Fresco from the Bar of Salvius, Pompeii. In it, a bar maid holds a jug in one hand and a cup in another. One customer shouts “over here!”while another says “no, it’s mine!” The exasperated barmaid replies “whoever wants it should take it. Oceanus come here and drink”. (Caption and Image by Dr. Sophie Hay... Continue Reading →
Ancient 3D Models Before Digital Modeling
Last week, my interview with Abydos Archaeology’s Matthew Douglas Adams was published at Hyperallergic. The article focused on the discovery of an industrial royal brewery dating to 3100-2900 BCE at the Egyptian site of Abydos, where Adams co-directs the excavation with Deborah Vischak, as part of fieldwork supported by New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and Princeton University. In... Continue Reading →
Podcast #12: Thrown Together: Potters, Painters, and Ceramic Production with Sanchita Balachandran
An amazing podcast episode from Peopling the Past. Listen to and explore the whole season [here].

On episode 12 of the Peopling the Past Podcast, we are joined by Sanchita Balachandran, Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum and founder of the non-profit Untold Stories. Sanchita Balachandran earned her Master’s in Art History with an advanced certificate in Art Conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Preservation Studies at the University of Delaware.
Listen in, as she speaks to us about the sensory experience of ancient potters and painters, her experimental archaeology project at Johns Hopkins, and the underdrawings on Greek painted pottery.
Interested in learning more? Check out this related article by Sanchita Balachandran:
Looking for a transcript of this episode? Click here.
Additional Resources Related to this Episode
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Consider the Anus Radish: Etymologies, Adultery, and the Defense of the Microhistory
Isidore was a learned scholar and the Bishop of the Spanish city of Seville from 600-636 CE. Thousands of manuscripts containing his Etymologiae ("The Etymologies," also called the Origines, "The Origins") survive today; the only work to surpass it in terms of extant manuscript copies in Western Europe is the Bible (Throop 2005: xii). The sheer number of... Continue Reading →