Material Culture, Microhistory and Mayhem. The Past and Stuff is a casual and irreverent podcast by Dr. Ashley Bozian and Dr. Tracey Cooper. Each week we challenge each other to identify an historical object, and then discuss what it can tell us as a unique window on the past. Expect an unexpected mesh of connections and terrible jokes, as a two very serious academics (not!), one a Armenian-American millennial and the other a British Gen Xer, have too much fun while trying to understand each other and the history of the world.

Show Notes: Episode 7: Snake Women, The Devil’s Trumpet and Disco Planet

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Tracey’s Stuff in the News

Christian Elliot, “Why Iceland Wants Its Skulls Back,” National Geographic, August 3, 2023 accessed August 6, 2023 at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/iceland-skulls-peabody-harvard-hastings-stefansson-haffjararey

Cara J. Chang, “Harvard Holds Remains of 19 Likely Enslaves Individuals, Thousands of Native American, Draft Report Says,” The Harvard Crimson, June 1, 2022, accessed on Aug 6, 2023 at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/6/1/draft-human-remains-report/

Marc Fennell, Stuff the British Stole, Podcast accessible at https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/stuff-the-british-stole

Danielle Bainbridge, “The Problem with Museums,” PBS Origins (video), available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av_3tGceTvs

John Oliver, “Museums: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO),” available at https://youtu.be/eJPLiT1kCSM

Ashley’s Stuff in the News
Will Dunham, “Alien Planet with Metallic Clouds Resembles ‘a Giant Mirror in Space,’” Reuters, July 10, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/alien-planet-with-metallic-clouds-resembles-a-giant-mirror-space-2023-07-10/

Tracey’s Piece of Stuff

David W. Robinson, Kelly Brown, Moira Mc Menemy, David Haviland, Datura quids at Pinwheel Cave, California, provide unambiguous confirmation of hallucinogens at a rock art site,” PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), Nov 23, 2020, accessed Aug 5, 2023 at https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2014529117.

David Robinson and Fraser Sturt, “Towards articulating Rock-Art with archaeology: An Interim Report of the Pin-Wheel Cave Rock-Art and Bedrock Mortar Complex, (CA-KER-5836 & 5837), Kern County, California,” Kern County Archaeological Journal 10: 25-44. Accessed July 30, 2023 at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284504174_Towards_Articulating_Rock-art_with_Archaeology_An_Interim_Report_of_the_Pinwheel_Cave_Rock-art_and_Bedrock_Mortar_Complex\

Soni P, Siddiqui AA, Dwivedi J, Soni V. Pharmacological properties of Datura stramonium L. as a potential medicinal tree: an overview. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2012 Dec;2(12):1002-8. doi: 10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60014-3. PMID: 23593583; PMCID: PMC3621465.

Marneros A, Gutmann P, Uhlmann F. Self-amputation of penis and tongue after use of Angel’s Trumpet. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2006 Oct;256(7):458-9. doi: 10.1007/s00406-006-0666-2. Epub 2006 Jun 16. PMID: 16783491.

U.S. Forest Service, “The Powerful Solanaceeae,” accessed August 1, 2023.

Adam King, Terry G. Powis, Komh F. Cheong, Bobi Deere, Robert B. Pickering, ERic Singleton and Nilesh Gaikwad, “Absorbed Residue Evidence for Prehistoric Datura Use in the American Southeast and Western Mexico, Advances in Archaeological Practice 6 (4) (2018): 312-327.

Steve Koppes and Louise Lerner, “Carbon-14 dating, explained,” University of Chicago News, April 27, 2023, accessed on August 6, 2023, at https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-carbon-14-dating#:~:text=Radiocarbon%20dating%2C%20or%20carbon%2D14,of%20the%20carbon%2D14%20isotope.

Andrew Haynes, “Beware the Effects of the Zombie Cucumber,” The Pharmaceutical Journal, December 12, 2014, accessed July 29, 2023.
https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/opinion/beware-the-psychedelic-effects-of-zombie-cucumber

Abhilash Rajendran, “Importance of Datura in Shiva Worship – Benefits – Why is Datura Offered to Lord Shiva,” Hindu Blog, February 18, 2017, accessed July 29, 2023 athttps://www.hindu-blog.com/2011/04/datura-flower-associated-with-shiva.html

Gino del Guercio, “From the Archives: The Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead,” Harvard Magazine, October 31, 2017 accessed July 29, 2023 at
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/10/are-zombies-real

Ashley’s Piece of Stuff
“Snake Goddess Manasa,” Rubin Museum, accessed July 29, 2023, https://collection.rubinmuseum.org/objects/454/snake-goddess-manasa?ctx=43e836119b490fecbdb350879397087cafa4b85f&idx=10

“Manasa, the Snake Goddess,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed August 3, 2023, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/76737

Matt Stefan, “Manasa,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed August 3, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manasa

Isbell, Lynne A. The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent: Why We See So Well. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009.