Odd Anthropology

This month, hosts Taisha and Ivy (future Vampire Hunters) round up last year’s subjects and let the listeners vote on their favorites! Who do you think would win in a fight between Tollund Man and Piltdown Man? Could Nessi beat them all? Join us and find out! We also chat some more about reoccurring enemy of the podcast IMPOSTER SYNDROME and discuss degree-seeking in anthropology. It's a great time, we promise! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropologySubstack: https://oddanthropology.substack.comEmail: oddanthropology@gmail.comMusic by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

What is a ghost? How long have we believed in them? Have they changed over time? This month, host Ivy decides to wrap up 2025 with an episode on ghosts by sharing some history and notable examples through time.  We owe a HUGE thank you to everyone who has tuned in this year, and we cannot wait to be back again in 2026 with more stories of odd anthropology! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Suggested reading/videos: Dr. Irving Finkel, “The First Ghosts”, Hodder, 2021 Dr. Justin Sledge, “The Evolution of Ghosts”, Esoterica (YouTube), 2025 JoAnn Scurlock, “Mortal and Immortal Souls, Ghosts and the (Restless) Dead in Ancient Mesopotamia”, Religion Compass, 2016 Project Gutenberg - Pliny the Younger Letters to Licinius Sura (LXXXIII)

This month, Taisha covers the basics of our bipedal (walking on two feet) evolution, using it to segway into the fascinating topic of SASQUATCH! Join us for casual conversations regarding our favorite Bigfoot theories, notable stories and encounters, and more on this illusive creature/spirit/alien... who knows! YouTube videos mentioned in this episode: Indigenous history and accounts - https://youtu.be/ApbXUAAeAWw?si=TilLw5aXXpt1l7zc Ape Canyon Attack - https://youtu.be/4tp0A2zg6fs?si=gtBzRA-33s7cVMF_ Capturing Bigfoot with Nutella (Haunted Objects Pod) - https://youtu.be/js7kMSV0NuE?si=V3rXf8HdFV0ABnQ6  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

IT'S THE BEST MONTH OF THE YEEEAAR! Let's celebrate with a subject most befitting: The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Specifically, host Ivy talks about what events actually led to this deadly event. Was it all a land grab? Misogyny? Ergot poisoning? Let's find out! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Resources used for this episode: Bolitho, Riley. The New England Puritans: History, Social Order, and Gender, Perspektywy Kultury, 2021;34(3):59-72  Linder, Douglas O. The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: An Account, UMKC School of Law, famous-trials.com/salem/2078-sal-acct. Accessed 29 June 2025. Parker, Geoffrey. Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century, “The Little Ice Age”, 1st ed. 2013 Yale University Press Schiff, S. (2015) The Witches: Salem 1692, New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2015

Happy September! Or shall we say, “Cemtember”. This month, Taisha eases us further into spooky season with a story involving some of our favorite topics: Scotland, witches, archaeology, a grave, and a missing skull… Can we solve the mystery? Probably not. But Scotland, please hire us to at least give it a try! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Resources used for this episode: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41928/41928-h/41928-h.htm https://fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/witches-trail/ https://www.differentia.co.uk/news/2020/10/2/fife-witches-trail https://engole.info/lilias-adie-witch/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wanted-missing-bones-scottish-witch-180973033/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41775398 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-29689688 https://witches.hca.ed.ac.uk/faq/ https://www.britannica.com/place/Fife-council-area-Scotland https://www.thenational.scot/news/17859215.bid-find-missing-bones-scottish-witch-feared-rise-dead/ https://museumblog.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2020/09/15/witchcraft-and-mystery-or-the-object-that-never-was-in-our-collection/ https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/A0457F3E3512CC1B3B342D118B9CE53E/S0009640700109655a.pdf/the-scottish-witchcraft-act.pdf Witches of Scotland Podcast – Episodes 21,  22, & 23 Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread – Scott Richardson-Read

We are excited to announce our new collaboration with Bath & Body Works, featuring the highly anticipated Corpse Wax line! (Just kidding though, don't get mad Bath & Body Works!) Today, Ivy wraps up her two-part series on the Paris Catacombs with some of its most famous ghostly tales. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Resources used for this episode: The Unexplained The Haunted Catacombs of France for Medium https://medium.com/@TheUnexplained/the-haunted-catacombs-of-france-2ca1c5228169  Leyla Alyanak 9 Eminently Haunted Places in Paris for Off Beat France  https://www.offbeatfrance.com/most-haunted-places-in-paris.html 

The Paris Catacombs (well, its actually an "ossuary") is one of the most famous tourist attractions in France. Floor to ceiling human bones, along with the dark, cave-like nature of the catacombs, gives this location a somber, macabre, yet intriguing appeal. For this episode, co-host Ivy shares the history of its creation and dives into the issue of ethics often brought up when discussing human remains which have been used in such a manor. (How does this tie in with anthropology, you might ask? Um…old bones…yeah, we can justify its discussion here on Odd Anthro!)   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Resources used for this episode: Jessica Pearce Rotondi The Dark Origins of the Paris Catacombs (November 2023, updated May 2025) for HISTORY  https://www.history.com/articles/paris-catacombs-origins  Philibert Aspairt for Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philibert_Aspairt  Les Catacombes de Paris - History  https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/history 

Also known as the "hobbits", this early human stood at around three feet tall and may be involved in local folklores... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Resources used for this episode: https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-floresiensis https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/homo-floresiensis-hobbit.html https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-floresiensis/ https://aeon.co/ideas/investigating-homo-floresiensis-and-the-myth-of-the-ebu-gogo https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/aug/16/flores-hobbit-human-downs-syndrome-claim-homo-floresiensis

This month, we "dive in" to the legends and lore surrounding one of the worlds most famous cryptids...Nessie! Being an anthropology podcast, we also include some insights around a particularly famous archaeological find at Loch Ness, and what societal pressures may have led to this monsters rise in fame. You can also head over to our Instagram for our first ever giveaway featuring items relating to this months topic! Woo hoo! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Sources Used: https://www.historyhit.com/painted-people-who-were-the-picts/  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Loch-Ness-monster-legendary-creature https://www.digitscotland.com/scottish-archaeology-and-the-loch-ness-legend/  https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/6210/6180 https://lochnessmystery.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-ancient-serpent-stone-of-loch-ness.html https://nypost.com/2023/08/31/new-sighting-of-loch-ness-monster-captured-in-photos/  https://www.ncregister.com/blog/st-columba-and-the-loch-ness-monster 

This month, we decided to take a little mental break and sit down for a more conversational-style episode! Join us as we discuss the plague that is imposter syndrome through an anthropological lens, and don't worry...we still keep the episode fun! So sit down, have a laugh, and lets try and kick imposter syndrome to the curb. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay

Disclaimer: This episode discusses murder and ritual human sacrifice! Two peat farmers in Denmark accidentally discovered what would become one of the most famous and recognizable ancient mummies to date. Let's sit down and discuss this incredible find and what we learned about the life and death of the Tollund Man! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Sources Used: Bog Bodies Uncovered - Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery by Miranda Aldhouse-Green https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/bodies-in-the-bog-the-lindow-mysteries/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAs5i8BhDmARIsAGE4xHwWpeCbtlMViLK4q-SZTWXefW5aCrSUjiVilVh0NEZVZRvfWUJFOIwaAhIzEALw_wcB  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europe-bog-bodies-reveal-secrets-180962770/ 

Indulge in an anthropological scandal as Taisha shares the infamous story of the Piltdown Man! Were hominid remains discovered in England really the illusive "missing link"? What can the analysis of these remains tell us about the real story behind the Piltdown Man?  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology  Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com  Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Sources Used: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/services/library/collections/piltdown-man.html https://anthroholic.com/fluorine-analysis?srsltid=AfmBOopNkjuy_3k963jUNpO_W3C9U0YvplFYOV_MkvuS2qoz1tIxTby8 https://www.science.org/content/article/study-reveals-culprit-behind-piltdown-man-one-science-s-most-famous-hoaxes https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/a-timeline-of-fossil-discoveries/ https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/piltdown-man/the-piltdown-man-fraud/?srsltid=AfmBOoovyNsb1GvmrCj_v2skZ97dyOAdkVc4oP_Z6jmiDrliwlUYnSmk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dawson

Happy Anthropology Day! To celebrate, we picked an episode with some truly awesome subjects: Bone shovels, bogs, and bodies that were "Frankensteined" together...what more could you want? So sit back, relax, and indulge in a sense of wonder as Ivy shares the "puzzling" (pun intended) story of this strange archaeological site, and how it has helped to re-write Bronze Age history as we know it! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology  Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com  Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay Sources Used: Bog Bodies Uncovered - Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery by Miranda Aldhouse-Green https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270612504_Evidence_for_mummification_in_Bronze_Age_Britain#pf5 https://canmore.org.uk/site/108429/south-uist-cladh-hallan https://archaeology.org/issues/january-february-2013/collection/top-10-2012-frankenstein-mummies/top-10-discoveries-of-2012/#:~:text=Instances%20of%20deliberate%20mummification%20in,skeletons%20that%20fit%20the%20bill https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-14575729 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440312001501 https://www.hallancemeterysouthuist.co.uk/index.php/history/ If you want to learn more about other discoveries at Cladh Hallan: https://the-past.com/feature/cladh-hallan-exploring-the-roundhouse-way-of-life-in-south-uist/ YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bEjVaR6E3g  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PTVcCN2goU&t=683s 

A former ghost hunter turned anthropology student sits with a friend (and actual anthropology major) to discuss where their interests in the study of human history began: from a child archaeologist, to adapting with a frequently moving family, get to know the hosts as they look forward to getting to know you! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanthropology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanthropology  Substack: https://oddanthropology.substack.com  Email: oddanthropology@gmail.com Intro and Outro Music by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay