Archaeological Institute of America

How Egyptologist George Reisner Went Walking Among Pharaohs
2024-05-05 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Gunn Theater, 100 - 34th Avenue, Lincoln Park, San Francisco, CA, 94121
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. Peter Der Manuelian, Harvard:
How Egyptologist George Reisner Went Walking Among Pharaohs
May 5, 2024 (2 pm Pacific Time, live at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco)
Cosponsored by the Ancient Art Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Lecture is free and open to the public. It is also a hybrid program.
IN PERSON: Gunn Theater, 100 – 34th Avenue, Lincoln Park, San Francisco, CA 94121. Seating is limited and unassigned. Doors open at 1:30 pm.
LIVE STREAM: Please register here to receive a webinar link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2WLpssqfRcGtmfdl02bLEQ
About the Lecture:
Based on his new biography of George Reisner (1867–1942), Walking Among Pharaohs, the speaker’s lecture examines the life and work of America’s greatest Egyptian archaeologist, and Reisner’s legacy of 43 years of successful excavations at 23 archaeological sites in Egypt and the Sudan (ancient Nubia). Leading the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Reisner put American Egyptology on the world stage, despite British control of Egyptian politics, French control of Egyptian antiquities, and an Egypt yearning for independence. The lecture considers Reisner’s life and impact within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and the soft power of early twentieth-century archaeology. It also explores new visualization technologies, particularly at the Giza Pyramids, that Reisner’s work makes possible today.
About the Speaker:
Peter Der Manuelian is the Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology and holds a joint appointment in the Anthropology Department and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard. He is also director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (HMANE). He came to Harvard in 2010, after serving on the curatorial staff of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), since 1987, and teaching for a decade at Tufts University. At the MFA he was Giza Archives Project Director from 2000 to 2011, and now directs the Giza Project at Harvard. In addition to Giza, his Egyptian archaeological and epigraphic site work includes New Kingdom temples at Luxor (Epigraphic Survey, University of Chicago), and the Predynastic site of Naqada.
His primary research interests include ancient Egyptian history and historiography, archaeology, epigraphy, the development of mortuary architecture, and the (icono)graphic nature of Egyptian language and culture. He has published on diverse topics and periods in Egyptian history, but currently focuses on the third millennium BCE, and specifically on the famous Giza Necropolis, just west of modern Cairo.
Interested in both ancient and modern graphic design—publishing in the broadest sense of the word—he believes in bringing new technologies into his research and into the classroom. Recent efforts have focused on photogrammetry, AR and VR visualizations, and other immersive technologies as an aid to archaeological research. He is directing the Arabic Diaries Project, focusing on 73 Arabic Expedition diary books from the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition (1905–1947) that give voice to the historically voiceless Egyptians working on the dig.
(Text from Harvard University website: https://anthropology.fas.harvard.edu/people/peter-der-manuelian)
About ARCE-NC:
For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE/, http://www.arce-nc.org, https://twitter.com/ARCENCPostings, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/join-arce/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.

Archaeology, Museums, and War: Strategies for the 21st Century
2024-05-05 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, 90272, United States
Heritage destruction during wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and more recent conflicts have vastly increased the obligation of scholars to help preserve the art and material culture of antiquity. Classical archaeologist C. Brian Rose has first-hand experience with destruction and preservation efforts in conflict zones. He draws from his deep understanding of excavations and museums to reflect on cultural heritage today, repatriation requests, and the importance of the past for the present.
C. Brian Rose is an American archaeologist, classical scholar, and author. He is the James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Ferry Curator-in-Charge of the Mediterranean Section of the Penn Museum. He currently serves as director for the Gordion excavations and as head of the Post-Bronze Age excavations at Troy. His publications have focused on the archaeological sites of Troy and Gordion (both in present-day Turkey), and on the political and artistic relationship between Rome and the provinces. Rose has also offered pre-deployment education and training for armed-forces personnel bound for Iraq and Afghanistan to emphasize cultural heritage awareness and protection.

AIA Student Affairs Interest Group Dissertation Lecture: "In Search of Border Sanctuaries: Religion, Landscape, and Territory in the Peloponnese"
2024-05-07 14:00 (America/New_York) | Colorado
Every year, the AIA Student Affairs Interest Group (SAIG)Dissertation Lecture speaker is Shannon M. Dunn (Bryn Mawr College), who will be presenting her lecture: “In Search of Border Sanctuaries: Religion, Landscape, and Territory in the Peloponnese”.
Join us for her virtual lecture on Zoom on Tuesday, May 7th at 2pm Eastern. Register for the lecture here.
Ancient Greek border sanctuaries have been commonly understood within scholarship as sacred places that reflected or reinforced the territorial boundaries of different political entities. Though implied to be a distinct group of sacred places, there is no agreement about how these sanctuaries functioned as/at borders. Despite the lasting impact of scholarly models of the distribution and function of sanctuaries in the Greek landscape, the type of site often referred to as a “border sanctuary” has not been subject to a large-scale study which comprehensively addresses this category, and which uses sufficient data to critically discuss the usefulness and verity of such terminology. As those models rely on sanctuary landscapes, both in terms of terrain and of spatial relationships, this study maintains the same focus. In the Peloponnese alone, there were different strategies for border delineation and land claims, and different deities preferred by poleis to guard these marginal or contested areas. Major landscape features tended to be used to determine borders, often associated with sacred sites, such as mountain-top temples at the edges of a territory, or shrines in a pass between two regions. The usage of and access to the sanctuaries are dependent on their relationships to regional routes as well as the local political histories, and can be traced through both votive material and written records, including disputes and arbitrations. Some sites reflect changing control of their associated border, while others suggest functions as places of connection and communication between territories. While the framework of “border sanctuary” does not result in a strict typology of site, it does provide a productive lens through which to approach an array of sacred places and to bring them into dialogue with their regional religious landscapes, moving beyond models which revolve around the polis. This project has implications for our understanding of Greek polytheism in general and for the interconnected religious landscapes of the Archaic and Classical Peloponnese.

Gordion: Recent Work and Unknotting Old Questions
2024-05-07 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Recent Field Work at Gordion
C. Brian Rose, James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, Curator-in-Charge Penn Museum, Mediterranean Section & Director of Excavations at Gordion
Recent work has focused primarily on architectural conservation, research on tumuli, and remote sensing. On the south side of the Citadel Mound, the newly discovered city gate appears to have been in use for over 1200 years, from the 9th century BCE. to the 4th century CE, It features an approach road nearly 100 m long. The discoveries within the Mosaic Building include the only stone omphalos to have been found in Asia Minor and a gilded ivory sphinx that probably adorned a throne. The 8th century Tumulus 52 included over 3,000 beads of amber imported from the Baltic, and the 8-10 year old child found within the wooden chamber may have been a member of the family of Midas. Gordion was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 2023, the 20th site in Türkiye to be so honored.
From Legend to Reality: Ancient Vehicles from the City of Gordion
Gareth Darbyshire, Gordion Project Archivist and a Penn Museum Research Associate
The fabled, prophetic Gordian Knot was associated with a cart or wagon that was linked in legend with Phrygian kingship, and this vehicle was reportedly dedicated to a divine power at the citadel of Gordion. Recently, the actual building in which this vehicle was housed has perhaps now been identified. More tangibly, archaeological evidence for a number of ancient vehicles — seldom found anywhere — has been revealed by the Penn Museum’s longstanding excavations at Gordion.
Some Ivory, Bone and Horn Puzzles
Phoebe Sheftel, PhD
Among the nearly 1,000 objects of bone, ivory, antler, horn and shell recovered at Gordion between 1950 and 2005, are three groups of pieces that still provoke puzzled interpretation. Thirty-nine bone objects found in Hellenistic contexts have a distinct rectangular shape, often with pronged ends. Various interpretations have labeled them as handles or containers of some sort. A dozen examples of ivory attachments with cylinders engaged on flat or curved strips and found in Middle and Late Phrygian contexts have eluded explanation. Finally, two horn pieces with three attachment holes have been compared to other objects dating from the 2nd millennium BCE to the Carolingian period (8th-9th CE).

Pithoi in the Archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean
2024-05-08 10:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Istanbul) | Colorado
STUDIES ON PITHOS AS A STORAGE AND BURIAL VESSEL IN THE ANCIENT CLASSICAL AND BYZANTINE WORLD
Zoom details
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYscO2tqDwrGNRlFl9z_wCGf1LI5IJAJZxJ
Meeting ID: 821 7456 7120.
Password: [REDACTED]

In search of a lost hydraulic treasure in Iraqi Kurdistan: how to virtually study abandoned subterranean qanat systems
2024-05-08 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | The Embassy Public House, 1425 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL, United States
Talk by Dr. Mehrnoush Soroush (Ancient Near Eastern Studies, University of Chicago)
Throughout the Middle Ages, thousands of miles of underground water management infrastructure, known as qanats, were built to sustain thriving societies despite the arid environments of the Middle East and Central Asia. There is enormous interest in the history and functioning of qanat systems in archaeology and cultural heritage management. Unfortunately, the majority of ancient qanats have dried out and their visible parts have been eradicated, leaving us with many unanswered questions, including their construction history, engineering techniques, technology transmission, and the impact of migrations and changing climate on their diffusion and demise. The premise of my research is that the loss of visible remains should not end our learning about these archaeological and heritage assets. While we can use Satellite imagery to map the path and surface remains of the qanats, our understanding of main parts of the system that are subterranean is limited as none of the current archaeological techniques can map features buried that deep under the ground. Through a grant from the Institute for the Formation of Knowledge, I have explored whether a relatively low-cost geophysics technology named tomography can be used to model the buried shafts and channels.
Mehrnoush Soroush is a landscape archaeologist who examines the intersection between urban and water history in the Ancient Near East. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) of New York University and her MA in Architecture from the University of Tehran, Iran. Mehrnoush’s research focuses on the resilience of ancient cities in adapting to environmental changes and socio-political developments by adopting new hydraulic strategies and technologies. She employs interdisciplinary approaches drawing on a broad set of data, including archaeological fieldwork, textual and archival research, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and related computational methods.
* *The event is free and open to those who are 21 and over** Please register at eventbrite

From the Green Sahara to Kushite Pharaohs: Common origins, differentiation, and the long term entanglements of Nubians and Egyptians
2024-05-11 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
In-person Lecture
Saturday, May 11 at 3:30 pm EST
Penn Museum, Classroom L2
Speaker: Dr. Stuart Tyson Smith
Lecture Topic: From the Green Sahara to Kushite Pharaohs: Common origins, differentiation, and the long term entanglements of Nubians and Egyptians
Abstract:
Egyptologists have for a long time seen Egypt as isolated along the Nile and a “civilizing” force that drove developments in Nubia. The archaeological evidence for the “green Sahara” (c. 12,000-3500 BCE) has led to an increasing realization that ancient Nubia and Egypt have common origins in a pastoral complex that thrived in what is today barren desert across a wide swath of northeast Africa. People and cultures entangled, creating related but still distinctive groups who shared sets of symbolic resources and cultural practices across the region in the grasslands that are now desert and along the Nile. Two great African traditions, Nubian and Egyptian, began to differentiate with the formation of the Pharaonic and early Kushite states as the rains marched southwards into the Sahel, but Nubians and Egyptians remained in constant contact, sometimes as rivals, sometimes as partners or allies. These entanglements and mutual influence deepened during the New Kingdom Egyptian empire and in its aftermath with the rise of the Kushite Dynasty. This presentation will discuss this changing picture of Nubian and Egyptian origins and long history of intercultural exchange using evidence from archaeological work at Tombos and other sites at the Third and Fourth Cataracts.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Stuart Tyson Smith is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has published on the dynamics of Egyptian imperialism and royal ideology, the use of sealings in administration, death and burial, and the ethnic, social and economic dynamics of interaction between ancient Egypt and Nubia. He recently co-edited Origins and Afterlives of Kush, a special issue of the Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections (2022). He co-directs the UCSB-Purdue-Africa International University Tombos expedition to the third cataract of the Nile. In a new line of research, Smith applies a postcolonial critique to modern views of ancient Egypt as not truly African and Nubia as its subordinate. He served as Egyptological Consultant for the hit MGM movie ‘Stargate,’ recreating spoken ancient Egyptian for the film, and returned to Hollywood consulting for the Universal remake of ‘The Mummy,’ its sequel, ‘The Mummy Returns,’ and most recently for MGM’s 2018’s ‘Stargate Origins: Catherine.’
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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.

Peabody Museum Tours Led by Harvard Students
2024-05-12 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-05-19 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-05-26 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-06-02 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-06-09 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-06-16 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-06-23 11:00 - 11:45, 2024-06-30 11:00 - 11:45 (America/New_York) and 5 more dates | Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Sundays at 11:00 am October 1, 2023–April 21, 2024. See blackout dates.* Regular museum admission rates apply. Free museum admission for Massachusetts residents every Sunday morning (year-round) from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Proof of residency required. Free museum admission is not available to commercial groups.
*Blackout dates: November 24–26, 2023; December 4, 2023–January 21, 2024; and March 9–17, 2024.
Tours by Harvard students connect visitors with the research, teaching, and Indigenous engagement surrounding the cultural heritage in the museum’s care. How do items come to the museum? Who accesses them and how do items return home?
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 these and other times.
Photo: EJSP Visual | Julieta Sarmiento

2024 Virtual Annual Meeting - American Research Center in Egypt
2024-05-17 - 2024-05-19 | Colorado
2024 ARCE Annual meeting
Virtual Annual Meeting
If you couldn’t join us at the ARCE Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, we hope you will join us for the ARCE Virtual Annual Meeting. The virtual meeting will be held on May 17-19, 2024, via Zoom. You’ll have the opportunity to view live presentations from leading scholars on topics related to Egyptian history, recent fieldwork, technological advances, and much more.
Register today for just $125: https://secure.everyaction.com/aWdvBVdR_E2GKc1ymV3TxA2
Virtual registrants will have access to our live virtual tour of Journey Through Time: Exploring the Coptic Museum’s Rich Legacy with Mary Missak on May 18th at 12 PM EST.
View the *Virtual Schedule:
https://click.everyaction.com/k/84125485/470542812/-93060125?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAwMi8xLzYyNjQ1IiwNCiAgIkRpc3RyaWJ1dGlvblVuaXF1ZUlkIjogIjgxY2I1ZDdhLWUwMDctZWYxMS05NmYzLTdjMWU1MjFiMDdmOSIsDQogICJFbWFpbEFkZHJlc3MiOiAiZ2xlbm5ybWV5ZXJAZ21haWwuY29tIg0KfQ%3D%3D&hmac=_zIkYa9Eu79YnV8V6VyqqUvBy1U9CToZmvXLG24s_vY=&emci=6a563f29-6a02-ef11-96f3-7c1e521b07f9&emdi=81cb5d7a-e007-ef11-96f3-7c1e521b07f9&ceid=1666070
More information will be sent to speakers and registrants soon.
For assistance and inquiries, please email AMHelp@arce.org. Fee waivers are available for student members and early career scholars in financial need.
*Schedule Subject to change
American Research Center in Egypt
909 N Washington Street, Suite 320 | Alexandria, VA 22314
www.arce.org

Lasers without Lost Cities: LiDAR Mapping and Conservation Challenges in the Cloud Forests of Peru
2024-05-23 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Colorado
May 23rd (Thursday) 5:00pm PT
AIA-LA Spring Ahmanson Virtual Lecture
Lasers without Lost Cities: LiDAR Mapping and Conservation Challenges in the Cloud Forests of Peru
Dr. Parker VanValkenburgh
Associate Professor
Brown University
Archaeological research employing LiDAR (light detection and ranging) has enabled scholars to produce incredible images of ancient landscapes in forested environments. In the cloud forests of northeastern Peru, however, lidar data collection has proven particularly challenging due to the region’s rugged topography. Here, terrestrial and drone lidar systems provide complementary tools for high-resolution site mapping, while also enabling archaeologists to produce detailed models useful for site conservation. Interpreting these data and putting them to good use entails a number of challenges that archaeologists are still working out. What platforms and strategies for data collection are most effective? How do we combine lidar and ground-based fieldwork to greatest effect? How do we make best use of this technology to meet modern conservation challenges? And how do we avoid turning every site we map into a “lost” city? In this talk, the speaker will discuss these issues in the context of recent research he has conducted in Peru’s Chachapoyas region.
This talk will be virtual via Zoom

From Stonehenge to Carnac: Megaliths, Monuments & Tombs of Wessex & Brittany
2024-05-28 - 2024-06-08 | Colorado
Explore the extraordinary prehistoric sites of Wessex, England, and Brittany, France. Amidst beautiful landscapes see world renowned, as well as lesser known, Neolithic and Bronze Age megaliths and monuments such as enigmatic rings of giant standing stones and remarkable chambered tombs. Travel and learn with Peter Bogucki (Ph.D., Harvard University) studies the prehistoric societies of Europe and has a particular interest in the spread of farming and its consequences. In addition to many visits
to sites and museums throughout Europe, Dr. Bogucki has conducted excavations at Neolithic sites in Poland and participated in research that identified the earliest evidence for cheese production.
Highlights:
• Stonehenge, the world’s most famous megalithic site, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Avebury, a unique Neolithic henge that includes Europe’s largest prehistoric stone circle.
• Enigmatic chambered tombs such as West Kennet Long Barrow.
• Carnac, with more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones, the world’s largest collection of megalithic monuments.
• The uninhabited island of Gavrinis, with a magnificent passage tomb that is lined with elaborately engraved, vertical stones.
• Several outstanding museum collections including prehistoric necklaces, pendants, polished stone axes, and more.
• The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Mont-Saint-Michel, an imposing abbey built on a tidal island.
• Charming villages, medieval churches, and beautiful landscapes of coastlines and rolling hills.
• The tour begins in London and ends in Paris! Arrive early and/or stay longer to explore these cities independently.

Cultural Sustainable Tourism (CST) - 6th Edition
2024-05-28 09:00 - 2024-05-30 14:00 (Africa/Cairo) | online, Portugal, Maia, AK, 0000, Egypt
The conference focuses on sustainability in cultural tourism, addressing heritage preservation, environmental impact, economic impacts, digital integration, social development, green space, health promotion, and responsible waste management.
https://bit.ly/44RomQW

NCPH 2024 Annual Meeting: Call for Proposals
2024-06-03 - 2024-07-15 | LE CENTRE SHERATON MONTRÉAL, Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest, Montréal, Quebec, H3B 2L7, Canada
Hello! We’re writing with an exciting announcement: the NCPH 2025 Call for Proposals is now open. We would appreciate if you help by sharing the CFP with your network!
The call for proposals for NCPH’s 2025 annual meeting next March 26-29 in Montréal is now open through July 15, 2024. The theme, Solidarity/Solidarité, asks public historians to consider our shared responsibilities and mutual obligations to realize solidarity within our organizations, with the communities we serve, and with the wider world we live in. Find the full CFP attached as a PDF and links to submit your proposal at https://ncph.org/conference/2025-annual-meeting/cfps/. (Anyone looking for feedback or collaboration on a proposal can submit an early topic proposal by June 15 using the Topic Proposal Form at the link above.)
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions.

New Jersey History and Historic Preservation Conference
2024-06-05 08:00 - 2024-06-06 18:00 (America/New_York) | New Jersey City University, 2039 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, 07305, United States
Register today for the 2024 New Jersey History and Historic Preservation Conference!
Join us on June 5th & 6th for an exciting and packed two-day event in Jersey City!
Conference Highlights include:
June 5th | Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
-Conference Welcoming Event featuring Darley Newman, author and media figure whose work in creating compelling series, including her Emmy Award-winning productions, “Travels with Darley” and “Equitrekking,” have solidified her status as a leading voice in the industry. Darley’s recent architectural and historical series, “Look up with Darley,” earned an Emmy nomination, further highlighting her versatility.
-Tour of Ellis Island, including a behind-the-scenes look at ongoing preservation activities occurring on both the north and south side of the island.
-Hands on workshop on storytelling and placemaking
-Historic Harbor Tour
June 6th | New Jersey City University
-Your choice of educational sessions, including classroom and lightning sessions.
-Poster session highlighting project-based work in historic preservation, history, archaeology, architecture, and more.
-Marketplace sponsor and vendor exhibits
-Jersey City Adaptive Reuse Bus Tour
-Loew’s Jersey Theatre Tour
-Closing Plenary with the Honorable Sara Bronin, Chairwoman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Cruising the Adriatic by Luxury Yacht: Dubrovnik to Venice with optional post-tour extension in Venice
2024-06-13 - 2024-06-22 | Colorado
We invite you to join Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host Ivančica (Vanča) Dvoržak Schrunk aboard the Emerald Sakara, a luxury 50-cabin yacht, for a summer cruise along the spectacular Adriatic coast. Through the centuries, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottomans, and Austrians have vied for control of this strategic coastline dotted with over 1,000 islands. In a region well worth exploring for its natural beauty alone, visit impressive archaeological sites, dramatic cathedrals and palaces, and ancient city centers that illuminate the layered history of the Dalmatian Coast. Engage with expert study leaders throughout this unique educational program, and gain a better appreciation of the region’s historical and cultural significance. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, AIA lecturer and host Vanča Schrunk will be joined onboard by historic preservation expert John Meffert and historian and archaeologist Michael McCormick to enrich your travel experience through an onboard series of stimulating lectures as well
as informal discussions. In addition, excellent local guides will accompany you on excursions throughout the program.
Highlights include:
• Delve into the historic grandeur of the fortified city of Dubrovnik, known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic.”
• Marvel at Split’s UNESCO World Heritage Site of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s Palace, and explore the city’s historic Jewish neighborhood.
• Tour the first-century Roman amphitheater at Pula.
• Discover Hvar, where chapels and palaces are embellished with intricately carved Venetian architecture.
• Explore Šibenik’s 15th /16th-century Cathedral of St. James, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; as well as its St. Nicholas Fortress.
Optional post-tour extension to Venice is June 22 – 24, 2024

Sicily Circumnavigation: Sailing around Sicily and Malta with optional pre-trip extension to Malta
2024-06-15 - 2024-06-24 | Colorado
Join Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host Laetitia La Follette, Professor of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture, on a summertime cruise circumnavigating Sicily aboard the luxurious, 47-cabin, three-masted barque Sea Cloud II. Begin and end on the island of Malta which, together with Sicily, has witnessed and bears the stamps of all the major civilizations that the Mediterranean cradled: Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Christians, Jews, Byzantines, and Muslims. Each civilization left important stylistic traces in major architectural, urban, and artistic monuments.
Classical temples, open-air theaters, villas adorned with mosaics and frescoes, magnificently adorned churches and chapels, Islamic cloisters, and Baroque cathedrals are all found here in abundance. Begin in Valletta, the vibrant capital city of the island nation of Malta and one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. Then embark Sea Cloud II for a splendid, seven-night cruise circumnavigating Sicily. Explore the island’s treasures with stops in Trapani (with options to visit Segesta, Erice, or Marsala), Palermo, Giardini Naxos (for Taormina or Mt. Etna), and Syracuse. This itinerary also includes a day in the Aeolian Islands, one of seven UNESCO sites visited during this cruise, as well as a specially-timed sailing to enjoy up-close views of the still-active Stromboli volcano. Also available is an optional, pre-trip extension on Malta and Gozo, with visits to remarkable Neolithic and medieval sites.
Your host vessel, the Sea Cloud II, offers excellent cruise accommodations while capturing the timeless elegance of sailing. To be on deck when the sails are fully extended is an unforgettable experience. Thus, this itinerary is planned to ensure ample sailing time to enjoy the majesty of this vessel and the thrill of sailing.
A robust educational program rounds out this outstanding journey. AIA lecturer and host Laetitia La Follette, an archaeologist and Immediate Past President of the AIA; Elihu Rubin, an expert on architecture and urbanism; and Wendy Heller, a leading scholar in the field of Baroque music, will offer a series of illustrated lectures and informal discussions along the way. This cruise is being co-sponsored by other organizations so, with only 47 cabins aboard ship, I encourage you to reserve your preferred cabin today by contacting AIA Tours at aia@studytours.org or (800) 748-6262.

Summer Solstice Celebration: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
2024-06-20 17:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Join the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture on the longest day of the year—free of charge—to explore the galleries and new exhibitions at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, and the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.
Step outdoors to enjoy lively musical and circus performances, play mini-golf, and make a flower crown. Ice cream, beverages, and snacks will be available to purchase from food trucks. Don’t miss out on this popular event for all ages!
Sponsored by the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture.
Free event parking will be available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Please note that Divinity Avenue will be closed to traffic during the event.
The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture are an 8-minute walk through historic Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square MBTA Red Line station.
ArtsThursdays is a university-wide initiative supported by Harvard University Committee on the Arts.
Photo © Caitlin Cunningham Photography LLC

Hiking Scotland’s Orkney & Shetland Islands
2024-07-29 - 2024-08-08 | Colorado
This is the perfect opportunity to explore all that Scotland’s Northern Isles have to offer: prehistoric stone circles, burial chambers, and settlements; quaint villages; huge seabird colonies; and remarkable plant life—all amidst dramatic landscapes. This will be Scotland seen slowly, with time for in-depth exploration at each site. The Orkney and Shetland islands have an amazing wealth of archaeological sites dating back 5,000 years. Together the islands have more than 18,000 known sites, with new discoveries being made every year. This archaeological saga is worth the telling, and nowhere else can the evidence be seen in more glorious a setting. Travel and learn with AIA lecturer and host Dr. Val Turner.
Highlights:
• A private tour of the active Ness of Brodgar excavations, a ceremonial site in the “Heart of Neolithic Orkney” that was in use for around 1,000 years. 2024 is the last year that excavations will be active.The site is within the UNESCO World Heritage Site on
Orkney, which also includes the chambered tomb of Maeshowe, estimated to have been constructed around 2700 B.C.; the Stones of Stenness; the 4,000-year-old Ring of Brodgar, one of Europe’s finest Neolithic monuments; Skara Brae settlement; and associated funerary monuments and stone settings. These are unquestionably among the most important Neolithic sites in Western Europe.
• “The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland”—including Mousa Broch, the best-preserved known broch in the world, Old Scatness, and Jarlshof—where the lack of intensive modern farming means that the preservation of these sites and their landscapes is exceptional.
• The Isles are a birdwatcher’s paradise, and one of the major seabird breeding and feeding areas in the North Atlantic. More than a million birds breed in very large colonies.
• All meals are included, and you will enjoy comfortable accommodations: four nights at the elegant Lynnfield Hotel, a comfortable overnight ferry from Orkney to Shetland and from Shetland to Aberdeen, and three nights at the remote and charming
Busta House Hotel.
