Archaeology on YouTube: 2023.12.08

Join the AIA for a fascinating, informal Q & A session as Mike Pitts presents his Holton award-winning book, Digging up Britain: Ten Discoveries, a Million Years of History. This book highlights ten archaeological finds that change the way we think of British history and prehistory. AIA Vice President for Outreach and Education, Laura Rich, hosts an engaging “fireside chat”-style conversation, taking questions from the audience, and learning alongside us about some of the most significant discoveries in Britain.

Join the AIA for a fascinating lecture as Katherine L. Chiou (University of Alabama) presents Cuisine and Crisis: An Edible History of the Moche of Ancient Peru. Imagine stepping into the shoes of an ancient Peruvian, tasting the flavors and savoring the meals of a time long past. In this talk, we'll journey into the rich culinary history of the Moche people, who thrived along the desertic northern Peruvian coast from AD 100-800. But it's not just about what was on the plate; it's about what those meals can tell us about the lives, struggles, and joys of two very different parts of Moche society. By exploring both a grand feast preparation area and a humble commoner's home, we'll dig into what food reveals about wealth, status, and daily life during a turbulent time marked by drought and political tension. How did food contribute to social unrest? Were the rich and poor eating the same meals or were there stark differences? What does a simple dish tell us about a person's identity? These questions and more will be served up in this delicious journey into the past, blending archaeology, technology, and a good pinch of culinary intrigue. Whether you're a foodie, history buff, or simply curious about how meals connect us to our ancestors, this talk is a feast for the mind you won't want to miss.

Anne Austin (University of Missouri, St. Louis) presents Ancient Ink: Discovering the Tattooed Women of Ancient Egypt. Until recently, the practice of tattooing in ancient Egypt was rarely attested with only scant evidence from a handful of mummified individuals spanning Pharaonic Egypt’s more than 3,000-year history. However, recent discoveries—including those from Deir el-Medina— have rewritten what was once thought about the practice. This talk coalesces physical and art historical evidence to offer some of the most comprehensive interpretations to date on the practice of tattooing in ancient Egypt. CONTENT WARNING: This talk will include images of human remains. This AIA Archaeology Hour lecture was originally recorded on October 18, 2023 and presented by the AIA-Puget Sound Society as part of AIA National Lecture Program. Learn more at https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/ #archaeology

In "Classical Washington: Greece & Rome in the Art and Architecture of DC," Dr. Elise Friedland (George Washington University) explores the role of Greek and Roman art and architecture in the planning, building and decorating of America’s capital city. This AIA Archaeology Hour lecture was originally recorded on September 27, 2023 and presented by the AIA-Baltimore Society as part of AIA National Lecture Program. Learn more at https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/ #archaeology

A recording of the "Fundamentals of Fellowships" webinar by the Programs Department at the AIA , and co-sponsored by the AIA Student Affairs Interest Group. The panelists include Dr. Kim Shelton (UC Berkeley, AIA VP for Research and Academic Affairs), Dr. Tim Shea (UNC Chapel Hill, 2018 Olivia James Fellow), and Amanda Ball (2021 Olivia James fellow, co-chair of the AIA Student Affairs Interest Group). This presentation gives a quick overview of the fellowships offered by the AIA, a break down the fellowships application itself, and goes into details about the project proposal for the application. There is also a question-and-answer period at the end of the presentation when the panelists answer audience questions. Learn More: AIA Fellowships: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/professionals/grants-awards/ SAIG: https://studentaffairsaia.wordpress.com/ AIA Fellowships: fellowships@archaeological.org

Live presentation recorded on August 29, 2023. Letter deadline is September 12, 2023. More info: https://www.archaeological.org/preserving-honduras-and-nepal/ Visit (or revisit) some incredible archaeological highlights from these two countries over your lunch break and learn more about how to compose a letter to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee during our webinar. Join the AIA for brief presentations by experts who have traveled to and worked in Honduras and Nepal and learn how you can advocate for the protection of archaeological sites in these two countries. The country of Honduras recently requested that the U.S. renew the bilateral agreement that protects Honduran cultural resources from being illegally imported into the United States and Nepal has requested that a similar bilateral agreement with the United States be put into place for the very first time. After a whirlwind virtual trip across the globe with archaeologists Rosemary Joyce (UC Berkeley) and Mark Aldenderfer (UC Merced), AIA VP for Cultural Heritage Omur Harmansah will outline the simple steps you can take this month to speak out in support of preserving the cultural heritage of Honduras and Nepal.

Letter deadline: September 12, 2023 If you’ve traveled to Honduras or Nepal and/or appreciate their cultural heritage, your experience and passion can help the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee with their upcoming deliberations. Watch this short video to find out how you can join the AIA to speak up for threatened archaeological sites. Visit https://www.archaeological.org/preserving-honduras-and-nepal/ for letter templates and more information.

This aerial video of the site of Pañamarca in northwestern Peru was taken by drone in summer 2022.

If you’ve traveled to Bulgaria or China and/or appreciate their cultural heritage, your experience and passion can help the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee with their upcoming deliberations. Watch this short video to find out how you can join the AIA to speak up for threatened archaeological sites. Visit https://www.archaeological.org/preserving-bulgaria-and-china/ for letter templates and more information.

Our April 2023 #ArchaeologyAbridged talk features Sara Gonzalez - Associate Professor at the University of Washington and Curator at the Burke Museum. In her talk, "The Science of Storytelling" Gonzalez examines the challenges and opportunities for creating Indigenous archaeologies.

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of December 4th, 2023, new films include: “Into the Paleolithic: Nomads of the Rhone valley of France,” “Unpacking the Universe: The Making of an Exhibition,” and “Nowruz in Tajikistan.” Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

Season 10 Episode 2 Strata: Portraits of Humanity, November 2023 (Søren Sindbaek interview) In our continuing series of interviews with archaeologist newsmakers, Rick Pettigrew interviews Søren Sindbaek, a principal investigator of the Northern Emporium Project. This ambitious excavation effort seeks to detail the development of trade networks at Ribe, the first Scandinavian city, at the time when the Viking Age emerged. This work is yielding a detailed view on the timing and socioeconomic processes during the first phase of long-distance Viking trading voyages and helps address the question: What brought about the Viking Age? #heritage #strata #archaeology #anthropology #SørenSindbaek #viking #NorthernEmporiumProject #Ribe #vikingage

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of November 15th, 2023, new films include: “No Place is Far Away,” “They Met Themselves,” and “Strata: Portraits of Humanity Season 10, Episode 2.” Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of November 1st, 2023, new films include: “Balora,” “Food as Resistance,” and “X-ray View on Prehistoric Art.” Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

Season 10 Episode 1 Strata: Portraits of Humanity, October 2023 (Pink Pottery film; Belgoville film) (1) This animated film juxtaposes vibrant imagery of ancient art and object-making with modern technological devices. Visuals in saturated colors include ancient material culture, such as cave paintings, ancient pottery and female fertility figures. (2) Jean Chrétien, former Canadian Prime Minister, recalls with nostalgia and emotion his childhood in Belgoville, in the province of Quebec. This company town was created from scratch by Hubert Biermans, sent by Belgium to take care of the “Belgo,” the paper mill in Shawinigan where Jean Chrétien’s father worked. #heritage #strata #archaeology #anthropology #PinkPottery #Belgoville

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of October 16th, 2023, new films include: “The Race to Bury King Tut,” “Bidla,” “The Forges of Transylvania,” and “Strata: Portraits of Humanity Season 10, Episode 1.” Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of October 2nd, 2023, new films include: “Great Escape: The Untold Story,” “Owning Auschwitz,” “Beloved,” and “Australia's Wild Secrets: Timeless Hunters.” Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of September 18th, 2023, new films include: “Strata: Portraits of Humanity Season 9, Episode 12,” “The Death of Adolf Hitler,” “Shepherds of the Earth,” and “Ben Cropp's Wild Australia, Season 1, Episode 24: The Louisiade Archipeligo.” Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

Season 9 Episode 12 Strata: Portraits of Humanity, September 2023 (Eske Willerslev interview) In our continuing series of new and occasional interviews with archaeologist newsmakers, Rick Pettigrew interviews Eske Willerslev, a pioneer in evolutionary genetics, whose research team has made key breakthroughs in scientific understanding of ancient environments and evolutionary relationships. In this interview, Willerslev discusses the basics of DNA analysis and recent advances in describing the chronology and movements of human populations out of Africa to the other continents around the world, including North and South America. #heritage #strata #archaeology #anthropology #EskeWillerslev #evolutionarygenetics

Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, launched on January 1, 2021. Developed by the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 250 outstanding film titles from many countries on familiar subjects. As of September 4th, 2023, new films include: “Britain's Secret Treasures", Season 1, Episodes 5 & 6, "Bloody Battlefield: Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944," and "Burnt City." Check out these and more, only on Heritage! https://www.heritagetac.org/ #archaeology #heritage #anthropology #TheArchaeologyChannel

This clip is an outtake from the video "The Political Agenda at Mt. Ebal," originally published July 14, 2023. As anticipated, in a new Dec. 7, 2023 article in the Times of Israel by Gavriel Fiske entitled, "New academic articles heap fresh doubt on Mount Ebal ‘curse tablet’ interpretation," Dr. Scott Stripling is quoted as saying, "This is not unexpected, people have different opinions. I respect all of these scholars and consider them friends and colleagues. **This is an academic disagreement, not personal,”** Stripling stressed. Dr. Stripling responded in exactly the way I said he would: claiming now that this is simply an "academic dispute," because it has been "published" and now "formally refuted" in peer-review publications, giving it a new life right before Christmas.

This clip is taken from the video, "The So-Called Mt. Ebal "Inscription" Publication: One Big Nothingburger" published May 16, 2023. This clip begins at the 28:26 timestamp on the original video. The original video was made May 16, 2023 in response to a Heritage Science article published on May 12, 2023 entitled, "'You are Cursed by the God YHW:' an early Hebrew inscription from Mt. Ebal."

What happens to EXCAVATED POTTERY after it's read? Find out by watching this video from the Bible & Archaeology DIG BIBLE. For more, visit http://www.digbible.com

What is TERMINUS ANTE QUEM and TERMINUS POST QUEM? Find out by watching this video from the Bible & Archaeology DIG BIBLE. For more, visit http://www.digbible.com

The Cleveland Museum of Art is resisting the seizure of a headless bronze male statue, often understood to be of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which the Manhattan DA's office claims was looted from Turkey.

Jeremy Lake, FSA, MLI and MCiFA, is a heritage consultant who worked in private practice and between 1988 and 2016 with English Heritage (now Historic England), where he worked for the Listing Team on area surveys and thematic assessment of buildings for protection and management, landscape characterisation and scoping the future issues for change. Jeremy will introduce the ‘Farmsteads and their landscapes in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Character Statement’ and discuss how farmsteads make a fundamental contribution to the cultural landscape of the National Park, placing them in the context, and showing how people have adapted, lived in, used and shared the resources of the National Park. This talk sets out the different types of farmsteads and buildings that you are likely to find before considering how they contribute to local landscape character.

Roy Manning BSc (Hons), CEng, FIMechE and Richard Chandler , Brecon Beacons Park Society From the early days of the industrial revolution the need to transport quarried and mined materials to canals, rail heads and road transport depots led to the proliferation of tramroads. Throughout the 19th century, in the boundary of what is now Bannau Brycheiniog, numerous tramroads and inclines were constructed. Evidence of their existence can be found in the historic record and many of the tramroads form well-worn pathways to this day. As a Society we have been working with the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority (BBNPA),The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT), and Cadw the Welsh Government historicenvironment service on a project that will map, monitor and maintain many of the Tramroads in theNational Park. This may also involve the scheduling of historic artefacts and perhaps some wholesections of tramroad as ancient monuments. The presentation will provide an up-date on the project.

Jonathan Williams and Forrest Hogg. Jonathan Williams is a local historian who has worked on Penpont’s history for over 30 years. Forrest Hogg is a conservationist who has worked in Madagascar, Tanzania, Russia and the Congo, and now manages the Penpont Project. Penpont is a substantial country house, built c.1666, on the banks of the Usk six miles west of Brecon. It was once the centre of a 7,000 acre estate, the core of which is owned by the same family today. Jonathan Williams will explore what documents and maps can tell us about the development of the estate. He will explain how the management of the estate has impacted the landscape, farming, buildings and people. Forrest Hogg will take the story up to date, introducing The Penpont Project, a major intergenerational nature restoration initiative in the estate’s core. A partnership between the estate and conservation charity Action for Conservation, supported by the National Park Authority, the project brings together young people, farmers, foresters, landowners, artists and ecologists to revive biodiversity and cultural heritage – and build the next generation of conservationists. Key to the project is a Youth Leadership Group from diverse backgrounds who are helping shape the future ofthis special part of Wales.

Emma Douglas, a conservation grazing consultant and farmer from the Gower Peninsula worked for PONT (Pori Natur a Threftadaeth), Wales’s conservation grazing organisation for twelve years. https://www.pontcymru.org/ Conservation grazing is grazing with livestock to achieve outcomes for biodiversity, landscape and heritage. Emma farms with her family on the beautiful Gower Peninsula, south Wales. They keep a pedigree suckler herd of Welsh Black and Dexter cattle which they use to manage traditional hay meadows and nature rich land. She is passionate about conservation grazing and the role that livestock play in the ecosystem. The beef from their native breed cattle is sold locally to customers who seek 100% pasture fed beef for its ethical credentials and nutritional benefits. She works part time as a regional facilitator for Wales for Pasture for Life and is a steering group member of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (Cymru) and works as a consultant advising on conservation grazing. Emma’s session will focus on work caried out on Garn Goch Common, Bethlehem in the west of Bannau Brycheiniog to reintroduce grazing in conjunction with the BBNP and the Garn Goch Commoners Association, for the benefit of biodiversity, fire risk and vegetation management around the largest hillforts in Southern Wales (Y Gaer Fach and Y Gaer Fawr). It will cover the challenges, considerations and benefits of grazing for heritage management and nature recovery.

John Gibbs. Dr John Gibbs OBE is a professional biologist. He is a past Chair of the Brecknock Society & Museum Friends. The history of some key elements of the wildlife of the River Usk will be presented: this is based on personal experience gained over many years and on information from a wide variety of sources. It will illustrate how and why the status of these plants and animals may have changed over the years. The talk will cover species that feature in the River Usk Special Area of Conservation (SAC) - such as the water crowfoot, the otter, the salmon, the bullhead and the river lamprey. Other species discussed will include the eel, the goosander and the common toad. Invertebrates will include the white-clawed crayfish, and the fresh-water shrimp. John and his wife Elizabeth are involved with a new initiative, funded via the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales and being carried out by the Biodiversity Information Service (BIS) for Powys and theBBNP. Aimed at pulling together records from individuals, from historical data and from specialist surveys, it is hoped that this focus on the river’s wildlife will result in it being safe-guarded and, where possible, enhanced.

Louise Barker, Archaeologist (RCAHMW) and Chair of the Historic Environment Climate Change Group. We are already experiencing the effects of Climate Change in Wales. Warmer temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more extreme weather events are now familiar. The impact of this on our irreplaceable historic assets will have significant consequences for the historic environment as a whole, as well as the people of Wales. We need to respond to these challenges by considering what we can do now and in the future to address both the causes and impacts of climate change. Since 2011 heritage organisations from across Wales have worked together as the Historic Environment Climate Change Group, initially assessing how the historic environment of Wales should address the Climate emergency and subsequently publishing in 2020 the Historic Environment and Climate Change in Wales Sector Adaptation Plan. The plan aims to encourage collaboration and action across all sectors to increase the knowledge, capacity and resilience of the historic environment to adapt and respond to the climate emergency.

Dr Paul Belford, Director of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, and chair of the BBNP Historic Environment Partnership. Paul will discuss the development of the BBNP Historic Environment Partnership, a group initiated during development of the new Management Plan, and tasked with the preparation of an Historic Environment Action Plan for the National Park. The Action Plan aims to improve co-ordination and collaborative action to protect and celebrate the Historic Environment of the National Park for the public benefit it brings, supporting and informing the development of sustainable futures and green recovery. The Plan and will sit alongside the Nature Recovery Action Plan as background evidence for the National Park Management Plan, and will help the National Park Authority plan for the future.

Helen Lucocq, Strategy and Policy Manager, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. In April of this year Y Bannau, launched their latest management plan for the National Park area. Evidence based, and wide reaching in its scope, the plan attempts to consider what is needed torecover this landscape as a working living resource for future generations. In this scene setting presentation our head of Policy, Helen Lucocq, will give an overview of the Plan and its objectives,and its links to better management of our historic and cultural environments.

Derek Hall