In this talk, Dr. Lillios will discuss some of the results of archaeological research she conducted with a UI team at the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age burial site of Bolores in the Portuguese Estremadura, between 2007 and 2012. Bolores is a small site (5 x 3 m), yet the analysis of its structure and associated materials have yielded a rich and nuanced picture of a small population of people who lived and died in the third and second millennia BCE. Although the team’s research focused on the small-scale, it also attempted to bridge this perspective with the larger social and cultural dynamics at play during the time. The project advocates, in its own way, for greater attention to the micro-scale: small sites, small objects, bone fragments, and details in ritual practice. In a time when Big Data, Big History, and global phenomena loom large in public and scholarly imagination, Dr. Lillios argues that it is also important to understand the variegated texture of local, small-scale social practices. These are, after all, linked to broader sociocultural phenomena and hold the key to understanding resistance and social change.

Cocktail hour with Dr. Lillios will follow at Big Grove Brewery from 7:15-8:15 PM.