Archaeological Institute of America

Archaeology of Tattoos and Skin Art
2022-02-05 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | WA
Zoom lecture by Dr. Aaron Deter-Wolf, Tennessee Division of Archaeology.

The Scent of Status: Prestige and Perfume at the Bronze Age Palace at Pylos, Greece
2022-02-01 18:00 (America/New_York) | University of South Florida Tampa Campus, CPR 115 (Cooper Hall), Cooper Hall, Tampa, 33620
Howland Lecture

Sensing the Past: Sensory Experiences in Ancient Mesopotamia (a 4-D Presentation)
2022-01-30 11:00 (America/New_York) | WA
Manton Lecture

Climate Change to Culture Change? The Case Study of the Copper to Early Bronze Age Transition in Iberia presented by Katina Lillios, PhD, University of Iowa
2022-01-29 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver) | WA
Abstract:
How can we trace the relationship between climate change and culture change in the ancient past? A collaborative and interdisciplinary project coordinated by Katina Lillios, with Antonio Blanco-González, Brandon Lee Drake, and Jose Antonio López-Sáez, offered insights into this question through the lens of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE of Iberia. This project was the first to comprehensively examine of one of the major episodes of cultural change in later prehistoric Iberia from a comparative regional perspective and assess its relationship to the 4.2 ky BP climate event. In this talk, I summarize the available cultural, demographic and paleoenvironmental evidence for Iberia, and explore the diverse ways that the 4.2 ky BP event seems to have played out in different regions.
Professor Lillios is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Iowa. She received her BA in Archaeology and Art History from Boston University, and her PhD in Anthropology from Yale University. Her research has centered on the histories of the people who lived in Portugal and Spain from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age (4000-1000 BC), a dynamic period characterized by episodes of political centralization, devolution, and climate change. In this research, she brings together a concern for memory and object biographies to understand the ways that people of the past used objects and monuments of their own past, such as heirlooms and ancestral burials, to shape their futures. She recently authored the book The Archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula: From the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age (Cambridge University Press, 2020).
Please visit aiadenver.org to register

Maya Pyramids & Temples of Yucatan
2022-01-29 | WA
This tour is in the planning stages for January 2022. If you are interested in traveling to this region in the future and would like to be contacted when a tour becomes available, please call 800-748-6262 or email aia@studytours.org.
This exciting, nine-day holiday provides the best-paced itinerary available to see the sun-drenched Yucatan peninsula’s ancient sites, traditional Maya villages, and colonial architecture. Maya art and architecture abound, with visits to Chichén Itzá, Ek Balam, Uxmal, Dzibilchaltun, and more: iconic as well as off-the-beaten-path sites with soaring pyramids, distinctive temple complexes, and wonderful sculpture. There is free time to bird watch, shop for crafts, or relax, reflect, and enjoy our excellent accommodations. Enjoy two luxurious nights at the Mayaland Hotel (next to Chichén Itzá) and three at the Hacienda Uxmal (next to Uxmal). Maximum of just 12 guests.

SASA Mini Reading Group: An Introduction to Ancient Near-Eastern Music ‘Theory’: Understanding Musical Inscriptions
2022-01-27 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-01-20 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-01-13 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | WA
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
2022-01-27 13:30 - 14:30, 2022-01-20 13:30 - 14:30, 2022-01-13 13:30 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | WA
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.

Her Excellency Ambassador Maria Theofili from Greece celebrates International Archaeology Day
2022-01-25 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Parks S., New York, NY, 10003, United States
The Archaeology Committee is honoured to present The Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations. Her Excellency Ambassador Maria Theofili will address the audience at The National Arts Club in celebration of International Archaeology Day, begun by the Archaeological Institute of America. The focus of her unique presentation is the sacred island of Delos, the mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. Located in the Aegean Sea, this wondrous UNESCO World Heritage site has been renowned since antiquity for its overwhelming beauty, cosmopolitan character, and inspiring culture.

SASA Mini Reading Group: Politics Past and Present: The (non)Differences
2022-01-24 14:00 - 15:00, 2022-01-17 14:00 - 15:00, 2022-01-10 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | WA
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.

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) | WA
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

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) | WA
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) | WA
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) | WA
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.

Around the Ancient World in 80 potsherds
2022-01-15 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | WA
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 | WA
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) | WA
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) | WA
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.
