Archaeological Institute of America

VIRTUAL: AIA Annual Faculty Lecture: “Mixed multitudes”: Displacement and belonging in ancient Sicily, with Prof. Randall Souza (Seattle University)
2022-01-22 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | OH
The inhabitants of the ancient Mediterranean were mobile, and many of them lived in or passed through the large island of Sicily, which sits between the eastern and western Mediterranean basins and nearly unites the continents of Europe and Africa. Some moved more voluntarily, others less so, and still others were relocated with no choice in the matter, expelled as refugees or enslaved and sold. These displacements stretched, reorganized, and dissolved existing communities, but also created new ones; moving people change the social and political landscape around them. Given the extent of human mobility in Sicily, urban centers on the island can be viewed less as static entities where stable communities automatically persisted, and more as contingent sites in which inherently fragile communities were continually re-imagined. In this talk Prof. Souza examines several key episodes of dislocation in order to illuminate gradual developments affecting citizenship and belonging in the context of high mobility. He will suggest that one of the principal effects of movement across territorial boundaries and the resulting interaction across social boundaries was to erode the island’s internal divisions. This process in turn left Sicily itself to assume greater relevance over time as a source of belonging.
Prof. Randall Souza is an Assistant Professor of History at Seattle University.
Please use this link to register and receive the Zoom invitation: https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItd-Cuqj0vG927x1OnABEcst-g6PXloCnd

The Maritime Maya and the Proyecto Costa Escondida
2022-01-22 12:00 (America/New_York) | Building 51 (Social Sciences), University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, United States

SASA Mini Reading Group: An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions
2022-01-20 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-01-13 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Previous participation and previous knowledge not required.
For those new to this subject, the field of “Archaeo-Musicology” is engaged in the study of ancient music informed by archaeological finds. In the ancient Near-Eastern (Mesopotamia) the musical information is primarily deduced or retrieved from instruments, instrumental inlays, wall reliefs, and iconography. On occasion one will find information on cuneiform tablets that discuss some aspect of music and this Reading Group/Master Class will focus on some of these music ‘theoretical’ tablets.
In the following weeks we will be looking at the 3 ‘major’ (most cited) cuneiform tablets that inform scholars about ancient Near-Eastern music theory.
3-Week Text-In-Translation Reading Group
Thursdays @ 3 pm EST
Jan. 13th
Jan. 20th
Jan. 27th
Participants only need to register for each Reading Group once, you will receive links to our Live Syllabus where readings and discussions are posted in the confirmation email.
By RSVPing, you are agreeing that a recording of the event can be shared with others who RSVPed.

SASA Mini Reading Group: Harem Politics: Princesses with Power in the Ancient Middle East
2022-01-20 13:30 - 14:30, 2022-01-13 13:30 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | OH
Previous participation and previous knowledge not required.
The reading group will explore how royal women participated in politics and court intrigue, focusing particularly on the city of Mari in ancient Syria (the wives and daughters of King Zimri-Lim) and the Achaemenid Persian empire. Readings would center on personal letters written to/by royal women as well as excerpts from the works of Greek historians like Herodotus and Ctesias. Topics for discussion include the use and role of women in diplomacy, competition and struggles for power between royal women (including palace conspiracies and murder plots), and what people in foreign lands such as the Greek city-states thought of royal women in the ancient Near East.
3-Week Text-In-Translation Reading Group
Thursdays @ 1:30pm EST
Jan. 13th
Jan. 20th
Jan. 27th
Participants only need to register for each Reading Group once, you will receive links to our Live Syllabus where readings and discussions are posted in the confirmation email.
By RSVPing, you are agreeing that a recording of the event can be shared with others who RSVPed.

Archaeology Abridged with Dr. Kate Liszka "Operation Amethyst: How Egyptian Kings and Queens got their Bling 4,000 years ago"
2022-01-20 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Some of the most stunning jewelry from Ancient Egypt is made of amethyst. Its craftsmanship, opulence, and design epitomize quality in the ancient world. Yet the skill in making this jewelry started long before the cutting and buffing of the raw stone. Procuring amethyst in the Eastern Desert is fraught with many more perils and problems than Nile Valley craftsmen experienced. As the Director of the Wadi el-Hudi Expedition to the Eastern Desert, Liszka leads a team that has studied the remains of these ancient desert expeditions and a team who has firsthand experience of many of the perils that the ancient explorers would have fought as well. This talk examines the extremes and dangers that thousands of Ancient Egyptians went to in order to acquire these beautiful purple stones for the Pharaoh’s jewels. By investigating the archaeology, art, and inscriptions from Wadi el-Hudi in the Egyptian Eastern Desert, we navigate through the whole process of amethyst acquisition: from finding, to mining, and surviving in the dangers of the desert.
This lecture will also be available in American Sign Language. ASL interpretation will be provided by Trail Blazing Interpreters. Due to Zoom limitations on mobile devices and tablets, participants interested in accessing ASL interpretation should log in using the desktop version of Zoom.
Dr. Kate Liszka is the Benson and Pamela Harer Fellow in Egyptology and Associate Professor of History at California State University San Bernardino. She earned her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania and from 2012 to 2015 was a Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at Princeton University. Her areas of specialization include Nubians in Egypt, the Medjay, ethnicity and identity in Antiquity, multicultural Interactions in frontier regions, the Pangrave Archaeological Culture, and large-scale mining expeditions in Antiquity. Dr. Liszka is the Director of the Wadi el-Hudi Expedition in the Egyptian Eastern Desert.

Community Archaeology at Amache, Colorado’s Japanese American Confinement Camp
2022-01-19 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Denver) | OH
Prof. Bonnie. J. Clark (University of Denver, Department of Anthropology)
The forced removal and subsequent incarceration of over 120,000 people of American of Japanese descent during World War II is a pivotal incident in world history. The sites of this confinement are significant resources for both research about and re-engagement with this critical, yet shadowed experience. Since 2008, Dr. Bonnie Clark has led collaborative archaeological investigations at the site of Amache, Colorado’s War Relocation Authority confinement facility. In this talk Clark will discuss the ongoing project, highlighting insights about the camp’s cultural landscape and the strategies of a confined people to reknit community and reclaim humanity.
Bio
Bonnie Clark is a Professor in the University of Denver’s Anthropology Department. A professional archaeologist since 1990, Dr. Clark’s work has focused on using the tangible past– artifacts, architecture, settlement patterns–to tell a more inclusive history of western North America. Dr. Clark’s research interests include the relationships between material culture, ethnicity, and gender; cultural landscapes; community-engaged research; and heritage management. She teaches a range of classes for the anthropology department including Historical Archaeology, Cultural Narratives, and Anthropologies of Place. Dr. Clark serves as the Curator for Archaeology of the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology. In the Fall of 2011, Dr. Clark was awarded the University of Denver’s Teacher/Scholar of the Year.

SASA Mini Reading Group: A Brief Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphic Writing
2022-01-19 15:00, 2022-01-12 15:00, 2022-01-05 15:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Previous participation and previous knowledge not required.
Are you curious about how Maya hieroglyphs are read and what they say? Maya glyphs are one of the most visually interesting writing systems in the world, and are still being deciphered today. In this reading group, we will learn about the process of decipherment, how to read Maya glyphs, and where you can find more resources to continue learning!
Here is what you will be able to do at the end of the reading group:
Outline the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing from the past through today
Demonstrate basic competency in Maya calendrics and numeric functions
Identify the most common Maya syllabograms and logograms
Interpret captions found in important Maya works of art
3-Week Text-In-Translation Reading Group
Wednesdays @ 3pm EST
Jan. 5th
Jan. 12th
Jan. 19th
Participants only need to register for each Reading Group once, you will receive links to our Live Syllabus where readings and discussions are posted in the confirmation email.
By RSVPing, you are agreeing that a recording of the event can be shared with others who RSVPed.

SASA Mini Reading Group: The Search for the Golden Fleece: Jason and the Argonauts
2022-01-18 14:00, 2022-01-11 14:00, 2022-01-04 14:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Previous participation and previous knowledge not required.
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the golden-woolled, winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where Phrixus then sacrificed it to Zeus. Phrixus gave the fleece to King Aeëtes who kept it in a sacred grove, whence Jason and the Argonauts stole it with the help of Aeëtes’ daughter. which was held in Colchis. The fleece is a symbol of authority and kingship. Join us to learn more about how Jason stole the Golden Fleece.
Tuesdays @ 2pm EST
Jan. 4th
Jan. 11th
Jan. 18th
Participants only need to register for each Reading Group once, you will receive links to our Live Syllabus where readings and discussions are posted in the confirmation email.
By RSVPing, you are agreeing that a recording of the event can be shared with others who RSVPed.

SASA Mini Reading Group: Politics Past and Present: The (non)Differences
2022-01-17 14:00 - 15:00, 2022-01-10 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Previous participation and previous knowledge not required.
Reading will focus around the Historians Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, and Tacitus, with appearances from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca. Sessions will be structured roughly chronologically (5th century. Roman Republic, The Pricipate), examining change and continuity in political theory and analysis, considering the parallels with our own times.
Participants will receive an overview of the analytic approaches of ancient historians and political theorists to events and above all, the value of comparative study of the ancient world to illuminate just how relevant it really is for our lives, times, and therefore education.
3-Week Text-In-Translation Reading Group
Mondays @ 2pm EST
Jan. 10th
Jan. 17th
Jan. 24th
Participants only need to register for each Reading Group once, you will receive links to our Live Syllabus where readings and discussions are posted in the confirmation email.
By RSVPing, you are agreeing that a recording of the event can be shared with others who RSVPed.

Around the Ancient World in 80 potsherds
2022-01-15 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | OH
Zoom lecture by Nora-Miriam Voss of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna.

Redating the Iroquoian Histories through Archaeology
2022-01-09 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Rye Free Reading Room, 1061 Boston Post Road, Rye, New York, 10580, United States
Chronologies fundamentally underpin all other aspects of archaeological thought. When our timeframes shift, so to does the historical interpretive framework or scaffolding upon which we build our explanations for how past events unfolded. In this talk, I will briefly summarize work completed to date by the Dating Iroquoia project. Our aim has been to construct a more refined regional chronologies for select Northern Iroquoian sites and community relocation sequences through radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling. Our focus is the ca. AD 1480-1610 period and the beginning of European contact. We use novel approaches for clarifying the calibration curve from the radiocarbon dates. The development of enhanced date estimates for specific sites in this period has allowed us to re-plot the date of events. The results have shifted our thinking about Northern Iroquois polity development and population movement. This includes rethinking the nature and timing of the historic enmity between the Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee nations and processes of population movement between ancestral Huron-Wendat communities in south-central Ontario.

Register for this event by clicking the button below.

Jungle Kingdoms of the Ancient Maya
2022-01-08 | OH
This tropical adventure provides the best-paced itinerary available to thoroughly explore ancient Maya sites in the lush jungles of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Maya art and architecture will “come alive” as you encounter enormous stelae (carved monoliths), painted frescoes, stucco friezes, carved lintels, and huge temple-pyramids that soar above the rainforest. Explore, in-depth, the sites of Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilán, Tikal, Yaxhá, Copán, and Quiriguá (four are UNESCO World Heritage sites); with free time to go bird watching or simply relax, reflect, and enjoy our comfortable hotels and remote jungle lodges. Maximum of just 12 guests.

Take some photo
2022-01-03 16:30 - 2022-01-04 17:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Take some photos and upload them to meet our monthly thematic challenge

Society Sunday: Disability and Infanticide in Ancient Greece
2022-01-02 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | OH
Ring in the new year as the AIA Societies Committee presents a virtual presentation and Q&A with Debby Sneed.
This presentation will also be available in American Sign Language. ASL interpretation will be provided by Trail Blazing Interpreters and we will also enable auto captioning on Zoom. Due to Zoom limitations on mobile devices and tablets, participants interested in accessing ASL interpretation should log in using the desktop version of Zoom.
Join Debby Sneed and take a deeper look at life in ancient Greece with a focus on disability and infanticide. Despite the widely embraced notion that ancient Spartans killed infants born with any kind of physical impairment, there is little literary, archaeological, or bioarchaeological evidence for this being regularly practiced. Debby will discuss how the archaeological record gives us a glimpse of the experiences of disabled members of ancient Greek society.
After the presentation there will be a 20 minute Q&A period, so bring your questions!

Debby Sneed is a Lecturer in the Department of Classics at California State University, Long Beach. She received her B.A. from the University of Wyoming, her M.A. from the University of Colorado, and her Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. Her research interests are disability, identity, and marginalization in ancient Greece, and the archaeology of ancient Greece. Her article “The Architecture of Access: Ramps at Ancient Greek Healing Sanctuaries” (Antiquity 94, 2020) was awarded the 2021 Ben Cullen Prize by the journal Antiquity for outstanding work in archaeology. She has an article on disability and infanticide published with Hesperia (90, 2021) and is currently working on her monograph, entitled Not Another Other: Physical Disability, Ableism, and Disablism in Ancient Greece.

New discovery of a Roman Legionary Base at Legio, Israel
2021-12-11 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | OH
Zoom lecture by Dr. Matthew J. Adams, director of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.

Uncovering the Place of Uni: Archeological Excavations at the Ancient Etruscan Site of Poggio Colla in Italy
2021-12-02 17:00 (America/New_York) | WEBINAR (Montreal 1), Montreal, QC
Cinelli Lecture

Ancient Roads of the Chaco World: Monumentality, Religion, and Power
2021-12-01 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Denver) | CU Museum of Natural History, Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80309, United States
In this talk, Rob Weiner will discuss his recent fieldwork throughout the Chaco World, which combines LiDAR, drone aerial photography, and on-the-ground documentation to investigate the history, use, and meaning of monumental roads in Chacoan society. He will focus on new insights regarding the destinations of roads and ritual practices carried out on them, with particular attention to their role in perpetuating inequality. Insights from collaboration with the Navajo Nation and comparative examples of ritual pathways from throughout the ancient world offer new understandings of the role of linear earthwork features in the ancient Southwest.

Muchos Méxicos: Crossroads of the Americas Exhibition
2021-12-01 - 2022-05-15 | Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Muchos Méxicos explores Mexico’s rich history as a site of human innovation, creativity and cultural diversity. Featuring Mexican objects from the Peabody Museum collections, this bilingual exhibit tells the story of Mexico as a multicultural and geographic crossroads—one where the exchange of resources, products, and ideas among Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas before the Spanish invasion, and then with cultures around the globe—have all created a vibrant nation. See https://bit.ly/HMSCExhibitions for hours and reservations.
Muchos Méxicos explora la rica historia de México como un sitio de innovación humana, creatividad y diversidad cultural. Con objetos mexicanos de las colecciones del Museo Peabody, esta exposición bilingüe cuenta la historia de México como encrucijada multicultural y geográfica, donde el intercambio de recursos, productos e ideas entre los pueblos indígenas de toda América antes de la invasión española, y luego con culturas alrededor del mundo, han creado una nación vibrante.
Image credit: Peabody Museum Expedition, M. H. Saville and J. G. Owens, Directors 1891-1892 © President and Fellows of Harvard College, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 92-49-20/C276

Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World Exhibition
2021-11-30 - 2022-05-15 | Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Much like today, ancient “consumers” were connected to distant markets. Both basic and precious goods from faraway lands “shipped” to royal palaces, elite estates—sometimes even rural households—and technological advances in craftsmanship and commerce transcended boundaries of language, religion, or culture to spread rapidly. Mediterranean Marketplaces explores how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transformed the lives and livelihoods of people at all levels of society, driving innovations that had lasting impacts—even on the modern world. See https://bit.ly/HMSCExhibitions for hours and reservations (reservations required).

Cruising the Mekong RIver: Vietnam and Cambodia
2021-11-29 | OH
Explore the wonders of tropical Indochina on our luxurious tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Mekong River. Begin with two nights in Ho Chi Minh City (still known by many as Saigon), a busy and dynamic metropolis that exudes energy and buzzes with activity. Then embark on a seven-night Mekong River cruise aboard the beautiful Mekong Princess, an exclusive riverboat with only 14 suites, elegant French colonial appointments, an ultra-shallow draft that allows us to access the nooks and crannies of the river, and all the modern comforts.
As you cruise from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap, visit magnificent Buddhist and Hindu temples, observe floating markets bursting with colorful produce, and delve into the everyday lives of those who call the Mekong River home. Enjoy an enriching series of presentations and discussions by the accompanying AIA lecturer and host. Conclude with two glorious days to explore Angkor’s world-famous Khmer temples, the largest religious monument in the world. Limited to 24 participants.

Colonizing Provincial Egypt: Pyramids and the Early State presented by Professor Richard Bussmann, PhD, University of Cologne
2021-11-27 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver) | OH
Abstract:
When we think of the pyramids of Egypt, we usually refer to the gigantic pyramids of Giza. These were statements of power in the early ancient Egyptian state. Yet, power does not become effective simply by building monuments. It rests on the ability of rulers to manipulate social relationships. In Egypt, the relationship between centre and the hinterland was key for governing the country. The early state struggled for over one thousand years, ca. 3000 to 2000 BC, with defining this relationship. One attempt to colonize the hinterland was by the crown to build small pyramids at provincial sites in order to impose royal authority locally. This lecture presents fresh archaeological fieldwork from one of the provincial pyramids. It discusses challenges archaic states were facing in early history and the ways people accommodated their lives within them.
Bio:
Richard Bussmann studied Egyptology, Assyriology and Theology at the Univeristy of Heidelberg, the Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University Berlin and Goettingen University. He received his PhD in Egyptology from the Free University of Berlin in 2007. His PhD thesis focused on the archaeology and history of local community shrines in the times of the pyramids. In 2010, he held a post-doctoral research fellowship of the Humboldt Foundation at Cambridge University. In the same year, he was appointed Lecturer, and in 2014 Senior Lecturer in Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology at University College London. In 2016, he took up his current position as professor of Egyptology at the University of Cologne. Dr Bussmann combines archaeology and philology in his research. He is interested in the society and culture of provincial Egypt in the Old and Middle Kingdoms (ca. 2700 to 1700 BC), using theories from social anthropology, archaeology, and cultural history. He directs a project on the early inscriptions of ancient Egypt and is co-director of an archaeological fielwork project at Zawyet Sultan, in Middle Egypt. Dr Bussmann is currently finalising a book for Cambridge University Press, provisionally entitled “Egypt in the shadow of the pyramids: archaeology of society and culture, 2700-1700 BC”.

Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World exhibition opens to the public
2021-11-26 11:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
On Friday, November 26, the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture—the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, and the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments—reopen to the public. See https://bit.ly/HMSCExhibitions for hours and reservations.
Much like today, ancient “consumers” were connected to distant markets. Both basic and precious goods from faraway lands “shipped” to royal palaces, elite estates—sometimes even rural households—and technological advances in craftsmanship and commerce transcended boundaries of language, religion, or culture to spread rapidly. Mediterranean Marketplaces explores how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transformed the lives and livelihoods of people at all levels of society, driving innovations that had lasting impacts—even on the modern world. See https://bit.ly/HMSCExhibitions for hours and reservations.
Image credit: Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 1902.16.3 © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Muchos Méxicos: Crossroads of the Americas exhibition opens to the public
2021-11-26 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
On Friday, November 26, the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture—the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, and the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments—reopen to the public. See https://bit.ly/HMSCExhibitions for hours and reservations.
Muchos Méxicos explores Mexico’s rich history as a site of human innovation, creativity and cultural diversity. Featuring Mexican objects from the Peabody Museum collections, this bilingual exhibit tells the story of Mexico as a multicultural and geographic crossroads—one where the exchange of resources, products, and ideas among Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas before the Spanish invasion, and then with cultures around the globe—have all created a vibrant nation. See https://bit.ly/HMSCExhibitions for hours and reservations.
Muchos Méxicos explora la rica historia de México como un sitio de innovación humana, creatividad y diversidad cultural. Con objetos mexicanos de las colecciones del Museo Peabody, esta exposición bilingüe cuenta la historia de México como encrucijada multicultural y geográfica, donde el intercambio de recursos, productos e ideas entre los pueblos indígenas de toda América antes de la invasión española, y luego con culturas alrededor del mundo, han creado una nación vibrante.
Image credit: Peabody Museum Expedition, M. H. Saville and J. G. Owens, Directors 1891-1892 © President and Fellows of Harvard College, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 92-49-20/C276
