This week we tackle one of our favorite topics - controversy! Last summer, the team working on the Rising Star Cave site in South Africa released a series of pre-prints making some incredible claims about the pre-human species, Homo Naledi. They were closely followed by the Netflix documentary, Cave of Bones which captured the attention of the public. However, other researchers are pushing back, claiming lack of solid evidence and published peer reviewed research. Join us while we look at both sides of the debate, and let us know where you land!

• Controversial Claims About Homo Naledi Are Stirring Up Evolution
• Enigmatic Hominin Seemingly Buried Dead and Carved Symbols 100,000 Years Before Modern Humans
• Unknown: Cave of Bones - Netflix Documentary
• No scientific evidence that Homo Naledi buried their dead and produced rock art
• Cave of Bones Explorer’s Club Talk with Dr. Lee Berger
• 241,000 to 335,000 Years Old Rock Engravings Made by Homo naledi in the Rising Star Cave system, South Africa

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

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The Archaeology Podcast Network is taking a break for the holiday season. In the meantime, please enjoy this encore episode. It’s a favorite of ours! Happy holidays!

This week we have 3 fascinating archaeology news stories. First, experimental research has helped researchers determine the function of an ivory baton. Then, we take a look at a newly discovered Roman villa that may have belonged to Pliny the Elder. Finally, Amelia Earhart is back in the news with some new and potentially controversial findings!

• Experiments suggest ancient four-holed ivory baton was used to make rope (Phys.org)
• Rope making in the Aurignacian of Central Europe more than 35,000 years ago (Science Advances)
• 1st-century villa discovered near Mount Vesuvius may be where Pliny the Elder watched catastrophic eruption
• Amelia Earhart's plane may have crashed in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, explorer claims (Live Science)
• The Earhart Project in a Nutshell
• Scientists discover new possible clue in Amelia Earhart mystery

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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Recently, we went to see the movie Moana 2 with our little nieces and we ended up enjoying it so much more than we expected! But, of course, we had to ask the question, how accurate is the story and characters behind the Moana franchise? In this episode we deep dive the history, archaeology, myths, and Polynesian culture on which these movies are based.

• The World Of Moana Explained
• The Long Pause

• For rough transcripts head over to https://archpodnet.com/archaeology/290

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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We’ve got a partial theme today but we start with 9000 year old bread making in the near east! We then go to Maya country for a double header. We start with 4000 year old fishing canals build buy the predecessors to the Maya and then talk about a possible solution to the Maya long count calendar.

• Focaccia: A Neolithic culinary tradition dating back 9,000 years ago (Apple)
• Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old fishing canals used by predecessors of Mayans in breakthrough find (Apple)
• Scientists Finally Solved the Mystery of How the Mayan Calendar Works (Apple) ‌

• For a transcript of this episode, tap the Zencastr icon on in the upper left corner of the Podcast image.

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet
• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet
• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet
• Tee Public Store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/archaeology-podcast-network?ref_id=5724

We get back to the news this week! We start with a cool site from Sweden where…it’s all ritual! Next we go to the Iberian Peninsula and learn about a Neanderthal glue factory, sort of. Finally, we talk about what Hollywood gets wrong, and right, about gladiators after seeing Gladiator II.

• 5,000-year-old sacrificial site stuns archaeologists in Sweden. ‘Extremely unusual’
• 65,000-year-old hearth in Gibraltar may have been a Neanderthal 'glue factory,' study finds.
• What Hollywood gets wrong—and right—about Roman gladiatorsApple News Link: What Hollywood gets wrong—and right—about Roman gladiators
• The Real History Behind Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator II' and Life as a Fighter in the Ancient Roman Arena
• Man of Recaps: Gladiator Recap

• For a transcript of this episode, tap the Zencastr icon on in the upper left corner of the Podcast image.

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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This week we cover 3 recent archaeology news stories that showcase the bias of both journalists and researchers. First, 12,000 year old spindle whirls may be early evidence of the wheel. Then, we head to Pompeii where DNA evidence is showing the modern bias researchers have about personal adornment. And finally, Indigenous populations in Columbia are sharing their cultural knowledge about local Pictographs, and not surprisingly it is different from the assumptions drawn by past researchers.

• 12,000-year-old, doughnut-shaped pebbles may be early evidence of the wheel
• DNA Evidence Is Rewriting the Stories of Victims Who Perished in Pompeii Nearly 2,000 Years Ago
• Secret meanings of ancient Amazon rock art revealed

• For rough transcripts head over to https://archpodnet.com/archaeology/287

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet
• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet
• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet
• Tee Public Store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/archaeology-podcast-network?ref_id=5724

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This week we take a look at 3 recent news stories that supposedly solved a famous historical mystery. First up, the identity of the famous “horeseman” burial has possibly been identified. Then, a scrap of fabric from a tomb in Greece may have belonged to Alexander the Great. Finally, archaeologists have “solved” the mystery of the Roanoake’s lost colony. Were any of these mysteries truly solved? You decide!

• Archaeologists Identified the Body of the Famed “Horseman,” Solving a 300-Year-Old Mystery (Apple News)
• 'Purple tunic' from royal tomb belonged to Alexander the Great, scholar claims — but not everyone agrees
• Greek Researcher Claims Ancient Tunic Scrap Was Alexander the Great’s. Experts Aren’t Convinced
• The Identification of the Sacred “Chiton” (Sarapis) of Pharaoh Alexander the Great in Tomb II at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece (Journal of Field Archaeology)
• Experts Claim They Have Solved The Roanoke Mystery After The Colony Vanished In 1590 (Apple News)
• Archaeologists May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of the Disappearance of Roanoke’s Lost Colony
• Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
• Join the ArchPodNet Discord (Free!)

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
• Join the ArchPodNet Discord (Free!)
• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet
• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet
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• Tee Public Store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/archaeology-podcast-network?ref_id=5724

• Motion

This week we check back in with recent archaeology in the news! First, we look at new research on the oldest known battlefield in Europe. Then, we take a look a home renovation in France that turned into an early medieval cemetery excavation! And finally, a flooded Kushite tomb in Sudan is finally revealing it’s secrets thanks to the work of underwater archaeologists.

• Thousands of bones and hundreds of weapons reveal grisly insights into a 3,250-year-old battle
• Warriors from the south? Arrowheads from the Tollense Valley and Central Europe - From the Journal of Antiquity
• Accidental basement find reveals dozens of centuries-old skeletons
• Two Archaeologists Discover Something Extraordinary After Diving Into A Flooded Tomb (Apple)
• Sudan tomb diver reveals pharaoh's secrets (BBC)

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

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
• APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet
• APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet
• APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet
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• Motion