The PastCast
By The Past
The PastCastJun 03, 2021
A family of god-kings: divine kingship in Ancient Egypt’s early Nineteenth Dynasty
Divine kingship was as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, when the Predynastic kings of Hierakonpolis (Nekhen) ruled as avatars on Earth of the falcon god Horus. Pharaoh was entitled the ‘Good God, the Son of Ra’. Egypt’s gods and goddesses were his fathers and mothers. In life he was the incarnation of Horus; in death, his identity fused with Osiris, Lord of the Underworld.
But there were limits to royal godhood. Each king inevitably aged, sickened, and died. However, this contradiction between Pharaoh’s human frailty and sublime godhood was not a problem: the divine was understood to inhabit the earthly body, but be quite separate from it. The king’s human self was a mortal vessel containing the divine essence of kingship. Most kings only truly became a god after death.
In a series of articles in Ancient Egypt magazine, Professor Peter J Brand of the University of Memphis explores the life of Pharaoh Ramesses II and reassesses the Nineteenth Dynasty. For the first of these articles, Brand explored the divinity of the early Ramesside kings. And on this episode of The PastCast, he spoke with Ancient Egypt’s deputy editor Sarah Griffiths about his findings. Sarah also discusses what readers can look forward to in the upcoming issue of the magazine, out on 8 June in the UK. It will also be available to read in full on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The rise of rulers: how the elite grew their power in prehistory
In south-eastern Europe from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, across a period of some 5,500 years, communities with increasingly complex political and economic inequalities developed, and an emergent elite grew their power and influence by exerting control over four focal aspects of prehistoric life: technology, trade, rituals, and warfare.
In a new exhibition at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, visitors can wonder at a huge trove of artefacts crafted during this period from the exceptionally rich archaeological heritage of south-eastern Europe. What these artefacts reveal is the importance played by technology, trade, rituals, and warfare in the evolution of social inequality and hierarchy in the Balkans and beyond.
On this episode of The PastCast, curators Attila Gyucha and William A Parkinson discuss the exhibition – an unprecedented, inter-continental collaboration between the Field Museum and 26 other institutions in eleven south-east European countries – and some of the many amazing artefacts on display.
The exhibition is also the subject of an article in the latest issue of Minerva magazine, which is out now in the UK, and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Attila and William spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
First Kings of Europe runs at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, between 31 March and 28 January 2024. Visit their website for more information. It will then travel to the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec, between 4 April 2024 and 19 January 2025.
Scent back in time: how ancient odours can bring the past to life
In Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu, a single bite of a tea-dipped madeleine is enough to transport the author back into a vivid world of recollection. Our sense of smell is even more powerful in this respect than taste, however, with a direct route between the olfactory bulbs and the parts of the brain linked to emotion and memory.
This can be harnessed to great effect when creating atmospherically immersive experiences for museum exhibitions and heritage attractions – and for the last 50 years, specialists at AromaPrime have been creating bespoke scents to help bring the past to life.
On this episode of The PastCast, Liam R Findlay – Heritage Scenting Consultant at AromaPrime – discusses the company’s fascinating work, concocting everything from the scent of the embalmed mummies of Ancient Egypt to the breath of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
The work of AromaPrime is also the subject of an article in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK, and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Liam spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The Gloucester: Piecing together the story of a royal wreck
On 6 May 1682, HMS Gloucester sank off the coast of Great Yarmouth. The warship’s loss was a major disaster, claiming the lives of an estimated 130-250 people – very nearly including the Duke of York and Albany (the future King James II & VII), who was on board. The Gloucester itself was lost to the sea, and its wreck remained anonymously buried in sand for almost 350 years.
Since the ship’s rediscovery in 2007 (by brothers Lincoln and Julian Barnwell, and James Little), though, archaeological surveys of the site and analysis of artefacts eroding from the wreck mound are helping to tell the story of the Gloucester once more: a story that is currently the focus of an exhibition running at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery.
On this episode of The PastCast, one of the co-curators of the exhibition, Professor Claire Jowitt, discusses the history of the ship, its sinking, and the many fascinating artefacts – from glass wine bottles (then cutting-edge technology) to trunks stuffed with passengers’ possessions – that are helping to illuminate its final, fatal voyage.
The Gloucester exhibition is also the subject of an article in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK, and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Claire spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
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The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolk’s Royal Shipwreck, 1682 runs at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery until 10 September; see their website for more details.
The exhibition catalogue, by curators Ruth Battersby Tooke, Claire Jowitt, Benjamin Redding, and Francesca Vanke, The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolk’s Royal Shipwreck, 1682 (Aylsham: Barnwell Print, 2023) provides information about the history of the Gloucester, the finders’ story, and the artefacts displayed.
For an account of the Gloucester’s final voyage see Claire Jowitt, 'The Last Voyage of the Gloucester (1682): The Politics of a Royal Shipwreck' The English Historical Review, Volume 137, Issue 586, June 2022, Pages 728–762, available here.
And to read more about ongoing research into the wreck itself, visit this link.
Edge of empire: the story of a Roman frontier fort in Jordan
An insignificant tarmac road leading off Jordan’s Desert Highway about 80km south of Amman soon becomes a dirt track across the desert. The landscape looks bare all around. No habitation can be seen, apart from a small modern farm in a side valley. The desert rolls on. And then, a speck on the horizon. A dark form, barely visible. Gradually, it becomes larger until it is a recognisable building, a square fortification with large towers at each corner. This is Qasr Bshir.
Qasr Bshir is a Roman fort that can stake a claim to being the best-preserved example anywhere in the former empire. But this relic of imperial power is in urgent need of conservation work. On this episode of The PastCast, archaeologist David Breeze discuss why Qasr Bshir is special, and the challenges that lie ahead.
This podcast accompanies an article on the fort in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK and next month in the rest of the world. It is also available to read in full on The Past website here. On this episode, David speaks with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Current World Archaeology editor Matt Symonds joins Calum to discuss what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Stand Easy: Searching for the ‘Band of Brothers’ at Aldbourne
In 2019, archaeologists and military veteran volunteers from Operation Nightingale excavated part of the hut camp of 'Easy Company' – the famous D-Day paratroopers better known as the 'Band of Brothers' – in Aldbourne, Wiltshire. The remains we uncovered were illuminating, but the onset of the pandemic called a halt to further investigations – until last year, when the team returned to search for further traces of this legendary American unit.
On this episode of The PastCast, archaeologist Richard Osgood discusses the many fascinating finds made in the most recent round of excavations, which, much to his and his colleagues’ surprise, in many ways surpassed the discoveries made in 2019.
Osgood is also the author of an article on the Aldbourne excavations in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, he spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
Carly also discusses the success of the recent Current Archaeology Live! conference, held in London at the end of February, and what readers can look forward to in the new issue of the magazine.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Going for Gold: Reconsidering Mummies from the Graeco-Roman Period
Mummies, gold, and an obsessive belief in the afterlife – these concepts are all central to our image of ancient Egypt. But how important were they to the Egyptians, and how long did they survive after the last of the pharaohs? A new exhibition, Golden Mummies of Egypt, uses 108 objects to explore expectations of life after death during the relatively little-known Graeco Roman Period – when Egypt was ruled first by a Greek royal family, ending with Cleopatra VII, and then by Roman emperors.
The exhibition opens in February at Manchester Museum for its only European showing after an international tour that has included venues in the USA and China. On this episode of The PastCast, curator Dr Campbell Price discusses the artefacts on display and their significance to the Greek and Roman Egyptians and to modern visitors.
Campbell is also the author of an article on the exhibition in the latest issue of Ancient Egypt magazine, which is out now and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Campbell spoke with Ancient Egypt’s deputy editor, Sarah Griffiths. Sarah also explains what readers and listeners can look forward to at the upcoming Current Archaeology Conference at UCL Institute for Education in London on Saturday 26 February, at which Campbell will be speaking.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Harpole’s hidden gem: excavating early medieval Britain’s most significant female burial
The site at Harpole, a village four miles west of Northampton, had been a very straightforward excavation for the small team from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) in March and April of last year. That was until they uncovered an internationally significant burial furnished with a remarkable 7th-century necklace, as well as a number of other high-status grave goods, a find which has caused fascination throughout the British archaeological community.
On this episode of The PastCast, Paul Thompson, lead excavator at the site, explains what these artefacts can tell us about the woman they were buried with, and what they will add to our understanding of early medieval England as research progresses. Thompson spoke with Current Archaeology magazine editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
Carly’s report on the Harpole Treasure is available to read in full on The Past website. And on this episode Carly also explains what readers and listeners can look forward to at the upcoming Current Archaeology Conference at UCL Institute for Education in London on Saturday 25 February (at which Paul Thompson will be speaking, along with a number of other interesting guests). Carly also tells us about what readers can look forward to in the latest issue of the Current Archaeology, which is out now, and which is also available in full on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Alexander the Great: the making of a myth
In 336 BC, at the age of just 25, Alexander the Great had become ruler of Asia Minor, pharaoh of Egypt, and successor to Darius III, the ‘Great King’ of Persia. During the next seven years, Alexander became master of an empire that stretched from Greece in the west, into Central Asia and North Africa, and beyond the river Indus in the east, all before his early death in Babylon in 323 BC.
On this episode of The PastCast, Ursula Sims-Williams, co-curator of a new exhibition on Alexander the Great at the British Library, discusses his mythical legacy, where different traditions cast him variously as an accursed figure, a philosopher-king, and even a prophet. On this episode, she spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
Ursula Sims-Williams is also the author of an article on the mythical history of Alexander the Great in the latest issue of Minerva magazine, which is out now in the UK and is also available to read in full on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Alexander the Great: the making of a myth runs at the British Library in London until 19 February 2023. More information about the exhibition can be found here. The accompanying catalogue and collection of essays, edited by Richard Stoneman, is on sale at the British Library shop.
From leper hospital to royal court: the evolution of St James’s Palace
The eyes of the world were on St James’s Palace on 10 September 2022 when David White, Garter King of Arms, read the Accession Proclamation formally announcing the succession of King Charles III following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. If royal palace expert Simon Thurley had been watching or listening, he might well have been frustrated to hear the BBC commentators say repeatedly that ‘very little is known about the history of the palace’.
Along with two co-authors, Rufus Bird and Michael Turner, Thurley had completed an account of the 800-year history of the palace, based on primary sources and a study of the surviving building fabric, some three years previously. On this episode of The PastCast, Chris Catling discusses what this book brings to our understanding of the palace and its place in British monarchical history.
Catling is also the author of an article on the palace in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, he spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts also joined Calum to discuss what else is in the latest issue, as well as share exciting details about the upcoming Current Archaeology Live! 2023 conference on 25 February at the UCL Institute of Education, London.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
African Queen: how an intact royal burial from Egypt reveals new insights into cultural connections
A landmark year in Egyptology, 2022 marks 200 years since the decipherment of hieroglyphs and 100 years since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Now, new research on another intact royal burial group from Egypt, dating to about 275 years before the burial of Tutankhamun, is demonstrating the importance of reassessing historic museum collections. The burial group of the ‘Qurna Queen’ (c.1600 BC), now at National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh, dates to a less well understood period of Egyptian history, a time of political turmoil.
On this episode of The PastCast, Margaret Maitland – Principal Curator of the Ancient Mediterranean at National Museums Scotland – explains why recent analyses of the objects are offering new perspectives on Egypt’s relationship with its southern neighbour, Nubia, in what is now northern Sudan and the southernmost area of Egypt. This dimension, Maitland explains, helps us to move on from an understanding of Egypt’s ancient past that has been coloured by colonial-era biases, in particular the misrepresentation of Egypt’s African context.
Maitland is also the author of an article on the Qurna Queen in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK. It is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, she spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Meanwhile, Current World Archaeology editor Matthew Symonds tells us what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue of the magazine.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The German view of Dunkirk
The ‘miracle of Dunkirk’ is lauded in British history, celebrated each year with a profusion of TV documentary veteran accounts and memorial services. German soldiers, too, constantly referred to the ‘wunder’, or ‘miracle’, of reaching Dunkirk in wartime letters back home. But there the resemblance ends. For the British, it was a miracle of survival and deliverance; for the Germans, it was one of achievement. They had reached the sea in May 1940 in fewer weeks than it took years for their fathers not to succeed in 1914-18.
Historian Robert Kershaw argues that the lack of a German perspective means we have only a partial understanding of the ‘miracle of Dunkirk’. On this episode of The PastCast, he explains what new research tells us about a battle that changed the tide of the Second World War.
Dunkirk is also the subject of an article by Kershaw in the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, which is out now in the UK and in early December in the US. It is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Robert spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Robert Kershaw’s latest book is called Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk and is published by Osprey Publishing. You can buy a copy here.
Grave affairs: What can ancient DNA tell us about early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries?
Archaeology is the study of people and their actions, preserved through the physical traces they left behind. How, then, could we not appreciate the detailed insights into individuals, communities, and populations provided by their very DNA?
On this episode of The PastCast, Professor Duncan Sayer explains how, by combining excavated evidence from early medieval burials with genetic information, we can gain powerful insights into patterns of population movement, and ideas of identity and integration.
Professor Sayer is the author of an article on the study of ancient DNA in the most recent issue of Current Archaeology magazine, itself a special edition delving into a new research study centred on migration and genetic evidence for early medieval England. You can access the article (and the full magazine) on The Past website. On this episode, Professor Sayer spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
City of Gallows: the human stories behind London’s history of executions
For over 700 years between c.1196 and 1848, public executions were an inescapable part of the experiences of anyone living in London. Hangings, burnings, boilings, and beheadings were wielded as a way to protect the city’s ever-expanding population, to deter crime and rebellion, and to show justice being viscerally, visually done – but they also hammered home the power of the crown, church, and state over the lives and deaths of ordinary citizens.
On this episode of The PastCast, Carly Hilts – editor of Current Archaeology magazine – reports on a new exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands which provides poignant and powerful insights into the seven centuries when London hosted more public executions that anywhere else in Britain and acquired the nickname the ‘City of Gallows’.
As well as discussing what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue of Current Archaeology, Carly also shares her thoughts on the new film The Lost King, which dramatizes the discovery of the remains of King Richard III under a Leicester carpark in 2012. On this episode she spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Circles of Stone: exploring the monuments of Jomon Japan
The Jomon peoples of northern Japan were unusual among foraging societies for being great monument builders. They constructed a range of such sites, including stone circles, settings of wooden pillars, shell middens, and bank-enclosed cemeteries or embankments containing large quantities of material remains, all of which represented an ability to undertake significant investments in labour and probably also a high degree of forward planning.
But how and why were these monuments built? On this episode of The PastCast, Simon Kaner examines what these enigmatic structures can tell us about a key period of Japanese prehistory.
The Jomon stone circles are also the subject of an article in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK and next month in the US. It is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Simon spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The exhibition, Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan is at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre until August 2023. More information about Jomon archaeology is included in An Illustrated Companion to Japanese Archaeology edited by Werner Steinhaus, Simon Kaner, Shinya Shoda, and Megumi Jinno. Details about the Jomon Sites of Northern Japan UNESCO World Heritage designation can be found here.
The Spanish Armada: England’s deliverance in 1588
The Armada – and in English history there is only one – set sail from Lisbon on 28 May 1588, tasked with eliminating the Protestant Queen Elizabeth and restoring Catholic worship throughout England. Its creator, Philip II, ruler of Spain and Portugal, had at his disposal ‘the greatest and strongest combination that was ever gathered in all Christendom’. The fleet consisted of 130 ships, 2,431 guns, and 30,000 men.
And yet the Armada's story was one of almost constant misfortune. On this episode of The PastCast, historian Geoffrey Parker, co-author of a major new history on the doomed campaign, explains what really happened in 1588.
The Armada is also the subject of an article in the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, which is out now in the UK and in early October in the US. It is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Geoffrey spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Geoffrey Parker’s book (co-authored by Colin Martin) is called The Spanish Armada: England’s deliverance in 1588 and is published by Yale University Press. It will be available to buy in the UK from December 2022. You can pre-order a copy here.
Archaeology adrift: a curious tale of Lego lost at sea
Twenty-five years ago, a cargo of millions of pieces of Lego was washed off the ship Tokio during a storm off Land’s End. The cargo was en route from the company’s factory in Billund, Denmark, to North America, where it was to be made-up into sets. To this day, tiny pieces of plastic are still being found on Cornish beaches – and by a strange quirk of fate, much of this Lego is sea-themed.
On this episode of The PastCast, Tracey Williams, whose fascination with collecting the Lego washed up on her local beaches has driven her to publish a book, discusses the story of the lost cargo, the subsequent recovery efforts, and the environmental implications of the phenomenon.
Her book on the Lego lost at sea formed the basis of an article by Joe Flatman in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Tracey and Joe spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Carly also explains what readers can look forward to in the latest issue.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Tracey's book, Adrift: the curious tale of the Lego lost at sea, is published by Unicorn and is available to buy here. You can follow the project online by searching for @LegoLostAtSea on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. A related paper on drift matter/drift archaeology by Þóra Pétursdóttir is available to read here.
Warfare & The Wall: the genesis of a Roman frontier
It is 1,900 years since the Roman emperor Hadrian made landfall in Britain. His presence marks a departure from business as usual, as the island was not a standard destination for imperial inspections. The sparse surviving Roman accounts tell us little about Hadrian’s activities in Britain, and nothing at all about his motive for visiting in 122. It is certain, though, that the island was convulsed by unrest during his tenure.
On this episode of The PastCast, Matt Symonds discusses the context and construction of the emperor’s most significant legacy in the British Isles, Hadrian's Wall, and the enduring mystery of its true purpose. Could the extraordinary scale of this fortification be explained by the contemporary military situation in Britain?
Hadrian’s Wall is the subject of a special article in the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, which is out in the UK on 14 July and the following month in the US. It is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Matt spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Matt’s book, Hadrian’s Wall: creating division, was published by Bloomsbury Books in 2021 and is available to buy here.
HMS Invincible: excavating a Georgian time capsule
Just as the Titanic’s ‘unsinkable’ nickname proved to be somewhat hubristic, naming a ship Invincible might be seen as similarly tempting fate. This latter designation was intended to intimidate, however, as it described a mighty warship that was among the most technically advanced of her day. And although she sank off Portsmouth in 1758, Invincible remains the best-preserved 18th-century warship known in UK waters.
On this episode of The PastCast, Dr Daniel Pascoe, who headed recent excavations of the wreck, describes her history up until her unfortunate sinking, the subsequent recovery efforts, and a new exhibition at Chatham Historic Dockyard which brings together some of the ship’s most fascinating artefacts.
The wreck and the exhibition are the subject of an article in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out in the UK on 7 July, and is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Dan spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Carly also explains what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue, including articles on Canterbury’s history, Cissbury Ring, Butser Ancient Farm, and the Society of Antiquaries of London's new affiliate membership scheme.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
And you can keep up with Dr Daniel Pascoe’s work by following him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. A video on his current project – on the 70-gun Northumberland sunk off the Goodwin Sands – is available here.
Restoring Marble Hill: how archaeology helped to revive a Georgian gem
When Henrietta Howard (née Hobart) built her Thames-side country house in Twickenham in the 1720s, it represented so much more than a fashionable escape from the bustle of court life: it was a refuge from her abusive marriage, and a sign of hard-won independence.
With the house and its grounds now restored to their Georgian glory, and the site reopening to the public, Carly Hilts, editor of Current Archaeology magazine, visited to find out more. Carly joined this latest episode of The PastCast to discuss the life of Howard, her beautiful home, and the many achievements of the restoration project. Carly spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
As well as Marble Hill, Carly also explains what other fascinating British archaeological sites and projects are featured in the latest issue of Current Archaeology. The magazine is on sale in the UK from 2 June and is also available to read in full on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Operation Mincemeat: the remarkable true story behind the star-studded new war movie
The newly released, star-studded British movie Operation Mincemeat tells the remarkable story of a Second World War deception plan. A dead body disguised as a naval officer would be floated off the Spanish coast, in the hope that the Axis powers would come across fake documents on the body and accept misleading information about the impending Allied invasion of Sicily. It was a daring plan full of risks that could go wrong at several points. As indeed it did.
On this episode of The PastCast, broadcaster and author Taylor Downing discusses his thoughts on the film, its cast, and previous on-screen depictions of the Mincemeat story. He has also reviewed the new film in the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode, he spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Taylor’s latest book, 1942: Britain at the Brink, has recently been published by Little, Brown. You can read an exclusive extract from it here.
A tale of two temples: exploring Roman religious remains at Maryport
Just to the south of Hadrian’s Wall, and at around the same time as the frontier fortifications were being built, the Romans constructed a fort on high ground overlooking the Solway estuary. Then, the site was known as Alauna Carvetiorum – today we call it Maryport – and it formed part of a chain of forts safeguarding the Cumbrian coast, which also represented an important communications and supply network.
Perhaps the most famous finds from the fort are a collection of freestanding stone altars dedicated to the god Jupiter, which were found buried in a series of large pits on the highest point of the local landscape. Between 2011 and 2015 these enigmatic objects formed one of the key foci of investigations on the site by Professor Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott, but the story of their discovery actually dates back centuries earlier.
On this episode of The PastCast, Tony and Ian discuss their research in more detail with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Their article on Maryport in the latest issue of Current Archaeology, as well as the entirety of the magazine (and exclusive related archive features), are also available in full on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Back to the future: exploring Time Team’s first new digs in a decade
First airing in 1994, Time Team went from humble roots to become a celebrated British institution, with over 230 episodes and countless spin-offs and specials produced during its original 20-year run. And while the recent pandemic posed serious problems for archaeological fieldwork, it sparked a global renaissance for Time Time, as locked-down fans began to reconnect with old episodes or discover them anew on YouTube.
Now, thanks to the support of thousands of fans, Time Team has premiered two brand new, three-part episodes on the internet. And that’s just the start, with two partnerships set to shed light on Sutton Hoo, and more potential sites currently in development for excavations this year.
On this episode of The PastCast, Time Team’s ‘geophys whizz’ John Gater discusses the return of the show – what’s changed and what’s stayed the same, some of the highlights of the newest digs, and the vital role of the pub in the show’s production schedule. Gater spoke with Current Archaeology editor (and former Time Team researcher) Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
There is also an article by Felix Rowe on Time Team’s return in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, out in the UK on 7 April. The article and magazine are also available in full on The Past website, as well as exclusive related archive features. And make sure to check out Time Team’s YouTube and Patreon pages to enjoy episodes old and new.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Apollonia revisited: the story of a pioneering survey
The Greek city of Apollonia, founded in 650 BC, today lies on the sea floor between the mainland of Libya and a chain of offshore islands, 200km east of Bengazi. In 1958, an archaeological team set out to undertake a trailblazing survey of the submerged ruins. It was led by Dr Nicholas Flemming, whose experiences shaped his career as a marine archaeologist.
On this episode of The PastCast, Nic Flemming describes the history behind the survey, why Apollonia is such a unique site, and how his experiences in the Special Boat Service (SBS) assisted with the reconnaissance. Flemming has written an article on Apollonia in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode, he spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Nic Flemming’s book, Apollonia on my Mind, has also recently been published and is available to buy from his website. And make sure to also check out the Dive & Dig Podcast from the Honor Frost Foundation, on which Nic is also appearing as a guest this week.
The Golden Fleece Paradox: why did gold disappear for centuries from ancient societies in the Caucasus?
The Caucasus mountains have had, for millennia, a legendary association with gold. According to the myths recounted by Greek and Roman writers, the legendary hero Jason was sent there on an impossible quest to seek the Golden Fleece, a task so difficult that it was assumed he would never return.
But despite an association between gold and the mountains that became so strong it was woven into mythology, gold artefacts more or less disappeared from a large part of the region for a period of some seven centuries. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, a Lecturer in Archaeological Science at Cranfield Forensic Institute, has been investigating why.
Nathaniel has written about his research and findings in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On the latest episode of The PastCast, he spoke with regular presenter Calum Henderson about his research.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Waterloo Uncovered: veterans, archaeology, and the battlefield
Waterloo Uncovered, a registered charity, has combined the archaeological exploration of the site of Napoleon’s final defeat with a support programme for Veteran and Serving Military Personnel (VSMPs). Every summer, the charity assembles an international team of archaeologists, students, and VSMPs to survey and excavate various sections of the site in modern-day Belgium. In 2019, the team focused their attention on three farms which played a key role in the fighting.
The results of the 2019 excavations are the subject of an article in the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine. Author Euan Loarridge, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow who has been involved in Waterloo Uncovered’s work, explains what was found, and how archaeology can be surprisingly therapeutic for serving military personnel and veterans. On this episode, Euan spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
You can keep up to date with the work of Waterloo Uncovered via their website and through their social media platforms (such as their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages). The article, and the full magazine, as well as exclusive related archive features, are available on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Capturing Kurdistan: Anthony Kersting at the Courtauld Gallery
The British photographer Anthony Kersting was the most prolific and widely travelled architectural photographer of his generation. He travelled extensively across the Middle East throughout the 1940s and 1950s to document the architecture and people of the region. And upon his death in 2008, he donated his archive – containing some 42,000 photographic prints and negatives – to the Conway Library at the Courtauld Gallery in London.
On this episode of the PastCast, Tom Bilson, Head of Digital Media at the Courtauld, discusses a new exhibition showcasing a selection of Kersting’s photography from Kurdistan. He also describes the digitisation project currently being undertaken to preserve the Conway Library’s extensive archive for future generations. Bilson spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Kersting’s work is the subject of a short article in the latest issue of Minerva magazine, out now in the UK, and which is also available in full on The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Converting the Caucasus: how Christianity spread in Armenia and beyond
Located in the Caucasus, a meeting point between Europe and Asia, Armenia boasts of being the first state to have adopted Christianity around the year AD 314, followed by its neighbour Georgia twenty years later. Various encounters between this region’s indigenous peoples and many other groups led to centuries of church building across the landscape of narrow mountain valleys that stretch between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
On this episode of The PastCast, Christoph Baumer describes how the faith spread in the region, separating the myths – such as of a king who had been saved after being turned into a boar – from the facts. Baumer is the author of an article on the subject in the latest issue of Minerva magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode he spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Christoph’s book, The history of the Caucasus, volume 1: at the crossroads of empires has been published by Bloomsbury and is available to buy on their website.
Artistic obscurity: analysing Britain’s most elusive Roman sculptures
What might a pigsty, a chimneybreast, a rock garden, and a font all have in common? An obvious answer would, of course, be that they can all be made of stone – but for a special few there is a particular claim to distinction.
Over the last three years, members of the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust-funded Elusive Sculptures team have been looking beyond the obvious in their quest to locate and interpret Romano-British art preserved in unlikely – and, at times, somewhat precarious – places in the North of England, and important examples have been recorded at these sites and more.
On this episode of The PastCast, Elusive Sculptures team member Professor Ian Haynes discusses the project’s background and findings. Ian is the co-author of an article on the subject in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode he spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The world of Stonehenge: placing a famous monument in context
An immense communal effort, continental connections, and exotic materials travelling long distances for people to gather and marvel at: this could be a summary of the story of Stonehenge, but it also describes the creation of a new exhibition opening at the British Museum this month, and the challenges of organising hundreds of international loans during a pandemic.
On this episode of The PastCast, Dr Jennifer Wexler, project curator of ‘The World of Stonehenge’, describes how the exhibition puts the famous monument in its wider context, exploring the natural and material landscapes that its builders would have known; the transformative technological, cultural, and social changes that the celebrated stones witnessed over the course of 1,500 years; and the ideas and identities it was intended to express.
Wexler contributed to article on the exhibition in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now, and which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode she spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson. Carly also told Calum what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
‘We know this is going to happen’: how climate change is putting archaeology at risk
The recent COP26 meeting in Glasgow has helped concentrate many minds on climate change. Projections of future temperatures and their impact on world sea-levels pose complex challenges for the present. At the same time, a new study by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reveals that our past is also at risk.
The report presents chilling scenarios about the impact of sea-level rises on great archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. These projections are spurring decision makers to ponder a fundamental question: can we seek to confront it? At the ancient city of Butrint in Albania, plans are afoot to achieve exactly that.
On this episode of The PastCast, two of the architects of the Butrint Integrated Management Plan, Dr David Prince and Dr Richard Hodges, explain its proposals and why they are so necessary. They are also co-authors of an article on the subject in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode they spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Facing the Palmyrenes: exploring life and death in a desert city
An ancient oasis and caravan city, Palmyra lies in the middle of the Syrian Desert, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. Sadly, over the last decade most of the news from the site has concerned heart-breaking loss, of both people and archaeology, during the devastating civil war in Syria.
Thousands of ancient inhabitants’ portraits once graced lavish family tombs in cemeteries just beyond the desert city. On the latest episode of The PastCast, Professor Rubina Raja of Aarhus University in Denmark discusses what recent research into these funerary portraits tell us about ancient life in Palmyra.
Raja is the co-author of an article on the subject in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode she spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson. Calum also caught up with Current World Archaeology editor Matt Symonds to find out what else is in the latest issue.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Crécy: a king, a prince, and a revolution in warfare
Medieval warfare is sometimes caricatured as a matter of crude frontal collisions lacking in finesse. But the period also saw what has been called a ‘revolution in military affairs’, which coincided with the long struggle between the French and English otherwise known as the Hundred Years’ War. Spearheading this revolution on the English side was King Edward III and his son, The Black Prince.
On this episode of The PastCast, historian and teacher Graham Goodlad charts the military careers of the king and his heir, a young man who eventually became his father’s leading military commander, heading major expeditions in France and Spain. What was it about their combined genius that delivered English victories as renowned as Crécy and Poitiers?
Graham is the co-author of a special feature on this subject in the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode he spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
A painter's paradise: John Craxton and the art of Greece
Born into a cultured and well-connected bohemian family in London, the painter John Craxton (1922-2009) yearned from a very early age to live and work in Greece. He achieved his goal and enduring joy coloured his ensuing pictures – radiant images of a world where myth survived in everyday existence
On this episode of The PastCast, Ian Collins discusses his article in the latest issue of Minerva magazine (also available on The Past website), in which he surveys the life and work of Craxton, an artist with ‘a genius for being in the right place at the right time.’ Ian spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Ian’s book, John Craxton: A Life of Gifts is published by Yale University Press.
Domitian: are bad Roman emperors so different from the good ones?
Domitian has gone down in history as one of Rome’s worst emperors. When he met his violent end in AD 96, subsequent writers did everything they could to demolish his reputation.
But a new exhibition at Leiden’s Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) uses a broad palette of sources to present a considerably more layered and varied history of the emperor than the exceedingly negative one that followed his death.
On this episode of The PastCast, two of its curators, Nathalie de Haan and Eric M Moormann, discuss their article on Domitian and the new exhibition in the latest issue of Minerva magazine (also available on The Past website). They spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The exhibition, God on Earth: Emperor Domitian runs at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (the National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden between 17 December 2021 and 22 May 2022. See the museum’s website for more details.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Cladh Hallan: life and death on the island of South Uist
Located in the Outer Hebrides, the prehistoric settlement of Cladh Hallan is best known for the Bronze Age mummies found buried beneath its roundhouses. As well as these insights into how the dead were treated, though, the dwellings have also yielded illuminating insights into the world of the living.
On this episode of the PastCast, Mike Parker Pearson discusses his co-authored article in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine (also available on The Past website), which takes an in-depth look at the most recent research into this remarkable settlement. He spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
Calum also spoke with Carly about what readers can look forward to in the latest issue of Current Archaeology, and the magazine’s upcoming conference at the end of February 2022.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Looking ahead to Current Archaeology Live! 2022: meet the nominees for Archaeologist of the Year
The annual Current Archaeology magazine conference, Current Archaeology Live! 2022, is fast approaching. Taking place online over the weekend of 25-27 February, an exciting line-up of expert speakers will cover the latest news on the most important discoveries and leading research projects in the archaeology of the British Isles.
In addition to the sessions, Julian Richards will be announcing the winners of the 13th annual Current Archaeology Awards via the magazine’s YouTube channel. There are three nominees for 2022’s ‘Archaeologist of the Year’, whose achievements reflect the diverse work taking place within the field.
On this episode of the PastCast, Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts speaks to each of the nominees – Professor Martin Bell, Raksha Dave, and Dr Peter Halkon – to find out more about them and what got them into archaeology. Carly is joined by regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
You can keep up to date with the conference and how to vote in the awards on the Current Archaeology website. Voting will be open until 7 February 2022.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Rethinking the Jungle: the forgotten story of humanity and tropical forests
Humans and jungles are often seen as a poor combination. It is easy to write off the environment as challenging at best and a ‘green hell’ at worst. But could it be that tropical forests have repeatedly helped rather than hindered humanity’s progress?
On this episode of the PastCast, Patrick Roberts discusses his article in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine (also available on The Past website), in which he explains why it is time to rethink the archaeology of the jungle. Patrick spoke with regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Patrick’s book, Jungle: How Tropical Forests Shaped the World, is also available to buy.
Peru: a journey in time
Marking the bicentennial of Peru's independence, a fascinating new exhibition at the British Museum, subtitled ‘a journey in time’, explores the history, beliefs, and culture of six different societies who lived in the region from around 2500 BC to the arrival of the Europeans in the 1500s.
The exhibition is the focus of a special feature in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, out now in the UK. On this episode of The PastCast, Current World Archaeology editor Matt Symonds caught up with the exhibition’s two curators, Cecilia Pardo and Jago Cooper, to discuss its themes and artefacts in more depths.
Matt also spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson to discuss what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology (all of which is also available on The Past website).
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Empire and Jihad: how Victorian Britain crushed an Egyptian nationalist revolt
It signalled a new age of empire – an age of armed intervention by industrialised European armies. The Scramble for Africa had begun. In the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, editor Neil Faulkner analyses the events at Tel el-Kebir, the 1882 battle in which Victorian Britain destroyed an Egyptian nationalist movement and took possession of the country.
The battle and its wider consequences are the subject of Neil’s latest book, Empire and Jihad: The Anglo-Arab Wars of 1870-1920, published by Yale University Press. On this episode of The PastCast, he discusses both his article and book with regular presenter (and Military History Matters assistant editor) Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
CITiZAN'S climate emergency: how understanding the past can protect the future
As the COP26 climate change conference takes place in Glasgow, we ask if studying past coastal change can help us to ameliorate the climate crisis facing us today. A project undertaken by the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network (CITiZAN) and focusing on Mersea Island in Essex may have the answer, as three members of the network’s team explain.
Oliver Hutchinson, Danielle Newman, and Lawrence Northall wrote about their findings in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now. Their article is also available online at The Past website. On this episode, they spoke with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Iona in the Viking Age: laying a 'zombie narrative' to rest
The traditional story of Iona’s early medieval monastery ends in tragedy and bloodshed, with the religious community essentially wiped out by vicious Viking raiders. Increasingly, though, the archaeological and historical evidence does not support this persistent ‘zombie narrative'.
On this episode of the PastCast, Adrián Maldonado discusses an article he has co-authored for the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine (also available on The Past website), in which this new evidence is examined in detail. Maldonado spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts and regular PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Calum also caught up with Carly to discuss what else readers can look forward to in the latest issue.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Gold and the Great Steppe: what a recently discovered burial mound tells us about an ancient culture
On this episode of the PastCast, two curators from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge discuss its recently opened exhibition, Gold and the Great Steppe. The exhibition looks at the history of the Saka, a nomadic people from Eastern Kazakhstan who lived around 2,500 years ago.
To accompany the exhibition, curators Rebecca Roberts and Saltanat Amir have written an article in the latest issue of Minerva magazine, which comes out in the UK on 21 October. You can also read it online at The Past website. Rebecca and Saltanat spoke with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Excavating an Anglo-Saxon community at Cookham. Plus: behind the new galleries at the Imperial War Museum
In the 8th century, Cookham Abbey was the focus of a decades-long power struggle between early medieval kingdoms, but over time the religious community’s location faded from memory, despite its association with a powerful Anglo-Saxon queen. Now, excavations in Berkshire are thought to have brought its remains to light once more.
On this episode of the PastCast, Dr Gabor Thomas discusses his write-up of the excavations in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine (also available on The Past website). Thomas spoke with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Also on this episode, curator Kate Clements discusses the new Second World War and Holocaust galleries at London’s Imperial War Museum, which open to the public on 20 October.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
In the lap of luxury: the history of ornamental lakes
For a visitor to a late 18th-century country seat, the most striking feature of the landscape, apart from the house, would have been the lake. For that reason, it is all the more surprising these bodies of water have had such little attention from garden historians and archaeologists.
On this episode of the PastCast, Christopher Catling discusses his article in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine (also available on The Past website), in which he takes a look into why ornamental lakes have received such little recognition. He spoke with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Calum also spoke with Current Archaeology editor Carly Hilts about what readers can look forward to in the latest issue.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The valley of death: how archaeology is shedding new light on the Glencoe Massacre
On this episode of the PastCast, Derek Alexander discusses the notorious Glencoe Massacre of 1692 and how recent archaeological fieldwork has shed new light on the 17th and 18th century remains in the area. Alexander is the Head of Archaeology at the National Trust for Scotland. He spoke with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Glencoe is one of the most famous and beautiful valleys in Scotland but is also notorious for an episode of extreme violence in 1692, when dozens of members and associates of the Glencoe MacDonalds were killed by Scottish Government forces. While the area's history has been studied in detail, the physical remains of the early settlements have only just begun to be investigated.
Alexander has written about the massacre and the recent fieldwork in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now. His article is also available online at The Past website, along with exclusive extra content from our archives.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Bridge over troubled water: Roman finds from the Tees at Piercebridge and beyond
On this episode of the PastCast, archaeologists Hella Eckardt and Philippa Walton discuss Roman finds made at Piercebridge, on the River Tees near Darlington. Between the mid-1980s and 2018, two divers excavated more than 3,600 objects from the site, before passing them on to Walton. Now, thanks to a two-year project funded by the Leverhulme Trust, the entire assemblage of finds will be published.
Eckardt and Walton are the authors of Bridge over troubled water: the Roman finds from the River Tees at Piercebridge in context, which is available to buy from the Roman Society. An Open Access version is also available here, while all the items from Piercebridge are catalogued on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database.
Be sure to check out their article on Piercebridge in the latest issue of Current Archaeology. It is also available online at The Past website, along with exclusive extra content from our archives.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Valkenburg's Roman fortress: a springboard for the conquest of Britannia?
On this episode of the PastCast, archaeologist Wouter Vos discusses his involvement in recent excavations at Valkenburg in the Netherlands. Valkenburg is already renowned for its Roman archaeology, thanks to an auxiliary camp excavated there after the Second World War.
But now, new research has uncovered evidence of a larger and more significant legionary fortress, which may have played a role in the Roman invasion of Britain. Vos shared these findings with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Vos is co-author of an article in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, in which the findings at Valkenburg are discussed in-depth. The magazine is out now in the UK and in the rest of the world in August. It is also accessible online at The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
The Antikythera Mechanism: an Ancient Greek machine rewriting the history of technology
A seemingly unassuming lump of corroded bronze has confounded investigators for more than century, ever since it proved to contain precision gear wheels that simply should not have existed in the Ancient Greek world. Now, a new study into the Antikythera Mechanism, named after the island off which it was found, has used cutting-edge techniques to reveal what this machine could do, and how it did it.
On this episode of the PastCast, Professor Tony Freeth discusses his involvement in this study, as well as what researchers made of the mechanism when it was first uncovered, and what it tells us about the technology of the Ancient Greek world. Freeth is joined by PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.
You can read more about the Antikythera Mechanism and the recent research in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology, out on 22 July in the UK and in the rest of the world the following month, as well as online at The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.
Nelson’s greatest victory: Why Trafalgar was the climax of a naval revolution
On this episode of the PastCast, Dr Graham Goodlad discusses how Horatio Nelson cemented his status as a British naval hero in October 1805 when the fleet he commanded defeated the combined forces of the French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar, at the height of the Napoleonic Wars. Graham spoke with PastCast presenter, Calum Henderson.
Nelson’s tactic was to ‘break the line’, which involved cutting through and manoeuvring his fleet as close to the enemy’s as possible and destroying their ships one by one. This devastating strategy was developed by previous generations of British admirals, but was used most decisively at Trafalgar, the event which also claimed Nelson’s life.
In the latest issue of Military History Matters magazine, out now in the UK and in the United States and Canada in August, we have a special feature on Nelson exploring his upbringing, his early successes, and the key factors that made Trafalgar the victory it is still remembered as today. You can also read the entire special feature online at The Past website.
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the realms of history, archaeology, heritage, and the ancient world. You can subscribe to The Past today for just £7.99. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider liking it, subscribing, and sharing it around.