The Enigma of Judaculla Rock and Track Rock Gap | SAAJ 66

In this episode, the Seven Ages team gathers at the Cross-Tyme Pub to discuss the latest stories from the world of history and archaeology. We begin with the recent paper concerning the Younger Dryas Impact and its ability to help date artifacts from various paleo sites across the United States. Next, we discuss a discovery from a Wyoming Clovis site of a small but significant bead and an underwater megalithic structure discovered in the Baltic Sea. 

Then we are joined by journalist Roger Atwood to discuss his incredible book Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World.

Roger Atwood is a regular contributor to ARTnews and Archaeology magazines, and his articles on culture and politics have appeared in The New Republic, Mother Jones, The Nation, The Miami Herald, and The Boston Globe. Atwood was a journalist for Reuters for over fifteen years, reporting from Peru, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, and a senior editor at their Washington, D.C. bureau. He is currently a fellow at the Alicia Patterson Foundation.

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Prehistoric blast helps date stone artifacts 

Archaeologists discover oldest known bead in the Americas 

Baltic Sea megastructure 

Roger Atwood 

In this episode, the team begins with the latest news from the world of archaeology concerning the controversial dating of the Gunung Padang complex in Indonesia. This enigmatic site has been at the center of international discussion for several years with clear lines of delineation being drawn between supporters of its extreme antiquity and those who dispute its authenticity as a 20 thousand-plus-year-old site. 

Next, we are joined by renowned cultural anthropologist Anthony Kail for an in-depth discussion about his new book Fieldwork with the Saints: An Ethnographic Journey into Santeria in the American South.

Anthony Kail serves as President of AnthroFolk Research Associates. Anthony Kail is a cultural anthropologist and writer. Kail has researched magico-religious cultures for more than thirty years. His work has taken him from Santeria ceremonies in Cuba to Haitian Botanicas in Harlem and Spiritual Churches in East Africa. He has lectured at hundreds of universities, conferences, and public safety agencies. Kail has been featured on CNN Online, the History Channel, and numerous radio, television, and print outlets.

He is the author of several books including A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo from The History Press and Magico-Religious Groups and Ritualistic Activities: A Guide for First-Responders from CRC Press. Kail is an anthropology instructor at Southern New Hampshire University.

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Gunung Padang Smithsonian Article 

Anthro Folk Website 

Fieldwork with the Saints: Purchase Link (Amazon) 

In this episode the team welcomes a roundtable panel to discuss the 2022 scientific paper The Hopewell airburst event 1699-1567 years ago (252-383 CE). This controversial paper has since been refuted by our panel members. In this interview the panel will present all of the information surrounding the 2022 paper and present their evidence for refuting the claim that the Hopewell culture was greatly affected or even destroyed by a cosmic event.

Our panel consists of lead author Dr. Kevin Nolan. Dr. Nolan is the Director and Senior Archaeologist in the Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL), an institute within the College of Sciences and Humanities at Ball State University. His research specializations include: Prehistoric Archaeology, CRM, GIS, Ohio River Valley, Paleoenvironments, Soil geochemistry, and Geophysics.

Next, we welcome Dr. Tony Krus. Dr. Krus is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Dakota in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. His current research focuses on chronological modeling, human-environmental relationships, and archaeological fieldwork of late-Holocene communities, primarily in the Eastern Woodlands and the Plains.

We also welcome, Dr. Tim McCoy: Dr. McCoy is a Curator of Meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution. His work primarily focuses on using meteorites to understand the differentiation of asteroids in the early Solar System and he has worked on 6 robotic spacecraft missions. Relative to this project, he has studied artifacts made from iron meteorites, including Hopewell beads from Havana, IL.

Finally, we round out the panel with Dr. Laura Murphy is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, where she teaches many archaeology courses, including the popular "Archaeological Myths, Frauds, and Controversies" course. She is a geoarchaeologist specializing in paleoenvironmental reconstruction using soils. Dr. Murphy holds her Bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University, and her MA and PhD from the University of Kansas. She is also a former National Park Ranger who worked at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, Ohio.

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The Hopewell airburst event, 1699-1567 years ago 

Refuting the sensational claim of a Hopewell-ending cosmic airburst 

In this episode of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team discusses the latest news out of China concerning recently discovered remains of a possible third human lineage. Next, the team discusses the upcoming Arkhaios Film Festival for cultural heritage and archaeology. 

The Seven Ages team is happy to welcome the world-renowned paleoanthropologist Dr. Lee Berger to the show for his first appearance. Dr. Berger joins us to discuss his new book Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins. We also go in-depth on the new Netflix documentary Unknown: Cave of Bones. 

Lee Berger is an award-winning paleoanthropologist whose explorations into human origins on the African continent, Asia, and Micronesia for the past three decades have resulted in many new discoveries, including the discovery of two new species of early human relatives – Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi. These discoveries were recognized by the Smithsonian as among the ten most important scientific discoveries of the decade in 2020. A current National Geographic Explorer in Residence, Berger won the first National Geographic Society Research and Exploration Prize in 1997. He was also named the Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year in 2016 and two years later, became an Explorer at Large. In 2016 he was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Berger has held positions at the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa since 1991, where until recently he served as the Phillip Tobias Chair in Human Evolution. He has also served in a number of advisory roles, including the Global Young Academy, the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa, and has chaired the Fulbright Commission. As an Explorer in Residence, Berger leads National Geographic’s “Rising Star” project, named for the cave system and fossil site in southern Africa where he conducts his research. Teams under his leadership have recovered more individual hominid remains in sub-equatorial Africa over the last decade than were recovered in the previous 90 years. The 2015 PBS Nova National Geographic documentary "Dawn of Humanity" about Berger’s discovery of Homo naledi and the Rising Star expedition was nominated for an Emmy. Berger’s curiosity and passion for understanding the roots of humanity powers his work to advance knowledge about the origins of our species.

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Remains found in China may belong to third human lineage 

Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins

Arkhaios Film Festival  

In this episode of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team discusses the latest news from the world of archeology including the destruction of a famous French megalithic site and the surprising DNA results from Machu Picchu in Peru. 

Next, we welcome the return of Christopher R. Moore to discuss his newly published paper on immunological residue analysis on Paleoindian lithic projectile points and tools. This fascinating discussion takes the listener through the various steps and outcomes of a truly cutting-edge and forward-thinking approach to archaeology. 

Christopher R. Moore received a B.S. in Anthropology from Appalachian State University in 1997, an M.A. in Anthropology from East Carolina University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in Coastal Resources Management (with a focus in geoscience) from East Carolina University in 2009. Chris's research interests include geoarchaeology, early hunter-gatherers, Late Quarternary climate and human adaptation, and blood residue analysis. 

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Paleoamerican exploitation of extinct megafauna 

In this episode of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team welcomes Dr. Jannie Loubser from Stratum Unlimited. Dr. Loubser discusses his work and the mythology of the enigmatic sites of Judaculla Rock, North Carolina, and Track Rock Gap in Northern Georgia. In the second half of the program, Dr. Loubser presents a special slideshow presentation of the detailed petroglyphs from both sites. 

Johannes (Jannie) Loubser, Ph.D. and RPA, is the archaeologist and rock art specialist at Stratum Unlimited, LLC.   In 1989 Johannes Loubser received a Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. In the same year, he also received a post-graduate diploma in rock art conservation and management from the University of Canberra, Australia.  Loubser is a Research Associate at the Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) at the University of the Witwatersrand and the LAMAR Research Institiute in Georgia.  He is also a Getty Conservation Institute’s Rock Art Network (RAN) member. He has worked on numerous archaeological and rock art projects in southern and eastern Africa, North and South America, Australia, Hawaii, and the Caribbean islands.  

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Stratum Unlimited 

In this installment of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, hosts Micah Hanks and Jason Pentrail lead off the show with a discussion on the newest discoveries in the world of DNA and cultural studies. This is followed by an update on artificial intelligence and the possibilities for its use in archaeology in the years ahead, and how AI is already leading to new innovations in the field of anthropology. Then, the team is joined by the Professor of Anthropology at Ball State University Mark Hill to discuss the enigmatic Hopewell culture. 

In his first appearance on the show, Dr. Hill discusses his research on the long-distance trade networks of the Woodland culture known as the Hopewell, including the copper culture from Michigan and using various other long-distance trade materials within the realm of the Hopewell sphere. Professor Mark Hill's research interests include prehistoric exchange systems among the Hopewell, as well as social networks, and gift economies; development of regional systems of interaction; hunter-gatherers and early horticulturalists of the upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and northern Great Plains; lithic analysis; archaeological chemistry; heritage resource management.

We discuss all of this, and much more with Dr. Hill in this special installment of the program. 

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Dr. Mark Hill 

In this special extended edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team welcomes Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth, who shares his fascinating story of conquering the jungles of South America to find one of the most significant and awe-inspiring tombs at the Mayan site of Tikal in the 1960s at the age of nineteen (a YouTube video and slide presentation appearing on the Seven Ages YouTube Channel will accompany this special edition).

Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth has an undergraduate degree, from Harvard; a Master’s degree from Brown University, and three different post-graduate research positions at Yale University. With his Ph.D. from the University of Gratz, Hellmuth is a previous research professor in digital photography at Rollins College and at Brevard Community College both in Florida. He was a Visiting Research Professor of (digital imaging and digital printing) simultaneously at BGSU (in Ohio) and Universidad Francisco Marrokeen (Guatemala) from 2000-2005. He now works full-time on the flora and fauna of Mayan areas of Mesoamerica and also works with the foundation for Latin American Anthropological Research. (FLAAR)

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FLAAR Mesoamerica 

In this special presentation, the Seven Ages Audio Journal presents a "subscriber sample" of content from our Seven Ages Patreon Channel, where we talk with renowned archaeologist Jay Franklin of EcoPlan Associates Inc. about the perils and complexities of cave archaeology. We also delve into the worlds of Cherokee settlement and Mississippian sites. The content presented in this episode is from our Patreon podcast Digging Deeper.

We offer three tiers of membership as well as three exclusive podcasts for Patreon, The Cross Tyme Pub, Digging Deeper, and The Green Dragon Book Club. Join us today on Patreon for all this exclusive content and much more. 

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In this episode of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team begins with the latest news from the world of archaeology. Micah covers the story of crab-roasting Neanderthals, after which Jason presents the discovery of a 7.5-foot Japanese sword in a burial mound outside of Nara, Japan. Then, James rounds out the news portion with the discovery of a Roman dodecahedron by a metal detector in Belgium. 

The team then welcomes Oregon State University Professor Dr. Loren Davis to the program, who discusses his work at Idaho's enigmatic Cooper's Ferry Site, home to a large concentration of western stemmed points thought to pre-date Clovis projectile points by at least 1,500 years or more. Radiocarbon dates on the charcoal and bone are as old as 15,500 years. In North America, few tree ring records can precisely calibrate such early radiocarbon dates, but a state-of-the-art probabilistic model placed the start of the occupation at between 16,560 and 15,280 years. 

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