Welcome to 23 minutes archaeology with Noah! For episode 1 I will give a general introduction concerning the limitations of archaeological research, especially in the reconstruction of burial rites. I chose an example to illustrate how we work and try to find clues on prehistoric funerary practices. We will look at over 50-thousand-year-old, intentional burials of Neanderthal-individuals, found in Shanidar Cave and talk with Dr. Emma Pomeroy from the University of Cambridge, who published the amazing new results from the recent excavations of this northern Iraqi site.

Reverences:

• Pomeroy et al. (2020), New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar Cave
• Pomeroy et al. (2019), Issues of theory and method in the analysis of Paleolithic mortuary behavior: A view from Shanidar Cave
• Sommer (1999), The Shanidar IV ‘Flower Burial’: A Re-evaluation of Neanderthal Burial Ritual
• Leroi-Gourhan (1998), Shanidar et ses Fleurs
• Solecki (1975), Shanidar IV, a Neanderthal Flower Burial in Northern Iraq

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For Episode 2 we come to a topic, which fascinates me since many years: The mysterious Scythians who lived in the Eurasian steppe, some 2500 years ago. I’ll begin with a quick overview of these people from the antiquity and thanks to the preserved writings of the Greek author Herodotus, we have the unique opportunity to learn about them almost from first hand. I then compare Herodotus statements about the burial habits of the Scythians with actual archaeological evidence from excavated grave monuments in order to test the validity of the antique author. After this overview and comparison, I will talk with Dr. Gino Caspari about his experience’s excavating grave sites in the Eurasian steppe and the Scythians in general.

Reverences:

• Simpson/Pankova Eds. (2017), Scythians. Warriors of ancient Siberia
• Parzinger (2004), Die Skythen
• Rolle et al. (1991), Gold der Steppe
• Rolle (1980), Die Welt der Skythen
• Rolle (1972), Neue Ausgrabungen skythischer und sakischer Grabanlagen in der Ukraine und in Kazachstan
• Herodotus HIV

Links: https://linktr.ee/23_minutes_archaeology

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This episode is one of the major reasons why I decided to start recording a podcast in the first place. We will remain with prehistoric nomadic steppe tribes, which are attributed to the umbrella term of Scythians, but shift our focus, from present day Ukraine, some 5000 km to the east, to one of the most remote regions on earth, the Siberian region of the Altai mountains. There, over two-thousand-year-old mummies have been discovered, perfectly preserved in ice. These frozen individuals were covered in amazingly detailed tattoos and allowed for remarkable research. So, I hope I’ll be able to give you an account of why I’m so fascinated by these mummies, and then, we’ll continue our conversation with Dr. Gino Caspari and talk about his experiences, excavating grave mounds in remote regions in Siberia.

Reverences:

· Simpson/Pankova Eds. (2017), Scythians. Warriors of ancient Siberia

· Liesowska (2014), Iconic 2,500 year old Siberian princess ‘died from breast cancer’, reveals MRI scan

· Siberian Times (2012), Siberian Princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos

· Badenkov (2006), The Frozen tombs of the Altai mountains

· Polosmak (1996), Menschen aus dem Eis Sibiriens

· Rudenko (1970), Frozen Tombs of Siberia

Links: 23minarch.com

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As the title already indicates, in this episode we examine the diet of “Celtic warriors”. First, I present the late Iron Age cemetery of Münsingen and highlight why this site from Switzerland became such an important reverence point for Celtic archaeology: because based on the evolution of the characteristics of the fibulae grave goods a so-called typo-chronology could be established. Then we talk with Dr. Sandra Lösch, who was the supervisor of a recent research project on the diet of these late Iron Age individuals.

Reverences:

· Moghaddam et al. (2016), A bioarchaeological approach to the Iron Age in Switzerland: stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of human remains

· Moghaddam et al. (2016), Zur Ernährung und Sozialstratigraphie der Kelten aus Münsingen-Rain

· Moghaddam et al. (2014), Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

· Martin-Kilchner (1973), Zur Tracht- und Beigabensitte im keltischen Gräberfeld von Münsingen-Rain

· Hodson (1968), The La Tène Cemetery at Münsingen-Rain


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Maybe you know the movie “The Game changers” by UFC-fighter James Wilks. The premise of this documentary was him finding out, that roman gladiators ate very little to no meat. Before this, James Wilks was sure that animal protein was essential for the upkeep of energy levels, the growth of muscles and the healing from injuries. But after reading recent research papers on the subject, he was convinced that the gladiators had a predominantly plant-based diet during training and fights in the arena. Which in term led him to promote a vegan diet for modern day top athletes in his movie.

But is this actually true, were the gladiator’s “vegan”? In this episode we will lock at primary sources, results from analyzed bone samples and talk with Dr. Fabian Kanz, the researcher, who wrote the article James Wilks based “The Game changers” on and who is actually featured in the movie alongside people like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Reverences:

• Lösch et al. (2014), Stable Isotope and Trace Element Studies on Gladiators and Contemporary Romans from Ephesus (Turkey, 2nd and 3rd Ct. AD) – Implications for Differences in Diet
• Meller, Sampaolo (2013), Gladiator. Looking on death every day
• Kanz, Grossschmidt (2009), Dying in the Arena: The Osseous Evidence from Ephesian Gladiators
• Nossov (2009), Gladiator. Rome’s bloody spectacle
• Ville (1981), La gladiature en Occident des origines à la mort de Domitien

Website: https://23minarch.com

Support: patreon.com/23minarch

I grew up loving the film “gladiator” with Russel Crow and Joaquin Phoenix. And probably since the beginning of film, gladiators were an integral part of the display of ancient Rome. Take the figure of Spartacus for example; probably his first appearance on the screens was in an Italian silent movie from 1913, then came the masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick in 1960 or the more recent, the tv-series “Spartacus, Blood and Sand”.

One mutual element these films have, are brutal displays of duels and dramatic deaths of gladiators in the arena. In the last episode we focused on how one became a gladiator and what their diet actually was. Now, let’s focus on the gritty stuff, the chances of surviving an encounter in the arena, injuries and finally, actual causes of death! Additionally, I tried to find out if there is also evidence for female gladiators. In order to investigate these questions, we turn to the gladiator graveyard in ancient Ephesus and continue our conversation with the researcher, who analyzed these excavated skeletons Dr. Fabian Kanz.

Reverences:

• Lösch et al. (2014), Stable Isotope and Trace Element Studies on Gladiators and Contemporary Romans from Ephesus (Turkey, 2nd and 3rd Ct. AD) – Implications for Differences in Diet
• Meller, Sampaolo (2013), Gladiator. Looking on death every day
• Kanz, Grossschmidt (2009), Dying in the Arena: The Osseous Evidence from Ephesian Gladiators
• Nossov (2009), Gladiator. Rome’s bloody spectacle
• Ville (1981), La gladiature en Occident des origines à la mort de Domitien

website: https://23minarch.com

Support: patreon.com/23minarch

The Iceman, this may sound like the name of a wrestler or comic-book hero, but today we’re actually talking about one of the most sensational archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Exactly 30 years ago in 1991 this now world-famous mummy was discovered accidentally, in the Ötztal Alps between Austria and Italy, at an altitude of 3210 meters. At the time of discovery, it was unclear what a sensational find the frozen body represented. But after the effective age of the mummy of over 5000 years was proven, media interest was enormous. The German speaking media gave the individual the name Ötzi (from the Ötztal mountain range). In the English-speaking world, he was named "The ice man", or "Man from the ice".
In these 30 years since his discovery, Ötzi's body have been studied by many different sciences, from archaeology, anthropology medicine, forensics, botany and so on. And I am very happy to present to you my conversation with Dr. Albert Zink, head of the institute for mummy studies at the European academy in Bolzano and actually in charge of preserving the body of the prehistoric Iceman.

Reverences:

• Maixner et al. (2018), The Iceman's Last Meal Consisted of Fat, Wild Meat, and Cereals
• Fleckinger Ed. (2011), Ötzi 2.0: Eine Mumie zwischen Wissenschaft, Kult und Mythos
• Möckli (2011), Medizinische Untersuchungen und Ergebnisse an Ötzi

Website: https://23minarch.com
Support: patreon.com/23minarch

Welcome back to another episode of 23 minutes archaeology, where we continue with part 2 of or look at Ötzi, the prehistoric Iceman. Because soon after the recovery of the mummy, and its significance was understood, the site of his discovery at the Tisenjoch-mountain was extensively researched. In the process, many parts of Ötzis equipment were found and uncovered from the ice.
And for us archaeologists, these finds are truly invaluable. Because as you may remember from last episode, Ötzi was not formally buried, but unexpectedly torn from life. Additionally, not only his body, but also his clothing and equipment was frozen in ice and therefore preserved over the millennia. This gives us the unique opportunity to get an unaltered picture of the different objects used in everyday life, over 5000 years ago. Afterwards we continue our conversation with Dr. Albert Zink and also focus more on the tattoos discovered all over Ötzis body.

Reverences:

• Maixner et al. (2018), The Iceman's Last Meal Consisted of Fat, Wild Meat, and Cereals
• Fleckinger Ed. (2011), Ötzi 2.0: Eine Mumie zwischen Wissenschaft, Kult und Mythos
• Möckli (2011), Medizinische Untersuchungen und Ergebnisse an Ötzi

website: https://23minarch.com

Support: patreon.com/23minarch