Seven Ages Audio Journal

Latest Episodes:

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 32: Ancient Earthworks and Geophysics in the Middle Ohio Valley Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

On this first edition of the audio journal for 2020, the Seven Ages gang gathers in the Cross-Time Pub for a cold pint as Micah recaps recent independent research he undertook in Portugal and the Azores over the holidays. Unique clues in the history of Portugal and its adjacent islands dating back to the Age of Discovery suggests that there may indeed be more to the history of the Azores than once thought, and archaeological discoveries currently underway may soon lend even more credence to the idea.

We are then joined by Jarrod Burks, Ph.D., Director of Archaeological Geophysics at Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc. and a member of the Heartland Earthwork Conservancy. As Dr. Burks argues, "there is no question now, geophysics works for locating archaeological features in countless settings and one of my primary goals is to show this to the archaeological community--as well as the public." through his professional work as an archaeologist, Burks employs geophysics is in the search for prehistoric earthworks throughout the Middle Ohio Valley. "I have surveyed dozens of sites and have located many new enclosures and drastically altered the maps of most sites," he says. "There is much yet to learn about these earthwork sites and geophysics is a great tool to advance our knowledge about the past."

Jarrod discusses what new technologies are revealing at many of Ohio's most famous archaeological sites, which include the Great Serpent Mound and other earthworks from the Buckeye State.

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Music featured in this episode:

"Orion" - Getsix (YouTube)
"Maximum Potential" - Amadeus (Youtube)

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 31: History and Archaeology in the Volunteer State Dec 01, 2019

Show notes

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we look at how the recent Amazonian wildfires are damaging not just the environment, but also putting archaeological discoveries that lay hidden within the jungle at risk. Many in the archaeological community are troubled by attitudes in the current Brazilian presidential administration, and how the shifting of blame in order to protect industrial interests further complicates the jobs of archaeologists in the region.

Then later in the program, we feature an interview with author Tom Poland, a writer and researcher who has authored more than a dozen books, his most recent of which involves the enigmatic Carolina Bays. We also share some audio from Micah and Jason's recent trip to Tennessee, where we spoke with avocational archaeologist David Dean, who has been involved with education and archaeology in his home state for a number of decades. Then rounding out the program, Micah and Jason sit down for a lengthy fireside chat with their friend and colleague Chase Pipes of the "Chasing History" YouTube channel, and owner of the Smoky Mountain Relic Room in Sevierville, Tennessee. Chase shares his passion for history with us, and discusses many of his areas of interest and efforts to educate and inspire young people to become more involved with the study of our past.

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Music featured in this episode:

"Ranger" - Chew Chew (YouTube)
"Broke in Summer" - Salon Helga (Youtube)

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 30: Life and Early Times at Upward Sun River Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

On this edition of the podcast, Micah and James are flying solo as Jason is on "daddy duty" as he welcomes in the newest member of the Pentrail family. We discuss the latest news pertaining to the famous Antikythera shipwreck, which continues to teach us new things about the past, as well as the new results published by Dr. Christopher Moore about the White Pond archaeological site in South Carolina, where platinum anomalies associated with the Younger Dryas period were recently found.

Then joining us for a lengthy discussion about Alaskan archaeology and the Upward Sun River site is Dr. Benjamin Potter, who has worked in Alaskan archaeology since 1995, receiving his Ph.D. in 2005 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He has extensive field and laboratory experience in both CRM and academic archaeology and has worked for federal agencies (1997), private industry (1998-2006), and UAF (2005-present). His geographic interests include Subarctic and Arctic regions, particularly Interior Alaska. His research interests include intersite variability, site structure, and organization, with a research program focusing broadly on the relationships among site structure, settlement, economy and technology among high latitude prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Dr. Potter joins us to discuss ancient migration routes used by the first Americans, and the significance of the Upward Sun River site, at which he has overseen archaeological excavations.

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Music featured in this episode:

"Wanderlust" - Crastel (YouTube)
"Eastern World" - OurMusicBox (YouTube)

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 29: Lost Coins, Maps, Texts and Tablets Sep 26, 2019

Show notes

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we lead off with a field report from a Southeastern festival, the focus of which had been the mythology of "wild men", before turning our attention to the more serious matter of a new study that seeks to find environmental DNA at the ancient Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania.

One of the most intriguing aspects of archaeology has to do with unique discoveries that are made in unlikely places. These "out of place artifacts" are often controversial, and perhaps even more often dubious in nature. At other times, unexpected discoveries--such as Mesoamerican obsidian from Teotihuacan found during excavations at Spiro Mound, Oklahoma--do seem to point to a need for broader interpretations of certain archaeological concepts.

Hence, for this portion of the show we turn our attention to a few unique instances where curious items and other out of place artifacts have turned up that may raise new questions about the past, and in cases where hoaxes aren't most likely, may even challenge certain historical and archaeological paradigms. We present a critically-minded perspective on discoveries that include the Grave Creek Tablet, Easter Island's Rongorongo tablets, Roman coins found in various odd places, the Piri Reis Map, and other similar items and "odd bits" of history (see links below for a complete list of items discussed and additional resources).

Then closing out the show, we are joined by Dan Newbanks in the final segment, who shares a lighthearted retrospective on one of America's most famous hoaxes: the Cardiff Giant.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

Archaeologists probe oldest, deepest part of Meadowcroft Rockshelter
Out of Place Iron: North Carolina's Mysterious Mica Mines
The T.F. Nelson Triangle, Caldwell County North Carolina
Odd Texts and Tablets: The Grave Creek Stone
The Cincinnati Tablet
The Rongorongo Texts of Easter Island
Curious Coins: The Carthaginian Coins of Corvo
Roman Antoniniani Found In Iceland
Medieval Chinese Coins in Britain
Blog post from archaeologist Caitlin Green, Cambridge University
Mysterious Maps: The Piri Reis Map (Bad Archaeology)
Charles Hapgood's "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings"
The Zahng-Zung map (Tibet)

Music featured in this episode:

"Dream" - Elka (YouTube)
"Native American" - Aries 4Rce BeatZ (YouTube)

SAAJ 28: The Gault Site, and the Solutrean Question Aug 16, 2019

Show notes

On this episode of the podcast, we share news and listener emails, before being joined live from the field by the "Wildman" of cultural resources management Chris Young. Chris calls in to update us on his latest adventures and stories from the road as he travels to many of the most prominent archaeological areas in the nation.

We are then joined by Emeritus Professor of Prehistory and Director of the Experimental Archaeology Masters Programme at the University of Exeter, Dr. Bruce Bradley. Dr. Bradley has extensive experience with stone-age technologies and experimental archaeology with a focus on the archaeology of the North American Southwest and Great Plains. Dr. Bradley's research has included the Upper Palaeolithic of Russia and France and is currently focused on the early peopling of the Americas.

We discuss his work as Co-Principle Investigator at the Gault site in central Texas along with the vitally important discoveries being unearthed at this pre-Clovis site. The conversation then moves to the highly controversial Solutrean hypothesis and the work of Dr. Bradley and his co-author of the book Across Atlantic Ice, the late Dr. Dennis Stanford.

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Music featured in this episode:

"Breached Skies"- CFM (YouTube)
"Medieval Journey" - Audio Library (YouTube)

SAAJ 27: Page Ladson: Pre Clovis on the Aucilla River Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

On this edition of the podcast, after news and listener emails, we are joined by archaeologist Dr. Jessi Halligan, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology, with specializations in geoarchaeology and underwater archaeology. Jessi joins us to discuss her participation with excavations at the famous Page-Ladson pre-Clovis site in Florida.

Jessi's dissertation focused on the geoarchaeological context of submerged Paleoindian sites in the Aucilla River of Florida, focusing upon landscape reconstruction over the past 15,000 years and human usage of the area during this time. This research included underwater survey and excavation, terrestrial survey, coring, sediment analysis, and a bit of remote sensing. Since graduation, Dr. Halligan has been actively involved in new investigations at the Page-Ladson site along with several collaborators and conducted extensive underwater and terrestrial survey and site evaluations of the surrounding area, with plans for field schools involving both underwater and terrestrial components.

We discuss the pre-Clovis discoveries made by Jessi and her team at the Page-Ladson site, and then during our wrap-up we also feature an interview with John Ladson, after whom the site is named. John, who grew up near the site and has become a chronicler of the archaeological research carried out there over the decades, gives us additional details about the history and discoveries that have helped make Page-Ladson one of the most significant pre-Clovis sites in North America.

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Music featured in this episode:

"Roots Of Legend"– CFM (YouTube)
Acoustic Folk Instrumental – Audio Library (YouTube)

SAAJ 26: Blackbeard and the Archaeology of Piracy Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we begin on a culinary note as James Waldo leads us off with an update on his brewing of the "Seven Ages Irish Stout," soon to be kept on tap at the Cross-Time Pub. We also touch on a few unusual appetizers from around the world, including Peruvian llama stew, and the archaeological mystery of why a man 1500 years ago felt compelled to consume an entire rattlesnake?

Then later in the program, we are joined by Professor Charles Ewen for a discussion about the archaeology of piracy, and a look at one of history's most notorious figures: the legendary pirate Blackbeard. Born as Edward Teach, many questions remain about the life and legacy of Blackbeard, who was discussed in the co-edited anthology X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy (New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology), by by Prof. Russell K. Skowronek Charles R. Ewen, who joins us to discuss this significant work on the subject.

Dr. Ewen received his Ph.D. at the University of Florida in 1987 and immediately went to work for the Bureau of Archaeological Research in Tallahassee. After excavating Hernando de Soto's winter encampment, he moved to Arkansas to run contracts for the Arkansas Archeological Survey for the next several years. He joined the faculty at East Carolina University in 1994 and is currently a full professor in the Department as well as Director of the Phelps Archaeology Laboratory.

According to Ewen's biography, "My research interests focus mostly on historical archaeology (specifically the contact and colonial periods). However, like most archaeologists, circumstances have led me to work on nearly every kind of archaeology site, from prehistoric villages to Civil War fortifications and twentieth-century homesteads. While at ECU, I have directed several projects at Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens in New Bern, Ft. Macon State Park, Hope Plantation, Somerset Place, and a long-term archaeological study of Historic Bath, North Carolina."

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

- Archaeologists unearth more evidence that when a civilization drinks together, it stays together
- Why did someone consume an entire rattlesnake 1500 years ago?
- Llama Stew in Peru
- Why you love coffee and beer

Music featured in this episode:

Fresh Air – Zeeky Beats (YouTube)
8-Bit-Adventure– Can't Stop (YouTube)

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 25: Legends of the White Pond Lodge May 10, 2019

Show notes

On this edition of the podcast, the team features a series of colorful interviews with several icons of southeastern archaeology, recorded live at the White Pond Lodge in rural South Carolina. The location is the site of a series of ongoing archaeological digs overseen by Christopher R. Moore, Ph.D., a geoarchaeologist and co-author of a number of notable papers in recent years supporting the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis.

Some of the guests among the interviews featured in this episode, in addition to Christopher Moore, are geoscience educator Chris Cottrell of the YouTube Channel "The Dabbler's Den," archaeologist Chris Judge, Tariq Ghaffar of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Seven Ages listeners Dan Newbanks and Chris Corley, and Chris Young, a CRM archaeologist who has assisted at White Pond for many consecutive years.

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Dennis Stanford, Smithsonian Archaeologist, passes away

Music featured in this episode:

Hick Hop – Ganga Beats (YouTube)
Deep Southern Dirt – ARC (YouTube)

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 24: Southern Swag Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

n this edition of the podcast, we lead off with a discussion about a geological mystery, pertaining to quartz that appeared on a remote island where it shouldn't belong; however, team geologist James Waldo explains why this isn't the mystery the media has portrayed it as being. Then Jason touches on a recent headline involving how Mexico's president recently sent a letter to Spain's King Felipe VI, as well as Pope Francis, asking for apologies "for human rights abuses committed during the conquest of the region 500 years ago." After weighing in on this controversial story, we look at the recent discovery of the first skull fragments from Denisovans at the famous Denisova Cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia.

Then for the second half of the program, we are joined by Shane Miller, Ph.D., a prehistoric archaeologist whose primary research interests include the Ice Age colonization of the Americas and the origins of agriculture in eastern North America. In addition to southeastern archaeology, Dr. Miller has also worked at mammoth kill sites in Arizona, Sonora, and New Mexico, and has directed and participated in surveys in Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. We talk with Dr. Miller about his ongoing excavations at the Swag site, a Paleoindian archaeological site in Allendale County, South Carolina, and other fascinating areas of interest in Southeastern Archaeology.

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Music featured in this episode:

Barretta Blues – Trip Hop (YouTube)
Chillout – Psycho Mondo (YouTube)

Seven Ages Audio Journal Episode 23: Teotihuacán Mar 27, 2019

Show notes

n this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, after recounting some of the team's recent travels we are joined by David Carballo, Associate Professor of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Latin American Studies at Boston University, who shares his knowledge of the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacán.

Located in Mexico's highlands just miles away from modern-day Mexico City, Teotihuacán has long fascinated archaeologists, and it remains one of the most-visited archaeological ruin sites in the world.

Carballo is a specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology, focusing particularly on the prehispanic civilizations of central Mexico, and during our discussion, he shares some of the current ongoing projects underway at the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which includes the Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga, Teotihuacán (PATT), and the Proyecto Plaza de las Columnas. The first seeks to understand urbanization, neighborhood organization, and the daily life of commoners through excavations and geophysical prospection within a southern district of the city. The second is focused on palace compounds and is aimed at understanding the city's political economy.

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