EXPLORING THE WORLD BY UNDERSTANDING ITS PAST.
Founder | Archaeologist | Storyteller | Strategist
// What I Do
Content Creation
Documenting the built world through a lens of historical curiosity. A digital excavation of the stories hidden in plain sight, ensuring the past isn't just remembered, but experienced.
Always Sunny Tour
A rogue urban exploration through the filming locations of Philadelphia's most chaotic TV show. It's not just a tour; it's an immersive dive into the Gang's habitat.
Merakiva Travel
Curating archaeological expeditions for the modern explorer. We bridge the gap between tourist and field researcher, offering access to history's deepest layers.
Academic Work
Rigorous research at the intersection of urban infrastructure and human history. Investigating how the built environment shapes—and is shaped by—society.
Strategy & Analytics
Decoding the patterns of human behavior through data. Applying archaeological methodologies to modern cultural insights and strategic consulting.
// About Marshall
From Ancient Sites to
Modern Stories.
I'm Marshall Schurtz — a PhD archaeologist from the University of Pennsylvania who now builds businesses at the intersection of travel, storytelling, and technology.
I spent a decade excavating ancient sites in Iraq, Lebanon, and Spain before pivoting to turn expertise into experience: archaeological tours abroad, a database of thousands of heritage sites, walking tours of Philadelphia, and a YouTube channel documenting the places most people overlook.
I also consult on product, sales, marketing strategy, and data analytics. Everything I do connects back to the same impulse — understanding how the past shaped the present, and creating stories to explain it.
// Professional Experience
Bridging archaeology, strategy, and storytelling.
My work combines archaeological research with business strategy, content creation, and immersive travel experiences. Whether mapping ancient trade routes or building modern brands, I focus on uncovering patterns and telling stories that resonate.
Merakiva Travel
Founder & Chief Tour Guide
Created an archaeology-focused travel company from the ground up, managing everything from brand identity to leading group expeditions.
Sweathead
Head of Operations & Learning Product
Leading global operations, digital product strategy, and enterprise sales for a global training community of strategists.
Always Sunny Tour
Founder
Created Philadelphia's top-rated tour about the cult-favorite show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
2U
Product Strategy Manager
Developed data-backed business strategies and pricing models for a portfolio of online university programs.
// YouTube
Travel as a way of Understanding.
A channel about exploring the world — not just hearing about it. I travel to ancient sites, ride brand-new infrastructure, and dig into the history of places while I'm standing in them. From Iron Age ruins to metro systems that opened last year, I'm interested in how places got to be the way they are and what it feels like to move through them.
It's travel as a way of understanding. History as something you experience, not something you memorize. Learning through doing.
Latest Videos
In The Media
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I took the ‘It’s Always Sunny’ tour of Philadelphia.
"“The trash part of Philadelphia comes up more often in the show than you’d think,” tour guide Marshall Schurtz said, as he led us around bags of garbage piling up on the streets of South Philly during a heat wave."
20 Years of Always Sunny in South Philadelphia
"It's Always Sunny has been a massive hit. It's the longest-running live-action sitcom in TV history, with season 17 premiering in July. Marshall Schurtz says Philadelphia is one of the show's central..."
