Live Science podcast 'Life's Little Mysteries' 40: Mysterious Archaeology

In this episode of Life's Little Mysteries, we'll take a closer look at the science of excavating, preserving and interpreting clues from humanity's past: archaeology.

What caused the Mayan civilization to collapse, how did the ancient Egyptians build colossal pyramids, and what's the story behind a 2,000-year-old "computer" called the Antikythera Mechanism? Listen to Life's Little Mysteries 40: Mysterious Archaeology, to find out! 

You'll also hear about how underwater archaeology is helping historians put together missing pieces of a grim chapter in human history — the trans-Atlantic slave trade era. A partnership called the Slave Wrecks Project brings together archaeologists, historians, educators and diving professionals to find and study slave ships that were lost at sea — more than 1,000 ships are known to have sunk between 1525 and 1867.   

Co-hosts: Jeanna Bryner and Mindy Weisberger

Guests: Jay Haigler, lead instructor and the safety dive officer for Diving With a Purpose, and dive training coordinator for the Slave Wrecks Project

Steve Lubkemann, maritime archaeologist; co-founder of the Southern African Slave Wrecks and Diaspora Heritage Research Project, renamed the Slave Wrecks Project in 2014; International Coordinator for the Slave Wrecks Project

Listen to Life's Little Mysteries 40: Mysterious Archaeology below or on Audioboom, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so you don’t miss out on new episodes.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for even more Life's Little Mysteries, and catch up on the latest Life's Little Mysteries articles. You can also join the conversation in our forums, where you can pose Life's Little Mysteries questions of your own, or even suggest topics for upcoming podcast episodes. 

Originally published on Live Science.