Peopling the Past
Join hosts Dr. Chelsea Gardner and Dr. Melissa Funke for a journey through under-explored aspects of archaeology, history, and everyday life in the ancient Mediterranean. Every week we feature an expert whose cutting-edge research sheds light on the real people who lived in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and beyond. Follow us on Twitter @peoplingthepast with the #peoplingpodcast, on Instagram and Facebook @peoplingthepast, and on our website peoplingthepast.com.
- Update frequency
- every 9 days
- Average duration
- 31 minutes
- Episodes
- 50
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Looking Forward: Ethical Futures for Archaeological Practice with Yannis Hamilakis
Join us for the final episode of season 4, featuring Dr. Yannis Hamilakis, who talks to Chelsea and Melissa about his vision for a decolonial future for ancient archaeology. Listen in as Yannis tells…
Protecting Heritage in Times of Conflict with Isber Sabrine
In times of ongoing war, how can antiquities be protected from damage and looting? On today's episode, Dr. Isber Sabrine, the co-founder of Heritage for Peace, joins us to talk about his work preserv…
Between the Tigris and the Thames: Heritage Practice with Zena Kamash
How can archaeologists connect to the communities that share the cultural heritage they work on? Dr. Zena Kamash joins Chelsea and Melissa this week to discuss her work with Iraqi communities in the …
Critical Futures for Ancient Studies with Mathura Umachandran
How should we confront modern inequities in ancient Mediterranean studies? Is it possible to reenvision the place of Greece and Rome in the ancient world overall? In this week's episode, Dr. Mathura …
Selective Salvage: Archaeology and Hydropolitics
What happens to people and antiquities when giant dams are built and lands are flooded? In this week's episode, Dr. William Carruthers joins Chelsea and Melissa to talk about the construction of dams…
Hired Hands, Silenced Voices: Archaeology and Local Communities with Allison Mickel
Who counts as an archaeologist? Contrary to images from popular culture, excavation teams are a diverse group working to produce knowledge of the past. In this week's episode, Dr. Allison Mickel spea…
Classics, the Grand Tour, and Invented Legacies with Hardeep Dhindsa
What makes Classics classic? How did members of elite British society use ancient Greek and Roman culture to shape their own identities on the Grand Tour? In this episode, Hardeep Dhindsa joins Chels…
Naturalizing Inequalities: The Colonial Museum with Dan Hicks
How did objects from around the globe and across millenia end up in major museums, far from their places of origin? What role has empire played in shaping modern museums? For this episode, Chelsea an…
Curating with Care: Transparency in Museums with Lisa Saladino Haney
The story of natural history museums and their relationship to ancient objects, but also people, is entangled with colonialism and capitalism. How should modern curators begin unravelling such a tang…
Communities on Display: Re-centering Egyptian Voices with Heba Abd el-Gawad
What happens when Egyptomania overshadows contemporary Egyptian people? This week Heba Abd el-Gawad joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss the relationship between modern Egyptian communities and Egypt…
Fragments and Falsehoods: The Papyrus Trade with Roberta Mazza
Forged provenance, forensic investigations, and placing ancient papyri in dish soap! In this episode, scholar Dr. Roberta Mazza shares tales from the black market papyrus trade, taking us from Egypt …
Trafficking through the Metaverse: The Antiquities Trade in the Internet Age with Katie Paul
For the first episode of our season on cultural heritage and legacies of colonialism, we look at the role of messaging apps and social media in the black market antiquities trade. Katie Paul joins Ch…
Season 4 Promo Episode!
Peopling the Past Podcast is BACK for a fourth season on a very exciting topic: Cultural Heritage and Legacies of Colonialism.
Join your hosts Dr. Chelsea Gardner and Dr. Melissa Funke with special…
Special Episode - Let's Talk About Podcasts, Baby! with Liv Albert
On this special episode of the Peopling the Past Podcast, we are joined by Liv Albert, creator and host of Let's Talk About Myths, Baby!, the long running podcast about Greek mythology and the ancie…
How do you Solve a Problem like Cleopatra? : Shelley Haley and the last Egyptian Pharoah
For the final episode of our season on women in the ancient Mediterranean, we feature the most famous woman in antiquity: Cleopatra! Dr. Shelley Haley joins Chelsea and Melissa to untangle the image …
These Boots were Made for Walking: Women's Mobility and Migration in the Roman Empire with Marie-Adeline Le Guennec
Travel, displacement, religious pilgrimage - these are just some of the motivations for ancient migration, but how and why did people move from one place to another in antiquity? This week, Chelsea a…
(Not so) Risky Business: the Potential Perils of Childbirth in ancient Rome with Anna Bonnell Freidin
In today's episode, Dr. Anna Bonnell Freidin joins Melissa and Chelsea to talk about risk, pregnancy, and childbirth in the ancient Roman empire. Listen in as we discuss the definitions of risk in va…
Not a Puella, Not Yet a Femina: Roman Girlhood with Lauren Caldwell
Ah, youth! We are all familiar with that mysterious and formative period of life between childhood and adulthood, but how did the ancient Romans describe this time of transition? In this episode, soc…
Do Not Afflict the Widow: the Women of Ancient Nubia with Jacke Phillips
We're celebrating Black History and African Heritage month with a very special episode on the women of ancient Nubia! Join Chelsea and Melissa as they welcome Dr. Jacke Phillips, an expert in Nubian …
Beyond the Bare Bones: Women in the Osteological Record with Efthymia Nikita
What better way to understand the real lives of everyday folk in the ancient Mediterranean than to look at the bones of the people themselves? On this episode, Chelsea and Melissa welcome Dr. Efthymi…