Midwestern Archaeology Podcast · Lee Strange; Science Communicator

Episode 10: Illustrating the Pre-Contact Past with Ren Harvey

October 14, 2025·44 min·2 clips

I went right back, right back to being in that cornfield as a kid. And then one day I was like, I should combine my love of artifacts and what I'm learning about Tennessee and make it with art.

Lee Strange interviews archaeologic illustrator Wren Harvey about her unconventional career journey. Wren describes childhood interest sparked by finding an arrowhead in Ontario, earning Ontario's first high school archaeological license. She was recruited for cross-country to University of Michigan where she studied anthropology/archaeology and did scientific illustration for renowned human evolution researcher Milford Wolpoff. She then spent 15 years as a Division I college coach at Illinois and Florida State, largely absent from archaeology. In 2015 she moved to Nashville, reconnected with artifact hunting, and merged her passions: creating detailed illustrations of pre-contact peoples and artifacts for archaeological education. She emphasizes the importance of visual representation in making history accessible.

As heard by us

A clear look at how archaeology illustration helps make the past easier to picture.

Archaeology illustration is presented as a practical way to make past cultures and societies easier to picture, with Wren Harvey working closely with academic and avocational archaeologists to keep the drawings accurate.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear how archaeological illustration turns research into a face you can picture.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Midwestern Archaeology Podcast