Archaeological Institute of America

Archaeology-Hour Screening: Dating Australia's Oldest Rock Art
2026-04-02 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Whitman College Maxey Hall 207, 173 Stanton St., Walla Walla, WA, 99362, United States
Please join us for an in-person screening and informal discussion of the Archaeology Hour talk by Helen Green (University of Melbourne).
Australia hosts the world’s oldest continuing culture, and Aboriginal rock art represents one of its most significant records of knowledge. These paintings and engravings remain of deep importance to Aboriginal people today and provide valuable evidence for researchers seeking to understand long-term human-environment interactions. Yet one of the greatest challenges in rock art research is determining age. Without knowing how old the paintings and engravings are, it is difficult to understand how the artworks relate to past changes in climate, environment, or culture. In this talk, Dr. Helen Green will outline the latest scientific techniques used to establish the age of Australia’s oldest rock art, and the innovative, multi-disciplinary projects that bring together traditional Indigenous knowledge and Western science to deepen our understanding of these remarkable cultural records and how we might protect them into the future.
This event is free and open to the public.

TBA (Kansas City/Lawrence)
2026-04-02 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Chicago) | TBA (Kansas City/Lawrence), Lawrence, KS
George M.A. Hanfmann Memorial Lecture Time TBA

Ancient Cities of Guatemala’s Pacific Coast
2026-04-02 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Free Hybrid Lecture
Ancient Cities of Guatemala’s Pacific Coast
Thursday, April 2, 6:00–7:00 pm ET, Advance registration recommended for in-person and online attendance
2026 Gordon R. Willey Lecture
Speaker: Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Yale University
On Guatemala’s western Pacific coast, the region of Escuintla is home to many ancient cities, and for thousands of years it has been an important crossroads, drawing traders, migrants, and invaders. In this lecture, archaeologist Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos will present discoveries from three decades of research at the Classic-period cities of Montana and Cotzumalhuapa (250–900 C.E.), highlighting how people moved, interacted, and recorded their histories along the Pacific coast. The discovery of causeways, or raised roads, has revealed the size and organization of these cities, while refined dating methods have allowed researchers to trace their connections to other urban centers across Mesoamerica. Close study of Cotzumalhuapa’s monumental sculptures has further illuminated these networks through new readings of their intricate reliefs and hieroglyphic texts. Join us to explore how archaeology is reshaping our understanding of Guatemala’s Pacific coast and its place in Mesoamerican history.
Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA. Free admission. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5:00 pm. Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.
Photo of Monument 82 from El Baúl, Cotzumalguapa by Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East Tours Led by Harvard Students
2026-04-05 13:00 - 13:45, 2026-04-12 13:00 - 13:45 (America/New_York) | Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, 02138
Available during the Harvard academic year Sundays at 1:00 pm, October 5, 2025–April 26, 2026. See blackout dates.*
*Blackout dates: November 30, 2025–January 25, 2026, March 15, 2026 and March 22, 2026
This free tour, led by Harvard students, explores the Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World exhibition and how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transformed the lives and livelihoods of people at all levels of society. Touch replicas and smell “ancient” scents as the students bring the past alive.
Visitors may drop in at the scheduled times. No reservation is required. Tours meet in the lobby and last approximately 45 minutes.
Groups of 10 or more may contact reservations to request other times. Please complete the reservation request form.

Exhibiting the Etruscans at UC Berkeley: The Phoebe A. Hearst Collection Unveiled
2026-04-07 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Dwinelle Hall, South Drive, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
A lecture by Dr. Lisa Pieraccini, AIA SF Society president, on her recent work with UC Berkeley students on exhibiting the Etruscan material from the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. We will begin on Berkeley time at 5:10pm in Dwinelle Hall, Room 3335. Light snacks to follow.

Walking Among Pharaohs: The Spectacular Career of Archaeologist George Reisner in Egypt and Nubia
2026-04-08 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | ONLINE/ZOOM
Please join us for the fourth and final lecture in The World Between: Egypt and Nubia in Africa series, sponsored by the Page-Barbour Committee, the Archaeological Institute of America and the Interdisciplinary Program in Archaeology.
Our speaker is Peter Der Manuelian, Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Anthropology Departments at Harvard University, and director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. Specializing in Egyptology, he is also the director of the Giza Project run by Harvard University. Among his recent work is Walking Among Pharaohs: George Reisner and The Dawn of Modern Egyptology, which explores Reisner’s problematic legacy in Egyptological thought about Africa.
The lecture examines the life and work of America’s greatest Egyptian archaeologist, George Reisner (1867-1942). His legacy of forty-three years of breathtakingly successful excavations at twenty-three different archaeological sites in Egypt and Sudan (ancient Nubia) included pyramids, colossal statues, gold jewelry, decorated tomb chapels, temples, settlements, fortresses, ceramics, furniture, stone vessels, and hieroglyphic inscriptions everywhere. Leading the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Reisner put American Egyptology on the world stage. The talk presents Reisner’s undeniable impact and considers his life within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and nationalism. It will also explore new visualization technologies, particularly at the Giza Pyramids, that Reisner’s work makes possible today.
Online only, please register in the link below.

Highly Educated Slaves and Freedmen in Republican Rome
2026-04-08 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/Rome) | John Cabot University – Aula Magna Regina, Via della Lungara 233, Roma, Roma, 00165, Italy
Slaves and freedmen played an important yet understudied role in the literary culture of the Roman Republic. Though their work went largely uncredited, they fulfilled vital roles as editors, researchers, and collaborators in the service of Rome’s literary and political elite.
During this public lecture, Prof. Flower (Princeton University) — Rome-SPQR Society Choice Lecturer – – will illustrate the stories of these gifted and highly educated young men, from Licinius the flute-player, who shaped the rhetorical style of the orator Gaius Gracchus, to the grammarian and teacher Tyrannio of Amisus, who was brought to Rome as a war captive.
Highlighting the unique social prestige of literary production and intellectual performance in a society pervaded by slave labor, Prof. Flower will show how the exorbitant prices paid for the highly educated encouraged a complex system of training young boys for the marketplace or acquiring educated captives as booty. Enslaved and manumitted intellectuals, far from being menial workers, shared close relationships with leading Romans of the day, and were relied on as coauthors and collaborators in a range of genres, with some gaining fame as authors themselves.
With lively case studies and insightful new interpretations of the ancient sources, this lecture will paint a more nuanced picture of enslaved labor in ancient Rome, revealing how the contributions of enslaved intellectuals were closely linked to the ambitious development of Latin literary culture and the dissemination of knowledge.

…but for us, oceans unite: traditional tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage in the Mariana Islands
2026-04-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd, Cleveland, 44106, United States

Interpreting Variability in Ancient House Forms: the example of Iron Age Greece
2026-04-09 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | UNC Chapel Hill, 114 Murphey Hall, 204 Lenoir Dr, Chapel Hill, 27514, United States
George M.A. Hanfmann Memorial Lecture

Daniela Solis
2026-04-09 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Free Hybrid Lecture
The Archaeology of Boston’s Revolutionary Past
Thursday, April 9, 6:00–7:00 pm ET, Advance registration recommended for online and in-person attendance
Speaker: Joe Bagley, City Archaeologist and Director of Archaeology, Boston Archaeology Program
Join Boston City Archaeologist Joe Bagley for a presentation on archaeological research that is deepening our understanding of Boston’s role in the American Revolution. Bagley will share new findings on the impact of the Siege of Boston and the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill—the first major battle of the war—on the people of Boston. Although named for Bunker Hill, the highest hill in Charlestown, north of Boston, the battle actually took place on Breed’s Hill, located closer to the Charles River. Bagley will outline plans to pinpoint the exact location of the Breed’s Hill redoubt and to search for more than 200 unmarked graves of fallen soldiers. He will also discuss forthcoming investigations of the “lost forts” of Roxbury, once positioned on a hill overlooking Roxbury Neck, the only land route out of Boston in the late eighteenth century. Explore the hidden Revolutionary War landscape beneath modern Boston and Charlestown with the city’s lead archaeologist as your guide.
Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA. Free admission. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5:00 pm. Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. This lecture is presented to mark the 250th Anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Photo © City of Boston Archaeology Program

A Deep Dive into Deep Time: Archaeology Underwater
2026-04-10 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Toledo Museum of Art (Little Theater), 2445 Monroe St., Toledo, OH, 43697, United States
A lecture: The phrase “underwater archaeology” conjures notions of shipwrecks, ships lost at sea, and the dramatic catastrophes that sank them; however, the archaeology underwater can also reveal details about ancient landscapes that contain a record of past human occupations. Many of these sites are on the earth’s continental shelves where vast stretches of shallow, coastal lands were exposed at the end of the last Ice Age. These once dry landscapes supported life for plants, animals, and humans for thousands of years. Learn about these ancient submerged sites, the role they play in the global archaeological record and what unique data they have about the past. The talk will provide a general overview and the focus on 9,000 year old submerged sites in the North American Great Lakes.

Tour of the Princeton Battlefield State Park and Clarke House
2026-04-11 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Princeton Battlefield State Park and Clarke House, 500 Mercer Road, Princeton, NJ, 08540, United States
Join us for a tour of the Princeton Battlefield State Park and Clarke House, the place where American independence took root. The Princeton Battlefield State Park is one of the most significant Revolutionary War sites in New Jersey, where General George Washington led American troops to a pivotal victory on January 3, 1777. Likewise, the historic Clarke House, home a third-generation Quaker family of the Stony Brook Quaker Settlement, was transformed into a field hospital after the battle, taking in both British and American wounded. Participants on this tour will learn about these important landmarks and historical era from Resource Interpretive Specialist at the Princeton Battlefield State Park, Will Krakower. The tour will begin at Clarke House. You do not have to be a member of the AIA to attend, and there is no charge to attend this event, but participants are asked to RSVP in advance.
This event has been graciously supported by the Albert H. Clayburgh Lecture in Archaeology fund.

Teen Saturdays Workshops / ¡Sábados de Jóvenes
2026-04-11 13:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Teen Saturdays Workshops / ¡Sábados de Jóvenes
April 11 and May 16. Advance registration required
1:00–3:30 pm
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Leer en español
Join Teen Saturdays Workshop at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology this spring! High school teens, ages 13–18, are invited to explore ancient cooking in two workshops.
Each workshop combines hands-on activities, historical insights, and artifact exploration, allowing you to learn more about ancient ingredients and food preparation. Make new friends, challenge yourself, and discover how the past continues to inspire us today! Sign up now—spaces are limited for these workshops!
April 11: Ancient Flavors of Peru. This workshop invites teens to explore the cuisine of the ancient Inca. Learn about traditional cooking technologies and tools featured in museum exhibits, and experience new smells and flavors with guest educator Esther Gomez. Prepare a simple Peruvian dish to enjoy during the program.
May 16: Crispy Critters. Throughout history, bugs have been part of cuisines around the world. Teens are invited to explore how insects add flavor, protein, and crunch to meals. With guest speaker and insect enthusiast Javier Marin, participants will visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History galleries to learn about different species and their habitats. A snack will be available for those brave enough to try.
Teen Saturdays Workshops are offered bilingually in Spanish and English. They are designed to build community and enrich the museum experience for multicultural teens.
Teens receive a free admission pass (worth $15) for a return visit if they attend one of the two sessions.
Details:
$10 per session includes free admission to the museums immediately following the workshop
Advance registration is required. Register for one or more sessions.
For teens in high school
All workshops meet at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Accessible by public transportation

Amazing Archaeology Fair at Harvard
2026-04-12 13:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
All Ages Special Event
Journey from the Stone Age to the American Colonial era with archaeology at two museums. Meet experts in animal bones, Egyptian tombs and hieroglyphs, cave art, Inka khipus, ancient chemical mysteries, and more. Try flint knapping (shaping stone tools) and uncover Harvard Yard’s hidden past. Collect a souvenir at each museum you visit. Perfect for curious minds of all ages!
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Regular museum admission rates apply. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 12:00 pm.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture.

Dung and Desert Copper: Environmental archaeology at the macro- and microscale
2026-04-12 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | TBA (Orange County)
Kershaw Lectures in Near East Archaeology Time TBA

Thracian Rock Monuments: the cult complex at Gluhite Kamani in SE Bulgaria
2026-04-13 16:30 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Princeton Art Museum, Tuttle Lecture Hall (Room 134), 45 Elm Dr, Princeton, 08544, United States
The Elizabeth S. Ettinghausen Lecture

Spinning Tales: Material Culture and the “Invisibility” of Women’s Labor in Ancient Greece
2026-04-14 15:30 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | McCune Conference room, HSSB 6020, UCSB, Santa Barbara, California, 93117, United States
Katherine Harrington (UNC Greensboro)

Cities and Politics of Ecology in the Hittite Borderlands: the Fortress and Urban Settlement of Karaköy Kale Tepesi
2026-04-14 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | TBA (Orlando 2), Orlando, FL, United States
Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship Time TBA

Provincial Coin Portraits of Roman Imperial Women and the Portrait Dissemination System
2026-04-14 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Cornell University, G22 Goldwin Smith Hall, Ithaca, NY, United States
William E. Metcalf Lectures in Numismatics

Haute Couture in Ancient Greece: The Spectacular Costumes of the Minoans and Mycenaeans
2026-04-14 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Leigh Hall, room 208, 308 Buchtel Commons, Akron, OH, 44325, United States
Evening lecture for a general audience by Bernice Jones on dress and adornment in ancient Aegean world. The speaker will bring samples of costumes that student volunteers will model at the talk.

The Enigmatic Treasure of a Nubian Queen
2026-04-14 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Speaker: Denise M. Doxey, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Queen Khensa was a Nubian royal and principal wife of King Piankhy, the Kushite ruler (664–653 BCE) who conquered Egypt and established the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. She was buried in a pyramid tomb whose contents were largely plundered in antiquity. Even so, her burial still contained a variety of intriguing objects, from precious-metal vessels and fine jewelry to tools, figurines, and natural history specimens. The function of many of these items remains a mystery. In this talk, Denise Doxey will present what survives of Khensa’s mortuary offerings and discuss new ideas about how these treasures may have functioned in royal Nubian funerary ritual and belief.
Advance registration recommended.
Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5 pm.
Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture.

Ancestors, Tombs, and Treasure. New Work at the Mycenaean Greek Cemetery of Aidonia
2026-04-15 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Butler University, Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, 46208, United States
The Mycenaean Cemetery at Aidonia has been shaped by looting and a international struggle for the repatriation of precious artifacts. This talk tells the story of Aidonia’s troubled past and highlights new archaeological work that sheds light on the secrets of Mycenaean Greek ancestors.

The Vindolanda Coins from a Century of Excavations
2026-04-15 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Lean Lecture Room, Wishart Hall on the College of Wooster (to be confirmed), 1189 Beall Avenue, Wooster, OH, United States

A Tour of the Ancient Mediterranean Galleries of the Princeton University Art Museum
2026-04-16 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Princeton University Art Museum, 45 Elm Drive, Princeton, NJ, 08544, United States
Join us for a tour of the ancient Mediterranean galleries of the newly re-opened and highly anticipated Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM). The Museum’s collection of ancient Mediterranean and Byzantine art numbers more than 7,000 objects that were made and used throughout the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Ancient Mediterranean art is foundational to the Museum. Participants on this tour will learn about some of the collection’s highlights from the PUAM’s Curator of Ancient Mediterranean Art, Carolyn M. Laferrière. The tour will begin in the Grand Hall of the PUAM. You do not have to be a member of the AIA to attend, and there is no charge to attend this event, but participants are asked to RSVP in advance.
This event has been graciously supported by the Rodney S. Young Memorial Lecture fund.

“Digging in Circles: Miami’s Prehistoric Legacy”
2026-04-16 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Jepson Hall, Room 118, Richmond Way 221, Richmond, VA, 23226, United States
Lecture by Robert S. Carr, Director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy (https://www.archaeological.org/lecturer/robert-carr/) – Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lecture

Provincial Coin Portraits of Roman Imperial Women and the Portrait Dissemination System
2026-04-16 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Althouse #106, Dickinson College, 22 North West Street, Carlisle, PA, 17013, United States

Crafting and Trade: Stone Tool Production and Ancient Maya Economies
2026-04-16 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W 1st Ave, Spokane, WA, 99201, United States
Join us for a lecture by Dr. Rachel Horowitz, “Crafting and Trade: Stone Tool Production and Ancient Maya Economies “.
Abstract: Today, and in the past, economic activities are important ways of making connections between people. In the Maya area, modern-day Mexico and northern Central America, economies are less studied than other aspects of past Maya lifeways. In this talk, I use recently collected data about stone tool production to provide information about the Classic period Maya economy (600-900 CE). This lecture will use a case-study of stone tool producers western Belize to explore the lives of Classic period Maya stone tool producers, and how stone tools circulated throughout the economy.

Replacing Empires. The Archaeology of Political Transformation and Spatial Dynamics in 1st Millennium BCE Mesopotamia
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Detroit) | The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa (ISAC), Breasted Hall, East 58th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, United States
Kershaw Lectures in Near East Archaeology

AIA Atlanta: Rune Nyord on the Egyptian Book of the Dead
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Emory University, White Hall, Room 207, 1672 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, United States
What: Dr. Rune Nyord is coming home to Emory!
Please join us to hear from a real Egyptologist! He will premiere a brand-new lecture based on his research since the publication of his latest book: Yearning for Immortality. This is a special presentation sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).
Who: Dr. Rune Nyord is Associate Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Emory University, where he is also Chair of the Art History Department. He is a sought after lecturer around the world, but his home is Emory University, and we are the beneficiaries.
Why: Dr. Nord will be sharing a brand-new lecture with us! He just published a new book last year Yearning for Immortality: The European Invention of the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife. Since the book was published, he has new research he is eager to share about the famous Egyptian “Book of the Dead,” which was a guide to the afterlife for ancient Egyptians.
When: Thursday, April 16, at 7:00pm
(Be on time! Due to Emory’s security policy, the venue doors will be locked at 7:15pm)
Where: Emory University, White Hall, Room 207
Address: 301 Dowman Dr, Atlanta, GA 30322
( see event website for venue details: http://tiny.cc/NyordAIA )
How: FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
RSVP at http://tiny.cc/nyordAIA
To guarantee a seat, you must RSVP by Tuesday, April 14. (RSVP is not required but is appreciated to ensure we plan accordingly.)
If you RSVP by this deadline, you will be entered into a raffle to win a signed copy of Dr. Nyord’s new book! (You must be present to win.)
Fishburne Parking Deck at 1672 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, GA 30322
( see event website for venue details: http://tiny.cc/nyordAIA )
Lecture Title: “Egyptian Book of the Dead: Ancient Contexts, New Conclusions: The Ritual Logic of Book of the Dead Imagery”
by Rune Nyord
Event Website: http://tiny.cc/nyordAIA
Synopsis
Are we misreading ancient Egyptian art? For decades, we’ve interpreted the “Book of the Dead” through a modern lens, treating its illustrations like a travel brochure for the Great Beyond. This lecture flips the script. By looking at these images through the eyes of the people who used them, we’ll uncover a new, ritual-driven logic behind iconic scenes, like Weighing of the Heart and the Field of Reeds.
Speaker’s Bio
Rune Nyord is Associate Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Emory University. Before joining Emory in 2018, he held positions at the University of Copenhagen, University of Cambridge (Christ’s College), and the Free University Berlin. His research focuses on conceptions and experiences of representation, ontology, and personhood in ancient Egypt, especially as evidenced in Middle Kingdom (Middle Bronze Age, early 2nd millennium BCE) funerary culture, and drawing on a combination of archaeological and textual sources. He is also interested in the history of the discipline of Egyptology and ways in which it continues to influence contemporary practices and interpretations.
