Preserving A Century of Adventure
March 9, 2016
Hosted by Dr. Joseph Schuldenrein
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Guest Information
Episode Description
Before the Enterprise boldly “went where no person had gone before” or Indiana Jones shouted “THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!” there was the National Geographic Society. For over 100 years it has embodied a sense of adventure in faraway locales with the goal of changing the world through science and exploration. From the heights of Macchu Picchu to Mayan underwater caves, the Society has a strong commitment to archaeological discovery, preservation, and most importantly, education. The rich experience with cultural heritage demonstrated by the Society is particularly important today when the looting and destruction in Syria by ISIS has pushed cultural heritage issues into the mainstream media. Join us, and our guest Dr. Chris Thornton, as we discuss his own experiences working in cultural heritage with the National Geographic Society as well as director at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bat in Oman as we attempt to determine how we can preserve the past in a constantly developing world.
Indiana Jones: Myth, Reality and 21st Century Archaeology
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel
This show targets an audience interested in archaeology. It explores myths surrounding this exotic, often misunderstood field and acquaints listeners with the contemporary practice of unearthing the human past. Themes range from Dr. Schuldenrein’s own “Indiana Jones”-like adventures in the land of the Bible to his team’s archaeological forensics effort to unearth Kurdish mass graves in Iraq. That undertaking helped convict Saddam Hussein in 2006. Topical issues contribute to the evolution vs. creationism controversy based on updated fossil records and innovative DNA studies. An episode highlights the main funding source for archaeology in the U.S. (Hint: the oil and gas industry). Experts reveal the latest high-tech approaches to buried archaeological landscapes that provide clues to understanding climate change, past, present and future.
Dr. Joseph Schuldenrein
Joseph Schuldenrein is president and senior scientist of Geoarcheology Research Associates (GRA) in Yonkers, New York. He has been a Visiting Scholar at New York University since 1996. His professional expertise is in geoarchaeology, a sub-discipline that introduces earth science techniques to traditional archaeological excavation. Joe has worked extensively across North America and the Old World. He received his doctorate in 1983 at the University of Chicago. Recent research in North America has concentrated on the urban archaeology of New York City and Native American landscapes of the Atlantic Coast. Joe’s projects in South Asia have ranged from Human Origins investigations to the beginnings of civilization of the Indus Valley. During the Iraq war Dr. Schuldenrein’s team helped direct a forensic archaeological mission in support of the Saddam Hussein prosecution. His newest venture is an assessment of Cultural Heritage Sites in war-torn Afghanistan (2011). Dr. Schuldenrein publishes widely in numerous archaeological and geological journals. He is a reviewer for American Antiquity, Geoarchaeology, and Quaternary Science Reviews. He has acted as Principal Investigator or Consulting Scientist for grants awarded by the National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory. Dr. Schuldenrein has been interviewed for PBS, as well as national and regional TV and radio outlets over the past 30 years.
