The Dirt On The Past Podcast

Welcome to The Dirt on the Past, a podcast of The Extreme History Project. 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. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening for more . . . Dirt on the Past!

Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney are the hosts of The Dirt on the Past. Nancy teaches anthropology at Montana State University and is the owner of Moka Montana, a boutique in downtown Bozeman, MT. Crystal is the Director of The Extreme History Project.

Join us as we recap our year of podcast episodes. We discuss what we’ve learned from our amazing guests, and some highlights from our second season of podcasting. We dive into the why we think this podcast is important and our take-aways from the year. Join us for this final conversation of 2021!

Join us as we talk with Doug MacDonald about his book, Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology in the National Park.

Join us as we talk with archaeologist, Jack Fisher about his career as an archaeologist. We discuss his ethnoarchaeological research among the Efe people in the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his work at First People’s Buffalo Jump in Montana, his research partnership with John Parkington of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and his work on an antelope kill site called Lost Terrace. For further reading, be sure to read Jack’s chapter in Pisskan: Interpreting First Peoples Bison Kills at Heritage Parks. His chapter, co-written with Tom Roll, is entitled “First Peoples Buffalo Jump Archaeology: Research Results and Public Interpretation.”

Join us as we talk with Utah State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) with the Utah Division of State History, Christopher Merritt, about his work as a SHPO and his interest in historic Chinese communities in the West. We talk specifically about a ghost town called Terrace, UT. 

Join us as we talk with Chris Tomlinson about his new book, Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth, co-written with Bryan Burrough and Jason Stanford. 

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Matthew Bennett, the lead scientist on a recently published article in the Journal Science that examined a set of human footprints preserved on an ancient lakeshore in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park that date to between 21,000 and 23,000 years old.

Join us as we talk with historian Ellen Baumler about her new book, The Life of the Afterlife in the Big Sky State: A History of Montana’s Cemeteries. We talk about burial customs, headstone symbolism, the history of cemeteries in the west, boot hills, and cultural identity reflected in western cemeteries.

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Lilly White on her work as a forensic anthropologist. We talk about how she became interested in the field, the cultural and historical traditions around death and dying, Lilly’s work during the pandemic as a condolence specialist, and what her work as a forensic anthropologist entails. Lilly received her PhD in Anthropology in 2019 from the University of Montana and currently owns Bone & Stone Anthrosciences with her husband, Stocky White. Follow Bone and Stone on Instagram @deathphd.

Join us for our conversation with Lisabeth During about her recently published book, The Chastity Plot.

Join us as we talk with Anthony Wood about his new book, Black Montana: Settler Colonialism and the Erosion of the Racial Frontier, 1877-1930. 

Crystal and Nancy dig deep into the history of a historic structure in downtown Bozeman, MT. This building is significant because it currently houses Nancy’s boutique, Moka, along with three other businesses including Alara Jewelry, Plume Bridal and Visions West Gallery! We explore the history of this building through the historic characters and businesses that have occupied this space through the years. A big thanks to our sponsors for this episode, Steep Mountain Tea and The Western Heritage Center.

Join us for this thoughtful conversation with Dr. Tiya Miles who has recently published, All that She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake. Dr. Miles is a renowned historian who, in this book, traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft an extraordinary testament to people who are left out of the archives. We dive into the book, and why Tiya felt compelled to write about this significant object. All That She Carried is a poignant story of resilience and of love passed down through generations of women against steep odds. It honors the creativity and fierce resourcefulness of people who preserved family ties even when official systems refused to do so, and it serves as a visionary illustration of how to reconstruct and recount their stories today. We talk with Tiya about her process and why this story is important today as we, as a nation, struggle with how to understand our hard histories and reconcile our past in a way that can help us move forward together. Tiya Miles is professor of history and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and director of the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University. She is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship and the Hiett Prize in the Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Miles is the author of The Dawn of Detroit, which won the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, among other honors, as well as the acclaimed books Ties That Bind, The House on Diamond Hill, The Cherokee Rose: A Novel of Gardens and Ghosts, and Tales from the Haunted South, a published lecture series. 

 

Join us as we talk with Marsha Small about her work to locate and document Indian boarding school cemeteries. Marsha leads the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Montana movement and her work with the preservation and conservation of sacred sites and places using GPR, GPS, and GIS, specifically in boarding school cemeteries is internationally known. Marsha uses ground-penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves, including at the Chemawa Indian School cemetery in Salem, Oregon. Marsha has a master’s degree in Native American Studies from Montana State University and is currently working on a PhD. Marsha was the distinguished visiting Native American Studies professor in Anthropology at Willamette University in 2019. We discuss Marsha’s work at the Chemawa Indian Boarding School cemetery, along with the work she has been doing to establish protocols to document boarding school cemeteries. This is hard history and very difficult to discuss. Our thanks to Marsha for her continued dedication to this work and her mission to locate and document the graves of these children. To follow Marsha on social media use #aVoicefortheChildrenInIndianBoardingSchoolCemeteries.

Join us for a fascinating discussion with Fiona Greenland about her new book, “Ruling Culture: Art Police, Tomb Robbers, and the Rise of Cultural Power in Italy.” Greenland reveals the contemporary actors in this tale, taking a close look at the Art Squad and state archaeologists on one side and unauthorized excavators, thieves, and smugglers on the other. control over its cultural heritage through a famously effective art-crime squad that has been the inspiration of novels, movies, and tv shows. In its efforts to bring their cultural artifacts home, Italy has entered into legal battles against some of the world’s major museums, including the Getty, New York’s Metropolitan Museum, and the Louvre. It has turned heritage into patrimony capital—a powerful and controversial convergence of art, money, and politics.

Ruling Culture: Art Police, Tomb Robbers, and the Rise of Cultural Power in Italy https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo72232678.html

Join us for our deep dive into gender and feminism in archaeology with archaeologist, Meg Conkey. Meg is professor emerita of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is known for introducing feminist perspectives into archaeology. We discuss her early work with Janet Spector, Joan Gero, and others to bring women and gender into the study of archaeology and what it means to do archaeology as a feminist.

This week Nancy interviews co-founders of The Extreme History Project, Marsha Fulton and Crystal Alegria. We discuss the origins of Extreme History, a public history organization dedicated to making history relevant. Marsha and Crystal talk about how Extreme History started and why. Marsha explains the early philosophy of the organization including founding projects and Crystal talks about where the organization is headed in the future. Join us for this conversation and learn more about The Extreme History Project!

Join us this week as we talk with Dr. Mary Murphy, a Distinguished Professor of History at Montana State University Bozeman and the Director of the Ivan Doig Center for the Study of the Lands and Peoples of the North American West. She teaches courses in American history with a special focus on gender and the North American West. Among her books are Hope in Hard Times: New Deal Photographs of Montana, 1936-1942 and Mining Cultures: Men, Women, and Leisure in Butte, 1914-41. We discuss how Mary came to history, and how her research interests landed in Butte, MT. We discuss her early research on women’s leisure in Butte and her more recent work on the history of food, focusing in on the history of Chinese food in America. Join us for this fascinating conversation with our favorite professor and good friend, Dr. Mary Murphy.

.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.

Join us for this fascinating conversation with Lara Maiklem who is a mudlark. She searches for lost and forgotten objects on the foreshore of the river Thames in London. She has been mudlarking for almost 20 years, searching and finding lost items including Tudor shoes, medieval pins, Roman pots, Georgian wig curlers and modern wedding rings. We talk with Lara about objects she has found along with her collection, research, and curation processes. She has written, Mudlark: In Search of London’s Past Along the River Thames and can be found on Facebook and Twitter ( @LondonMudlark) and on Instagram (@London.Mudlark). Her book is now available in paperback with a color plate section and a gorgeous new cover! 

Join us for our conversation with author Michael Punke on his new book, Ridgeline, a novel that details the story of the Fetterman fight or the Battle of One-Hundred-in-the-Hands. In 1866, with the country still reeling from the Civil War, the U.S. Army established Fort Phil Kearny in the home of the Lakota Nation. In his book, Punke tells the story of the months leading up to this battle between the U.S. Army and the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe. The result was what we now know as the Battle of One-Hundred-in-the-Hands. Michael talks with us about the book, his processes, the characters, the diversity of the west at this time, and why this story is still important today. Michael is the author of several books including The Revenant, a #1 New York Times bestseller and basis for the Academy Award–winning film.    To Learn More: We highly recommend Michael’s other books including The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, The Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West, and Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917. 

Dr. Tim Urbaniak

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).

Matt Stirn and Rebecca Sgouros

Coming soon . . . 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. 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

Dr. Kelly Dixon

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.

Dr. Jerry Williams

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.   

Dr. William Kimbel

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. 

Nancy Mahoney

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. 

Jan Zauha

The Allure of the Archives

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. 

Nikki Manning and Kate Gonzales

Urban Archaeology with Nikki Manning and Kate Gonzales

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. Join us for this fascinating conversation on urban archaeology and the importance of community outreach and education. 

Dr. Shane Doyle

Messages from Medicine Wheel Country with Shane Doyle

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 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! 

Laurel Angell

Moving Forward in Conservation by Looking Back
Join us as we talk with Laurel Angell about her research on America’s twentieth century conservation movement and the missed opportunities that led it to become both exclusionary and politically polarizing. Laurel grew up in Yosemite National Park, and has herself worked as a Park Ranger before obtaining a degree in environmental law and working on conservation policy initiatives under the Obama administration. Laurel is currently a doctoral candidate in History at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT and remains active in local and national policy initiatives targeted at creating broader and more inclusive conservation goals. 

Dr. Sara Scott

Join us as we discuss rock art in Montana with archaeologist, Sara Scott. Our conversation revolves around the Hellgate Pictograph Site in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest and Pictograph and Ghost Caves, located within Pictograph State Park. We discuss the archaeological context of these rock art sites, how we have come to know more about these important places and the people who used them.

Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney

Extreme History News!

Join Nancy and Crystal as they talk about what’s coming up this summer for The Extreme History Project, the new podcast logo, and upcoming podcast interviews. They also delve into women’s history month and talk about vice districting in the 1890s in relation to red-light districts and prostitution in the west.  

Map of Denver

Redlining the West: The Spatial Geography of Inequity
Click here to listen to our conversation with graduate student, Kerri Clement about her participation in a research project on the persistent spatial structure of inequality in urban neighborhoods, specifically in Denver, Colorado. We discuss redlining, intergenerational wealth inequality, and spatial segregation – all a result of the Jim Crow era that has persisted to the present.

Dr. Joe Watkins

Indigenous Archaeologist, Joe Watkins, on the Past as Present

Join us as we talk with archaeologist Joe Watkins about Indigenous Archaeology and his current role as President of the Society for American Archaeology. We discuss experimental archaeology in the form of building and living in a pit house for a year, his research with the Ainu of Japan, and so much more! 

Diana Hernandez and Dr. Portia Hopkins

Validating Places of History and Memory

Join us for our conversation with Diana Hernández and Dr. Portia Hopkins as we discuss their work through the National Collective Memory Institute to validate and reconcile history of places that have been neglected and undervalued. We focus in on their work to preserve historic sites belonging to communities of color and their mission to develop spaces to reconcile our nation’s past in an effort to rehabilitate our collective memory.

Aaron Brien

Join us for a conversation with Aaron Brien as we discuss his views on Indigenous Archaeology, his life-changing experience viewing historic Apsáalooke/Crow War Shields at Chicago’s Field Museum, his new job as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the Crow Nation, and so much more.

Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney

Join Crystal and Nancy as they discuss female figurines and statues from the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic and how scholars have interpreted these curvaceous ladies through time.

Adrienne Mayor

Join us as we talk with Dr. Adrienne Mayor about her research on Amazon warrior women across the Ancient world.

Dr. Kathleen Brown

Nasty Wenches, Good Wives, and Foul Bodies

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Dirt on the Past as we speak with Dr. Kathleen Brown about her research on early America. Dr. Brown’s research focuses on the 17th and 18th century, and the ways in which historical constructions of gender and race…of cleanliness…and of the human body were foundational to the institutions of slavery and of human rights.

Shane Doyle, Ian Van Coller, and Craig Lee

High-Altitude Archaeology Collaboration and Friendship

Click here to hear our discussion with Craig Lee, Shane Doyle, and Ian Van Coller about their collaboration and friendship around high-altitude archaeology. They have worked together on many different projects over the past ten years, each bringing their unique perspective to the work. Craig Lee is a high-altitude archaeologist, Shane Doyle is a member of the Apsaalooke Nation and an educator, and Ian Van Coller is a photographer and professor at Montana State University.  

Mark Johnson

History of the Chinese Experience in the West

Join us as we talk with Mark Johnson about his research on Montana’s historic Chinese community. He is working to uncover this important history and present it through a global lens and in the voice of the Chinese people who lived and died in Montana. We have a wide-ranging conversation about the historic Chinese experience and Mark’s work to document these long-silenced voices. 

Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney

Burying the Dead through Time

Click here to join hosts Crystal and Nancy as they discuss traditional mortuary customs through time. From the earliest evidence of human burial ceremony to historic headstone symbolism.

Carl Davis

Six Hundred Generations

Click here to hear our engaging conversation with retired U. S. Forest Service Archaeologist, Carl Davis. We discuss his new book, Six Hundred Generations: An Archaeological History of Montana.

Kevin Kooistra

Hazel Hunkins and the 19th Amendment

Click here to hear our conversation with Kevin Kooistra speaking about the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, Hazel Hunkins, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and expanding the historical narrative of the women’s suffrage movement.

Jill Falcon MacKin

Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Click here to hear our discussion with Jill Falcon MacKin on Indigenous Food Sovereignty. 

Dr. Shara Bailey

What Teeth Can Tell Us About Becoming Human

Click here to hear our fascinating discussion on Neanderthal dental morphology with Dr. Shara Bailey from New York University’s Department of Anthropology.

Dr. C. Riley Auge

The Archaeology of Magic

Click here to join us for our discussion with Dr. C. Riley Augé, on her new book, “The Archaeology of Magic: Gender and Domestic Protection in 17th Century New England.”

The Dirt on the Past team, Crystal Alegria, Stephen Durbin, and Nancy Mahoney

Introduction

Click here to hear our introductory podcast featuring Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney discussing the podcast!

Dr. Billy Smith

Mapping Inequality

Click here to hear our interview with Dr. Billy Smith as he discusses his most recent project of “Mapping Inequality and Resistance: a Story of Ona Judge.”

Nancy Mahoney, Dr. Tom Rust, and Crystal Alegria

Watching Over Yellowstone

Click here to hear our interview with Dr. Tom Rust as he discusses his new book, “Watching Over Yellowstone: The US Army’s Experience in America’s First National Park.”

The Dirt on the Past is a collaboration of The Extreme History Project and Gallatin Valley Community Radio, http://www.kgvm.org.