Archaeological Institute of America

11th Century Turkey Management in the Mimbres Valley
2025-04-15 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Denver) | PA, United States
Lecture. Sean Dolan (Los Alamos Laboratories). For nearly two millennia, people in the US Southwest and Mexican Northwest have maintained a significant relationship with turkeys, a bird they domesticated for their feathers, meat, and other resources. Recent archaeological studies reveal diverse regional and temporal patterns in turkey management, but how and why did people in the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico from CE 1000-1130 manage and interact with these birds? In this presentation, Sean Dolan incorporates Mimbres pottery iconography, bone isotope analysis, and ancient DNA to explore the role and treatment of turkeys in this region.

The Hidden Dead: Bioarchaeology of Ancient Maya Cave Ritual
2025-04-16 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology, Rhode Island Hall, Brown University, 60 George Street, Providence, RI, 02912, United States
Doris Z. Stone New World Archaeology Lectures

Funerary Dining or Offerings for the Dead? Archaeobotanical Evidence from the Shaft Tombs at Petra, Jordan
2025-04-16 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd, Cleveland, 44106, United States
The Frederick R. and Margaret B. Matson Lectureship for Near Eastern Archaeology and Archaeological Technology

Bound in Stone: the Captive Body in Ancient Maya Art
2025-04-17 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Jepson Hall, Room 118, Richmond Way 221, Richmond, VA, 23226, United States
Lecture by Dr. Caitlin Early, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Washington and Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks (AIA’s Nadzia Borowski Lecture)

Exploring Human Origins at Kenya’s Lake Turkana
2025-04-17 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Free Public Lecture – Online & In Person
2025 Hallam L. Movius, Jr. Lecture Series
Louise Leakey, Director, Koobi Fora Research Project; Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University; National Geographic Explorer at Large
Kenya’s fossil-rich Turkana Basin has been—for over five decades—a cornerstone in unraveling the story of human origins in Africa. In this lecture, renowned paleoanthropologist Louise Leakey will delve into the groundbreaking discoveries at Lake Turkana, including hominins and fossil fauna that have reshaped our understanding of human ancestry. She will discuss the challenges of early exploration, and the impact of the Koobi Fora research camp, the National Museums of Kenya, and the Turkana Basin Institute, in advancing paleoscience. In closing, she will address opportunities to enhance research, collections care, and capacity-building at Lake Turkana through innovative funding, collaborations, and citizen science projects.
Advance registration recommended for in-person and online attendance. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, and the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University.
Louise Leakey is a third-generation Kenyan paleoanthropologist who is carrying on the legacy of the famed Leakey family in the search for human origins in Kenya’s fossil-rich Turkana Basin. A National Geographic Explorer at Large, Leakey, daughter of Meave and Richard Leakey, and granddaughter of Louis and Mary Leakey, all renowned paleoanthropologists, became actively involved in fossil discoveries at age five when she was proclaimed the youngest documented person to find a hominid fossil. Educated in the UK, she earned a PhD in Biology from University College London in 2001. Leakey also serves as a research professor in Anthropology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a research associate at the National Museums of Kenya. Louise directs the paleo-anthropological expeditions of the Koobi Fora Research Project in northern Kenya. New discoveries by her team in recent years include multiple hominin fossils, as well as the 1.5 million-year hominin trackway published in Science in 2024. A new species discovered at Lake Turkana in 1999 extended human fossil diversity back to 3.5 million years and, according to the New York Times, “overturns the prevailing view that a single line of descent stretched through the early stages of human ancestry.” Additional fossils recovered from this time period in recent years have contributed to the understanding of the diversity in the hominin fossil record. In addition to her long-term field studies in the Turkana Basin, Leakey also works closely with local communities and alongside wildlife authorities to preserve Kenya’s unique plants and animals of Kenya’s north. A lively lecturer, she gives talks and distributes science stories to Kenyan school children as part of the outreach efforts of her research project through her organization Leakey Journeys and Expeditions. Born and brought up in East Africa, she has travelled widely throughout the continent. Her family has been involved in the field of human origins for several generations and has contributed enormously to the understanding of our African origins through their work in both Kenya and Tanzania. Her family has been involved in politics and government, national museums, and wildlife conservation. Her husband, Emmanuel de Merode, is Director of Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s oldest national park and home to endangered mountain gorillas. His team has worked tirelessly to secure the future of this protected area through significant investments in renewable energy in this war-torn region. Louise is a mother of two adult daughters, a pilot, and an educator. She has many colorful experiences and insights to share.

Uncovering the Lake George Battlefield
2025-04-17 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | MA
Uncovering the Lake George Battlefield
Speaker: Siobhan M. Hart, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Chair Anthropology Department, Skidmore College
Location: Rye Free Reading Room, Rye, NY (Virtual)
Date: April 17, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm
The Lake George Battlefield State Park (Warren County, New York) contains the remains of twenty-five years of military action and encampment spanning the French and Indian War through the American Revolution. Within the park are the intact remains of notable battles and evidence of the daily life of soldiering in the 18th century. In 1776, the area became home to the largest smallpox hospitals in the American colonies, with several thousand smallpox patients brought and cared for here. This presentation will discuss past and current archaeological research at the Lake George Battlefield State Park and a shift towards the use of non-invasive geophysical techniques, limited excavation, and existing collections research.
Siobhan Hart (she/her) is an anthropologist and professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her work is concerned with using material culture, place, and community collaboration to address inequities in the world today. As an anthropological archaeologist, she is interested in what we know about the past, how we know it, and how it matters to people today. She is curator of the Skidmore Archaeological Collection and author of the book Colonialism, Community, and Heritage in Native New England (2019, University Press Florida).

Dr Eleanor Breen, "Buried Beneath the Waterfront: The Ships That Built Alexandria"
2025-04-17 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W 1st Ave, Spokane, WA, 99201, United States
Dr Eleanor Breen, Alexandria Archaeology
Founded in 1749, Alexandria, Virginia, is a vibrant city just seven miles south of Washington, D.C. In recent years, the City of Alexandria has embarked on a major revitalization of its historic waterfront, integrating new development with park and infrastructure improvements. With a nearly 50-year-old Alexandria Archaeology program and a pioneering Archaeological Protection Code, the city remains deeply committed to preserving its buried history. The code ensures that archaeological review and excavation are factored into the development process.
As plans to transform the waterfront took shape, archaeologists launched an intensive exploration of some of the most historically significant sites within the National Register Historic District. Over the past decade, excavations have uncovered the remnants of wharves, warehouses, industries, houselots, privies, and four ship hull remnants—preserved in the waterlogged soil along the Potomac River’s edge. This talk will trace the remarkable journeys of these four ships: from their time at sea to their reuse as landfill, their rediscovery centuries later, and the efforts to preserve them for future generations.

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East Tours Led by Harvard Students
2025-04-20 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-04-27 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Available during the Harvard academic year Sundays at 1:00 pm, October 6, 2024–April 27, 2025. See blackout dates.*
*Blackout dates: December 1, 2024–January 26, 2025; and March 16–23, 2025.
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.
Tours for groups of ten or more may be scheduled at other times. Tours may be available by advance request in these languages: Hindi, Bengali, and Mandarin.

Repair and Restore: Embracing Change, Preserving Memory, and Building Community through the Conservation of Cultural Heritage
2025-04-22 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Though often understood as a purely technical or aesthetic pursuit that focuses on restoring historical objects to their former splendor, the conservation of cultural heritage is a profoundly human and complex endeavor. Objects and places gain significance from the people who make, value, and care for them. Change is inevitable and becomes part of the history of any object or place. Thus, heritage conservation is a collective undertaking that involves collaboration and community to understand both what is to be safeguarded and how to pass the object on to future generations.
Through case studies on conservation projects dealing with the Tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt and archaeological mosaics in the Mediterranean region, this presentation by architectural conservator Jeanne Marie Teutonico will highlight the fundamentally collaborative nature of cultural heritage conservation and how it engages and builds community.
Speaker: Jeanne Marie Teutonico, Architectural Conservator
Free admission, but seating is limited and registration is encouraged. For more information and to register, please click on the Event Website link noted below.

Monumental Queens in the Hellenistic World
2025-04-23 17:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | University of Buffalo, Goetz Library, Academic Center 320, 155 Lee Rd, Amherst, NY, 14228, United States

The Daily Lives of Ancient Egyptian Artists
2025-04-23 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Hana Navratilova, Fellow, Royal Historical Society, UK; Supernumerary Fellow, University of Oxford, Harris Manchester College
Jaroslav Černý (1898–1970) was a distinguished Egyptologist known for his groundbreaking work on the social and cultural history of ancient Egypt, particularly the community of artisans at Deir el-Medina, a village near the Valley of the Kings. His research on ostraca (pottery sherds and limestone flakes bearing written inscriptions) and Theban “graffiti” texts is fundamental for understanding the daily lives, literacy, administration, and religious practices of ancient Egyptian artisans. In this lecture, Hana Navratilova will explore Černý’s lifelong research at Deir el-Medina, his groundbreaking studies of texts, artifacts, and the Western Theban landscape, and his indelible mark on twentieth-century Egyptology.
Free admission. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.
Photo: Detail of Ipuy and Wife Receive Offerings from Their Children (substantially restored), facsimile (tempera on paper) by Norman de Garis Davies (1865–1941); Rogers Fund, 1930, 30.4.114; The Metropolitan Museum of Art CC0
The original is from Deir el-Medina, New Kingdom, Ramesside,Dynasty: Dynasty 19, Reign: reign of Ramesses II, ca. 1279–1213 B.C.E.

2025 ARCE Annual meeting
2025-04-25 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square, 335 Powell St., San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
ARCE’s Annual Meeting will take place from April 25-27, 2025, at The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square.
Join us in San Francisco for an engaging blend of in-person presentations, panels, workshops, and networking opportunities. Showcase your expertise and connect with a vibrant scholarly community as we delve into the wonders of Egyptian history, heritage, fieldwork, and technological advancements!
With lectures, panels, and dynamic discussions, the Annual Meeting offers an in-depth exploration of Egypt’s rich cultural heritage.
Discover a wide array of topics—from ancient Egypt to Islamic and Coptic studies, and cutting-edge discoveries—while engaging with leading Egyptologists and researchers.
Visit arce.org/annual-meeting to register and learn more. For assistance, please email AMHelp@arce.org.
American Research Center in Egypt
909 N Washington Street, Suite 320 | Alexandria, VA 22314
www.arce.org/

Kush and the Roman World: Warrior Queens along the Nile
2025-04-26 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | University of North Florida, Building 51 (Social Sciences), 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, United States
Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureships

New Archaeologica Discoveries in Oman - Sinbad, Pirates, and Treasures
2025-04-26 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Auditorium at the St. Louis Public Library, Olive Street, St. Louis, MO, 63103, United States
Lecture by Dr. Derek Kennet, Professor of Arabian Peninsula and Gulf State Archaeology at the University of Chicago.

Constructed Realities: Ancient Roman Triclinium Grottoes
2025-04-27 11:30 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Humanity has long sought escape from reality. Today, the options to do so are numerous and varied, from 3D movies to augmented or virtual reality, which immerse users through headsets, speakers, and other devices. However, experiential immersion existed long before the advent of modern technology. In ancient Rome, an early form of “virtual reality” could be found in artificial grottos. Triclinium grottoes and “chamber nymphaea” became incorporated into residences ranging from large scale villas to moderately sized urban houses. Though the viewer’s experience varied depending on the setting, the goal was always the same: to artificially construct the reality of a grotto in a domestic setting. Focusing on examples from the Julio-Claudian and Flavian periods, such as the dining grottoes of the Domus Transitoria in Rome and the Praedia of Julia Felix in Pompeii, this paper explores not only how the constructed realities of triclinium grottoes differed from real grottoes but also examines the various methods through which viewers were manipulated to accept these artificial grottoes as reality in different settings.

Classical Washington: Greece and Rome in the Art and Architecture of DC
2025-05-01 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | The Parthenon, 2500 West End Ave, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States
Join us for a free virtual talk on Wednesday, May 1, at 6 PM Central. Registration required.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qGNBDPkWRKWJUSOevFDg_A#/registration
Join art historian Elise Friedland for a free virtual talk on her investigation of the meaning and reception of Classical art and architecture in our nation’s capital.
Washington, D.C., is a city like no other in the United States. A Greek Doric temple (the Lincoln Memorial) sits at one end of the city’s central forum (The Mall), housing a colossal cult statue (Abraham Lincoln). A Roman triumphal arch monumentalizes the front of the main train depot (Union Station). Roman equestrian statues stand amidst circular plazas, celebrating victorious American generals (Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Plaza). This talk explores the role of Greek and Roman art and architecture in the planning, building and decorating of America’s capital city.
This discussion provides broader historical perspective for Neoclassical architecture in Nashville, especially the choice of Neoclassical models and styles used for the Centennial Exposition of 1897.
This lecture is the Archaeological Institute for America John H. and Penelope Biggs Lecture for 2025, a grant awarded to the AIA Nashville Society.

Excavating a Shipwrecked Marble Column Destined for the Temple of Apollo at Claros
2025-05-04 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | MA
Excavating a Shipwrecked Marble Column Destined for the Temple of Apollo at Claros
Dr. Deborah N. Carlson
Professor, Sara W. and George O. Yamini Endowed Family Chair in Nautical Archaeology
President of Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Nautical Program Coordinator
Texas A&M
Between 2005 and 2011, researchers from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University excavated and raised the remains of an ancient ship that was wrecked off the Aegean coast of Turkey at Kızılburun in the first century B.C. This ship was transporting about 60 tons of white marble blocks and architectural elements that originated in the quarries on Proconnesus Island in the Sea of Marmara. Ceramic artifacts and coins help narrow the date of the shipwreck, but the pieces of a single monumental Doric column suggest that the ship was destined for one of the most important oracular sanctuaries in the ancient Mediterranean. Join underwater archaeologist Deborah Carlson as she lays out the evidence to solve this maritime mystery!

Teaching Ma'at in Prison
2025-05-04 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | ARCE Egyptology Lectures Room 56 Social Sciences Building, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, and the UC Berkeley Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures invite you to attend a lecture by Dr. Rita Lucarelli, UC Berkeley:
“Teaching Ma’at in Prison”
Sunday May 4, 2025, 3 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Room 56 Social Sciences Building, UC Berkeley
This is an in-person lecture and is not virtual. No registration is required.
The lecture will be recorded.
About the Lecture:
The lecture will discuss the innovative experience of teaching a course on Ancient Egypt at San Quentin State Prison, focusing on the engagement of incarcerated students with the subject matter. Dr. Lucarelli will detail the significance of discussing concepts such as Ma’at, justice, and ethics within the context of both ancient Egyptian culture and the contemporary experiences of the students. The results indicate that the study of Egyptology offers meaningful insights for rehabilitation and education, breaking the boundaries of the prison environment and facilitating a unique learning atmosphere.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Rita Lucarelli is an Associate Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Culture, and the Class of 1939 Chair of Undergraduate Education. She is the Faculty Curator of Egyptology at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and a Fellow of the Digital Humanities at UC Berkeley. She is presently working at a project aiming at realizing 3D models of ancient Egyptian coffins, the Book of the Dead in 3D. She is also completing a new monograph on demonology in ancient Egypt entitled Agents of punishment and protection: ancient Egyptian Demonology in the First Millenium BCE. Dr. Lucarelli teaches, lectures and researches Egyptomania and the reception of ancient Egypt in the contemporary world, in particular on the representation of ancient Egypt in Afrofuturism. She also teaches courses of Egyptology, Comparative Religion and Interdisciplinary Writing at San Quentin State Prison through the Mount Tamalpais College (https://www.mttamcollege.org/).
Dr. Lucarelli studied at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” Italy, where she received her MA degree in Classical Languages and Egyptology. She holds her Ph.D. from Leiden University, the Netherlands. Her Ph.D. thesis was published as The Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Religion in the 10th Century BC. She worked as a Research Scholar and a Lecturer at the Department of Egyptology of Bonn University, where she was part of the team of the “Book of the Dead Project”.
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Parking is available in UC lots all day on weekends, for a fee. Ticket dispensing machines accept debit or credit cards. Parking is available in lots around the Social Sciences Building, and in lots along Bancroft. A map of the campus is available online at http://www.berkeley.edu/map/ .
About Northern California ARCE:
For more information, please visit https://facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE/, https://arce-nc.org/, https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://khentiamentiu.org and https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.

AIA-Nashville Society Book Club
2025-05-05 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | The Parthenon, 2500 West End Ave, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States
Join the Parthenon and AIA-Nashville Society for a free Book Club meeting on Monday, May 5, at 6 PM. This event is free and open to the public, with RSVP required. All are welcome.
RSVP Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parthenon-book-club-the-last-painting-of-sara-de-vos-tickets-1118053420879?aff=oddtdtcreator
Mention “Book Club” at the Ticket Counter, receive free admission, and proceed to the Treasury on Level 2 for the friendly, informal discussion.
THIS QUARTER’S BOOK SELECTION: We will be discussing The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. Reserve your seat with a free RSVP.
Looking to purchase the book? Head over to Parnassus Books and mention the Archaeological Institute of America-Nashville Society book club at the Parthenon for a 10% discount.
ABOUT THE BOOK: The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
Description from Nashville Public Library:
“Written in prose so clear that we absorb its images as if by mind meld, “The Last Painting” is gorgeous storytelling: wry, playful, and utterly alive, with an almost tactile awareness of the emotional contours of the human heart. Vividly detailed, acutely sensitive to stratifications of gender and class, it’s fiction that keeps you up at night — first because you’re barreling through the book, then because you’ve slowed your pace to a crawl, savoring the suspense.” — Boston Globe
Amsterdam, 1631: Sara de Vos becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the city’s Guild of St. Luke. Though women do not paint landscapes (they are generally restricted to indoor subjects), a wintry outdoor scene haunts Sara: She cannot shake the image of a young girl from a nearby village, standing alone beside a silver birch at dusk, staring out at a group of skaters on the frozen river below. Defying the expectations of her time, she decides to paint it.
New York City, 1957: The only known surviving work of Sara de Vos, At the Edge of a Wood , hangs in the bedroom of a wealthy Manhattan lawyer, Marty de Groot, a descendant of the original owner. It is a beautiful but comfortless landscape. The lawyer’s marriage is prominent but comfortless, too. When a struggling art history grad student, Ellie Shipley, agrees to forge the painting for a dubious art dealer, she finds herself entangled with its owner in ways no one could predict.
Sydney, 2000: Now a celebrated art historian and curator, Ellie Shipley is mounting an exhibition in her field of specialization: female painters of the Dutch Golden Age. When it becomes apparent that both the original At the Edge of a Wood and her forgery are en route to her museum, the life she has carefully constructed threatens to unravel entirely and irrevocably.
2024 BOOK CLUB DATES:
Monday, August 4, 2025 — Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson
Monday, November 3, 2025 — The Feather Thief by Kirk W. Johnson
BOOK CLUB SPONSOR: AIA-Nashville Society
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) promotes archaeological inquiry and public understanding of the material record of the human past to foster an appreciation of diverse cultures and our shared humanity. The AIA supports archaeologists, their research and its dissemination, and the ethical practice of archaeology. The AIA educates people of all ages about the significance of archaeological discovery and advocates for the preservation of the world’s archaeological heritage. Learn more.
ADDITIONAL BOOK CLUB SPONSORS:
Centennial Park Conservancy
Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation

Cleopatra and the Queens of Meroë
2025-05-08 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Whitman College Maxey Hall 207, 173 Stanton St., Walla Walla, WA, 99362, United States
This lecture will focus on the many sole-ruling kandakas (‘queens’) of the ancient kingdom of Meroë (Kush/Nubia), including those who ruled contemporaneously with Cleopatra and with Roman aggressions and occupation along the Nile valley. We will learn about the Nubian warrior queens who led troops in battle (and to victory) against Rome, and deconstruct the reductive stereotypes often peddled about the powerful female rulers of the Nile. We will contrast the queens’ self-presentation with the ways in which Roman-imperial authors attempted to re-inscribe them. Please join us for this in-person lecture given by a leading scholar of ancient Nubia and Egypt.

The cemeteries of Deir el-Bahari and Asasif in the early Middle Kingdom: Recent work by the University of Alcalá expedition to Luxor
2025-05-10 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Saturday, May 10
3:30 pm EST
Penn Museum, Classroom L2
In-person; no registration required
Speaker: Dr. Antonio Morales, Associate Professor of Egyptology, University of Alcala
Title: The cemeteries of Deir el-Bahari and Asasif in the early Middle Kingdom: Recent work by the University of Alcalá expedition to Luxor
Abstract:
The reunification achieved during the reign of king Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II signified the emergence of a pristine Egyptian state built upon a culture of traditions and transformations centralized at Thebes. The city became a melting-pot of political, religious, and cultural decisions, mostly aiming at the reconstruction of the administrative system, the control of the land and its resources, and –more importantly– the boosting of kingship and the new dynasty. In this setting, the role of the high officials became pivotal.
In the last ten years, the University of Alcalá Expedition and its Middle Kingdom Theban Project (thebanproject.com/en/) have set up a multidisciplinary and international team of experts that is conducting archaeological excavation, epigraphic work, and conservation in the tombs of some of these officials from the late Eleventh and early Twelfth dynasties. The documentation and study of the tombs of the viziers Dagi (TT 103) and Ipi (TT 315), the hight steward Henenu (TT 313), and the overseer of prisons Djari (TT 366), among others, will no doubt allow scholars to have a better understanding of the role of Thebes in the construction of the classical age in pharaonic history: the Middle Kingdom. The ARCE-PA lecture will cover the major questions posed by this research, the major lines of investigation of the project, and the results of this expedition after ten years working in the areas of Asasif and Deir el-Bahari (2014-2024).
Speaker Bio:
Antonio Morales is Associate Professor in Egyptology in the Seminar of Ancient History at the University of Alcalá (UAH). This past January, he joined the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University as Fulbright Visiting Scholar for one semester. In 2022, he was visiting professor at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. Previously, he was Research Associate in Egyptology at Freie Universität Berlin, postdoctoral researcher at Heidelberg Universität, and research collaborator at the Department of Egypt and Sudan in the British Museum (London). He obtained his PhD in Egyptology from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia 2013) with a dissertation dealing with the transmission of the Pyramid Texts from the Old to the Middle Kingdoms. Antonio Morales has participated in various expeditions to Egypt (Abydos, Dra Abu el-Naga, El-Amra, Qaw el-Kebir, Qubbet el-Hawa, Saqqara), and is currently the director of The Middle Kingdom Theban Project. He has published multiple articles in scientific journals and contributions to books, including a recent co-edition (with Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano) on Middle Kingdom archaeology and history in the Harvard Egyptological Studies (Brill 2022), and a monograph on the transmission of Pyramid Texts of Nut (Hamburg, Buske Verlag, 2019).
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Lectures are FREE to ARCE Members, $7 for University of Pennsylvania Museum Members and UPenn Staff and Faculty, $5 for Students with ID, and $10 for the general public.
Light refreshments served starting at 3pm.
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The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1948 by a consortium of educational and cultural institutions to support research on all aspects of Egyptian history and culture, foster broader knowledge among the general public, and strengthen American-Egyptian cultural ties. The ARCE Pennsylvania Chapter (ARCE-PA) is the local branch of the national institution. We host monthly events including scholarly lectures, Egyptian-themed workshops, social events, and guided tours of the Penn Museum’s Egyptian galleries. For more information or to learn about the perks of membership, please send an e-mail to info@arce-pa.org, or visit our website at www.arce-pa.org.

Hiking Southern Italy: Archaeology, Volcanoes & Cuisine
2025-05-11 - 2025-05-22 | MA
Welcome to an extraordinary springtime journey through the rich ancient history, breathtaking volcanic landscapes, and legendary food and wine culture of southern Italy and Sicily. Travel and hike with archaeologist Cris Corrado and local guides among active and dormant volcanoes, delight in picturesque landscapes and sea views, and explore fascinating archaeological sites. Italy is home to mainland Europe’s only active volcanoes—Mount Vesuvius, Stromboli, and Mount Etna—and on this tour you will hike on all three of them. On this well-paced tour you will rest at distinctive, four-star hotels, spending four nights in Naples, one on a comfortable ferry from Naples to Lipari, three on the Aeolian island of Panarea, and two in the heart of Mount Etna Park, Sicily. An expert tour manager handles all of the logistics, so you can relax, enjoy, and learn. On all but one of the seven hikes, an extra guide will allow us to split into two groups, so that you may choose either a longer or shorter excursion.
Highlights include:
1. Pompeii, one of the world’s most extraordinary archaeological sites, destroyed (but also preserved!) by the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79
2. Hiking the trail of Vesuvius National Park to the crater, with amazing views over the whole Gulf of Naples
3. A breathtaking hike along the “Path of the Gods,” on the Sorrento Peninsula, with views of the Tyrrhenian Sea
4. A ferry ride to the fabled island of Capri to hike along fragrant trails to Roman Emperor Tiberius’ Villa Jovis
5. A visit to the Naples Archaeological Museum, which houses one of the world’s finest collections of Greco-Roman art and artifacts
6. A private boat ride to Stromboli, the most active volcano in Europe, erupting at intervals of approximately 15 minutes
7. A hike up Mt. Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, with panoramic views of Sicily’s eastern coast
8. Wine tastings at vineyards on Mt. Vesuvius, Salina, and Mt. Etna
This tour requires an elevated level of fitness.

Archaeology of the Bone Objects in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, the Black Sea area and the Balkans during the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine periods
2025-05-14 | Zoom, 4985 SW 74th Court, Miami, FL, 33155, United States
in honour of Hector Williams
We are glad to inform you that an international e-conference on bone objects in the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine periods in the eastern Mediterranean, Near East, Black Sea area and Balkans will take place on May 14, 2025 on Zoom.us. Ancient bone objects were found in relatively large quantities in the entire Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria and Egypt to France, where they were manufactured between the Neolithic and Medieval periods. The art of carving animal bones involves especially antler and horn. However, the spectrum of the worked bone objects recovered from Anatolia, rest of the eastern Mediterranean, Near East, the Black Sea area and Balkans is very varied, and reflects different characteristics of Graeco-Roman and Early Byzantine daily life. In these areas they were also utilised as grave goods secondarily. They were exported or imported over the entire ancient Graeco-Roman and Early Byzantine worlds.
In this conference papers dealing with ancient artefacts or objects manufactured by worked bone, antler, ivory, animal teeth, mother of pearl and cockleshell will be included. Main material groups made by bones are as follows: items connected to personal grooming, weaponry, artifacts used for spinning or in pottery decoration, artifacts related to cosmetics, jewellery, combs, pins for clothing and women’s hair, items related to dressmaking and textile (particularly sewing needles, weaving implements or buttons), parts of soldiers’ equipment, items used for leather working, amulets and other magical items, knife handles, musical instruments, playing stones (e.g., lopsided dices), frames of various kinds (e.g., of mirrors), furniture (including fittings, wood sidings and inlayed decoration), boxes, plaques, writing items (for example, κάλαμοι, calami in Lat.), liturgical and religious items (e.g., crosses and reliquaries), half-finished products and miscellania. Just in the rest of the Roman world, hairpins are the most numerous artifacts made of bone or antler in the Eastern part of the Empire. Gaming pieces represent the other widespread and customary instrumentum category of the worked bones. Several other material groups also used during the processing of bone artefacts, for example, some objects may have been filled with coloured wax to make them to stand out.
So far the study of this material group has been overlooked, whereas there is still a huge amount of unpublished material from excavations, field surveys and museums in the entire Mediterranean and rest of the ancient world. There is a regular conference series of the Worked Bone Research Group (WBRG; cf. ) which include almost all periods and areas. In our e-meeting in 2025 we only focus on bone objects between the fourth century B.C. and the sixth century A.D., and attempt to set out a comprehensive model for the study of bone objects, including their definition, typology, chronology, contexts, function, regional characteristics, production and distribution patterns in the whole eastern Mediterranean geographies, including the Near East, Black Sea area and Balkans. The increasing number of recent finds in the concerned areas over the last thirty years, thanks to the development of preventive archaeology, has tended to challenge our previous observations and assumptions on Graeco-Roman and Byzantine worked bone objects.
It is also our intention to create a complete bibliography of previous publications on bone objects for several areas and chronologies.
We warmly invite contributions by scholars and graduate students from a variety of disciplines related to this material group. Intended to bring together scholars of Greek, Roman and Early Byzantine instrumenta / artefacts’ archaeology to discuss a range of issues concerning this material group characteristics, this video conference should be an excellent opportunity to increase our knowledge about ancient worked bones. The following theme groups are the main questions of the conference which are prescriptive:
– Bone objects from archaeological field projects, museums and private collections,
– Graeco-Roman bone objects in comparison with the bone objects of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic periods, Bronze and Iron Ages,
– Graeco-Roman bone objects in comparison with the Minoan and Mycenaean bone objects,
– Etymology of bone objects in ancient Near Eastern, eastern Mediterranean and Aegean languages,
– Ancient Greek, Latin and Byzantine textual sources on bone objects,
– Typological evolution and design of bone objects,
– Selection criteria for some certain animal genres for bone-working,
– Decoration of bone objects, as detailed chronologies should be established for both the produced forms and their decoration,
– Chronologies of these objects that can highlight the social spread of these products,
– Manufacturing technics, manufacturing tools, major production centres and workshops of bone objects in the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine periods, their organisation and interactions.
– Distribution of bone objects, economic and social aspects: in what type of socio-economic context are they found?,
– Typological and functional features of bone objects during the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine periods: what might the utilitarian, social and/or symbolic functions or practices of these objects have been?
– Identification of the economic factors that contributed to the standardization in the bone-working,
– What ancient Greeks, Romans and Byzantines thought about afterlife? Bone objects in the eastern Mediterranean funerary contexts,
– The role of monastic or religious economy in Early Byzantine bone-working,
– Commodities and their trade through bone objects,
– Relations of bone objects to metal, terracotta, glass, wooden or stone objects: how did this material group fit in with objects made from different materials, particularly metal, glass, or wood? Can any stylistic links be found between them?
– Roman bone objects in the eastern and western Mediterranean and Europe, and their differences,
– Hellenistic and Roman gravestones and other iconographic media depicting bone objects,
– Conservation of worked bone objects, especially excavated finds: current strategies and future approaches,
– Archaeometric analyses of these objects,
– Miscellanea.
On these themes and questions, all approaches and methods susceptible to bring some progress to our current knowledge are of course welcome: archaeology, physical anthropology, archaeozoology, osteoarchaeology, bioarchaeology, palaeohistology, ancient history, history of art, cultural anthropology etc.
A special focus of the workshop is the identification of workshops from different regions, cities and areas, in particular capital cities (such as Byzantium, Ephesus, Pergamum, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, Alexandria, Athens, Rome etc.) with main workshops. A regional approach will enable us to understand the influences and contacts between workshops. Were these exclusively urban activities, or also rural? What motivated their establishment? Political powers, raw materials, the development of urban centres and the urban elite (merchants, craftsmen, religious orders, etc.) or economic outlets? And, are there any imitations or copies in certain localities suggesting competition between workshops?
Another important topic is the manufacturing techniques which were varied and depended on the composition and morphology of each raw material type as much as on the artefact to be produced. Regardless of the raw material, the manufacturing process of an ancient bone object was usually multi-stage:
1. Selection and acquisition of the raw material;
2. Preparation of the raw material, including cleaning, drying and cutting into pieces;
3. The appropriate working processes using instruments like knives, chisels, files, lathes and bow-drills;
4. Finishing the worked objects by grinding, polishing and colouring.
The previous finds reflect that mostly manufacturing techniques were related to an organized production where the different manufacturing stages were standardized and predefined, which can be identified as a chaîne opératoire. Particular attention should be paid to these technical aspects, which are the integral parts of the uniqueness of most of the ancient worked bone objects.
We also need to look at the distribution of these objects on a local, regional, and even supra-regional scale, and trade networks. Some have crossed the overseas, such as Anatolian products unearthed in England. How can these exchanges be explained?
Our conference is primarily virtual, and will take place on Zoom; but if any of the participants will wish to appear in Izmir physically, she/he is welcome to present her/his paper in our conference room to the audience which will also be livestreamed and broadcasted simultaneously on Zoom.
All the readings and discussions in our e-conference will be in English, and recorded for later viewing as a podcast on YouTube. The proceedings of the conference will be published in the forthcoming issues of the Archaeology of western Anatolia (AwA) in 2026. The conference is free of charge.
We would be delighted, if you could consider contributing to our conference and contact us with the registration form below until March 1, 2024. Our e-mail address is paphlagonia@deu.edu.tr
For all your queries concerning the conference our phone and WhatsApp number is +90.544.540 78 34. The organizers seek to widen participation at this conference, and would like to encourage colleagues from all parts of the world to attend. We kindly request that you alert any interested researches, colleagues and students within your research community who would be interested in participating at this e-conference, either by forwarding our first circular and poster through your Academia, Researchgate, Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook accounts, or other similar social media, or by printing them and displaying in your institutions. Please share them also on your ListServs. We hope that you will be able to join us on Zoom, and look forward to seeing you!

The Archaeology Channel International Film Festival
2025-05-14 - 2025-05-18 | Sheffer Recital Hall, 285 E Broadway, Eugene, OR, 97401, United States
The Archaeology Channel International Film Festival is a juried international competition in the cultural heritage film genre, bringing you the world’s best films relating to the human past and our shared cultural heritage. These are great films for the whole family!
Our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Eske Willerslev, will kick off the event at the Festival Banquet, on May 14, 2025, 6-9pm, at the Gordon Hotel in Eugene. This is followed by four days of juried films and videos on archaeological and indigenous topics, screened in the Sheffer Recital Hall at The Shedd Institute in Eugene. We plan other festival activities at other downtown venues as well. Event details are posted on TAC web site at archaeologychannel.org/festival.

SAIG 2025 Dissertation Lecture: "Burial Practices, Chamber Tombs, and Non-Palatial Communities in the Mycenaean Argolid" with Sophie Cushman
2025-05-14 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | MA
Please join the Student Affairs Interest Group for their annual Dissertation Lecture featuring Sophie Cushman, PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, for her talk, “Burial Practices, Chamber Tombs, and Non-Palatial Communities in the Mycenaean Argolid” on Wednesday, May 14th at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT. The lecture will be held on Zoom – please register here.

Abstract:
With over 4,000 documented examples, rock-carved chamber tombs were by far the most common type of tomb in Late Bronze Age Greece (ca. 1600-1070 BCE). In the Argolid in particular, over 650 chamber tombs are known. However, previous interpretations of Mycenaean burial practices in this region have focused on the same, limited number of “wealthy” cemeteries and tombs, primarily located around the Argive plain. This talk instead considers Mycenaean burial practices from a bottom-up perspective based on a comprehensive study of all known cemeteries and tombs in the Argolid, tracing developments in chamber tomb use from the adoption of the type by select groups at the transition to the Late Bronze Age to the adaptation of existing burial practices in the second half of the period. First, I analyze the chronological and geographical distribution of chamber tomb cemeteries, proving that the type was adopted throughout the entire Argolid before the institutionalization of the palatial system. In fact, very few sites adopted chamber tombs for the first time during the palatial period. This conclusion challenges existing top-down narratives that see mortuary developments in the Argolid as imposed by or radiating out from the palatial centers of Mycenae and Tiryns. Next, I identify a change in secondary burial practices at the start of the palatial period. Drawing on a wide body of anthropological and archaeological theory, I argue that local burying groups actively adapted their mortuary behavior to emphasize local, kin-based claims to resources–both material and immaterial–in response to the increasing political and economic authority of the palace centers. I ultimately suggest that the chamber tomb took on new, and potentially subversive, meanings within the context of the palatial period. By shifting focus from wealthy tombs and the palace to the decision making processes of local burying groups, this project offers a fresh perspective on Mycenaean burial practices and social structure and contributes to our knowledge of those beyond the center of Mycenaean society.

About the speaker:
Sophie Cushman is a PhD candidate in Classical Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. Sophie specializes in Aegean prehistory, especially the second millennium BCE. Her research focuses on burial practices, sociopolitical organization, and pottery and material culture. An active field archaeologist, Sophie has excavated on Crete and throughout the Peloponnese. She is currently a senior staff member of the Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology’s excavation and publication projects at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea, the multi-period cemetery of Aidonia, and Petsas House, Mycenae. Her dissertation offers the first comprehensive study of chamber tombs in the northeast Peloponnese, examining developments in burial practices from the perspective of small local communities as they responded to the increasing authority and subsequent collapse of regional centers during the Mycenaean period.

Environmental Histories Of The Ancient Mediterranean In Ten Objects
2025-05-17 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Auditorium at the St. Louis Public Library, 1301 Olive Street, St. Louis, 63103, United States

Athena's 35th Birthday: 35 Years of Athena Parthenos at the Nashville Parthenon!
2025-05-20 12:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | The Parthenon, 2500 West End Ave, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States
Celebrate Alan LeQuire’s Athena Parthenos statue turning 35!
Join Parthenon staff and expert archaeologists as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the unveiling of Alan LeQuire’s reconstruction of the ancient Greek Athena Parthenos statue, which took place in Nashville on May 20th, 1990, upon completion of an eight-year project. LeQuire won a competition to undertake this unprecedented archaeological experiment, which involved research, modeling and consultation with archaeologists. He combined traditional sculptural techniques with considerable ingenuity and resourcefulness, working on a monumental scale. Programming is open to visitors of all ages. Celebrations include:
12 PM Museum Talk: Athena — Learn all about Athena in a brief 10-15 minute talk about the statue.
1 – 4 PM Sketching the Marbles: Athena Edition— Drop by to try your hand at drawing the Athena statue— beginners welcome! Materials provided by Jerry’s Artarama. Space is limited: first come, first served.
1 – 4 PM Ask an Expert — Join Parthenon experts at our investigation station—we’ll your answer your questions about the Athena statue!
2 PM Museum Talk: Athena — Learn all about Athena in a brief 10-15 minute talk about the statue.
3 PM Museum Tour — Explore history and art alongside a museum expert and hear about Athena during a 30-minute guided tour.
4 PM Museum Talk: Athena — Learn all about Athena in a brief 10-15 minute talk about the statue.
Open to the public. RSVP in advance on Eventbrite and show email confirmation at the ticket counter for free admission. Without RSVP, included with museum admission.
Free for Centennial Park Conservancy members.
CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF ATHENA?
Visit the Parthenon June 13 to be the first to explore two new exhibitions: Goddess in Progress and Monumental Figures!
SPONSORS:
Centennial Park Conservancy
Metro Nashville Parks & Recreation

Highlands, Islands & Fjords: Scotland, Orkney Islands & Norway
2025-05-29 - 2025-06-08 | MA
Join Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host Elizabeth Pierce on this exploration of ancient settlements, remote islands, magnificent landscapes, and idyllic villages from Inverness, Scotland, to the Orkney Islands and along the Norwegian coast above the Arctic Circle. Cruise during the peak of spring, with long days of bright green scenery speckled with blooming flowers and rushing waterfalls from snow melting in the mountains. Dr. Pierce will be part of a team of onboard experts who together will offer a series of lectures and informal discussions.
This varied and balanced itinerary combines the wonders of the natural world with the historical and cultural highlights of the area. Our cruise is bookended with time in some of the region’s most remote and inaccessible island groups—Scotland’s Orkney Islands and Norway’s Lofoten Islands—and offers rich opportunities for bird and whale watching.
In Scotland, visit Clava Cairns, a group of three Bronze Age burial mounds and, in the UNESCO Site “Heart of Neolithic Orkney,” marvel at the Neolithic standing stones of the Ring of Brodgar and the 5,000-year-old village of Skara Brae. In Norway, visit the 12th-century Hopperstad Stave Church, the oldest stave church in the country; and the distinctive pagan Moahaugane Burial Mounds, which were constructed between A.D. 200-400.
Enjoy several days inside Norway’s iconic fjords, including the awe-inspiring Sognefjord, Norway’s longest, as well as the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord. Step ashore at peaceful, picturesque fjord-side towns and fishing villages off the beaten track—splendid Art Nouveau Ålesund, set on myriad islands stretching out into the ocean; BrØnnØysund, from which one can access Torghatten, a legendary mountain with evidence of five different Neolithic settlements that were inhabited for millennia; and tiny villages of Å, Reine, or Nusfjord in the Lofotens. A pre-cruise extension in the Scottish Highlands and a post-cruise extension in Oslo are also available.
Delight in cruising for eight nights aboard the elegantly appointed and newly renovated Exploris One, designed to navigate demanding waters safely while offering the highest level of service and comfort. Each of its 72 suites and spacious staterooms offers breathtaking ocean views, some with private balconies. The program is co-sponsored by other organizations, so I encourage you to contact us today at (800) 748-6262 or aia@studytours.org to reserve your preferred suite or stateroom.

Goddess in Progress
2025-06-13 | The Parthenon, 2500 West End Ave, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States
New museum exhibition at the Nashville Parthenon, June 13, 2025-April 19, 2026
Get the story behind the creation and construction of Nashville’s Athena Parthenos with this historic exhibit. Alan LeQuire won the commission in 1982 by proposing a historically-accurate replica of the ancient statue. The young artist began an odyssey of research which included a visit to the ancient Parthenon in Greece, and consultation with leading scholars. During the eight years of construction, LeQuire triumphed over engineering complications, political challenges, and a fire that demolished his studio. Travel with LeQuire on his journey to creating and scaling a figure that became the largest indoor sculpture in the Western world.
Museum hours, check NashvilleParthenon.com for updated hours.
Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Friday-Saturday 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Sunday 12:30 – 4:30 PM
