Dogs, Deserts and Missing Toes: Aurel Stein - Dirt Bags: An Archaeology Podcast | Lyssna här

An archaeologist, a manuscript forger and seven dogs called Dash. What could possibly go wrong?

This week on Dirt Bags, Nat takes over the storytelling and Louise discovers she is very badly prepared for the emotional consequences of bringing dogs on archaeological expeditions.

We’re following Aurel Stein across the Silk Roads, through desert ruins in pursuit of fake ancient manuscripts and a remarkable library hidden inside a cave at Dunhuang. There are donkey disputes, missing toes and some extremely questionable ideas about whose history you’re entitled to pack up and take home.

Celebrated explorer or extraordinarily determined looter? There’s plenty to dig into. Once we’ve finished talking about the dogs.

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Sponsored by DigVentures, where archaeology is for everyone. Find out how to join a dig or explore the past from home: https://digventures.com

Content note: discussion of colonialism, racism, looting and animal deaths.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

Main books used in this episode:

• Jeannette Mirsky, Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer (University of Chicago Press, 1977).
Nat’s main source for Stein’s life, expeditions and correspondence.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo5939923.html

• Peter Hopkirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia (John Murray, 1980).
The international race for Central Asian antiquities, including Stein’s dealings at Dunhuang.

Also quoted in the episode:

• The British Academy, “Sir Aurel Stein, 1862–1943.”
A contemporary biographical memoir reflecting the admiration Stein attracted in British scholarly circles.
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/4737/29p329.pdf