This Ancient Life tells stories about archaeology for non-archaeologists. We reveal the backstory behind exciting archaeological research and highlight the connections between past and present.

Our episodes also provide introductions to archaeological concepts and how archaeologists do their jobs, making them relevant to archaeology students.  Check out our episode pages for teaching guides on how to incorporate these episodes into your teaching.

Alison Carter is an associate professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of Oregon and host of This Ancient Life. 

A longtime fan of narrative podcasts, she got the idea for This Ancient Life in 2015 (and has held onto the domain name since then).  

She received her PhD in 2013 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has undertaken archaeological fieldwork and research in Southeast Asia since 2005. Her current archaeological project focuses on examining habitation around the provincial temple of Prasat Baset in Battambang province to understand how this area became incorporated into the expanding Angkor Empire during the 11th century CE. 

She also has an interest in beads and beadwork from all time periods and world areas and is editor of BEADS: The Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers. 

Academia.edu profile

ResearchGate profile