Stone and clay may dominate archaeological narratives of Ancient Western Asian museum galleries, shaping our understanding through what has survived best. Yet, ancient craftspeople worked within a far richer material world that included glass, glazes, pigments, faience, and one of history's earliest synthetic materials: Egyptian blue or zagindurû in Akkadian. Drawing on the Ancient Western Asian seal […]
Kershaw Lectures in Near East Archaeology
Join the AIA as Eric Cline (George Washington University) presents the first AIA Archaeology Hour talk of the 2026-2027 season: "Homer, Hollywood, and Historical Context: Comments scribbled in a Bronze Age Archaeologist’s Notebook." This presentation will be held on Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central/6pm Mountain/5pm Pacific. Register Here! This lecture will also […]
Anna Marguerite McCann and Robert D. Taggart Lectureship in Underwater Archaeology Location TBA
Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship
Ancient curse tablets, with texts usually scraped into thin, soft lead sheets, then rolled up and hidden in tombs, wells, or walls, represent some of the most fascinating sources of ancient beliefs in magic and dark powers. Curses could target rivals in business or love, circus charioteers racing against one's own favorite faction, or even […]
Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureships Reception before event, lecture starts at 5:30 PM
Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureships
Construction of the Henry Street Bridge brought renewed attention to portions of Indianapolis’ historic Old and New Burying Grounds, later known collectively as Greenlawn Cemetery. Archaeologists documented more than 1,700 burial shafts within the project area, revealing a complex landscape shaped by nineteenth-century burial, earlier relocation efforts, and more than a century of urban development. […]
Lecture by Nicholas Bartos, Research Scholar, Institute for Study of the Ancient World, New York University 6:30 pm Reception; 7:00 pm Lecture Download event flyer HYBRID event In person: George Washington University, Funger Hall 103, 2021 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20052 Zoom Registration: https://gwu-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e5hNdyb3R7a7rqHC6cFWmg
Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship
This talk by Dr. Tim Forssman (University of Mpumalanga) explores the development of archaeology on the African continent through four broad historical eras. It considers how colonialism, independence, changing intellectual traditions, and African scholarship have shaped the questions archaeologists ask and the histories they produce, before turning to a broader question: why does archaeology matter […]
