The New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast

This fortnight we’re traveling back in time to our spring(!) recording with Karen Mack of the University of Maine and Crow Curation. We're talking ceramic technology on the Maritime Peninsula and, in particular, at the Rumford Falls sites on the Androscoggin River in Maine. After a primer on regional ceramic manufacture, Karen tells us why we need to run more radiocarbon dates on pottery encrustations, discusses the importance of ceramic analysis in CRM, and describes some future research directions.

Show Notes

Mack, Karen. 2023. The Rumford Falls Ceramic Assemblage and Maine Ceramic Period 2 (CP2) Pottery. Ma...

WE'RE BACK! And we were LIVE at the Grizzly Paw Pub in downtown Canmore, Alberta as part of the Canadian Archaeological Association's 58th Annual Meeting. And you, dear listeners and dear attendees were LOUD! Gabe and Ken (and Emanuel and Cody) headed up into the Bow Valley gap for a great evening with a lot of friends and guests: Katie Cottreau-Robins (CAA Past-President) and TJ Hammer (CAA President); Kisha Supernant (University of Alberta Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology); Shawn Bubel and Kevin McGeough (University of Lethbridge), and Christian Thériault (Gov't of PEI).

Gabe may have b...

This fortnight we’re joined by Dr. Ted Banning to discuss the Neolithic Revolution as part of our season on complexity. And the Neolithic Revolution is nothing, nothing if not complex. Ted helps us decipher the various PPNs and shares insights into how to think about intensification, domestications, and sociopolitical complexity. He also chats with us about what biographies of Canadian numismatists can teach us about nineteenth and early twentieth century society. Finally, we talk with Ted about his new book, Archaeological Reasoning: A Guide to Understanding the Past, which seeks to bridge the gap between introductory and upper-level ar...

Do you find yourself pondering how the Canada-U.S. Border between New Brunswick and Maine was decided? Have you been searching for a factoid for your next party, like, say, where and when was the first autopsy conducted in North America? Are you aware that the episode title is not just a clever play on Oasis' 1995 smash hit, but references a visible supernova that really did occur on October 4-5, 1604, just on the cusp of what ended up being a rather cold and miserable for Champlain, De Monts, and their company of men? Well, grab your limes and lemons...

This fortnight your hosts are joined by David Black and Josh Cummings to talk about the Archaic period in New Brunswick. We also enjoyed some piping hot mugs of colonial flip. Our guests walk us through the current state of Archaic period research in New Brunswick, and then catch us up on the results of some of their recent collections research on intertidal collections.

Show Notes

In this special two-interview episode, we are joined by Brian Fritz (Quemahoning LLC) and Chelsea Colwell-Pasch (Colbr Consulting) for back-to-back interviews about techniques they are using for deep archaeological testing in eastern North America. They each discuss the equipment they’ve designed to conduct deep testing in the region, what sort of projects deep testing is valuable for, and some of their success stories.

We also have a very special live hit piece with Michelle Bebber and Chris Wolff about their new edited volume, “From Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Metal Tool Production and Use by Indigenous Hunt...

This fortnight we’re joined by Matt Betts, who argues that reports of culture-history’s death may have been premature. So tonight we’ve got paradigms and epi-paradigms, systematics, evolutionary theory, and Matt even explains why archaeological theory is like a Chinese buffet. It’s like if your grad school culture history class was not only fun, but edgy. So come be theoretically subversive and tune in.

Show Notes:

This fortnight we’re joined by Dr. Madeleine McLeester for a special love potion themed Valentines day episode. So whether you need a “bagger” to seduce your crush or you’re wondering how to interpret that graffiti on the brothel wall, we’ve got just the V-Day programming you’ve been looking for. We also talk about medicinal plants and landscape knowledge. So put out the roses, pour yourself a nice glass of sparkling Covassier, put the roses in a vase, and remember the reason for the season.

Show Notes

This fortnight, we're back from our winter recording hiatus to bring your an interview we recorded before the winter, but an intro and outro that's as fresh as the 90 km/h chinook winds. Gabe and Ken spoke to Kelley Berliner who is the Eastern Regional Director at The Archaeological Conservancy about what her job entails (everything from real estate to alien bunkers under a river), how the archaeological conservancy secures, protects, and preserves archaeological sites, and weighs in once again on the merits of Ohio.

Show Notes:

This fortnight we’re traveling with the Northeastern Archaeological Survey van to Fort William Henry and Lake George New York for a recap of the 2025 Eastern States Archaeological Federation Meeting held in Lake George, New York in November of 2025. In addition to commentary from Gabe and his colleagues and students on the ride through the snowy Northeast, you’ll hear from...

It’s the holidays! This fortnight, Gabe and Ken are sitting around the table at The Cardinal Room and talking food, drink, music, movies, and even a little bit of archaeology. We then turn it over to Producers Emanuel and Cody who dive into the creative process, AI and the singularity, and your song suggestions for the holidays. Pour yourself a festive beverage (some suggestions, below), listener, as we wrap up the year of the pod that was! See you in 2026!

✨ Thank you for being part of the NBAP community. 🎁 Wishing you a Merry Christmas and happy holiday...

This fortnight we're getting biblical, and as we thread the needle between Hannukah and Christmas, we figured what better way than to head back to the source material. That's right, it's the Early Woodland in the Levant (aka the Iron age) and we've got Dr. Kevin McGeough (University of Lethbridge) on the Pod to talk about the Ark of the Covenant. Ken and Gabe have read Kevin's new book Readers of the Lost Ark and we get Kevin to answer all your questions: could it be a conduit to God? is it a weapon? is it an alien radio...

This fortnight, Ken and Gabe sit down with Alexandre Pelletier-Michaud to discuss one of the most recognizable sites in New Brunswick archaeology, the Bristol-Shiktehawk Site. We delve into George Frederick Clarke, caches, Early Woodland ceremonialism, craft production, and Alex and Gabe come dangerously close to making us the New Brunswick pseudoarchaeology podcast. They're not Solutrean, but they could be leaves. Prepare your offering to Boognish, cause lordy, lordy he’s coming home.

Show Notes

Clarke, George Frederick. 2016. Someone Before Us: Buried History in Central New Brunswick. Expanded Fourth Edition ed., edited by Mary Bernard. Woodstock, Ne...

Set your clock a half hour ahead, because today on the New Brunswick Archaeology podcast we’re talking to Don Holly about Newfoundland and, especially, the Beothuk. Whether you’re interested in agency and history in hunter-gatherer studies, or you want to know about some of the earliest Indigenous-European interactions in North America, you won’t want to miss this show. Don also reflects on the legacy of his collection of American Antiquity reviews, “Talking to the Guy on the Airplane,” conspiracies, and why being an archaeologist both is and isn’t like being an HVAC guy. Finally in this Era of...

This fortnight we're going deeper than we have--and maybe any of you have--before into geoarchaeology and the necessity for deep testing. Gabe and Ken chat with Dr. Heidi Luchsinger, RPA (Precision Geoarchaeology Inc/ERM) and Karl Kibler, RPA (Cross Timbers Geoarchaeological Services) about the Society for American Archaeology's Geoarchaeology Task Force. We talk about the importance of geoarchaeology as part of the CRM planning process, deep testing and why it should be better regulated and applied, and their work on the SAA's "Statement on Deep Testing for Terrestrial Sites and Professional Qualifications for Geoarchaeologists in Cultural Resource Management in...

If you, like us, have ever been bewildered by the Early Woodland, this is the show for you. This week we’re joined by Dr. Jess Robinson, the Vermont State Archaeologist, and while "The radiocarbon dates are not voluminous", his knowledge about the Early Woodland is. A maple creemee is of course different from an ice cream, but is Middlesex the same as Adena? And as if that wasn’t enough excitement for one show, he teases a future research project on the material culture of Vermont’s maple industry.

Show Notes

Robinson IV, Francis W. “Je...

This fortnight, we sit down with his dudeliness, Dr. Gary Coupland (Prof. Emeritus, University of Toronto), ostensibly to talk about complexity but in doing so have to ask, what really is complexity? We’re talking status inequality, a wealth of beads, and the best way to cook salmon. Unfortunately, Ken didn’t remember to ask Gary how the Leafs will do this year, but we can be reasonably assured they will win it all. Well, I hope you folks enjoy yourselves, catch you later on down the trail.

Show Notes

Coupland, Gary G., and...

This fortnight, just like the September weather, a Canadian cold front is movin' in as we sit down to talk with Dr. Jonathan Fowler (St. Mary’s University) to talk about le Grand dérangement, and how historical archaeology is exploring Acadian deportation stories at Grand-Pré National Historic Site and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jonathan tells us about terrestrial geophysics, the irony in the source material for Longfellow's Evangeline, landscape archaeology, and uncovering a perspective on the past from the diaries of British officers and soldiers present at the time. The keen listener will also hear a little something new...

This fortnight, get ready to learn about pre-Contact Indigenous agriculture that was much, MUCH more widespread than previously thought. Maddie McLeester (Dartmouth College) joins us to describe using LiDAR to identify extensive raised bed farming in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This work, recently published in Science, suggests a ubiquity of Indigenous farming that was previously unrealized. Maddie also chats about her course on Indigenous games.

Show notes:

Just when you thought Season 3 was over, we come roaring back with a BONUS ep. This fortnight, Gabe and Ken are shedding our love of time travel for timeliness by delving into the contemporary challenges for the North American archaeological industry. Your co-hosts are talking with Society for American Archaeology President Christopher Dore about the sector-wide challenges archaeologists are facing as it relates to CRM, regulation, and career prospects for students. Talk about streamlining! Stay tuned for Season 4 next fortnight on the NB Arch Pod!

Show Notes

We're back from a brief hiatus and a couple of fortnights. In this episode, Gabe and Ken have dusted off their trowels and are in the field talking with our crews and students about the projects we're working on right now. And no, the update from the Chili's in the Calgary airport didn't make the hifi experience (I did give the Premier of NB an NB Arch Pod sticker) but for the first time ever, we're sounding like butter on these hot summer days with a studio intro/outro for our Season Finale of Season 3. Thanks listener--we'll be back...

This fortnight we’re joined by Christian Theriault, the PEI Provincial Archaeologist, and Dr. Helen Kristmanson of L’nuey to chat about the latest in the archaeology of Prince Edward Island. It’s the perfect prelude to a summer trip to the island, and the perfect thing to listen to while you cross the Confederation Bridge.

Show Notes

This fortnight Gabe and Ken talk to friend of the show, colleague, and dear fried, Trevor Charlemagne Dow (Ecofor Consulting/UNB). We discuss our recently released paper Backdirt and Bureaucracy Revisited: An Analysis of Research Trends in New Brunswick’s Archaeology Practice Using Historic Data. Worry not about the 2023 date on the paper, listeners, it's as fresh as a daisy and we're talking archaeobureaucrats, permits, and heritage legislation in New Brunswick. It's an all-hit piece NB Arch Pod this fortnight!

Show Notes:

Dow, T. C., et al. (2023). "Backdirt and Bureaucracy Revisited: An Analysis of Research Tr...

This fortnight we’re joined by Dr. Matt Betts, the Curator of Eastern Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History and the former head of the Canadian Archaeology Association’s Climate Change Committee to talk about some of the climate threats to the terrestrial and underwater archaeological record. Matt discusses the analytical challenges and inequalities introduced by climate change’s effects on the archaeological record, and calls for a renewed commitment to culture history.

Show Notes

Place-Making in the Pretty Harbour: https://press.uottawa.ca/en/9780776627779/place-making-in-the-pretty-harbour/

HMS Terror: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/HMS...

This fortnight, Gabe and Ken dial across one of the 4-OCEANS that make up the initiative Dr. Thomas Royle (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) joins us to talk about. We're getting into NISP and MNI, sharkaeology, and how big data can reveal the evolving palates of early Colonial period Virginians. Cast a line because there's no trout about it, if you've gadidae off this weekend, grab an ale, wife, and turn on the New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast.

Show Notes

The New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast is on the road again! This fortnight, Ken is reporting from the first ever Canadian Cultural Resources Association Meeting in Toronto (and, of course, from an airport Chilis). Not only does Ken provide sober analysis and insight, he also gave a talk himself (we’ll post that along with his interview of himself some other time). If you’re interested in the future of the past, you won’t want to miss this episode and Ken’s interviews with: Marie-Anne Paradis (CCRA, Artéfact Urbain), Matthew Munro (Stantec), Matt Beaudoin (TMHC), Richard Grubb (ACRA, Richard G...

This fortnight, we’re joined by Dr. Michael O’Rourke, the Climate Change Archaeologist for the Northwest Territories (NWT) government for our next instalment in our climate change series. Mike walks us through some of the unique climate change concerns facing NWT, and the innovative approaches he is involved with to address the crisis.

Show Notes

Lipe, W. D. (1984). Value and meaning in cultural resources. In H. Cleere (Ed.), Approaches to the Archaeological Heritage: A Comparative Study of World Cultural Resource Management Systems (pp. 1-11). Cambridge University Press.

https://cabinradio.ca/171004/news/arts/cult...

This fortnight we’re bringing you an episode about a podcast. The HIS 399 class at the University of New England, under the tutelage of Eric Zuelow (historian) and Arthur Anderson (archaeologist), recently produced “Falling By The Wayside,” a documentary-style podcast about some buildings at the University of New England campus that were almost lost to history. Arthur and Eric, along with Peyton Stevens, Marissa Carter, and Kai Watkins will tell you about the process of producing the podcast, about the challenges and joys of merging archaeology with history, and a little bit about Biddeford at the turn of the 20th cen...

This fortnight, Ken and Gabe sit down for a conversation with a real geoarchaeologist: Robin Woywitka (Grant McEwan University). It may start with the doom, but it ends with the laughs, and the hope for a brighter, collaborative future. Grab your Russian Peat Borers, we're headed to the muskeg.

Show Notes:

Ronaghan, B. M. (Ed.). (2017). Alberta’s Lower Athabasca Basin Archaeology and Palaeo environments. Athabasca University Press. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120207-albertas-lower-athabasca-basin/

Cecco, Leyland (2025) Polar heritage sites are slipping into the sea – but can one island live forever online? The Guardian, Feb 10, 2025

This fortnight we’ve got an all coastal erosion episode. Andrea Richardson, the Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator at the Cape Sable Historical Society, updates us about some of her work and plans for monitoring and managing coastal erosion in Nova Scotia. Katie DeWater and Arthur Anderson of the University of New England join us to discuss a recent paper led by Katie that used GIS, archaeological survey, and sea-level rise modeling to consider archaeological site vulnerability in the Quoddy Region. Spoiler alert: still have to visit the sites in person. And don’t forget to submit your entries for the...

Happy New Year from the New Brunswick archaeology podcast! This fortnight, Ken and Gabe review a few of the year’s highlights in archaeology, with some digressions into the style, food, and beverage. Then they hand it over to the NB Arch Pod Producer, Emanuel Akel to provide you with some musical suggestions. We’re looking forward to chatting with you more in the new year, listener--it will be so nice.

Show Notes:

Vieux Carre Cocktail: https://imbibemagazine.com/recipe/vieux-carre-recipe/

Holiday French 75: https://burrataandbubbles.com/cranberry-french-75/

Gravy Margarita (warning: Ken did...

We have a phenomenal show this fortnight: an interview with the phenom of phenomenology himself, David Milley. Join us as David tells us about his work using various forms of imaging and GIS as a helpful counterbalance to phenomenological theories of landscapes. And it’s not just our theoretical comfort zones we’re stepping out of today, it’s our regional ones, too, because much of David’s work concerns the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Poverty Point.

Show Notes:

This fortnight, we realized it had been a while since we, your faithful hosts, told you what we'd been up to. Turns out, it's just like riding a bicycle. Initially running over 6.5 hours and 3.5 bottles of Courvoisier, Emanuel has trimmed this down to manageable proportions. Tune in for an all Ken and Gabe episode of the New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast to hear about the research projects we've been working on!

Show Notes:

Hrynick, M.G., K.R. Holyoke, and M.W. Betts. (2024) Papers in Honour of David Black, Northeast Anthropology Special Volume 93–94(Spring/Fall 2024)

...

Apologies for the later than usual show, but we're back after a mid-season pause this fortnight-and-a-half and this one, listener, is a record breaking tight 31 minutes of content the likes the NB Archaeology Podcast has never seen. We touch base with Gabe while he's in New Hampshire and Ken is in New Brunswick, to recap the Eastern States Archeological Federation Annual Meeting at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

On this show, you’ll hear from Zac Singer (State of Maryland), Trevor Dow (UNB), Deirdre McGrath (UMaine), Nathaniel Kitchel (Salve Regina), Jon Alperstein (Dartmouth), Heather Rockwell (Sa...

This fortnight, we're back with a real Vaubanarama of a Great Site from the Maritimes, taking a trip across the Bay of Fundy thanks to a listener request. We're headed to Annapolis Royal and Port-Royal, no wait, Charles Fort, no wait, the fort at Port-Royal, no wait, Fort Anne! with Becki Dunham, Parks Canada Terrestrial Archaeologist. We talk about the Mi'kmaq presence in Annapolis River area, the various iterations of the fort, public archaeology at Fort Anne, and robotic lawnmowers. We also suggest opening the Mappanapolis splash for a visual queue to fully immerse yourself in this installment of...

This fortnight, Ken and Gabe have a chat with Dimity Hammon, Vice President of the Tubac Historical Society--who, while in warmer settings of the southwest today, cut her teeth in the cooler (and at times inhospitably wet) climes of New Brunswick. We talk to Dimity about her thesis work on the Holt's Point site and the famous engraved pebbles, the early days of archaeology at UNB, The Computer, and a dolphin out-of-water in the Passamaquoddy Bay. Not to mention, some Historic archaeology from the southwest!

Show Notes:

Hammon, D. J. 1984 A Ceramic Period Coastal Adaptation...

This fortnight we’re joined by Dr. Mary McCarthy-Brandt to discuss New Brunswick’s segregated cemeteries, and her work with “REACH in New Brunswick” to locate, document, and preserve Black cemeteries in New Brunswick. She also shares some information about forthcoming publications and an art exhibit about that work.

Show Notes

Edward Mitchell Bannister: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mitchell_Bannister

REACH (Remembering Each African Cemetery's History) in NB: https://www.reachnb.com/

Interview with Thandiwe McCarthy: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9...

This fortnight we’re chatting about Ken’s field trip back east! So tune in to hear us interview Mi’kmaq basket weaver and expert oyster harvester, Katrina Sock, and Sharon Cunningham of the Saint John River Society. You can also listen live while we learn that multiple summers of CRM did not result in Route 11 being fully twinned. Finally, congrats to Laura and Taylor who won the Quest for 10k listener prizes!

Katrina Sock (Aunty Kat’s Stitchery):

SJ River Society Wharves: https://www.stjohnri...

Welcome to this all hit piece episode of the New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast where we have a show about a book about 640 pieces of published New Brunswick Archaeology. Tonight we’re not just podcasters, we’re co-authors, with the illustrious Trevor Dow who joins us in conversation about the Bibliography of New Brunswick Archaeology: Works to 2022. And that’s not all, listener. We have a special prize for the 10,000th listener! You just need to share a picture of yourself listening to the podcast between now and Sept. 10 (to our Instagram, LinkedIn, Email, or taped to a bottle of Balven...

Welcome to Season 3 Listeners!!

Ken and Gabe are both in New Brunswick this fortnight, and although they’ve stepped into place they’ve stepped out of time again. They’re joined this episode by Margarita de Guzman, the Managing Director and CEO of Circle CRM and the founding director of The Fair Field Foundation. We discuss The Fair Field Foundation’s initiatives around bolstering women in archaeology through mentorship and advocacy, and some of the issues faced by female archaeologists. We also chat about the state of CRM and a public archaeology program in St. Vincent and the Gren...