we follow three discoveries that reveal how much ancient meaning can survive—and how much can still elude us. First, we look at rare Neolithic obsidian arrowheads from central Anatolia, etched with one-of-a-kind geometric designs that took real effort to carve, yet remain impossible to interpret. Then we head deep into Spain’s Cova de les Dones, where a hidden chamber holds 120 Latin inscriptions—evidence of an organized Roman cult centered on a mysterious “Lady,” Domina, and the name “MALACI.” Finally, we travel to Wetar Island in eastern Indonesia, where a 4,000-year-old painted stone plaque provides the first portable example of Austronesian Painting Tradition art, suggesting seafarers carried shared symbols and identities across the ocean long before pottery arrived.

To see links and more, head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/archaeology/339

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Please enjoy this episode of The Rock Art Podcast this week!

In this episode, Alan speaks with Stephen Alvarez about his new book, Rock Art: An American Story, exploring the enduring significance of rock art across North America. They discuss Indigenous perspectives, the sacredness of rock art sites, and how ancient imagery continues to connect people with place, culture, and history. The conversation also considers the challenges of interpreting and dating rock art, and the importance of respecting and protecting these remarkable records of the past.

• Transcript

• Rock Art Podcast - Episode 171
• Rock Art: An American Story by Stephen Alvarez with Kate Nelson

• Chris Webster
  • chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com
• Rachel Roden
  • rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
  • RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

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This week, we’re exploring three archaeology articles in the news this week. First, we head to Rapa Nui, where new research into the mysterious Rongorongo script could reshape our understanding of when and how writing developed on the island. Then, we examine an Etruscan ritual well filled with offerings to the goddess Uni—and later, human remains. Finally, we travel to Denmark, where plans for an underground parking garage led archaeologists to the unexpected discovery of a long-lost medieval convent.

• A New Discovery at Easter Island Could Rewrite History As We Know It
• Archaeologists discover Etruscan well that was ritually opened with offerings for a goddess — and 'closed' with human bodies
• Danish town plans for underground parking garage, finds long-lost medieval convent

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

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Join the APN crew for a monthly discussion of recent news articles. This month we look into two very different questions about archaeology and how we interpret the past. First, we dig into the growing role of AI and large language models in archaeological research, discussing hallucinations, data ownership, consent, open access, and why critical thinking is more important than ever. Then, we examine the case of a man who survived a severe facial injury roughly 100,000 years ago—and ask whether the more interesting story is really ancient violence, or the care and community that allowed him to survive.

• Archaeology in the AI Era: Demystifying powerful and problematic systems shaping the future of the past
• Roughly 100,000 Years Ago, This Man Got Stabbed in the Face—and Survived. He’s Likely One of the First Known Victims of an Attack With a Sharp Weapon

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
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This week we cover three new archaeology news stories! First up, a new LiDAR study in Brazil is revealing that the Amazonian ancient civilization of Aquiry may have been much larger than previously known. Then, a tomb in Poland that was opened in 1973 harbored a deadly fungus that caused the deaths of many of the researchers that worked on it, like a modern day Mummy’s Curse! And finally, archaeologists at Pompeii are reconstructing a ceiling mosaic piece by painstaking piece.

Segment 1

• Mysterious Shapes Hidden Beneath the Amazon Canopy Reveal a Sprawling Ancient Civilization Much Bigger Than Researchers Expected (Smithsonian)
• Over 20,000 precolonial earthworks in the Southwest Amazonia (Nature)

Segment 2

• Archaeologists Opened a 500-Year-Old King’s Tomb. Most Didn’t Live to Tell the Tale.

Segment 3

• See a Rare Ceiling Fresco From Pompeii That Archaeologists Are Carefully Reassembling, Piece by Piece, Like an Ancient Puzzle

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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In today’s archaeology news episode, we discuss three articles, starting with a discovery at the Maya city of Xiulán, Guatemala: a small room interpreted as a scribe/astronomer workspace with 11 hieroglyphs naming Sak Ton Wax (“white-chested fox”) and more than 50 mathematical “micro texts” tracking Venus and Mars as the author. We then cover a report that President Trump reduced Grand Staircase–Escalante and Bears Ears by nearly three million acres, opening lands to mining and ending the Bears Ears Commission’s tribal co-stewardship. Finally, we discuss a report on an executive order to post warnings outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History about “inaccurate information,” and we argue it politicizes history and promotes alternative narratives.

Segment 1

• Archaeologists decipher the name of a Maya astronomer for the first time
• Meet Sak Tahn Waax, a Maya Math Whiz Who Lived More Than 1,000 Years Ago and Left Behind a ‘Really Elegant, Complex’ Formula

Segment 2

• President Trump drastically shrinks 2 Utah national monuments — again

Segment 3

• Trump orders signage warning visitors of ‘inaccurate information’ at Smithsonian

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

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On today’s episode Chris interviews Dr. David Danzig from the Save Ancient Studies Alliance. It’s a great website dedicated to education and outreach. They’ve got a conference coming up on July 19th and 20th for people listening in real time. It’s free and open to all. Check out the livestream options at the links below.

• Save Ancient Studies Alliance
• Virtual Conference

For a rough transcript of this episode, head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/archaeology/334

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
• APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed
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