This lighthearted, heavily illustrated presentation examines how archaeologists think about why people make and believe fantastic claims explaining the distant past. From ancient alien interventions to Pre-Columbian transoceanic explorations—especially those pesky Vikings and their runestones supposedly found in present-day Oklahoma—how well do such claims hold up under the scrutiny of evidence and critical thinking? Come […]

In an engaged and critical discussion of ethics in the field Dr. Chip Colwell and Chief Gordon Yellowman answer questions about Colwell’s book, “Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture,” (2017) and provide insider perspectives on the complex process of repatriation between museums and Indigenous communities. The author is […]

Speaker: Margaret Beeler (Adjunct Assistant Professor in Classics, Department of Greek and Roman Classics, Temple University) Lecture abstract: How did ancient people think about race and ethnicity? What can it tell us about our modern ideas of social difference? This paper investigates representations of race and ethnicity in the art of the ancient Mediterranean. From […]