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Welcome to The Dirt on the Past from The Extreme History Project and Gallatin Valley Community Radio, KGVM. Whether digging up a site or dusting off the archives, we bring you some of the most fascinating and cutting edge research in history and archaeology, and discuss why it matters today. Join co-hosts, Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney as we converse with professionals in the fields of history, archaeology, and anthropology who bring the past…into the present.
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 09, 2021
Wednesday Jun 09, 2021
Join us as we talk with archaeologist Scott Carpenter about his career, including his time as Chief of Cultural Resources at Yosemite National Park, the excavation of a cache of obsidian artifacts, his work with indigenous communities, and his documentation of a portion of the Lewis and Clark trail.
To learn more:
Return the National Parks to the Tribes https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/05/return-the-national-parks-to-the-tribes/618395/
From Cliff to Cache: Analysis of a Middle Archaic Obsidian Cache from Southwestern Montana lithics-chapter10 (2).pdf
Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks https://www.amazon.com/Dispossessing-Wilderness-Indian-Removal-National/dp/0195142438
Wednesday May 26, 2021
Wednesday May 26, 2021
Join us for this lively conversation with Dr. Kelly Dixon, an archaeologist who studies boomtowns, colonization, colonialism, extractive industries, human-environment interactions, landscape transformations, and marginalized populations. We discuss her work excavating the Boston Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada and the resulting book, Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology And History In Virginia City where Kelly discusses the excavation of four historic saloons in Nevada’s Virginia City and how the artifacts from this handful of drinking establishments, affiliated with a range of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, offers a new perspective on everyday life in the mining West.
To Learn more:
Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology and History in Virginia City by Kelly Dixon
The Materiality of Freedom: Archaeologies of Postemancipation Life by Jodi A. Barnes
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Join us as we talk with archaeologists, Matt Stirn and Rebecca Sgouros about how they have followed their love of archaeology, photography and tea (yes tea) to interpret and bring archaeology to the public. Matt Stirn holds an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Paleoecology, and specializes in understanding how humans adapted to high elevation landscapes around the world. He has directed several archaeological research projects in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and has been involved in excavations on four continents. He is a member of the Sigma Xi Research Society, a National Fellow for The Explorer’s Club and currently has ongoing archaeological research in Wyoming, Greece, and Italy. Rebecca is an environmental archaeologist and educator. She is a freelance archaeologist focusing on projects in the Rocky Mountains, specifically the Tetons, Gros Ventre, and Wind River Ranges in Wyoming. Current projects include investigating life and food choices at high altitudes, paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Tetons, ice-patch archaeology survey along the Continental Divide, and an ancient food & diet study using biomolecular and experimental archaeology techniques . . . and Rebecca owns an online tea company called Tea Hive! We have a conversation about the importance of bringing history and archaeology to the public, through all the methods Matt and Rebecca bring to the table in their work and their research. Join us for this fun and fascinating conversation!
To Learn More:
Tea Hive https://www.myteahive.com/
Matt Stirn Photography https://www.mattstirnphoto.com/
In the Land of Kush https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sudan-land-kush-meroe-ancient-civilization-overlooked-180975498/
Yaupon: the Rebirth of Americas Forgotten Tea http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20210223-yaupon-the-rebirth-of-americas-forgotten-tea
Sabu-Jaddi: The Site Revealing the Sahara's Verdant Nast http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200607-sabu-jaddi-the-site-revealing-the-saharas-verdant-past
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Join us as we discuss historic inscriptions, ghost signs, rock art, DStretch, petroglyphs and pictographs. During the 19th and 20th centuries, emigrants on the Northern Plains engaged in a communication behavior that left messages carved, incised, and painted onto the physical landscape. Often mingling with indigenous pictographs and petroglyphs, the emigrants' messages are called "historic inscriptions" and exist in the form of names, dates, text, and ideographs. Historic inscriptions relay information on identity and cultural value and are a new way of interpreting how people reacted to the landscape of the 18th, 19th, and 20th century west. Tim Urbaniak is a Professor Emeritus at Montana State University (MSU-Billings). Join us for this fascinating conversation!
To Learn More:
Carbon County Historical Society presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7RRoNYb7J8
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Join us this week as Crystal interviews Nancy about her research on the history of archaeology in Montana through the lens of three men including amateur archaeologist Oscar Lewis, academic William Mulloy, and advocate Melville Sayre. We discuss their work to bring archaeology to Montana and the significant archaeological sites they excavated in the 1930s and 1940s, including Pictograph Cave and the Hagan Site.
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Join us as we take a deep dive into the science of human origins with Dr. William Kimbel, Director of the Institute of Human Origins based at Arizona State University. We discuss Dr. Kimbel's research on human origins, specifically the period between 2.5 and 4 million years ago - during which our own genus Homo emerged from smaller-brained ancestors. We talk specifically about Lucy (Lucy is a hominin ancestor that lived in east Africa between 3 and 3.9 million years ago, and she is “famous” because her skeleton is remarkably complete – 40 percent – and because she changed the way we understood the evolution of bipedalism. She is a member of the species known as Australopithecus afarensis. We also talk about another well-known Australopithecine species found in South Africa – A. africanus – which lived between 2.7 and 2.3 million years ago. And last but not least, we focus in on Ardi (Ardipithicus ramidus), a remarkably complete skeleton, which also came from Ethiopia and dates to 4.4 million years ago. This is a fascinating discussion about our deep genealogy, join us and learn more about how we became human.
To Learn More:
Institute of Human Origins https://iho.asu.edu/
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
In this episode, we talk with Jerry Williams about a television series he has created called, Bozeman, that features the history of Bozeman's town founder, John Bozeman and his good friend, William McKinzie. We discuss his research in Georgia and Montana, and how this story plays out on the national stage at a critical time in our country's history from the 1860s to the 1870s.
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Join us as we discuss a myriad of topics with Extreme History Project board member, Shane Doyle. Shane is a member of the Crow Nation and is a life-long educator. He's a scholar and an activist, working to bring indigenous knowledge to the forefront in every project he does. We talk about his involvement with the Anzick archaeological site, the peopling of the Americas, and indigenous people in Yellowstone National Park. Join us for this fascinating conversation!
To learn more:
The Last Indian War by Elliott West
The Lost History of Yellowstone https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lost-history-yellowstone-180976518/
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Join us for our conversation with Nikki Manning and Kate Gonzales as we discuss urban archaeology in Missoula, Montana. Kate and Nikki have both been involved in recovering artifacts from a vacant lot in the heart of Missoula's red-light district through their capacity as graduate students within the Department of Anthropology at the University of Montana. These artifacts tell us about the women and men who worked and lived in this district. Through the archaeological record, they have learned about women's hygiene and birth control methods used in the district by studying the bottles coming out of the ground. We discuss these artifacts and their uses, you'll be surprised what lysol was used for in the 19th century! We also discuss Nikki's book, Underground Missoula and her continued look at underground spaces and what they can and cannot tell us about Missoula's historic Chinese community. Kate's master's thesis work at the University of Montana focuses on female prostitution through the lens of historical archaeology methods and a feminist theoretical perspective to explore intersections of gender, class, ethnicity, and age. archaeology of historic red-light districts. Nikki is currently working towards a doctorate studying an interdisciplinary approach to historic preservation that includes research in the fields of urban archaeology, architectural history, and heritage conservation. Join us for this fascinating conversation on urban archaeology and the importance of community outreach and education.
To Learn More:
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Join us for our fascinating conversation with Jan Zauha, librarian extraordinaire. We discuss the role of libraries in this digital age and how they have changed over time. We dive into the space of archives and talk about issues of accessibility and how these places are becoming more public and welcoming to everyone. We also talk about archival collecting and the push to expand the focus to make it more inclusive. Jan is passionate about her work and her love of learning and her enthusiasm shines through in this conversation.