Past Lives
Episodes
The Man with a Knife for a Hand (Lombard Italy, Late 6th Century)
This episode explores the Longobard migration to Italy using ancient DNA and isotopic analysis to identify migrants from Pannonia.
Xin Zhui, the Best-Preserved Mummy of All Time
This episode explores the life and death of Lady Dai, a Han Dynasty elite whose remarkably preserved mummy offers a rare glimpse into ancient Chinese affluence.
How Do You Get Bitten by a Lion in Roman York?
This episode explores the archaeological discovery of a gladiator in Roman York who died from lion bite marks, using the case to illustrate the vast logistics of the Roman Empire.
The Siberian Ice Maiden and the Scythian World
This episode explores the life and death of the "Siberian Ice Maiden," a 2,500-year-old Pazyryk woman preserved in the Altai Mountains.
Weapons Sacrifices and the Long Road to the Viking Age
This episode explores how the Roman Empire’s Marcomannic Wars indirectly sparked the Viking Age by transforming Scandinavian society.
Professor Peter Mancall on Understanding Colonial America
Host Patrick Wyman interviews historian Peter C.
Tollund Man
This episode examines the Tollund Man, an Iron Age bog body discovered in Denmark in 1950, using modern science to reconstruct his life and death.
Bog Bodies
Host Patrick Wyman explores the phenomenon of bog bodies, preserved human remains from Europe’s Bronze and Iron Ages.