Ancient civilizations have built incredible monuments and artifacts which are the subject of intense research and study to this day. Their use of cement and rubber tells a lot about their culture and is a source of inspiration to modern scientists that hope to create materials that can last for millennia to come. 
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Today’s guest is Michael Tarkanian, a Research Affiliate in the Center for Materials Research in Archeology and Ethnology as well as a Senior Lecturer in MIT’s Department of MSE. In today’s episode, he discusses how the materials used in ancient civilizations can reveal a lot about their culture.
In this conversation, we discuss the following topics:
The intersection between materials science and archeology 
The archeological fieldwork
Learning materials and history from the rubber ball
Processing methods used by ancient civilizations
The nanotechnology in ancient artifacts

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Thank you Joao Morgado for editing this episode!
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