Journal Club: July 2026 - Ep 337

Join the APN crew for a monthly discussion of recent news articles. This month we look into two very different questions about archaeology and how we interpret the past. First, we dig into the growing role of AI and large language models in archaeological research, discussing hallucinations, data ownership, consent, open access, and why critical thinking is more important than ever. Then, we examine the case of a man who survived a severe facial injury roughly 100,000 years ago—and ask whether the more interesting story is really ancient violence, or the care and community that allowed him to survive.

Links

• Archaeology in the AI Era: Demystifying powerful and problematic systems shaping the future of the past (intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue71/15/full-text.html)

• Roughly 100,000 Years Ago, This Man Got Stabbed in the Face—and Survived. He’s Likely One of the First Known Victims of an Attack With a Sharp Weapon (smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/roughly-100000-y…)

Contact

Chris Webster

• chris@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com

Rachel Roden

• rachel@unraveleddesigns.com

• RachelUnraveled (Instagram) (instagram.com/rachelunraveled)

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