Unearthed! in Spring 2025, Part 1

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class: Unearthed! in Spring 2025, Part 1

Release Date: April 14, 2025
Hosts: Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In the Spring 2025 installment of "Unearthed!," hosts Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson delve into a myriad of recent historical discoveries, updates on ongoing research, and intriguing art attributions. This episode not only highlights significant archaeological finds but also addresses the contemporary challenges facing historical scholarship in the current political climate.

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Navigating Political Turbulence in Historical Scholarship

Tracy V. Wilson opens the episode by addressing the impact of recent federal executive orders on historical research and the podcast itself:

"These executive orders have a lot of common themes... our podcast is insane and full of improper ideology because we talk about ways that racism and sexism and oppression have always been part of American history."
[02:35]

Wilson discusses how directives aimed at "ending radical indoctrination" and "reducing the Federal Bureaucracy" threaten funding for museums, libraries, and researchers. This environment poses significant challenges for producing content that acknowledges the multifaceted and often uncomfortable truths of history.

"We rely on the work of museums and libraries and researchers... these episodes draw so heavily from newly published research."
[02:52]

Despite these obstacles, Fry and Wilson reaffirm their commitment to uncovering and presenting a comprehensive view of history.

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Updates on Previously Discussed Historical Topics

Maria Arosa's Reinterment

The hosts revisit the story of Maria Arosa, a Filipino food scientist known for inventing banana ketchup. Initially buried in a mass grave after the Battle of Manila in 1945, her remains have now been moved to the crypt of the San Agustin Church in Manila.

"Her burial place was not exactly known because she was buried in a mass grave... she and others were laid to rest in the crypt of the San Agustin Church."
[09:19]

This reinterment honors her contributions and those of other World War II heroes, providing closure to a tragic chapter of her life.

Harriet Tubman's Archaeological Findings

Discussing Harriet Tubman, the podcast highlights recent archaeological work at the site of her father's home, Ben Ross Home Place, now featured in a virtual museum by the Maryland Department of Transportation.

"The virtual museum has pages for the home place, the archaeology, kitchen items, personal items, and Native people's artifacts."
[10:40]

This initiative not only preserves the site but also safeguards it from potential destruction due to sea-level rise, ensuring Tubman's legacy endures.

Viking-Era Galloway Hoard

The Galloway Hoard, discovered in Scotland in 2014, continues to puzzle researchers:

"This hoard contains four arm rings that are marked with runes... there's still some uncertainty about this fourth armband."
[11:16]

The inclusion of wrapped dirt balls alongside precious metals raises questions about the hoard's original purpose and the identity of its owner(s).

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New Archaeological Discoveries

Pompeii's Hidden Treasures

A significant update from Pompeii reveals the discovery of an expansive bath complex, potentially belonging to the politician Alice Rustius Verus.

"This was a multi-room complex... it may have belonged to Alice Rustius Verus, who was a politician and would have hosted large numbers of guests at home."
[17:00]

Additionally, frescoes depicting Dionysian initiation rites have surfaced, shedding light on the religious practices of the time.

"These frescoes corroborate some of what we know about religious practices in the cult of Dionysus."
[18:56]

Other notable finds include a unique bog body in Northern Ireland and translated memoirs of Josephine Baker, enriching our understanding of these historical figures and events.

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Art Discoveries and Attributions

William Henry Dorsey's Rediscovered Painting

A painting purchased for $10 at a Philadelphia thrift store has been authenticated as the work of William Henry Dorsey, a free Black artist from the 19th century.

"This painting depicts a black man fishing by the edge of a river next to a mill with its own water wheel attached."
[33:28]

Donated to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the artwork is now on public display, celebrating Dorsey's artistic legacy.

Ami Phillips' Double-Sided Portrait

An 18th-century double-sided portrait by Ami Phillips was found in an abandoned storage unit and unveiled at auction this year. The identity of the sitter remains a mystery, sparking debates about whether the dual images represent the same person or two different individuals.

"Are these two different people or two different versions of the same person? It's a bit of a mystery."
[35:38]

Researchers continue to analyze the piece, exploring its unique features and artistic techniques.

Lavinia Fontana's Miniature Portrait

A miniature painting previously misattributed to Bronzino has been correctly identified as the work of Lavinia Fontana, an influential Italian female artist.

"This miniature has been loaned to Strawberry Hill House and it will be on display there until April 23rd of this year."
[37:53]

Another painting initially thought to be by Peter Paul Rubens has also been reattributed to Fontana, highlighting her often underappreciated contribution to Renaissance art.

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Technological and Methodological Advances in Archaeology

Chemical Analysis of Egyptian Mummies' Aromas

Researchers at University College London have unveiled that well-preserved Egyptian mummies emit pleasant scents like woody, spicy, and floral notes. This novel approach aids in non-invasive preservation techniques and understanding the substances used in mummification.

"Odors can help researchers determine how well preserved a mummy is without invasive testing."
[28:41]

Digitizing Medieval Wall Paintings

In Angers Cathedral, a series of 13th-century frescoes were digitized using over 8,000 photographs. This painstaking process preserved intricate depictions of Saint Marie and offers new insights into medieval religious art.

"Digitizing these paintings involved taking more than 8,000 total photographs, which then had to be stitched together into one image."
[39:32]

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Listener Mail and Community Engagement

The episode concludes with a heartfelt listener email from Joanie, who shares her perspective on gender-neutral language inspired by the podcast’s discussion of historical figures.

"As a woman, I appreciated and preferred being called a brother... Your podcast is among my favorites."
[49:36]

Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Fry respond by relating it to similar practices in fiction, such as the respectful titles used in Star Trek.

"We kind of talked about a similar thing, but from a fictional world."
[50:16]

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Conclusion

"Unearthed! in Spring 2025, Part 1" offers a deep dive into the latest historical discoveries, ongoing research, and the evolving landscape of historical scholarship amidst political pressures. Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson adeptly navigate these topics, providing listeners with insightful updates and thought-provoking discussions that enrich our understanding of the past.

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Notable Quotes:

• "Our approach is rooted in a core belief that oppression is bad and we're all human beings and we all deserve dignity and equal rights."
  — Tracy V. Wilson
  [02:52]

• "These frescoes corroborate some of what we know about religious practices in the cult of Dionysus."
  — Tracy V. Wilson
  [18:56]

• "Are these two different people or two different versions of the same person? It's a bit of a mystery."
  — Holly Fry
  [35:38]

---

Listen to "Unearthed! in Spring 2025, Part 1" on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts to stay updated with the most fascinating historical stories you might have missed in history class.

Transcript

[Tracy V. Wilson]

A crime makes headlines, people talk about it for a few days, then it disappears. But for the people left behind, their story is just beginning. But at night, we hear the garage opening and my son hears it. We freak out. Honestly, I didn't tell my son this.

[Holly Fry]

But I felt that was it.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

From the exactly right network. This is the Knife. Real stories of crime's ripple effects told by those who lived them. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to the knife on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Maria Tremorki]

Each season we explore a new theme. From poisoners to art thieves.

[Holly Fry]

We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching.

[Maria Tremorki]

And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Holly Fry]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Anna Sinfield]

The number one hit podcast, the Girlfriends, is back with something new, the Girlfriends Spotlight, where each week you'll hear women share their stories of triumph over adversity. You'll meet June, who founded an all female rock band in the 1960s.

[Sophia Bush]

I might as well have said we're.

[Maria Tremorki]

Gonna walk on the moon.

[Anna Sinfield]

But she showed them who's boss.

[Sophia Bush]

They would rush up and say, not bad for chicks.

[Anna Sinfield]

Come and join our girl gang. Listen to the Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. He was out of his mind and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. Listen to Divine intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I'm not sure how time has already rolled us around to this point, but here we are with our quarterly Unearthed episodes. Again, if you're new to the show, this is when we talk about things that have been literally and figuratively unearthed over the last few months. And as usual, this unearthed is a two parter. And this time around, I wanna start by acknowledging that we While I was working on these episodes, I was struggling. I'm still struggling, to be honest, and normally this is the kind of stuff that we would talk about in our Friday behind the scenes. But not today. It's not what we're doing today. First, the day I started working on these episodes, plainclothes Federal agents grabbed PhD student Ramesa Ozturk off the street in Somerville, Massachusetts, as she was on her way to break her Ramadan fast. I lived in Somerville for five years, and Tufts University, which is where she was studying, that was in walking distance of my apartment in Somerville. So even though I don't live in Somerville anymore, she feels like my neighbor. So that happened on March 25th. It was still weighing heavily on my mind on March 27th when President Trump issued an executive order called Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, which, among other things, characterizes the Smithsonian Institution and its museums as needing to be saved from, quote, improper ideology. Basically, following the descriptions and the language in this executive order, our podcast is insane and full of improper ideology because we talk about ways that racism and sexism and oppression have always been part of American history. And that followed another executive order called Ending radical indoctrination in K through 12 schooling. That was on January 29th. And those two executive orders have a lot of common themes based on that. January 29. 1. Our podcast is also not appropriate for use in K12 schools for pretty much the same reason that it's, quote, insane. And also because we recognize that trans people exist and we try to talk about trans people with respect, compassion and dignity. I sound angry because I am. The next thing that also happened just recently was the continuing the reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy executive order from March 14th. That one eliminated the institute of Museum and Library Services to the maximum extent allowed by law. That's like a way to shut it down without going through Congress to shut it down, which would normally be how that would work. It was reported that the entire staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was placed on leave as I was doing the final read through of this outline before sending it to Holly last night. There have also been other executive orders and actions by the Department of Government Efficiency that have cut other funding for scientists and other researchers. And then there's the removing the names and accomplishments of black people and indigenous people and Japanese Americans and women and LGBTQ people and others from an array of historical sites and museums and Arlington National Cemetery, and on and on in the wake of executive orders about ending dei. This is not even even a tenth of what has been going on with this federal administration. And it might not even be a tenth of only the things that have directly impacted my friends and family in negative ways. But this is some of what's been happening that has most directly been connected to our work, and it's made it kind of hard to focus. We do a lot of episodes that contextualize current political and social issues, and a lot of what we talk about is inherently political, but we have not really made a ton of explicitly political statements on the show. Even without explicitly political statements, it really should be obvious to anybody who listens to us that our approach is rooted in a core belief that oppression is bad and we're all human beings and we all deserve dignity and equal rights. And a lot of history all over the world has not really lived up to that ideal. That is also true of the present. But this is a history podcast and not a current events show. These executive orders and other directives are calling for a view of history that is focused only on patriotism and the idea of American greatness. But you can only arrive at such an interpretation of history by willfully ignoring a lot of stuff. It is not anti American to acknowledge these realities, and it is absurd, absurd to try to pretend that they don't exist and don't still influence the world today. Executive orders are not laws and we are not federal employees. So in terms of what we write and say on the show, we can just say, no, we will not be doing that. But also, we rely on the work of museums and libraries and researchers from a range of disciplines, including the sciences, for our show. That doesn't just apply to Unearthed, but it especially applies to Unearthed because these episodes draw so heavily from newly published research. Basically, I tried to pull these episodes together while the institutions I rely on to do it and the people who work at those institutions were actively under attack. I don't know what will happen to these episodes as researchers in the United States lose their funding. And as that loss of funding ripples through the entire academic community here and as universities and other institutions scale back on work that's focused on people who are not cisgender, straight white men because of these executive orders about dei, it is obvious to me, though, that we will be poorer for it. That was the longest introduction I've ever written for one of our shows. And as far as what was Unearthed this quarter, we're starting, as we usually do, with the updates.

[Holly Fry]

So In May of 2024, we did an episode on Filipino food scientist Maria Arosa, whose most famous food invention today is banana ketchup. That episode ends very sadly because Arosa was killed in the Battle of Manila in 1945. When we recorded that, her burial place was not exactly known because she was buried in a mass grave at Malate Catholic School with others who were killed over the course of the battle.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

That has now changed after a five year project involving that mass grave which was underway as we recorded our episode on her on February 13, Orosa and others were laid to rest in the crypt of the San Agustin Church in Manila after a funeral mass that honored her and other World War II heroes. The other people who were reinterred with her included a doctor at the hospital where she was working, along with hospital volunteers and civilian patients. The identity of Erosa's remains had been confirmed through both DNA testing and physical examination. Also, thank you to listener Dandy for sending us this story. It was not really widely reported beyond the Philippines and I don't really think I would have would have heard about it without that listener email.

[Holly Fry]

We did a two parter on Harriet Tubman in June of 2016 and in 2023 we talked about archaeological work being done at the likely site of the home, her father, Ben Ross. At the time, that work was ongoing. Now the Maryland Department of Transportation has launched a virtual museum detailing their findings and showcasing some of the objects from the site. It's an unwieldy URL to read off, but it's easily findable by searching. Ben Ross Home Place this archaeological site.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Is in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and one of the reasons for a virtual museum is that the site of the home place is not an area that's accessible accessible to the public. Also, the whole area is at risk of destruction due to sea level rise, so they wanted to really preserve and document it. The virtual museum has pages for the home place, the archaeology, kitchen items, personal items, and Native people's artifacts. The Native people's artifacts are things that are mostly very, very small. They're like fragments of pottery, projectile points and flaked stones.

[Holly Fry]

Next, we talked about the Viking era Galloway hoard in one of last year's installments of Unearthed. A metal detectorist found this hoard in Scotland back in 2014, and research into it has been ongoing. There's a lot that's still unknown, like why the hoard of metal objects also includes wrapped balls of dirt. We don't know who it belonged to or why it was buried.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This hoard contains four arm rings that are marked with runes and that had led to some speculation that this was the combined wealth of four different parties, but only three of those armbands had Old English name elements in the runes. The fourth band, which has the longest runic inscription, had not been decipherable.

[Holly Fry]

There's still some uncertainty about this fourth armband, but one possible interpretation is that they're basically saying the horde was community property. That interpretation only works, though, if part of the inscription is misspelled. But researchers have been pointing out that we shouldn't necessarily assume that every region and dialect was using the same spellings of words. We see this in English all the time.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, we've talked about times that spellings of things were not standardized, or sometimes people just misspell things when spellings are standardized. We're going to take a quick sponsor break and then have some more updates.

[Sophia Bush]

Hi friends, Sophia Bush here, host of work in progress. This week we had such a special guest on the podcast My Forever flotus. A mentor, a friend, a wife, a mother, an author, attorney, advocate, television producer. And now she adds podcast host to the list herself. Friends, Michelle Obama is here.

[Holly Fry]

Sophia, I'm beyond thrilled to be able to sit down and chat with you.

[Sophia Bush]

We talk about it all. Life, love, motherhood.

[Holly Fry]

Martinis, Vodka martini, dry, straight up olives, very cold. My girl, barely any vermouth.

[Sophia Bush]

What's next? What she's watching on tv.

[Holly Fry]

I am a White Lotuser. I am a Real Housewives person.

[Sophia Bush]

I love the dating shows and tennis.

[Holly Fry]

I just find that to be a bit meditative.

[Sophia Bush]

You do not want to miss this. Listen to work in Progress on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Anna Sinfield]

The number one hit true crime podcast, the Girlfriends, is back with something new, the Girlfriends Spotlight. Our first two series introduce you to an incredible, incredible gang of women who teamed up to fight injustice, showing just how powerful sisterly solidarity can be. And we're keeping this mission alive with the Girlfriend's spotlight. Each week a different woman sits down with me, Anna Sinfield, to share their incredible story of triumph over adversity. Like Tracy, who survived a terrifying attack.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I remember that feeling of okay, this.

[Anna Sinfield]

Is how I die and turned that darkness into the most incredible journey.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I want to take over the world and just leave this place better than.

[Anna Sinfield]

I found it, which took her all the way to Paris for the Paralympic Games.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Oh my gosh, this is amazing.

[Anna Sinfield]

So come and join our girl gang. Listen to the Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Why is my cat not here and I go in and she's eating my lunch?

[Maria Tremorki]

Or if hypnotism is real, you will use this suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control. But what's inside a black hole?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Black holes could be a consequence of the way that we understand the universe.

[Maria Tremorki]

Well, we have answers for you in the new I Heart original podcast Science Stuff. Join me, Jorge Cham, as we tackle questions you've always wanted to know the answer to about animals, space, our brains and our bodies. Questions like, can you survive being cryogenically frozen?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is experimental. This may never work for you.

[Maria Tremorki]

What's a quantum computer?

[Holly Fry]

It's not just a faster computer, it performs in a fundamentally different way.

[Maria Tremorki]

Do you really have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you can go swimming?

[Holly Fry]

It's not really a safety issue, it's.

[Maria Tremorki]

More of a comfort issue. We'll talk to experts, break it down, and give you easy to understand explanations to fascinating scientific questions. So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to science stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jen Swan]

Imagine you're scrolling through TikTok. You come across a video of a teenage girl and then a photo of the person suspected of killing her.

[Sophia Bush]

And I was like, what? Like it was him. I was like, oh my God. It was shocking. It was very shocking.

[Jen Swan]

I'm Jen Swan. I'm a journalist in Los Angeles, and I've spent the past few years investigating the story behind the viral posts and the extraordinary events that followed.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I started investing my time to get her justice.

[Maria Tremorki]

They put out something on social media, so I'd get called in the middle.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Of the night all the time.

[Sophia Bush]

It's like, how do you think you're going to get away with something like this? Like you kill somebody.

[Jen Swan]

It's the story of how and why a group of teenagers turn to social media to help track down their friend's killer. This is their story. This is my friend Daisy. Listen to my friend daisy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

There's been some new stuff unearthed at Pompeii, which was the subject of a 2009 episode of the show and is just also a regular feature on Unearthed. First, in Pompeii, homes with private baths were really only for the rich. And the bath complex that has just been discovered there was for the really rich. There are only three other villas in Pompeii that have been discovered so far that have comparable Bath facilities, and it's, you know, still being studied, but it's likely that this one is even bigger than those. It may have belonged to Alice Rustius Verus, who was a politician and would have hosted large numbers of guests at home.

[Holly Fry]

This was a multi room complex. It had a changing room that could accommodate about 30 people, plus separate rooms for hot, warm and cold bathing, which people would progress through from hot to cold. That final cold room had a plunge pool more than a meter deep. And of course, all of these rooms were impressively decorated, including frescoed walls and inlaid marble floors. This bathing facility was also connected to the banquet hall. So it seems likely that if guests came for a banquet, they might also be treated to a luxury bathing experience.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

In another Pompeii discovery, a set of frescoes depicting the initiation rites of the cult of Dionysus has been found on the walls of a banquet hall. These frescoes are really enormous. They're depicted at almost life size, and they cover three walls of the room. They depict the person who's being initiated into the cult, as well as several women. Some of the women are dancing, and some of them are dressed as hunters. The hunters carry a goat and its entrails. And there are also satyrs with flutes and wine.

[Holly Fry]

These depictions were probably created sometime between 40 and 30 BCE, and they are similar to those at Pompey's Villa of the Mysteries, which is not very far away. While they're shown in these frescoes, these rites were also secret. So these newly discovered frescoes corroborate some of what we know about religious practices in the cult of Dionysus.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Moving on, In March of 2020, we talked about the discovery of some glassy matter at Pompei, which turned out to be part of a person's brain. Subsequent research concluded that this glassy matter contained neurons. And research that was published in February offers a hypothesis on how that glassy material came to be. Like, how does someone's brain turn into glass? According to the researchers, the only way this could have happened would have been for the person's brain to have been exposed to extremely high temperatures, hotter than the pyroclastic flow that buried the city, but that could only be exposed to those temperatures for an extremely short time. So their hypothesis is that this person was exposed to a cloud of superheated ash ahead of that pyroclastic flow, with that ash then dissipating and everything cooling off very quickly.

[Holly Fry]

This is very different from my guess that a James Bond era villain was somehow involved. And in Pompeii, adjacent News Archaeologists working in the Salerno area have found footprints of people and animals running away from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, not from the eruption that destroyed Pompeii, but from one that happened around the year 2000 BCE. The footprints included those of adults and children, some in bare feet and some wearing shoes.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Moving on from Pompeii, previous hosts of the show did an episode on the Bayou Tapestry, which is really an embroidery that was back in 2011, and it's also come up on Unearthed, including in our year end 2024 episodes. Two of the scenes depicted in the tapestry show King Harold Godwinson at his residence in West Sussex. Archaeologists working there believe they may have found the location of that residence. This conclusion follows a lot of different work, including analysis of historical maps and reexamination of the findings of some archaeological work that happened back in 2006. One of the things that was unearthed in that archaeological work was a private latrine, which would not have been common at the time and helps back up the idea that this might have been one of the structures at Harold's residence, because who else besides the king would have had a private latrine?

[Holly Fry]

There's also a piece of the Bayou Tapestry that has been rediscovered in state archives in northern Germany that's now being repatriated to France. While this embroidery depicts the Norman conquest of Britain, it is considered to be a French cultural asset. The Bayou Tapestry is currently undergoing a major conservation project and it's going to be taken off display later this year because the museum where it is housed will be undergoing its own renovation. The museum is going to close on August 31, 2025, and it's expected to reopen in 2027.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Next, there's graffiti in the basement of the Lincoln Memorial, also called the Undercroft. This was first found in 1984 and according to statements given to the Washington Post earlier this year, the subject of that graffiti might be past podcast subject Theta Barra. We covered her on May 4, 2022. The evidence that this is who is being depicted is described as compelling but circumstantial. This is a drawing done in carpenter's pencil. It shows someone in profile smoking a cigarette with curly hair and pretty pronounced makeup considering that it's done in carpenter's pencil, including dramatic lipstick and blush and eye makeup. And then next to that image is the word vamp in loopy script.

[Holly Fry]

Next, in our spring 2024 unearthed, we talked about the discovery of a bog body in Balahi, Northern Ireland, which was nicknamed the Balahi Boy. When this body was first discovered. People thought it was a recent murder victim, but it was estimated to actually be somewhere around 2000 years old. Subsequent research has confirmed that approximate date, but osteological studies suggest that the person was female. A significant majority of bog bodies that have been found from this period are male, which makes this one unusual. They also found cut marks at the neck vertebrae that suggest that this person was intentionally decapitated before being put in the bog. The skull is not present. Researchers are now calling this bog body the Ballymacombs Moore Woman.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And in our last update, this time around, Josephine Baker, who prior hosts did an episode about on March 8, 2010, wrote a memoir which was originally published in French in 1949. This was not available in English until now. It is titled Fearless and Free. It's been translated, as I said into English for the first time. It has been published by Tiny Reparations Books, which is an imprint of Penguin Books.

[Holly Fry]

Moving along, we have quite a few finds related to Egypt in some way. First, a 4,100-year-old burial in the Saqqara necropolis appears to be that of a royal do. It's possible that this doctor served under Pharaoh Pepi ii, who was also entombed at Saqqara. Like many other tombs at Saqqara, this one had been looted long before archaeologists found it. But its intricately painted walls have led to its being described as an exceptional discovery. In addition to being a royal doctor, this person was also a dentist and an expert in medicinal plants and venomous bites.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Next, an international interdisciplinary team of researchers has concluded that skeletal remains that were speculated to be that of Arsinoe iv, the half sister of Cleopatra, belonged to someone else. This person does seem to have died at around the same time that Arsinoe did, but it's more likely that the skull belonged to a male child, likely between the ages of 11 and 14, with what the paper described as showing evidence of developmental disturbances. Those disturbances included asymmetry in the bones, which could have come from a variety of different causes. This person also likely came from Italy or Sardinia rather than northern Africa.

[Holly Fry]

In February, a team led by British archaeologist Piers Litherland discovered the rock cut tomb of Thutmose ii. The tomb itself was largely empty because it had been flooded at some point. It was built under a waterfall, and this probably happened within a few years of it being built. But there is still a lot of debris inside, including chunks that have fallen from the ceiling, pieces of wall decorations, fragments of wooden shafts and other objects. This includes some alabaster fragments with Thutmose's name on them. Thutmose II was both half brother and husband to Hatshepsut, and we talked about both of them in our episode Hatshepsut and the Voyage to Punt.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Not long after that find was announced, Litherland announced that he may have discovered another tomb also belonging to Thutmose ii, which may have been the one where his mummy and grave goods were housed. I wasn't able to find more updates about that second discovery.

[Holly Fry]

And speaking of Hatshepsut, archaeologists in Luxor have found more than 1,000 intricately decorated blocks at the entrance to her funeral complex, as well as a collection of limestone and quartzite tablets. These blocks are brightly decorated with paint that is still vivid and are described as showing the artistic mastery of this era.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

In addition to those tomb discoveries, a different team working at the ancient necropolis of Anubis Mountain in Abydos have found a pharaoh's tomb. But which pharaoh is not yet known. This Tomb is about 3,600 years old and excavations there are ongoing.

[Holly Fry]

Tracy had really thought that we talked about some research similar to what we're about to mention recently on the show, but looking back, she did not see any such thing. I know I talked about it on a different project not that long back. Researchers at University College London have investigated the aroma of well preserved Egyptian mummies, finding that they smell, in the words of the news release, pretty good. They were characterized with words like woody, spicy and sweet, as well as having some floral notes. This work involved chemical analysis and human beings just smelling the mummies. This of course, doesn't necessarily reflect what they smelled like at the time they were mummified.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This was not just for fun, even though that to me does sound like kind of a fun project getting people to sniff mummies. But odors can help researchers determine how well preserved a mummy is without invasive testing. And odors can also help pinpoint which substances were used in the mummification.

[Holly Fry]

And our last Egypt find is kind of more Egypt. Adjacent, a leather suitcase belonging to Howard Carter has been rediscovered in England. Carter is the person who's credited with finding the tomb of King Tut after its rediscovery. This leather suitcase sold at auction in February for 12,000 pounds. That's roughly $15,000.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Let's take another little sponsor break and then we're going to talk about some art.

[Sophia Bush]

Hi friends, Sophia Bush here, host of Work in Progress. This week we had such a special guest on the podcast My Forever Flotus, a mentor, a Friend, a wife, a mother, an author, attorney, advocate, television producer. And now she adds podcast host to the list herself. Friends, Michelle Obama is here.

[Holly Fry]

Sophia, I'm beyond thrilled to be able to sit down and chat with you.

[Sophia Bush]

We talk about it all. Life, love, motherhood. Martinis.

[Holly Fry]

Vodka martini, dry, straight up. Olives.

[Sophia Bush]

Ooh, olives.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Very cold, my girl. Barely any vermouth.

[Sophia Bush]

What's next? What she's watching on tv?

[Holly Fry]

Buy him a white lotus. I am a Real Housewives person.

[Sophia Bush]

I love the dating shows and tennis.

[Holly Fry]

I just find that to be a bit meditative.

[Sophia Bush]

You do not want to miss this. Listen to work in Progress on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Anna Sinfield]

The number one hit true crime podcast, the Girlfriends, is back with something new. The Girlfriend Spotlight. Our first two series introduce you to an incredible gang of women who teamed up to fight injustice, showing just how powerful sisterly solidarity can be. We're keeping this mission alive with the Girlfriend Spotlight. Each week, a different woman sits down with me, Anna Sinfield, to share their incredible story of triumph over adversity. Like Luanne, who was raised in a secretive religion religious community.

[Sophia Bush]

Do I want my freedom or do I want my family?

[Anna Sinfield]

And found a way to escape.

[Sophia Bush]

When she said, you know you can leave, right?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It was a light bulb.

[Anna Sinfield]

And now helps other women get out too.

[Sophia Bush]

I loved my girls. I still love my girls.

[Anna Sinfield]

So come and join our girl gang. Listen to the Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast costs.

[Maria Tremorki]

Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Why is my cat not here and I go in and she's eating my lunch?

[Maria Tremorki]

Or if hypnotism is real, you will use the suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control. What's inside a black hole?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Black holes could be a consequence of the way that we understand the universe.

[Maria Tremorki]

Well, we have answers for you in the new I Heart original podcast Science Stuff. Join me, Jorge Cham, as we tackle questions you've always wanted to know the answer to about animals, space, our brains and our bodies. Questions like, can you survive being cryogenically frozen?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is experimental. This may never work for you.

[Maria Tremorki]

What's a quantum computer?

[Holly Fry]

It's not just a faster computer. It performs in a fundamentally different way.

[Maria Tremorki]

Do you really have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you can go swimming?

[Holly Fry]

It's not really a safety issue.

[Maria Tremorki]

It's more of a comfort issue. We'll talk to experts, break it down, and give you easy to understand explanations to fascinating scientific Questions. So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to science stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jen Swan]

Imagine you're scrolling through TikTok. You come across a video of a teenage girl and then a photo of the person suspected of killing her.

[Sophia Bush]

And I was like, what? Like it was him. I was like, oh my God. It was shocking. It was very shocking.

[Jen Swan]

I'm Jen Swan. I'm a journalist in Los Angeles and I've spent the past few years investigating the story behind the viral posts and the extraordinary events that followed.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I started investing my time to get her justice.

[Maria Tremorki]

They put out something on social media so I'd get called in the middle.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Of the night all the time.

[Sophia Bush]

It's like, how do you think you're going to get away with something like this? Like you killed somebody.

[Jen Swan]

It's the story of how and why a group of teenagers turned to social media to help track down their friend's killer. This is their story. This is my friend Daisy. Listen to my friend daisy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

There is so, so much artwork to talk about in this installment of Unearthed. Just so much I love art, so it's great. So much art to talk about that it's going to be the entire rest of this episode. First, a painting that was bought for $10 at a thrift store outside of Philadelphia has turned out to be the work of William Henry Dorsey. Dorsey was a free black man born in Philadelphia in 1837, and in addition to being an artist, he was a coin collector and a scrapbooker and an art collector, especially focused on the work of other black artists. I have put him on the list for a future episode of his own because he sounds very interesting to me. This painting depicts a black man fishing by the edge of a river next to a mill with its own water wheel attached. Andy Robbins, who bought this painting at the thrift store, has given it to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania where it is now on display.

[Holly Fry]

A double sided portrait by 18th century artist Ami Phillips was discovered in an abandoned storage unit back in 2024, but it made headlines at the start of this year when it went up for auction. It's not known who the sitter is, but it's believed that the same person is shown on both sides of the painting. Her pose is similar on both sides and there's a small birthmark on her face in each of them. She's sitting in the same chair wearing the same dress and the same necklace with her left arm on the same book. But the face doesn't look the same between the two portraits. On one side, blondish hair is covered by a bonnet and on the other, brown hair is up in a bun. The face shapes and mouth shapes are different. Are these two different people or two different versions of the same person? It's a bit of a mystery.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This artist was an itinerant portrait painter who worked in a range of portrait styles and his career spanned for more than 50 years in that time producing as many as 2,000 portraits.

[Holly Fry]

It could be the original Double Mint Twins.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I was looking at it, I was like, are these sisters cousins?

[Holly Fry]

Right.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

There's friends I don't know. Or the same person in two different drafts.

[Holly Fry]

Back in 2023, we did an episode on Venetian painter Canaletto, who was known for his large scale cityscapes, which are spectacularly beautiful. And we talked about how one of his assistants was his nephew, Bernardo Bellotto, and how Bellotto became really skilled at copying Canaletto's technique and would sometimes even sign Canaletto's name to his own work. Well, one of the paintings that had been attributed to Canaletto has now been reattributed to his ne Grand Canal with San Simeon Piccolo from 1737.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This determination came through research for a new book called Canaletto and Guardi Views of Venice, which was published by the Wallace Collection. Part of this attribution about who actually did the painting came from the way the painting uses color and light because Bellotto was known for being sort of colder and less vibrant in the color that he used than his uncle was.

[Holly Fry]

Speaking of artists that we have covered on the show, we are now to Lavinia Fontana, who we covered. In 2022, a miniature portrait of an Italian noblewoman came up for auction in Texas, which used to belong to another past podcast subject, Horace Walpole. Walpole displayed the painting at Strawberry Hill House. It is believed to depict Bianca Capello, grand duchess consort of Tuscany and wife of Francesco I de Medici, who Walpole had a fascination with.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Walpole also believed this painting had been created by a different artist, Mannerist painter Bronzino, who lived in the 16th century. But after this portrait was found at auction, it was re attributed to Lavinia Fontana. This miniature has been loaned to Strawberry Hill House and it will be on display there until April 23rd of this year, which is 2025, if you're listening when this episode is actually publishing.

[Holly Fry]

Also, another painting has also been reattributed to Lavinia Fontana. This one was previously attributed to Flemish Renaissance artist Peter Purbus, but it was reattributed after an expert spotted the painting in a storage room at the Musee de la Chartreuse in Douai, France. This one depicts a family with a girl passing flowers to her father and a servant behind them with a basket of fruit. This painting is going to go through restoration before becoming part of the museum's permanent collection.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Next up, conservators in France have digitized and analyzed a set of cathedral wall paintings that have been hidden for centuries. These date back to the 13th century, and they cover seven bays in the apse of Angers Cathedral. And based on research that was involved in this project, two different groups originally created them. Then, back in 1451, the cathedral was damaged by a fire and the walls were whitewashed. That's probably why these paintings were not destroyed during the French wars of Religion. Then, in the 18th century, wooden choir stalls were built in front of those whitewashed walls.

[Holly Fry]

These wall paintings were rediscovered back in the 1980s, but it took a decade just to remove the whitewash before they could be conserved. This whole process was made more difficult and time consuming because the choir stalls are backed by tall wooden panels which cannot be removed. So everything had to happen in this very narrow space between the wood panels and the wall.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It sounds very awkward and tedious from the descriptions.

[Holly Fry]

It sounds like that whole thing of like building your spite house an inch from the house next to it. Like, how do you get anything done in there?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

How are you going to repaint that wall ever?

[Holly Fry]

Never.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Digitizing these paintings involved taking more than 8,000 total photographs, which then had to be stitched together into one image. And that was a whole other multi year process. These paintings depict the life and works of Saint Marie, who was the Bishop of Angers in the 5th century.

[Holly Fry]

Next, researchers working with a 13th century fresco in Ferrara, Italy, have published research suggesting that one of the things depicted in the fresco is a tent from the Islamic world. The fresco is in the apse of a church, and it's believed that it depicts a real tent that was used in that church to conceal the altar, either all the time or during particular parts of the liturgical year.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This tent is brightly colored, it's covered in jewels, and the round shape of it matches the curve of the apse. Its borders feature sort of a pseudo Arabic style of inscription, and there are color combinations that were really popular in 13th century Andalusi silks. The depiction in the fresco is similar to surviving fragments of those silks and to artistic representations of tents like these being used in the Islamic world.

[Holly Fry]

This research suggests that textiles made their way from the Islamic world to Christian churches, possibly through the textiles being taken as spoils of war and then gifted to churches or church leaders. Popes are known to have gifted altar curtains to churches going back to at least the 9th century. So it's possible that this tent was a gift to the church from the Pope or another high ranking person within the church. Or this also could have been a gift from a wealthy family.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Moving on, we have kind of a saga about art attribution. Back in 2018, someone who had bought a painting at a garage sale in Minnesota for $50 submitted an inquiry to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam about whether this painting might be that artist's work. The following year the museum said no, it wasn't based on stylistic features. From there, a data science company called LMI Group bought the painting and did its own analysis of it. LMI Group was co founded by Maxwell L. Anderson, who's an art historian and has served as the director of a number of museums.

[Holly Fry]

LMI Group concluded that the painting was Van Gogh's work. The name LMR is in one corner of the canvas, which has been adopted as the painting's name, and LMI Group speculates that it's a reference to a character in hans Christian Andersen's 1848 novel the Two Baronesses.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

LMI sent its conclusions to the Van Gogh Museum, which maintained that it still did not believe that this work was van Gogh's. On January 31, LMI Group gave a statement that read in part quote, we are puzzled why the Van Gogh Museum invested less than one working day to summarily reject the facts presented in our 456 page report without offering any explanation, let alone studying the painting directly rather than looking at it. Reproduced as a jpeg LMI Group has.

[Holly Fry]

Published this report on its website and that PDF is indeed more than 450 pages long. Obviously we cannot go through a document that long here, but it looks at where the painting would fit Van Gogh's oeuvre. Material Science DNA analysis, including on a hair found on the painting and a comparison of the handwriting used to write Elemar to other words that appear on Van Gogh's paintings.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This dispute is currently unresolved, but there are other experts who have offered a completely different alternative explanation, and that is that LMR is not a reference to a Hans Christian Andersen character, but is the name of the artist who made the painting. That's Danish Artist Henning Elimar, who died in 1989.

[Holly Fry]

Mysteries? Hopefully we'll find out. A man in northern Greece found a headless statue in the trash and turned it over to authorities, and that statue has been confirmed to be roughly 2,000 years old, dating back to the Hellenistic period. It's made of marble and it's about 30 inches tall, and it is missing its head and arms. It depicts a woman in flowing garments, and since statues of human women during this period were more likely to be made of other materials like wood, this likely represented a goddess. Based on its size, it may have been a votive statue from a temple. Authorities in Greece, including the Cultural Heritage Protection Office, are trying to learn more about the statue and find out how it came to be in the trash.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Speaking of things found in the Trash, an 18th century sketch by English portrait painter George Romney was pulled out of a dumpster in Hudson, New York last year. The ID on who made this one was not all that difficult. In addition to having Romney's signature on it, his studio stamp is on the reverse side of the sketch. A private collector bought this at auction in March.

[Holly Fry]

This sketch is believed to be of Henrietta Greville, Countess of Warwick, possibly in preparation for the oil painting of her and her children that he painted in the late 1870s. This doesn't look at all like the oil painting, though. Since it's a very basic sketch, a person who didn't recognize the name would probably think this was just scribbles.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, if you don't sort of know the context of what his work sketches looked like, you could look at it and think a child did this, a small child just learning how to hold a crayon. It absolutely does not surprise me that it would have wound up in the trash. In 1974, a painting called Woman Carrying the Embers by Pieter Bruegel the Younger was discovered to have been stolen from the National Museum in Gdang, Poland. It had been replaced with a magazine cutout, which was discovered when a worker accidentally knocked it off the wall. Now that painting has been found in the Gouda Museum, where it was being described as being on loan from a private collection.

[Holly Fry]

This discovery was made with the help of art detective Arthur Brand, and it started after the Dutch arts magazine Vind covered an exhibition at the museum. A photo of the painting in Vindh looked like a photo from an article about the theft, which also involved another painting which had been published back in 1974. It is not currently clear how the theft originally happened or how the painting wound up on loan to the Gouda Museum. I have thoughts.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, it does seem very lucky or very lucky that somebody like recognized the similarities to something from a publication from back in the 70s. Next, a portrait that has gone on display at Rest park in England may depict Lady Jane Grey, and if so, it may be the only portrait painted of her before she was executed. Our episode on Lady Jane grey and the nine days she spent as queen ran on March 5th of 2017. This painting was added to the collection at Rest park way back in the early 18th century and at that time it was described as a painting of Lady Jane Grey who had died in 1554. But eventually that identity was called into question.

[Holly Fry]

The English Heritage website frames this return to the interpretation that it does depict Lady Jane Grey as still somewhat speculative. This conclusion has involved tree ring dating of the wood panels it was painted on, X ray fluorescence studies and infrared reflexology, plus the work of historical experts who have pointed out similarities between the painting and portraits that were painted after her death and they use words like compelling and possible.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And lastly, we have previously talked about how in the ancient Greek world, marble statues that appear white today were painted in vibrant colors. They were also clothed and adorned with jewelry and according to recent research, some of them were perfumed. So people's experiences with these statues would have been both visual and olfactory.

[Holly Fry]

That sounds lovely.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, would have smelled nice, not overwhelming. I could be a little sensitive to fragrances, so whether I would enjoy that would kind of depend on what the fragrances were. So that is the first part of our two parter on Unearthed for today and I have a little listener mail. This is from Joanie. Joanie wrote after our our episode on Exum Clement and said hello Holly and Tracy. I love your show and I'm a longtime listener. While not a first time writer, I am definitely an infrequent one. While I was listening to the March 10 episode on EXIM, Clement, you made a comment about being a bit confused by her being referred to as BR Brother Exum by the other legislators. I don't know the real story behind the brother reference, but I do have a story from my own past that may or may not be relevant. When I was in college I joined a fraternity called Alpha Phi Omega. APO is a national co ed service fraternity that is focused on leadership, friendship and community service. All members were called brothers as opposed to brothers and sisters in the spirit of acknowledging that we are all equal members. As a woman, I appreciated and preferred being called a brother. I have no idea if Ex im Clement would have felt the same way, or if the rationale behind her being called brother was the same. I just wanted to share that perspective. Thank you so much for everything you do. Your podcast is among my favorites. I often listen when I am working out or doing chores around the house. All the best, Joanie. Thank you so much for this email. I like that little bit of perspective.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, we kind of talked about a similar thing, but from a fictional world. Because I think I mentioned how on Star Trek people call even the women captains sir.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, everyone's sir.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, I think it's kind of fundamentally the same concept.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

If you'd like to send us a note about this or any other podcast, we are at historypodcastheartradio.com and you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere else you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A crime makes headlines. People talk about it for a few days. Then it disappears. But for the people left behind, their story is just beginning. But at night, we hear the garage opening and my son hears it. We freak out. Honestly, I didn't tell my son this.

[Holly Fry]

But I felt that was it.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

From the exactly Right network, this is the Knife. Real stories of crime's ripple effects told by those who lived them. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to the knife on the iHeartRadio.

[Jen Swan]

App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremorki.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Maria Tremorki]

Each season we explore a new theme. From poisoners to art thieves, we uncover.

[Holly Fry]

The secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching.

[Maria Tremorki]

And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Holly Fry]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Hi, I'm Sam Mullins, and I've got a new podcast coming out called goboy, the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable.

[Maria Tremorki]

Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Has spent 24 of those years in jail. But when Roger Caron picked up a pen and paper, he went from an ex con to a literary Darling from Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts. Listen to GoBoy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Anna Sinfield]

The number one hit podcast, the Girlfriends, is back with something new, the Girlfriend Spotlight, where each week you'll hear women share their stories of triumph over adversity. You'll meet June, who founded an all female rock band in the 1960s.

[Sophia Bush]

I might as well have said we're going to walk on the moon, but.

[Anna Sinfield]

She showed them who's boss.

[Sophia Bush]

They would rush up and say, not bad for chicks.

[Anna Sinfield]

Come and join our girl gang. Listen to the Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.