Naked Archaeology, from the Naked Scientists

Landscapes: Drainage, Plants and Palaces

We're back! And this month we start by taking a tour of the terribly glamorous ditches in East Anglia. Yes, the whole landscape is one giant piece of drainage archaeology

Annual Round-Up of Archaeology

This month we return to some of the moist enjoyable archaeological interviews recorded this year. There's everything from alien donkeys, to Pompeiian poo, speared boxes a

Bayesian Prehistory, Surface Metals and Sea Defenses

This month: how a neat piece of statistical analysis has led to the construction of a prehistoric history; how satellites have revealed some hidden Egyptian pyramids; how

Detailed Science of Dating, Data and Ceramics

This month: the most recent Neanderthals in the Caucasus, the science of ceramic petrology, the truth about 'The Anthropocene' and Syrian hunting traps. Plus, in Backyard

Dam Busting, Ancient Archaeologists and Iron Age Fort Raids

Researchers re-create the experiments carried out by Barnes Wallis on the bouncing bomb; we discuss the Texan pre-Clovis finds; the Nichoria bone earns its place at multi

Warrior Art, Fire and Throwing Spears

This month: Aegean warriors in art; the most genetically diverse people in the world; prehistoric Californian seafarers; Neanderthals building fires; and atlatls! Like th

Egyptian Looting, Behavioural Variability and Pollen

This month: current events in Egypt affecting ancient artefacts; Britons fashioning cups from skulls; games played in the Indus; and when humans behaved like humans. Plus

First Farmer DNA, Crystals and Chessmen

This month's divested archaeology consists of the mitochondrial DNA of Europe's first farmers; how to identify plaster using infrared light; who the Denisovans were; what

Roman bodies, site survival and collapse

This month: why a Roman horse became a donkey; how part of Pompeii recently collapsed; how a Roman village survived underneath London; and what obesity meant to the Roman

Hard-to-Reach Heritage: Israel and Peru

We make our way to some of the least accessible bits of heritage this month: Naked Scientist Laura Soul treks to Machu Picchu and we hear about the fenced-off Palestinian

Maya burial and abandonment

This month we explore the dramatic burial of an El Zotz Maya king; he was seemingly interred with the remains of six sacrificed children. Also under the spotlight is the

Roman food: before and after

What did the Romans eat at their feasts? What came out the other end afterwards? This month we explore the toilets of Pompeii and the kinds of food eaten by its inhabitan

Human remains and genetic legacies

Human remains are our main topic of interest in this month's Naked Archaeology. Diana and Duncan explore the nature of Bronze Age cremations, the repatriation of Yagan's

Southeast Asia: Hobbits and Niah Caves

The diminutive, one-time inhabitants of Flores are probably the most famous early humans from this area of the world but where does H. floresiensis fit into our family tr

Australian Archaeology and Rabbit Warrens

This month on Naked Archaeology: when and how did the first humans make it to Australia? We unearth the evidence from archaeology and genetics. Also this month we discove

Changing sea levels and thin sections

This month on Naked Archaeology: the discovery of a possible link between genus Homo and Australopithecus - Aus. sediba; we find out how people first made it to Cyprus; w

First cities and first writing: Mesopotamia

How is it that the first farms, cities and writing all originated in Mesopotamia, now Iraq? We explore the so-called 'fertile crescent' and fanatical record-keeping in th

Illicit Antiquities: Repatriation and Curating

This month we divest the darker world of black market archaeology. We find out how illicit antiquities can be tracked down after being lost for decades and how they can b

Make-up, Cleopatra and Temples

Neanderthals wore make-up too! We explore the cosmetics worn by early humans and Egyptians. Naked Archaeology this month also explores the discovery of Cleopatra's unfini

Troy, Ithaca and Iceland

This month in divested archaeology we cover the archaeology that just happened to turn up in the legends of Homer. We find out about the man who discovered Troy, Heinrich