EPISODE · May 4, 2026 · 57 MIN
Early Hominin Structures, Pompeii Discoveries, and the Band of Holes in Peru - TAS 328
from The Archaeology Podcast Network Feed · host Host
In this week’s episode, we cover three archaeology news stories. First up, a Nature-backed report on unusually old woodworking from Kalambo Falls, where waterlogged conditions preserved a wedge, digging stick, and notched logs dated by luminescence to about 476,000 years ago, suggesting advanced planning and challenging simple “Stone Age” assumptions. We then discuss a Pompeii discovery of two skeletons outside the city walls near Porta Stabia, including a man apparently shielding his head with a terracotta bowl and carrying an oil lamp, and we debate the benefits and risks of an AI-generated scene reconstruction. Finally, we examine Peru’s Monte Sierpe “Band of Holes,” over 5,200 aligned pits mapped by drones and analyzed via microbotanical remains, with a study proposing early market use and later Inca-style accounting patterns resembling quipu, while we question how and why such a vast system was built and used. Links Segment 1 World’s oldest wooden structure was built by an unknown species, nearly 200,000 years before modern humans evolved (earth.com) Hominins built with wood 476,000 years ago (Nature) Segment 2 This Man Fled Pompeii as Mount Vesuvius Erupted. Archaeologists Found Him 2,000 Years Later, Holding a Bowl to Protect His Head and a Lamp to Light His Way Segment 3 Study suggests these 5,200 holes dug into a mountain were some form of ancient accounting (earth.com) Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte Sierpe (‘Band of Holes’) in the Pisco Valley, Peru (Cambridge University Press) Contact Chris Webster [email protected] Rachel Roden [email protected] RachelUnraveled (Instagram) ArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2ed APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet APN Shop Affiliates Motion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What this episode covers
In this week’s episode, we cover three archaeology news stories. First up, a Nature-backed report on unusually old woodworking from Kalambo Falls, where waterlogged conditions preserved a wedge, digging stick, and notched logs dated by luminescence to about 476,000 years ago, suggesting advanced planning and challenging simple “Stone Age” assumptions. We then discuss a Pompeii discovery of two skeletons outside the city walls near Porta Stabia, including a man apparently shielding his head with a terracotta bowl and carrying an oil lamp, and we debate the benefits and risks of an AI-generated scene reconstruction. Finally, we examine Peru’s Monte Sierpe “Band of Holes,” over 5,200 aligned pits mapped by drones and analyzed via microbotanical remains, with a study proposing early market use and later Inca-style accounting patterns resembling quipu, while we question how and why such a vast system was built and used.
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Early Hominin Structures, Pompeii Discoveries, and the Band of Holes in Peru - TAS 328
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