Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this episode, Dr Benjamin Irvine (former BIAA Postdoctoral fellow and now Assistant Professor at Bilkent University) discusses his research on bones and what bones can tell us about how people lived in the past. The conversation takes surprising and fascinating turns drawing on irregular burials, dietary habits and whether bones can tell us about instances of murder. Dr Irvine also makes a case for how archaeologists can be useful in crime investigations.
Resources:
Works Cited in the Podcast
- Elifgül Doğan, Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, and Jody Joy, “Who Owns the Dead? Legal and Professional Challenges Facing Human Remains Management in Turkey”. Public Archaeology 20 (2021): 85 – 107. doi.org/10.1080/14655187.2022.2070209
Additional Readings
- Benjamin Irvine, Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Michael P. Richards, “Dietary habits in the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) of Anatolia: A multi-isotopic approach”, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 24 (2019): 253 – 263.
- Benjamin Irvine and Yılmaz Selim Erdal, “Analysis of Dietary Habits in a Prehistoric Coastal Population from İkiztepe, North Turkey, Using Stable Isotopes of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Sulphur”, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29 (2020): 1 – 16.
- Benjamin Irvine and Kameray Özdemir, “Biogeochemical Approaches to Bioarchaeological Research in Turkey: A Review”, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 8/2 (2020): 174 – 199.
- Benjamin Irvine, Nami Shin, Christina Luke, Christopher H Roosevelt, “Stable Carbon Isotope (δ13C) Analysis of Archaeobotanical Remains from Bronze Age Kaymakçı (Western Anatolia) to Investigate Crop Management”, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 33 (2024): 289 – 300.
- Gülfem Uysal, Benjamin Irvine, Kameray Özdemir, “A Historical Case of Eagle’s Syndrome from the Constantine-Helena Church, Niğde, Türkiye”, International Journal of Paleopathology 49 (2025): 21 – 28.
In this episode, Dr Benjamin Irvine (former BIAA Postdoctoral fellow and now Assistant Professor at Bilkent University) discusses his research on bones and what bones can tell us about how people lived in the past. The conversation takes surprising and fascinating turns drawing on irregular burials, dietary habits and whether bones can tell us about instances of murder. Dr Irvine also makes a case for how archaeologists can be useful in crime investigations.
Resources:
Works Cited in the Podcast
- Elifgül Doğan, Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, and Jody Joy, “Who Owns the Dead? Legal and Professional Challenges Facing Human Remains Management in Turkey”. Public Archaeology 20 (2021): 85 – 107. doi.org/10.1080/14655187.2022.2070209
Additional Readings
- Benjamin Irvine, Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Michael P. Richards, “Dietary habits in the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) of Anatolia: A multi-isotopic approach”, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 24 (2019): 253 – 263.
- Benjamin Irvine and Yılmaz Selim Erdal, “Analysis of Dietary Habits in a Prehistoric Coastal Population from İkiztepe, North Turkey, Using Stable Isotopes of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Sulphur”, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29 (2020): 1 – 16.
- Benjamin Irvine and Kameray Özdemir, “Biogeochemical Approaches to Bioarchaeological Research in Turkey: A Review”, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 8/2 (2020): 174 – 199.
- Benjamin Irvine, Nami Shin, Christina Luke, Christopher H Roosevelt, “Stable Carbon Isotope (δ13C) Analysis of Archaeobotanical Remains from Bronze Age Kaymakçı (Western Anatolia) to Investigate Crop Management”, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 33 (2024): 289 – 300.
- Gülfem Uysal, Benjamin Irvine, Kameray Özdemir, “A Historical Case of Eagle’s Syndrome from the Constantine-Helena Church, Niğde, Türkiye”, International Journal of Paleopathology 49 (2025): 21 – 28.
