Q&A with Sam Kean

 

 

 

Sam Kean is the author of the new book Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations. His other books include The Disappearing Spoon. He lives in Washington, D.C.

 

Q: For those who are unfamiliar, how would you define experimental archaeology, and why did you decide to write Dinner with King Tut?

 

A: Traditional archaeology usually involves digging things out of the dirt. It's vital work, but can be a bit tedious on a day-by-day basis.

 

Experimental archaeology is an exciting new branch of the field that's much more sensory-rich. It involves scientists actively recreating things from the distant past, whether it be ancient food, stone tools and weapons, iffy medicines, bog bodies, and much more.

 

While writing the book, I attended an authentic Roman banquet, fired a medieval catapult, made ancient clothing, sailed on an ancient Polynesian ship to learn old navigation methods, talked to people who’ve made actual human mummies in modern times, and got - and gave - my first tattoo, among other things.

 

Q: You describe this book as containing both fiction and nonfiction, as opposed to your previous works of nonfiction. Why did you choose this approach?

 

A: Each chapter of the book immerses readers in a specific time and place, from Polynesia to ancient Egypt to imperial Rome to upper Alaska. More specifically, it recreates a single day in the life of a person from that time and place.

 

And while I got to experience and write about many amazing things, fiction has some advantages in that you're much more intimately invested in a single character, since you see everything from their point of view. That immersion really drove my choice to include sections of both fiction and nonfiction in each chapter.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: Lots of reading, and lots of travel to see, taste, hear, smell, and feel things all across the world. It was a blast. And I'd say I was constantly surprised at how difficult even basic tasks were, like making leather, or medicine, or even securing food. It was exhausting back then! It really gave me a new appreciation for how tough our ancestors were.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

A: I hope they come away with a deeper understanding of each of the locations where I set different chapters. It's one thing to see some artifacts in a museum or on a shelf somewhere. It's quite another thing to eat their food, sleep in their bed, hear what they heard and even tremble in fear about the same things they did. It's a much richer understanding of the culture.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm focused on my podcast at the moment, and have another book coming out next year through National Geographic about the greatest lost treasures in history. I'm giving some book talks as well.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Sam Kean.