Archaeological Institute of America

Sicily: Archaeology, Art & Cuisine
2021-09-14 | AZ
Travel with our engaging AIA lecturer and host, archaeologist Gerry Schaus. Discover and learn about many of the most impressive archaeological monuments found anywhere in the Mediterranean, such as Agrigento, Selinunte, Segesta, and Syracuse. Admire spectacular, sunlit landscapes of undulating vineyards and Mediterranean Sea vistas. See two of the finest examples of Norman architecture: Monreale Cathedral and the Royal Palace of Palermo (Palazzo dei Normanni). View extensive archaeological collections at several excellent museums. Savor fine cuisine, with wine included at group dinners. Feel pampered with seven nights at 5-star hotels and two nights at a four-star hotel, all chosen for their generous comfort and prime locations. Relax and enjoy traveling with a maximum of just 16 guests plus your expert lecturer, trip manager, and local guides.
Choose to extend your trip for three nights to discover Malta’s renowned and extraordinary prehistoric monuments.

BYU's Museum of Peoples and Cultures: Utah Valley Exhibit Opening
2021-09-10 15:00 - 18:00 (America/Boise) | Museum of Peoples and Cultures, 2201 N Canyon Rd., Provo, UT, 84604, United States
Come celebrate the opening of our new Utah Valley exhibit at this education-focused open house event! The new exhibit features artifacts from the four main groups that have inhabited Utah Valley, many of them excavated by archaeologists at BYU. Activities at the event will include demonstrations of our educational resources, guided tours, refreshments, and more!

World War II on America’s Doorstep! U-boats Off the Mid-Atlantic Coast
2021-09-08 19:00 (America/New_York) | WEBINAR (Cleveland 1), Cleveland, OH
Laing Lecture

Reports from the Field
2021-09-07 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | AZ
UC Berkeley graduate students kick off the academic year at our annual Reports from the Field event, reporting on their summer research and excavation experiences at various sites across the globe. Alec Apodaca will be discussing a Native American archaeological site in the San Vicente Redwoods that was damaged during post-fire work related to the CZU Lightning Fire complex of 2020. The damage exposed previously unknown portions of this ancient habitation site that can be studied to learn about how Native people stewarded sources of food, raw material, and habitats in the interior areas, which can be compared to coastal areas and is directly relevant to ongoing historical ecology project between Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and UC Berkeley researchers. Jordan Brown will discuss The Erbil Plain in northern Iraq, which lies at the edge of the rainfall farming zone. Here, five millennia of intensive settlement have seen diverse approaches to water management. Some of these strategies appear to have affected the hydrology of the Plain in lasting ways, mitigating or exacerbating the impact of climatic shifts and constraining the options available to subsequent inhabitants. By utilizing remote-sensing tools and computer-aided analytical techniques, which facilitate the collection and systematization of such data and form the building blocks of a “telescoping” approach to regional geoarchaeology, Jordan will discuss the large-scale and long-term interactions between social and natural forces. David Wheeler will share his experience doing fieldwork and museum research in Greece for the last 18 months in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. During that time, he excavated a palatial tholos at Pylos during Greece’s first national lockdown, helped supervise rescue excavations at the Mycenaean cemetery of Aidonia, and initiated several 3D scanning projects for Berkeley’s Nemea Center for research, outreach, and classroom use in the post-Covid era.

Ireland’s Ancient East
2021-08-31 | AZ
This journey takes you through the archaeology, history, and landscapes of “Ireland’s Ancient East” from north to south along the east coast of Ireland. After a few gentle days in Dublin, where you will visit the National Museum of Ireland and explore the city, you will head north to explore the various landscapes of Northern Ireland, including Slieve Gullion, the medieval town of Carrickfergus and the UNESCO World Heritage Site at the Giant’s Causeway. From here, journey south to the Boyne Valley, where you will visit, amongst other sites, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange and Knowth), staying in the heart of the valley in the beautiful village of Slane. The next stop on the journey will be inland to the medieval city of Kilkenny. As well as the castle and medieval streetscape of the city, this will serve as a base to explore the wonderful scenery and amazing hidden archaeological gems of the region. Our journey south ends in Wexford and Waterford, where you will enjoy a day at the Irish National Heritage Park and visit your host’s on-going excavation project. Travel in a small group of no more than 12 travelers and enjoy the personal attention and service of a highly respected Irish academic lecturer/host and a charming tour manager/guide, plus several specialist guest experts.

Virtual Symposium: Underwater Archaeology
2021-08-18 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Nashville Parthenon, 2500 West End Ave, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States
Join the Nashville Parthenon Virtual Summer Symposia series! This is the last of three Symposia. All three support the new exhibition ‘The Antikythera Mechanism’ at the Nashville Parthenon through September 26.
Dr. Anne Duray will introduce underwater archaeological practice that helps experts interpret our human past. Specifically, Dr. Duray will explain the training and methodology of underwater archaeology to help the virtual audience understand how archaeologists begin to approach underwater sites, and share her personal experiences and anecdotes in underwater and field archaeology. Her talk will include images to explain underwater archaeology tools, methods, and practices, and share how archaeologists map, study, and catalog artifacts. The symposium will help the public understand the dedicated work of archaeology, and preparation needed to undertake archaeological projects. After the presentation, there will be time for questions and discussion.
Dr. Duray holds a Ph.D. in Classics with an Archaeology track from Stanford University and is an Editorial Assistant for the American Journal of Archaeology, and served as a Lecturer at the Archaeology Center at Stanford University.
Sponsored by Humanities Tennessee, Centennial Park Conservancy, Archaeological Institute of America- Nashville Society, and Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation.

Historical Fiction: An End-Product of Archaeology?
2021-08-11 15:00 (America/New_York) | AZ
Online Lecture by Steven Saylor about his new book, Dominus, the long-awaited capstone to Saylor’s bestselling novels of Ancient Rome. His books include the long running Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel, Roma and its follow-up, Empire. He has appeared as an on-air expert on Roman history and life on The History Channel. Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.
In their engagement with the ancient world, archaeology and historical fiction may be considered to reside at two ends of a spectrum, one engaged in tactile, hands-on contact with artifacts, invariably involving cooperation between colleagues, workers, and authorities, the other entirely imaginative and verbal, drawing on many sources but created in solitude. But archaeology and historical fiction have in common a desire to make an authentic connection with the past, and to find ways to share that connection with others. The author has spent the last thirty writing fiction set in ancient Rome, frequently drawing inspiration from archaeological publications and exhibits. His latest novel, Dominus, completes a trilogy (begun by Roma and Empire) that follows the fortunes of a family from prehistoric Rome to the reign of Constantine the Great. In this talk he will attempt to share insights into a creative process that may represent an end-product of archaeology, citing the case of a recently-discovered artifact that finds its way into the pages of Dominus.
