In episode 167, Dr. Alan Garfinkel interviews author and conservationist Alan Ehrgott about his recent book, The Elusive Conquest of Queen Califa: California History Revisited. The discussion explores the Indigenous peoples of Baja California, the arrival of Spanish explorers and missionaries, and the role of rock art as a visual record of history, belief, and cultural survival. Ehrgott describes how his work blends historical research, memoir, adventure travel, and historical fiction, drawing from a 1,200-mile backpacking journey along Baja California’s Camino Real and decades of study of California history and conservation. The episode examines Indigenous lifeways, missionization, colonial encounters, cave paintings, and the enduring cultural landscapes of Baja California, while reflecting on how archaeology, oral traditions, and rock art help illuminate the complex history of California and its first peoples.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/167

• The Elusive Conquest of Queen Califa by Alan Ehrgott

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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In episode 166, Dr. Alan Garfinkel continues his discussion of a major Coso rock art panel, focusing on recurring symbolic elements and their possible cosmological meanings. He examines prominent figures depicted with snakes and distinctive staff-like wands, drawing on insights from researcher Bernard Jones and Hopi ceremonial traditions to explore connections between rock art, the winter solstice, and beliefs about maintaining cosmic balance. Alan discusses Indigenous concepts of the sun and moon as opposing yet complementary forces, including Nahua and broader Uto-Aztecan traditions that explain celestial cycles through mythic conflict and renewal.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/166

• Iconicity of the Uto-Aztecans: Snake Anthropomorphy in the Great Basin, the American Southwest and Mesoamerica

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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In episode 165, Dr. Alan Garfinkel interviews Dr. Meenakshi Dubey-Paik about her decades of research on India’s rock art, including extensive work on painted rock shelters. She describes how some tribes treat certain sites as sacred for vows, offerings, and festivals, using signs/symbols, animal imagery, dance, and music-induced trance, while noting cultural change from relocation and the addition of later shrines (e.g., Shiva/Kali) that shifts attention away from older images. Meenakshi highlights key motifs (animals, honey collection, dancers, tiger beliefs), and urges education and conservation to prevent vandalism and development damage.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/165

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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Host Dr. Alan Garfinkel interviews Dr. John Bellezza about his path from traveling in India and Tibet in the 1980s to focusing on Tibetan prehistory, archaeology, cosmology, and rock art, later earning a PhD at the University of Kent based on prior publications. Bellezza stresses learning Tibetan languages and working in the field as Tibet opened to travelers in 1984, then turning to pre-Buddhist traditions often erased or absorbed by Buddhism and long neglected by scholars. He describes discoveries at Lake Namtso, evidence for high-altitude pastoralism and hunting, and key finds in rock art and monuments, including chariots and standing-stone complexes. He previews ongoing rock art volumes and future work on bronze talismans and Old Tibetan texts.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/164

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Jayc Sedlmayr about his research into indigenous theology and animal ceremonial traditions. Drawing on interdisciplinary backgrounds, Sedlmayr discusses his “Embodied Essence” project, which explores how many cultures understood spiritual essence as residing in bodily substances—especially bone marrow. He explains how this perspective helps interpret ritual practices involving bones, such as their treatment as regenerative “seeds,” their placement in ceremonial contexts, and their role in maintaining relationships between humans, animals, and the spiritual world.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/163

• Embodied Essence sessions (SAA 2024 collection)
• The Ensouled Body (co-authored by Jayc Sedlmayr)

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Christian Bentz and Dr Ewa Dutkiewicz about their research on early systems of conventional signs. They explore how recurring symbols in rock art and mobile artifacts may reflect shared visual communication as far back as 40,000 years ago, and what this reveals about early human cognition and culture.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/162

• SignBase, a collection of geometric signs on mobile objects in the Palaeolithic
• Humans 40,000 years ago developed a system of conventional signs
• Dr Ewa Dutkiewicz Profile
• Dr Christian Bentz Profile

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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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
• davidianhowe.com
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Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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In episode 161, Chris Webster and Dr. Alan Garfinkel discuss decolonization in archaeology and rock art studies, arguing that researchers must take Indigenous perspectives seriously as Native communities gain more political and intellectual influence. They emphasize that Indigenous cosmologies often frame rock art meaning through interconnected energy, reciprocity, and life-death cycles rather than “gods” and rigid categories, and they highlight the value of shared vocabulary, cultural humility, and collaboration in interpretation.

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/161

Transcript

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

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