Fall of Civilizations Podcast

Replicas of a Viking church and longhouse in Qassiarsuk, Greenland

Photo by Ciril Jazbec

A map showing Viking exploration of Greenland and North America during the Middle Ages

The intricately carved crozier of a bishop, and his ring - found in Gardar

In the sagas it is told that Sokki Þórisson, a wealthy farmer of the Brattahlíð area, launched the idea of a separate bishop for Greenland in the early 12th century and got the approval of the Norwegian King. Most of the clergy would come from Norway.

The first bishop of Garðar, Arnaldur, was ordained by the Archbishop of Lund in 1124. He arrived in Greenland in 1126. In the same yea...

Historic living history reconstruction based on the excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows, a Norse settlement in Newfoundland

L'Anse aux Meadows (the bay of meadows) is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the Great Northern Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Archaeological evidence of a Norse presence was discovered at L'Anse aux Meadows in the 1960s. Dating to around the year 1,000, it is the only confirmed Norse or Viking site in N...

A Viking hood, uncovered in Herjolfsnes, Greenland, c.1400

This incredible Viking hood was uncovered from the Viking settlement of Herjolfsnes, part of the Eastern Settlement. It shows that the Vikings kept up with European fashions of the time, and the red dye on the fabric was perfectly preserved in the ice.

Hvalsey Church, the best-preserved Medieval Norse ruin in Greenland

Hvalsey Church was a church in the abandoned Greenlandic Norse settlement of Hvalsey (now modern-day Qaqortoq). The best preserved Norse ruins in Greenland, the Church was also the location of the last written record of the Greenlandic Norse, a wedding in September 1408.

A map showing the medieval Norse settlements of Greenland.

Including the Eastern and Western settlements. Each red dot indicates a Viking farmstead.

Episode 4 of Fall of Civilizations is now live!

Episode 4 of Fall of Civilizations is now live on Soundcloud! It will soon be updating to all popular podcast platforms. 

As usual I'm letting you, my subscribers, know a little earlier than everyone else  to thank you for all your support and encouragement. This is the longest episode yet, and the one I'm the most proud of. I really hope you enjoy it.

Some info...

Episode 3 is now live!

I want to thank all of you for generously supporting Fall of Civilizations. It really means the world to me that you've enjoyed the first episodes and think it worth supporting.

I'm excited to announce that Episode 3 has just gone live on SoundCloud, and I'm letting my Patreon supporters know before everyone else - it won't go live on Spotify, iTunes etc until tomorrow, so for now you're ...

The Mummy of Ramses III, the Pharoah who turned back the invasion of the Sea Peoples in Episode 2.

Ramses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. He is thought to have reigned from 1186 to 1155 BC and is considered to be the last monarch of the New Kingdom to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. 

His long reign saw the decline of Egyptian political and economic power, linked to a series of invasions and internal economic problems. Ramesses III ...

Aerial view of the ruins of Hattusha

Hattusha was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızılırmak River. It was destroyed during the destruction of the Bronze Age Collapse, covered in Episode 2 of Fall of Civilizations.

Map showing the location of Ugarit along with an image of its ruins today

Ugarit is mentioned in Episode 2 of Fall of CIvilizations. Its fall took place amid the Late Bronze Age Collapse.

A map of Roman Britain during Episode 1

Map of Roman Britain ca. 150 AD, showing the main Roman roads, cities, and Brythonic tribes.

Shows Hadrian's Wall and the less-successful Antonine Wall further north, as mentioned in the episode.

A pictish standing stone, as mentioned in Episode 1!

Although we know very little about the picts, their language and their culture, we have these incredible standing stones left behind by them.

This stone in Aberlemno is carved with symbols on one face: the serpent, the double disc, the mirror and the comb. The meaning of these symbols is unknown. They are deeply incised in a bold, confident line, and this stone is considered to be o...

The Medinet Habu Inscription, Depicting Ramses III's battle against the Sea Peoples

General view of the battles with the Sea Peoples, recounted in Episode 2 of Fall of Civilizations. The image is carved on the wall of Ramses III's mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, near the Valley of the Kings. 

🚨 THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF FALL OF CIVILIZATIONS ARE NOW LIVE! 🚨

Fall of Civilizations has launched its first two episodes:

1. Roman Britain - The Work of Giants Crumbled

2. The Bronze Age Collapse - Mediterranean Apocalypse

Find them here:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/fallofcivilizations 

YouTube: 2019-01-21 19:50:43 +0000 UTC View Post

So excited to share the first episode with you all!

Firstly, thanks to everyone who has jumped on board to support the podcast before it's even been released. Thanks for your faith in me, and I hope I'll bring you something you'll be proud to support.

Coming up by the end of January, we have episodes on the classic Maya collapse, the apocalypse of the Bronze Age, the fall of Roman Britain, and the mystery of the disappearance of ...