For decades, Monte Verde in southern Chile has been one of the most famous archaeological sites in the Americas. The site was widely accepted as 14,500 years old, making it one of the strongest pieces of evidence for human presence in the Americas before Clovis.

But what if that interpretation was wrong?

In this special episode, I sit down with Dr. Todd Surovell, professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming, to discuss new research that re-examines Monte Verde using modern geoarchaeological methods. The results suggest that the famous site may actually be much younger than previously believed, dating to the Holocene rather than the Ice Age.

If true, this would mean that Monte Verde is not evidence for pre-Clovis humans in South America, and it could force archaeologists to reconsider one of the most influential discoveries in American archaeology.

We discuss:

• The history of the Monte Verde discovery
• Why it reshaped textbooks in the 1990s
• How new geological and dating analyses challenge the original interpretation
• What this means for Clovis-first vs. pre-Clovis models
• Why independent verification and skepticism are essential in science
• This episode explores how science evolves—and how even the most famous discoveries can be re-examined.

• Video Version to follow along
• Surovell’s Study
• Surovell’s UW Page
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Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

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This week on The Archaeology Show, we tour three very different windows into the ancient world: a 5,000-year-old tomb packed with remarkable treasures, a surprising discovery of upright-buried skeletons beneath a French school, and tens of thousands of Egyptian notes and receipts that capture everyday life in vivid detail. We unpack what these finds reveal about status and burial ritual, how archaeologists interpret unusual body positions, and what “boring” paperwork can tell us about work, money, and people behind the monuments. Three discoveries, one big question: what survives—and what it can still say.

Segment 1

• Archaeologists Discovered a 5,000-Year-Old Tomb Filled to the Brim With Ancient Treasures

Segment 2

• Ancient skeletons sitting upright found at French school. See photos.

Segment 3

• What Archaeologists Found Written on Those 43,000 Egyptian Notes and Receipts
• Upper Egypt site has now yielded more than 43,000 inscribed pot sherds, a record-breaking trove of information

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
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This week we are back with some News stories! First, we discuss evidence from an Iron Age cemetery in northern Vietnam showing intentional, permanent tooth blackening dating back 2,000 years. Then, we cover a 2,500-year-old Pazyryk culture burial in southern Siberia where CT scans of a mummified woman’s skull suggest a severe jaw injury was stabilized with surgical sutures. And finally, we summarize Bronze Age textile finds from Anatolia dated roughly 1915–1745 BCE and later, including the earliest regional evidence of nalbinding (single-needle “knitting”) and an indigo-dyed hemp fragment identified as the oldest known blue-dyed textile in Bronze Age Anatolia.

• 2,000-year-old skulls reveal people in ancient Vietnam permanently blackened their teeth — a stylish practice that persists today
• Iron Age Surgeons Fixed a Woman's Shattered Jaw With Primitive Prosthetic—and She Survived
• Earliest evidence of indigo-dyed textiles and single-needle knitting discovered in Bronze Age Anatolia
• Untwisting Beycesultan Höyük: the earliest evidence for nålbinding and indigo-dyed textiles in Anatolia

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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From a 150-year-old alcohol bottle unearthed in Utah—where the “real treasure” might be what it once tasted like—to footprints in White Sands New Mexico which are more than 20,000 years old, this episode spans the surprisingly fragile side of archaeology. We also dig into a discovery being called the oldest clothing in human history, and what it can (and can’t) tell us about early humans, preservation, and the everyday technologies that rarely survive.

Segment 1

• 150-Year-Old Alcohol Bottle Found in Utah. Here’s What the ‘Real Treasure’ Tasted Like

Segment 2

• Archaeologists find footprints that rewrite the timeline of humans in the Americas
• Paleolake geochronology supports Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) age for human tracks at White Sands, New Mexico (Science Advances)

Segment 3

• Complex perishable technologies from the North American Great Basin reveal specialized Late Pleistocene adaptations
• Scientists Discovered the Oldest Clothing in Human History

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 deep dive three interesting archaeology news stories. First up, a rock art panel from Ancient Egypt depicts the conquest of the nomadic groups that lived in the Sinai peninsula. Then, we head over to Africa, where a burial that is the oldest example of intentional cremation with an intact funeral pyre has been found. Finally, Neanderthals collected animal skulls and placed then in a cave 43,000 years ago, and, as usual, archaeologists are baffled!

• 5,000-year-old rock art from ancient Egypt depicts 'terrifying' conquest of the Sinai Peninsula
• Wadi Khamila, the god Min and the Beginning of „Pharaonic” Dominance in Sinai 5000 years ago
• Archaeologists Say This 9,500-Year-Old Burial Is the Oldest Known Evidence of Intentional Cremation Discovered in Africa
• More than 43,000 years ago, Neanderthals spent centuries collecting animal skulls in a cave; but archaeologists aren't sure why

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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In Episode 321 of The Archaeology Show, we take a deep dive into the long and complex history of Troy. We discuss the stratigraphy of the site, starting from modern times and moving backward through key periods, including the famous era of the Trojan War as described by Homer. The episode covers the archaeological discoveries, the evolution of the city's fortifications, trade networks, burial practices, and cultural significance. We also delve into the early archaeological excavations and the ongoing debate about the historicity of the Trojan War.

• In Search of Troy
• Archaeological Site of Troy
• Troy VI and VII: The Archaeological Evidence (Encyclopedia Britannica)
• The Archaeology of Early Troy – World History Encyclopedia
• Çanakkale Archaeological Site of Troy

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 discuss three fascinating discoveries across Western Europe: a 7,000-year-old underwater stone wall off the coast of France, an exceptionally rare Iron Age war trumpet potentially linked to Boudica’s era in Britain, and a mysterious medieval cemetery in Wales dominated by female burials. Join us while we unpack what these finds reveal about prehistoric coastal societies, Iron Age warfare and symbolism, and early religious communities.

• Archaeologists Discover Mysterious 7,000-Year-Old Stone Wall Beneath the Waves Off the Coast of France
• Submerged Stone Structures in the Far West of Europe During the Mesolithic/Neolithic Transition (Sein Island, Brittany, France)
• ‘Extraordinary’ iron age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links
• The Past Macabre: The archaeology of Boudica Part 1
• The Past Macabre: The archaeology of Boudicat Part 2
• Intriguing finds could solve mystery of women in medieval cemetery

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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While the APN takes a break this holiday season we’re using this opportunity to present you with other great content on the network. Please enjoy this episode of The Ethnocynology Podcast with David Ian Howe.

Ethocynology: Direwolf Science with Dr. Shield-Chief Gover - Ep 15

In this episode of Ethnocynology, David chats with friend, colleague, and former A Life in Ruins host, Dr. Carlton Shield Chief Gover.

David and Carlton do a brief catch up before diving right into the recent paper released by Colossal Biosciences and a team of researchers regarding newly researched direwolf genetics.

David and Carlton discuss the ethics of release the un-peer reviewed paper only after the huge media push, as well as Carlton gives a an analysis of the statistics in the paper.

• Ethnocynology Podcast - Episode 15
• Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage
• On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com
• RachelUnraveled (Instagram)

• APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
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