Seven Ages Audio Journal

In this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we lead off the discussion with news from around the world of archaeology, highlighting a 9,000-year-old shrine in Jordan and a new article from the Mammoth Trumpet Journal discussing perishable technologies with former SAAJ guests J.M. Advasio and Tom Dillehay.

We then feature an in-depth interview with David Kilby of Texas State University and the Ancient Southwest Texas Project to discuss the Bonfire Shelter bison jump. David Kilby has a long history of archaeological work at famous sites such as Blackwater Draw, Murray Springs, Mockingbird Gap, Folsom, and the Rio Rancho Folsom site. 

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast:

• Our Sponsors: The Smokey Mountain Relic Room
• David Kilby | Texas State University

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we lead off the discussion with a memorial to the late Tennessee archaeologist David Dean. Remembering David's life and work with us is a friend of the program, Chase Pipes of the Smoky Mountain Relic Room, along with fellow Tennessee archaeologists Jay Franklin and Zoen McLachlan. 

Then for the remainder of the program, the team is joined by Bretton Giles and Shawn Lambert, who are the co-editors of a new anthology entitled New Methods and Theories for Analyzing Mississippian Imagery. Bretton T. Giles is an assistant research professor in sociology, anthropology, and social work at Kansas State University. Shawn P. Lambert is an assistant professor of anthropology and senior research associate with the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room
• THE BOOK: New Methods and Theories for Analyzing Mississippian Imagery

Approximately 3600 years ago, new evidence may indicate that a cosmic airburst leveled the ancient city of Tall el-Hammam, a Middle-Bronze-Age site in the southern Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea. 

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we are joined by returning guests Malcolm Lecompte, Christopher R. Moore, and for his first appearance, Timothy Witwer for an in-depth discussion about their paper, "A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea." 

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room
• THE PAPER: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea.
• MORE FROM MOORE: A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom

In this episode of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we continue our series on the enigmatic site of Göbekli Tepe in Anatolia, Turkey, as we are joined by Martin Sweatman, Ph.D., author of the book Prehistory Decoded and a number of research publications related to Göbekli Tepe.

Sweatman's academic background is in statistical mechanics, the physical theory that links the properties of particles to the properties of matter. He heads a  research group is mainly interested in theoretical aspects of classical statistical mechanics, as well as the design of new kinds of advanced material or engineering process. Typically, this involves developing or using Monte Carlo molecular simulation or classical density functional theory methods.

However, Sweatman's study of the rock carvings at Göbekli Tepe have brought statistics into the study of this ancient site, which expands the possibilities as far as their meaning to the ancient hands who carved them. 

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room
• Martin Sweatman, Ph.D. Website
• Prehistory Decoded (Paperback) - Martin Sweatman
• Episode Art: "Vulture Stone, Gobekli Tepe, Sanliurfa, South-east Anatolia, Turkey (CC 2.0/Wikimedia Commons)

Göbekli Tepe is arguably one of the most captivating archaeological sites in anywhere in the world, not just for its age, but for its artisanship. The location is perhaps best known not just for its age, but for the iconic pillar structures that are a mainstay of the site. In this special edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we look at this enigmatic ancient site, and what its discovery has meant for Archaeology in the 21st century. 

Joining us to discuss her work at the site is Sarah Kielt Costello, Associate Professor of Art History and Director of the Humanities Program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. She earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the State University of New York, Binghamton and her M.A. in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. Her research areas include Mesopotamian and Cypriot prehistory and museum and heritage studies. She is a co-editor of several volumes, and her work is also published in the journals Cambridge Archaeological Journal and Antiquity.

Dr. Costello has excavated in Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, and Greece and in 2013 participated as a Fulbright Fellow in the Summer Session at the American School of Classical Studies. In 2021, she was awarded a University Faculty Fellowship in recognition of exemplary teaching, research, and service to UHCL. We discuss her work at Göbekli Tepe on this edition of the podcast, and what can be derived about the ways of life in the ancient world from the study of this site's captivating art and monumental structures.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room
• Sarah K. Costello at the University of Houston Clear Lake
• Object Biographies: Collaborative Approaches to Ancient Mediterranean Art (Menil Collection, 2021)
• Seals and Sealings in the Ancient World (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
• Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World
• Episode Art: "Göbeklitepe Şanlıurfa" by Beytullah else (CC 4.0/Wikimedia Commons)

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team focuses on one of the earliest and greatest mysteries in early American History: the famous Lost Colony of Roanoke. Joining us to discuss this historical mystery is Phillip Evans of The First Colony Foundation, a North Carolina 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that, according to its website, is "dedicated to conducting archaeological and historical research, combined with public education and interpretation, relating to the story of America’s beginnings with the attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish English colonies at Roanoke Island in the 1580s under his charter from Queen Elizabeth I." We discuss the Foundation's efforts to utilize archaeology in resolving the mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. 

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• The First Colony Foundation Online
• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we discuss the ancient Mississippian city of Cahokia, its mysterious collapse, and cultural significance in pre-Columbian North America. Joining us to discuss the riddle of Cahokia and its decline is Tim Pauketat,  the Illinois State Archaeologist and a professor of Anthropology and Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois.

Dr. Pauketat is the Director of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, one of the largest archaeological research units in the United States. He was trained in global archaeology at the University of Michigan but has chosen to focus on the peoples and history of eastern North America and the Plains. Director Pauketat has published extensively on his research at the ancient city of Cahokia and other medieval-era sites along the Mississippi, having written or edited 16 books, including The Archaeology of Ancient North America, Medieval Mississippians, and Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City. We discuss the ancient earthworks of the site, and what archaeology tells us about the mysterious rise and fall of this ancient American city. 

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Timothy Pauketat at the University of Illinois
• Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi
• Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians (Case Studies in Early Societies)
• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room

"Cahokia" image in this episode's art by Michael Hampshire, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

On this special edition of the podcast, we go in search of answers to one of American Archaeology's most enduring mysteries: the enigmatic Clovis people and their unique technology. Who were the hunters that designed the fluted projectile point, regarded by some as "America's first invention," and what happened to them and their technology at the end of the last ice age? Did they truly vanish, or does the rise and sudden disappearance of what archaeologists call Clovis represent something far more complex?

Our investigation of the Clovis enigma takes us back to the first decade of the 20th century with the discoveries at Folsom, New Mexico, followed by those at Blackwater Draw, which effectively put Clovis on the map. We then examine archaeological perspectives on the Clovis people, including who they were, how and when they arrived in the Americas, and what makes their highly specialized technology so significant. Finally, we also explore the lingering shadow of "pre-Clovis" sites that predate the appearance of these distinctive fluted lithic points. 

Our exploration of the Clovis enigma leaves us with more questions than answers, and stands testament to why archaeologists remain fascinated with this enigmatic cultural manifestation, their technology, and their lasting imprint on the world of the Ancient Americas. 

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Carolina Bays and Ice Age Carolinas - NASA Earth Observatory
• Randy Daniel’s Book: Time, Typology, and Point Traditions in North Carolina Archaeology: Formative Cultures Reconsidered (Archaeology of the American South: New Directions and Perspectives)
• Our Sponsors: The Smoky Mountain Relic Room

On this special "After Dark" edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the gents join for an after-hours gathering in the Cross-Tyme Pub, as we explore the more esoteric side of archaeology and humanity's past. With that, our focus during this discussion has to do with the archaeology of magic.

We are joined by Dr. C. Riley Augé, the University of Montana’s Anthropological Collections Facility curator and instructor of many archaeology and cultural anthropology courses, such as “Myth, Ritual, and Religion.” She specializes in the anthropological and archaeological study of belief systems where her research and national and international publications emphasize the emotive and sensorial aspects of ritual behaviors and religious and magical beliefs. She was awarded the Society for Historical Archaeology 2016 Kathleen Kirk Gilmore Dissertation Award for her work on gendered magic, which is the basis for her book The Archaeology of Magic: Gender and Domestic Protection in Seventeenth-Century New England.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• C. Riley Auge: University of Montana
• The Archaeology of Magic: Gender and Domestic Protection in Seventeenth-Century New England

On this special holiday edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, after the team recaps some of the top archaeological stories of 2020, we are then joined by guests Andy Hemmings and Jim Dunbar, for a discussion of archaeological work being conducted along Florida's waterways. 

Andy Hemmings grew up in Minnesota around the Twin Cities. In 1991 he graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Anthropology, and after doing contract archaeology for a time, he worked in the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department before heading to graduate school at the University of Florida. Hemmings received his Anthropology Masters in 1999, and Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Florida, followed by a Post-doctoral Fellowship with the Gault Project at the University of Texas.

Jim Dunbar is an archaeologist with a research focus on Paleoindian (and pre-Clovis) populations, primarily in Florida. He was an employee with the Bureau of Archaeological Research and is now engaged full-time in archaeological research. He has an extensive publication record and completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 2012. His research includes the excavations at Wakulla Springs (funded by National Geographic), as well as the Norden site, Page-Ladson on the Aucilla River, and dozens of other sites. And, as we have heard, he has probably seen more Paleoindian sites than anyone in Florida.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• NEWS: The Top 10 Archaeological discoveries 2020
• JUDITH JESCH ONLINE: University of Nottingham Bio Page

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, the team is joined for a wide-reaching discussion about ancient Scandinavia, Viking culture, and ancient texts by Professor Judith Jesch. 

Jesch was educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania (USA), as well as Durham, where she received her BA in English Language and Medieval Literature, and Oslo, Norway, as part of the Leverhulme Study Abroad Studentship. Finally, she received her Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies in London at UCL. Before coming to Nottingham in 1985, Jesch worked as a Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). "During my time at Nottingham," she tells us, "I have been Head of the School of English Studies (2001-4), and was promoted to Professor of Viking Studies in 2002." The team enjoys quite a deep discussion on Viking Studies, runology, and much more with Professor Jesch on this holiday edition of the podcast.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• NEWS: Archaeologists in Norway find rare Viking ship burial using GPR
• JUDITH JESCH ONLINE: University of Nottingham Bio Page

On this special Legacy Series edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we celebrate International Archaeology Month with one of the most influential American archaeologists today: J.M. Adovasio, who led cutting edge excavations at Pennsylvania's Meadowcroft Rockshelter for several successive seasons beginning in the early 1970s. 

J. M. Adovasio received his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1965 and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Utah in 1970. Since that time, he has served as a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution (1972 – 1973) and as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh (1973 – 1990). Adovasio is generally considered to be the world’s leading authority in the arena of perishable artifact analysis. Since 1970, he has published books, book chapters, manuscripts, and technical papers numbering more than 400. These notably include The Invisible Sex (with Olga Soffer and Jake Page). He is also the author of Strangers in a New Land: What Archaeology Reveals About the First Americans, which is one of the most visually appealing and, arguably, simply one of the finest books on Paleoindian archaeology in the Americas.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• NEWS: How the Vampire Got His Fangs: An incisive history of a Halloween snarl
• J.M. ADOVASIO: James Adovasio - Archaeological Institute of America
• The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory
• The First Americans: In Pursuit of Archaeology's Greatest Mystery
• Strangers in a New Land: What Archaeology Reveals About the First Americans

On this edition of the program, Jason, James and Micah lead off with some discussion about recent discoveries in archaeology, which included a trove of Islamic coins that were unearthed during a salvage dig by archaeologists in Israel. We are then joined by a friend of the program, Doug Sain, Ph.D, a professional archaeologist who has overseen fieldwork throughout the southeastern United States, and who spent years working with lithic materials retrieved from the controversial Topper archaeological site in South Carolina. 

Douglas Sain obtained his doctorate at the University of Tennessee, specializing in lithic technology and Paleoindian Archaeology. He received his Master’s degree in Anthropology from Eastern New Mexico University and his Bachelor of Science degree from Appalachian State University. His thesis research documents Clovis blade technology and Technological organization at the Topper Site (38AL23) in Allendale County South Carolina. Beginning in 2005, he worked as a site supervisor at the Topper site in Allendale County, South Carolina, and with Dr. Al Goodyear, has published on Clovis blade technology in the Central Savannah River Valley of South Carolina. His dissertation research focused on Paleoindian lithic technology and the pre-Clovis component at the Topper Site.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• NEWS: Early Islamic gold coins unearthed by archaeologists in Israel
• PAPERS BY DOUG SAIN, Ph.D.
• Clovis Blade Technology at the Topper Site (38AL23): Assessing Lithic Attribute Variation and Regional Patterns of Technological Organization
• Pre Clovis at Topper (38AL23): Evaluating the Role of Human versus Natural Agency in the Formation of Lithic Deposits from a Pleistocene Terrace in the American Southeast

On this edition of the program we lead off with a discussion about new findings in a Texas cave which researchers think may challenge theories about an ancient climate change event in Paleoindian America. Then later in the program, we are joined by Dr. David Carballo of Boston University, who discusses his new book Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain (Oxford University Press). In his book, Dr. Carballo looks at the fall of the Aztec Empire before the Spanish, and the way this pivotal turning point in America set the stage for a more globalized world.

David is a specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology, focusing particularly on the prehispanic civilizations of central Mexico. Currently, ongoing projects at the ancient city of Teotihuacan include the Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga, Teotihuacan (PATT), and the Proyecto Plaza de las Columnas. The first seeks to understand urbanization, neighborhood organization, and the daily life of commoners through excavations and geophysical prospection within a southern district of the city. The second is focused on palace compounds and is aimed at understanding the city’s political economy.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Dr. David Carballo's page at Boston University's website
• Academia.edu Webpage
• Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we are joined by Bettina Arnold, who discusses the archaeological practices that occurred during the National Socialist regime in Nazi Germany, and their efforts to use the past as propaganda. 

Arnold obtained her BA in Archaeology from Yale University and her MA and PhD degrees in Anthropology from Harvard University. She is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she served as the Co-Director of the Center for Celtic Studies from 2000-2009 and Coordinator of the Museum Studies Graduate Program from 1996-2012. Her area of expertise is the pre-Roman European Iron Age, but in the course of her career she has participated in archaeological projects ranging from the Middle Bronze Age through the early medieval period in western Europe. Since 1999 she has co-directed the “Landscape of Ancestors” research project in southwest-Germany focused on the burial record of the early Iron Age Heuneburg hillfort and its environs.

Among other projects, she has been involved in the study of socio-political history of archaeology and museum collecting, especially their involvement in identity construction in 19th and 20th century nationalist and ethnic movements in Europe and the United States.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
• Dr. Bettina Arnold's page at the University of Milwaukee
• "The past as propaganda: totalitarian archaeology in Nazi Germany"

Music featured in this episode:

• "Horizons" Scott Buckley (YouTube)
• "Phoenix" Lahar (YouTube)

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we are proud to present the first in our Legacy Series, featuring Tom D. Dillehay, Ph.D. These special podcasts will examine the life, careers, and work of some of the world’s most prominent and influential modern archaeologists.

Dr. Dillehay is the Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Religion, and Culture and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies in the Department of Anthropology, Professor Extraordinaire and Honorary Doctorate at the Universidad Austral de Chile, International Professor in the Programa de Estudios Andinos in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru, Lima, and adjunct faculty at the Universidad Catolica de Temuco, Universidad de Tarapaca, Universidad San Sebastian in Chile and the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo in Peru. Professor Dillehay has carried out numerous archaeological and anthropological projects in Peru, Chile, Argentina and other South American countries and in the United States.

Professor Dillehay has published twenty-two books and more than three hundred refereed journal articles and book chapters. He currently directs several interdisciplinary projects focused on long-term human and environmental interaction on the north coast of Peru and on the political and cultural identity of the Mapuche people in Chile. Professor Dillehay has received numerous international and national awards for his research, books and teaching. Professor Dillehay is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

This episode will explore the incredibly important archaeological site of Monte Verde, Chile. The research conducted at this site by Dr. Dillehay and associates reveals some of the earliest and most important information concerning the peopling of the Americas.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
• Tom Dillehay's page at Vanderbilt University
• Tom Dillehay’s TEDx talk, “Touching Deep Native American History”

Music featured in this episode:

• "Quiet Storm" Audio Library (YouTube)
• "Budda" Audio Library (YouTube)

On this edition of the podcast, we are joined first by Michael Frank of Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC, who we are proud to welcome to the Seven Ages family as a sponsor of the program. After a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology Field School, Michael worked conserving archaeological artifacts in the vast collections of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History. Heavily influenced during his time there by pioneering archaeologists Dr. Dennis Stanford and Dr. Pegi Jodry, Michael’s specialty is analyzing and demonstrating the correct stages of how paleo objects were made by primitive peoples.

Then for the remainder of the program, we are joined by Andrew M. T. Moore, an honorary President of the Archaeological Institute of America. Since 1960, Dr. Moore has participated in archaeological surveys, excavations, and field research in England, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. His earlier research concentrated on the advent of agriculture and sedentary life in western Asia, especially in Syria, which was the focus of a recent paper he co-authored which was published in the journal Nature titled "Evidence of Cosmic Impact at Abu Hureyra, Syria at the Younger Dryas Onset (~12.8 ka): High-temperature melting at >2200 °C." In it, Moore and his colleagues present new evidence that strengthens the case for a cosmic impact that occurred around the time of the Younger Dryas 12,700 years ago.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
• Andrew M.T. Moore at the Archaeological Institute of America
• Evidence of Cosmic Impact at Abu Hureyra, Syria at the Younger Dryas Onset (~12.8 ka): High-temperature melting at >2200 °C

Music featured in this episode:

• "Modern Middle East" Vlog Music (YouTube)

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, we are proud to present an international sampling of two content-rich media productions. First, we are joined by Rupert Soskin and Michael Bott of The Prehistory Guys podcast and film production company. 

These intrepid gentlemen comb the British countryside examining, researching and filming the United Kingdom’s many megalithic sites, creating film documentaries about each location and building on their research through a well-produced podcast. 

We are then joined by Raven Todd DaSilva of the Dig it with Raven video blog and YouTube channel. According to her website, “I started this video blog as a passion project to make learning about Archaeology, Art Conservation, and History accessible and exciting for everyone.”

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• The Prehistory Guys
• Dig it with Raven

Music featured in this episode:

• "Middle East Beat" Soul Prod (YouTube)
• "Lucid Dreaming" Till (YouTube)

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, in addition to news and archaeology updates, we are joined by Ryan Gill, an expert in the recreation of primitive weapons and archaeological consultant in ancient hunting methods and tools.

According to his website, "Professional primitive weapons/tools builder, Ryan Gill has been digging deep to resurrect tools and techniques to Entertain, Educate, and Inspire generations on stone age hunting. Not only has he taken dozens of animals with his hand made equipment, but he also has built a business around his journey to be able to continue to share it with as many people as possible while also supporting his craft and family. Ryan has also breached into the world of academics and is now a professional consultant and builder for the Anthropology department at Texas A&M University."

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• Sea level fingerprinting detects source of the Younger Dryas climate event
• Data could yield big discoveries in archaeology of the Inca Empire
• ‘Antique’ explosive found in downtown Charleston basement
• Hunt Primitive: Gill's Primitive Archery Page

Music featured in this episode:

• "After Thought" Density&Time  (YouTube)

On this edition of the Seven Ages Audio Journal, after news pertaining to the surprising results of DNA studies in West Africa and a Japanese experiment in search of answers about ancient seafaring, we turn our attention to one of the greatest controversies in modern science that unites the fields of archaeology, geology, and climate science: the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. Joining us to discuss it are two leading experts on the topic--a geoarchaeologist and a planetary scientist--who offer their perspectives on the latest developments in support of this hotly debated theory.

Christopher R. Moore, PhD, is a geoarchaeologist and Special Projects Director with the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program. His research interests include site formation processes and geochronology of stratified sites in the southeastern Coastal Plain, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, early hunter-gatherer adaptations, lithic technology, and immunological blood residue analysis of stone tools.

Chris is also the lead researcher of the White Pond Human Paleoecology Project and has authored and coauthored numerous papers on the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis including one documenting the presence of widespread Platinum anomalies at the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB) as well as a recent paper on White Pond (near Elgin, SC) supporting the YD impact hypothesis.

Malcolm Lecompte is a planetary scientist and remote sensing specialist. He holds a B.S. with Honors in Physics from the University of Wyoming and an MS in Astro-geophysics from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He received his Ph.D. in Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Sciences in 1984.

Lecompte also became affiliated with the Naval Aviation reserve in 1980, and before ending his military flight career in 1991, compiled over 1,000 hours of military aircrew and private pilot time, officially retiring from the Naval Reserve as a Commander in 1998 after 23 years of active service.

From 2004 until 2009, after a post-doctoral appointment at the Harvard College Observatory and Smithsonian Center Astrophysics (as well as a period managing DoD sponsored R&D projects), Lecompte held a faculty position as an Associate Professor and Research Director at Elizabeth City State University’s Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research.

Now retired, LeCompte has since devoted himself to investigating earth impacts during the late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs by asteroid and comets. He is currently working in collaboration with colleagues at ECSU and other research organizations.

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Below are links to stories covered on this edition of the podcast: 

• 'Ghost' DNA In West Africans Complicates Story Of Human Origins
• Early Modern Humans Could Sail, Archaeologists Confirm

Music featured in this episode:

• "Horizon" MONIN  (YouTube)
• "Eva" – 失望した (Youtube)