The Rock Art Podcast

In episode 165, Dr. Alan Garfinkel interviews Dr. Meenakshi Dubey-Paik about her decades of research on India’s rock art, including extensive work on painted rock shelters. She describes how some tribes treat certain sites as sacred for vows, offerings, and festivals, using signs/symbols, animal imagery, dance, and music-induced trance, while noting cultural change from relocation and the addition of later shrines (e.g., Shiva/Kali) that shifts attention away from older images. Meenakshi highlights key motifs (animals, honey collection, dancers, tiger beliefs), and urges education and conservation to prevent vandalism and development damage.

Transcripts

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/165

Contact

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

[email protected]

Dr. Alan Garfinkel’s Website

Support Dr. Garfinkel on Patreon

ArchPodNet

APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

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 and Sponsors

Motion

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host Dr. Alan Garfinkel interviews Dr. John Bellezza about his path from traveling in India and Tibet in the 1980s to focusing on Tibetan prehistory, archaeology, cosmology, and rock art, later earning a PhD at the University of Kent based on prior publications. Bellezza stresses learning Tibetan languages and working in the field as Tibet opened to travelers in 1984, then turning to pre-Buddhist traditions often erased or absorbed by Buddhism and long neglected by scholars. He describes discoveries at Lake Namtso, evidence for high-altitude pastoralism and hunting, and key finds in rock art and monuments, including chariots and standing-stone complexes. He previews ongoing rock art volumes and future work on bronze talismans and Old Tibetan texts.

Transcripts

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/164

Contact

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

[email protected]

Dr. Alan Garfinkel’s Website

Support Dr. Garfinkel on Patreon

ArchPodNet

APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

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 and Sponsors

Motion

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Jayc Sedlmayr about his research into indigenous theology and animal ceremonial traditions. Drawing on interdisciplinary backgrounds, Sedlmayr discusses his “Embodied Essence” project, which explores how many cultures understood spiritual essence as residing in bodily substances—especially bone marrow. He explains how this perspective helps interpret ritual practices involving bones, such as their treatment as regenerative “seeds,” their placement in ceremonial contexts, and their role in maintaining relationships between humans, animals, and the spiritual world.

Transcripts

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/163

Links

Embodied Essence sessions (SAA 2024 collection)

The Ensouled Body (co-authored by Jayc Sedlmayr)

Contact

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

[email protected]

Dr. Alan Garfinkel’s Website

Support Dr. Garfinkel on Patreon

ArchPodNet

APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

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 and Sponsors

Motion

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Christian Bentz and Dr Ewa Dutkiewicz about their research on early systems of conventional signs. They explore how recurring symbols in rock art and mobile artifacts may reflect shared visual communication as far back as 40,000 years ago, and what this reveals about early human cognition and culture.

Transcripts

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/162

Links

SignBase, a collection of geometric signs on mobile objects in the Palaeolithic

Humans 40,000 years ago developed a system of conventional signs

Dr Ewa Dutkiewicz Profile

Dr Christian Bentz Profile

Contact

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

[email protected]

Dr. Alan Garfinkel’s Website

Support Dr. Garfinkel on Patreon

ArchPodNet

APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

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 and Sponsors

Motion

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this special episode, I sit down with Dr. Todd Surovell, professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming, to discuss new research that re-examines Monte Verde using modern geoarchaeological methods. The results suggest that the famous site may actually be much younger than previously believed, dating to the Holocene rather than the Ice Age.

If true, this would mean that Monte Verde is not evidence for pre-Clovis humans in South America, and it could force archaeologists to reconsider one of the most influential discoveries in American archaeology.

We discuss:

The history of the Monte Verde discovery

Why it reshaped textbooks in the 1990s

How new geological and dating analyses challenge the original interpretation

What this means for Clovis-first vs. pre-Clovis models

Why independent verification and skepticism are essential in science

This episode explores how science evolves—and how even the most famous discoveries can be re-examined.

Links

Video Version to follow along

Surovell’s Study

Surovell’s UW Page

davidianhowe.com

Davidianhowe.com/store

Contact

Dr. Alan Garfinkel

[email protected]

Dr. Alan Garfinkel’s Website

Support Dr. Garfinkel on Patreon

ArchPodNet

APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com

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 and Sponsors

Motion

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.