My Favorite Discovery: the Kunga

After people find out that I am an archaeologist, I am very often asked what my favorite “find” has been. I am considered “lucky” as an archaeologist, in that I frequently am part of really...

Love and Tamarind, Kurdish Style.

On a recent archaeology trip to Iraqi Kurdistan, I fell in love… with tamarind! So why did I never encounter tamarind during my 15 years working in Syria? The pulp of the tamarind fruit...

Ancient teeth and… Arak!

I am more than a little obsessed with teeth. Ancient teeth. Part of this is how teeth look when they come out of the ground: the enamel is usually shiny and white – unlike the drab, crumbly...