Archaeological Institute of America

Why are Islands Sacred?
2023-02-23 14:00 (America/New_York) | MA
Virtual lecture which is part of the AIA Archaeology Abridged Series.

Exploring the Technologies and Realities of Roman Toilets: Not a lot to Go on
2023-02-23 16:15 (America/New_York) | WEBINAR (Pittsburgh), Pittsburgh, PA
Norton Lecture

A Culinary History of Collapse, Conquest, and Cultural Identity in Ancient Perú
2023-02-23 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | University of Louisville Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (CACHe), 1606 Rowan Street, Louisville, KY, 40203, United States
How do archaeologists use food to tell the story of the past? Archaeologist Robyn Cutright (Centre College) addresses this question in our next talk!
​Between 650-1450 CE, residents of the Jequetepeque Valley of northern coastal Perú experienced several large-scale sociopolitical disruptions, including the collapse of the Moche polity, the transition to the subsequent Lambayeque period in the context of highland and northern influences, and conquest by the expanding Chimú empire. This talk explores local experiences of these events, using cuisine as a window onto everyday life in rural communities. Culinary continuities and changes across three Jequetepeque Valley sites suggest that while collapse represented a deep rift in the fabric of rural daily life, conquest was marked by local accommodation and cultural persistence.

Community Engagement in the Archaeology and Heritage of Pakistan: New Work at MohenjoDaro
2023-02-23 19:00 (America/New_York) | School of Business (SBUS) 110, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ, 07043
Joukowsky Lecture

Climate Change and Migrating Farmers: The Spread of Agriculture to Southern Europe
2023-02-25 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver) | MA
Abstract:
Farming spread from its center of origin in western Asia to southern Europe at the beginning of the Holocene. This phenomenon has prompted many questions. Why did farming spread when it did? Who brought it to southern Europe, and by what means? Migrant farmers from western Asia reached the Aegean before 9,000 cal BP (c. 7,000 BC). Then there was a pause that lasted a millennium. The onward spread of farming took this new economy rapidly inland to the Danube Basin, and westward to the Adriatic and beyond. The westward dispersal took place along the coasts; the only reasonable explanation is that it was carried forward by migrating farmers looking for new lands to settle, an hypothesis supported by the latest ADNA evidence. The question then is, why did they leave the Aegean for the Adriatic and beyond so suddenly? Results from the “Early Farming in Dalmatia Project” are providing answers to these questions. Recent research has focused on the impact of a sudden reversal of climate, the “8,200 cal BP event”. During this episode the climate of the early Holocene became cold and dry. This phase lasted about 300 years, or 10 human generations, enough to disrupt the existing farming economy in the Aegean and over a much wider area. It caused some of these farmers to leave their homeland in search of fresh lands to colonize. It was these migrants who brought farming to the Adriatic and beyond.
Bio:
Andrew M.T. Moore is Immediate Past President of the AIA. Recently retired from Rochester Institute of Technology, he also taught European and world archaeology at the University of Arizona and Yale University. Dr. Moore has a particular interest in Scandinavian and Viking Age archaeology. Since 1960, he has participated in archaeological surveys, excavations, and field research in England, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. His earlier research concentrated on the advent of agriculture and sedentary life in western Asia, especially in Syria. In 2002, Dr. Moore began a new project to investigate the spread of farming around the Mediterranean and into southern Europe. At the invitation of colleagues in Croatia, he is conducting this research in central Dalmatia, through surveys and excavations at the Neolithic villages of Danilo and Pokrovnik.

Up Late With The Sphinx
2023-02-25 17:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South St, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Calling all kids and families! Have you ever wanted to explore the museum galleries after dark? Join us during Up Late with the Sphinx for an evening filled with games and gallery activities. Drop into a hands-on workshop and make something special to take home, then finish your evening with a flashlight tour through the museum. Each ticket includes a special Penn Museum patch.

Otzi The Iceman: Forensic Science and Ancient Medicine in a Cold Case Murder
2023-02-26 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Bowers Museum, 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, CA, 92706

Hannibal's Secret Weapon
2023-02-27 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Humanities and Social Sciences Building (HSSB) 6020, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106

Excavations at Ancient Phoenix
2023-02-28 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South St, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
The first excavations at ancient Phoenix (in southwestern Turkey), beginning in 2022, have yielded extensive evidence for the existence of an Apollo Sanctuary at the site, which was in use from the early Hellenistic period. The archaeological data have shown that the Doric temple transformed into a basilica in late antiquity, serving as a church until the late Byzantine Period. This lecture focuses on the material culture that witnessed the ritual activities, dedications, and architectural transformation of the Apollo Sanctuary.

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire
2023-02-28 18:30 (America/New_York) | White Hall Rm 102, Emory University, 210 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, GA, 30303

Operation Demeter: What Italy's largest antiquities bust reveals about archaeological looting today
2023-03-01 18:00 (America/New_York) | 537 Leggett, Randolph College, 2500 Rivermont Ave, Lynchburg, VA, 24503

Ancestral Maya Pilgrimage at the Sacred Pools of Cara Blanca, Belize
2023-03-01 18:00 (America/Chicago) | WEBINAR (Central Texas), Austin, TX

Great Lectures: Teotihuacan: Rome of the Ancient Americas
2023-03-01 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South St, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Around 100 CE, a huge metropolis began to emerge in the Basin of Mexico, one the Aztecs would later call Teotihuacan, or “Birthplace of the Gods.” It quickly came to dominate the region, and, with its completely new urban grid-plan, contained as many as 150,000 people. Its two gigantic buildings, the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, were surrounded by smaller temples, plazas, and a thousand or more apartment compounds. They were all once richly painted in dazzling colors and complex designs depicting twisting feathered serpents, prowling jaguars, storm gods and water goddesses, priests, warriors, and lords. But its history has long been a mystery, and we are only now beginning to understand its importance and impact on ancient Mesoamerica.
Speaker: Simon Martin, Associate Curator and Keeper in the American Section, Penn Museum and Adjunct Associate Professor Anthropology, UPenn

Exploring the Technologies and Realities of Roman Toilets: Not a lot to Go on
2023-03-01 18:30 (America/New_York) | WEBINAR (Columbus), Columbus, OH

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga
2023-03-01 19:00 (America/New_York) | The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10040, United States

Gold Victories: The Gold of Coinage of Alexander the Great
2023-03-01 19:00 (America/New_York) | Heritage Hall (inside of Father O’Connell Hall), Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC, 20064
Metcalf Lecture

Treasure troves. How to Study a Greek Coin Hoard
2023-03-02 17:00 (America/New_York) | Campbell Hall 160, University of Virginia, 110 Bayly Dr, Charlottesville, VA, 22903

Display, Dietary Practice, and Disgusting Meals: Assessing Performative Dining in Monastic Contexts
2023-03-02 17:30 - 18:45 (America/New_York) | AGED Building , Room 00102, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States
Dr. Andrew Donnelly, assistant professor of history at Texas A&M University-Commerce, will share his research on dining in monastic contexts.

When Evolution Hurts (Free Hybrid Lecture)
2023-03-02 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Terence D. Capellini, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
Being able to walk upright on two feet is a physical trait that distinguishes modern humans from our early ancestors. While the evolution of bipedalism has contributed to our success as a species, it has also limited the evolution of other features and increased our risk for certain diseases. Capellini will discuss the genetic research that is helping scientists better understand the relationship between bipedalism and our risk of developing knee osteoarthritis—a degenerative disease that afflicts at least 250 million people worldwide. By understanding the evolutionary history and genetics of this condition, preventive screenings and potential treatments may be developed.
Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Image credit: Tasha McAbee, Department of Orthopedics at Boston Children’s Hospital

Sex Workers at Pompeii
2023-03-02 19:00 (America/Denver) | Tory Breezeway 1, University of Alberta, 6-5 Humanities Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E5, Canada

Community Engagement in the Archaeology and Heritage of Pakistan: New Work at MohenjoDaro
2023-03-02 19:00 (America/New_York) | Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave, Rochester, NY, 14607

Environment and Economy in Early Medieval Antwerp: the Zooarchaeological Evidence
2023-03-02 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Valparaiso University Center for the Arts (VUCA), 1709 Chapel Dr, Valparaiso, IN, 46383

Industry, Commerce, and Revolution: Ayla, Humayma, and the Southernmost Levant during the Early Islamic Period
2023-03-02 19:00 (America/Chicago) | University of Texas at San Antonio downtown campus, Room TBA, 501 W César E Chávez Blvd, San Antonio, TX, 78207, United States
Kershaw Lecture

Exploring the Technologies and Realities of Roman Toilets: Not a lot to Go on
2023-03-03 17:00 (America/New_York) | WEBINAR (Baltimore), Baltimore, MD

Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Kings
2023-03-04 13:00 (America/Chicago) | WEBINAR (St. Louis), St. Louis, MO

Goddesses, Whores, Vampyres and Archaeologists: uncovering ancient Mytilene
2023-03-05 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | LA Society, 1201 9th St., Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266
Bass Lecture

Chinese Export Pottery: A Business Model for Athenian Vase Production?
2023-03-07 20:00 (America/New_York) | Florida State University, hall TBA, 600 W College Ave, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, United States

Domestic Material Culture and the Archaeology of Value: Beyond “Religion” vs. “Decoration"
2023-03-08 17:00 (America/New_York) | Goetz Library, Department of Classics, University at Buffalo, 320 Academic Center, 12 Capen Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, United States
