Hi Reader!
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I'm doing well and continuing to recover after giving birth to Olly a few weeks ago (if you missed that announcement, you can check it out here).
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Lately, I've been thinking about future travels. My mind has consistently wandered to islands. So I thought I would share the top 5 islands (not in order) that I want to travel to for archaeology (and pleasure!).

1. Malta - This is definitely influenced by our most recent podcast episode (more details below). While I've been to Malta for a very short weekend, I never saw its famous temples/megaliths.
2. Easter Island - This one feels like it would be far into the future, given the logistics of getting there, but I would love to see the Moai in their ancestral home. That itch became stronger after researching the Moai for a recent video.
3. Unguja - This is an island in Tanzania and is the home of the region of Zanzibar. As an archaeologist who works in Oman, I've been fascinated with Zanzibar for a long time. This region has had centuries-long ties with southeastern Arabia and was even the capital of Oman for some time in the 1800s.
4. Iceland - I've been to Iceland before. However, since my friend Adam (who was on the podcast) lives there and is doing a very cool biomedical anthropology/archaeology project, I want to visit him and check it out (and eat more Icelandic hot dogs).
5. St. Croix - This is one of the islands in the US Virgin Islands. I've long admired the work of many members of the Society of Black Archaeologists, who have conducted research on the archaeology of enslavement in the region (see one recent article below). I appreciate the rigor, advocacy, and public engagement they bring to their work. It's inspired my own curiosity about this island and the people who lived there.

Fresh from the Field 🗺️

A quick round-up of my latest videos, podcasts, and features
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Here is the most recent podcast episode:
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🎙️ Episode 10: How Malta’s Ancient Monuments Still Capture Our Curiosity
​YouTuber Laura, a.k.a. MegalithHunter, shares what makes Malta’s megalithic monuments both architecturally and culturally distinct, as well as how they influenced her education and storytelling.

→ YouTube | Spotify | Apple | Other Links​

Small Finds 👝

Sharing things that sparked my curiosity recently
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​🪨 VISITING An Unusual MEGALITHIC Feature - MegalithHunter

This video discussed one of Malta’s megaliths that we didn’t get to chat about in our podcast - Tarxien. I really enjoyed this video and it’s only added to my itch to go to Malta!
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🗺️ Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt - Justin Dunnavant via The Conversation

I alluded to this article when discussing St. Croix. This is a fascinating look into how archaeologists are going about looking for Maronberg - a place that was intended to be hidden.

Dig Back In ⛏️

Revisiting something curious from the archive
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​A couple of islands are mentioned in this video!

Thank you so much for reading!
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Until next time,
Smiti

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