The Americas

The Story of Cahokia: America’s First City

Before Europeans arrived on the North American continent, the central Mississippi River Valley formed the core of an extensive urban network that rivaled the cities of the Incas and Aztecs. Archaeological research has unearthed the evidence of complex agrarian societies with unique funerary practices and sophisticated socio-economic structures. In this episode, we explore the foundations of the Mississippian culture, its rise, florescence and eventual demise in the wake of the Euroamerican conquest of the Americas with Bill Eisenminger and Dr. Terry Norris.

October 12, 2011 • 58 mins

Etzanoa: A City to Rival Cahokia?

The location of the "great settlement" of Etzanoa, first tantalizingly described by 17th century explorer Don Juan de Oñate, has long been a mystery to historians and archaeologists. Until now that is. In 2015 Dr. Don Blakeslee and his team from Wichita State University finally located the remains of the ancient city on the banks of the Walnut River in modern Arkansas City, Kansas . Initial findings suggest that the size of this settlement rivals that of Cahokia, a site considered to be the largest Native American settlements in the U.S.

September 2, 2015 • 57 mins

Smoking and Ritual in Prehistoric North America

Far more than a leisure activity, the smoking of tobacco played a large role in Native American spiritual and ritual life. SUNY Albany's Dr. Sean M. Rafferty specializes in residue analysis, a technique that uses chemicals to extract and identify traces of plant and animal materials from pottery. Join us tonight to learn about this fascinating method and discover the earliest evidence of pipe smoking technology in North America.

August 20, 2014 • 57 mins

Archaeology and Development: the Mounds State Park Reservoir

The Anderson/Madison County Corporation for Economic Development has recently proposed the construction of a $450 million reservoir that will dam the White River in Indiana. The dam may pose a threat to Mounds State Park, which houses nine to twelve 2000 year old ceremonial earthworks. The dam may also create a new habitat for a local endangered species. In this episode we interview Senior Principal Investigator Beth McCord and Indiana Archaeology Council Representative Dr. Christopher Moore about the shared and conflicting interests surrounding the proposed Project.

March 4, 2015• 58 mins

Who Were the First Americans? The Latest Theories and Evidence

Until relatively recenrly, Clovis and Folsom were considered the oldest New World cultures. However, recent advances in DNA testing, ancient climate reconstructions, radiometric dating, and diverse artifact types call into question traditional models of human migrations to the New World. This episode discusses the state of research in “early American migration theory” with Dr. Vance Holliday and Dr. David Meltzer.

October 19, 2011 • 57 mins

The Search for Paleoindians Underneath the Sea: Underwater Archaeology and New World Colonization

Current estimates put the peopling of the New World at the end of the Ice Age, at least 15,000 years ago, when sea levels ware depressed by about 30 meters. In recent years, the search for early Americans has concentrated along the submerged continental shelf of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Our guest, Dr. Michael Faught, shares his unique insights on underwater archaeology and the quest for the earliest New World settlers.

November 12, 2012 • 58 mins

Extreme Archaeology: Doing Archaeology above the Arctic Circle

Our guest, Dr. Anne Jensen, has over 30 years experience working in Barrow, Alaska, the ninth northernmost city in the world. Although remote, the climate of Alaska’s north coast allows for the recovery of some remarkable items including ivory harpoons, plank floors, and even seal oil. Join our guest, Dr. Anne Jensen, and us as we discuss her archaeological work in this far-flung part of the world and how her findings challenge the idea that such environments are inhospitable for human occupation.

October 30, 2013 • 58 mins

The Bourbon Archaeologist: Heritage and Community in Kentucky

In 2016, the Buffalo Trace Distillery hired Kentucky archaeologist Nicolas Laracuente to lead an excavation of the remains of a late-19th century production facility buried and long forgotten underneath the floor of the active distillery. Dubbed the “Bourbon Pompeii,” these largely intact structural remains offer a unique glimpse into the heritage and history of bourbon production in Kentucky. Listen in as Dr. Schuldenrein and Laracuente discuss Bourbon Pompeii and Laracuente’s extracurricular work as the self-styled Bourbon Archaeologist.

February 1, 2017 • 56 mins

The Lost City of Chicago: Urban Archaeology and the Future of the Past

The 1893 Chicago World's Fair enticed over twenty-six million people from all over the world to puzzle over new fashions, taste innovative cuisines, and ride the world’s first Ferris wheel. These “innovations” seem quaint today, but their once "futuristic" status invite us to look around us and ask ourselves “what will stand the test of time?”Join Dr.Schuldenrein and our guest, Dr Rebecca Graff, as we explore the origins of the future through a look at Chicago’s past.

February 24, 2016 • 58 mins

You'll Need a Machete to Get in There: Archaeology of Maroon Societies of the Great Dismal Swamp

The Great Dismal Swamp, located between southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, has a provocative social and economic history. Dr. Dan Sayers joins us to discuss what his research has revealed about the swamp's Indigenous and African-American Maroon societies and how they were impacted by colonialism, race-based enslavement, and the profitable development of the swamp's natural resources.

April 15, 2015 • 58 mins

New York’s African Burial Ground and the Struggle for Human Rights

In 1991, construction on a federal office building in lower Manhattan was halted after workers unearthed human remains. The controversies surrounding the ensuing discovery, analysis, and interpretation of what has come to be know as the African Burial Ground is still a hot button topic in archaeology today. Join us as we talk with Dr. Michael Blakey about the monument, archaeology, and the struggle for human rights.

October 2, 2013 • 58 mins

Beneath These Mean Streets: The Practice of Archaeology in New York City

This episode explores the practice of urban archaeology in New York City with Dr. Joan Geismar, Amanda Sutphin and Dr. Diana di Zerega Wall. We discuss historic preservation law and the history of archaeological practice in the city, including unique methods of research and excavation invented by researchers to deal with the complex maze of subsurface utilities and structures beneath city streets.

October 5, 2011 • 57 mins

Cultural Entanglements: Early Globalization in the Americas

Dr. Timothy Pugh and his team of researchers are exploring the shifting roles of European objects in the Itza Maya socio-political system during the Contact period (A.D. 1525-1697). They believe that European “trade good politics” with the Maya resulted in increased internal competition and reconfigurations of networks of power and are testing this hypothesis through archaeological research at Nixtun-Ch’ich’ and Muralla de Leon in Petén, Guatemala.

July 30, 2014 • 55 mins

Who Were the Ancient Maya?

Truth is often more intriguing than fiction. Much of what we know about the Maya has been culled by our understanding of their unique "wetlands" landscape and the adaptations they made to that tropical and forested environment. Dr. Timothy Beach and Dr. Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach discuss their recent work in the Mayan heartland and report on new archaeological technologies that shed light on the survival and eventual disappearance of this ancient civilization.

September 12, 2012 • 57 mins

United States and Canada

Pre-Contact

Post-Contact

South America, Central America, and the Caribbean