What: The Archaeological Institute of America and the Trinity College Classics Department are sponsoring lectures throughout the 2007-2008 academic year by distinguished guests in the field of archeology. The series began on October 15 with a lecture by Professor John Russell, Massachusetts College of Art, titled: Preserving Iraq’s Past: Perils and Prospects. The series will run through the spring of 2008. All of the events are free and open to the public.
Aiani, City of Macedonia
Who: Dr. Georgia Karamirou-Mentessidi, Director of the 30th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities
When: Monday, December 3, 2007 ~ 8 p.m.
Where: McCook Hall Auditorium on the Trinity College Campus
Background: Aiani, located approximately 20km south of the city of Kozani, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Elimeia which, together with the rest of the Greek kingdoms (Tymphaia, Orestis, Lyncestis, Eordaia, Pelagonia Derriopos), constituted the ancient Upper (i.e. mountainous) Macedonia. According to the foundation myth preserved in Stephanus of Byzantium, Aiani, “city of Macedonia” was built by Aianos, son of Elymas and founder of Elimeia. Systematic excavations of the site began in 1983 and have revealed the architectural remains of both large and small buildings, rich in small finds, and groups of graves and organized cemeteries dating from the Prehistoric to the Late Hellenistic period.
Living the high life: The archaeology of the world’s high plateaus
Who: Mark Aldenderfer, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona
When: Monday, January 28, 2008 ~ 8 p.m.
Where: McCook Hall Auditorium on the Trinity College Campus
Background: The world’s highest plateaus—the Andean altiplano, Tibetan plateau, and Ethiopian plateau—are home to some of the most fascinating civilizations on the planet. Yet is it is also clear that these high plateaus are harsh environments which present special challenges to humans in terms of physiological response and cultural adaptations. In this paper, Professor Aldenderfer (who has worked on all three plateaus over the course of his career, and currently conducts research in both Tibet and the Andes) will review what archaeologists know of the archaeology of these high elevation environments, and will explore the similarities and differences of how humans have made a living in each of them.
Professor Aldenderfer's research interests are at present focused upon the study of the emergence of complex foraging and pastoral societies in the highlands of the south-central Andes and the Titicaca basin. He has already completed a long-term field project in the Osmore drainage of that region, and his work has shed new light upon the process of colonization of the highlands at ca. 10,000 years ago, the domestication of the camelids, and the role of ceremonialism in culture change and replacement. He is currently directing a project in the southwestern Lake Titicaca region around the modern town of Juli which is designed to discover the earliest forms of settled village life from 5000 to 4000 years ago. Other interests include lithic analysis, including high-power incident light microscopy, quantitative methods as applied to archaeological problems, and the use of geographical information systems in archaeological research.
Egypt as Metaphor: Imaging the Afterlife in the Monumental Tombs of Ancient Alexandria
Who: Majorie Venit, Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Art and Archaeology at the University of Maryland
When: Monday, March 3, 2008 ~ 8 p.m.
What: McCook Hall Auditorium on the Trinity College Campus
Background: Alexandria was founded as a Greek city, yet its monumental tombs, from their inception, incorporated Egyptian architectural elements into their Hellenically-based fabric. Shortly thereafter, these Egyptian elements were expanded to embrace decorative figurative and architectural motifs. In succeeding centuries, these Egyptianized components became more complex and more nauanced, complying with an increasing Alexandrian awareness of the Egypt to which the city was geographically tied.
This lecture explores the intersection of Egyptian and Greek (or Roman) decorative elements and motifs in Alexandrian monumental tombs and the eschatological climate in Alexandria in the last centuries of the first millennium BCE and the first centuries of our era that permitted and encouraged this convergence.
Dr. Majorie Venit, Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Art and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, is an expert on Ancient Alexandria. She also specializes in the Greek presence in Ancient Egypt, as well as Greek Painting. Besides being the author of ‘Monumental tombs of Alexandria: The Theater of the Dead’, she has also published articles in the American Journal of archaeology, Hesperia, and the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, among others. She received her PhD and MA from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, and also has a BA from the San Francisco Art Institute.
The Archaeology of Captivity and Freedom in Early New York
Who: Christopher Matthews, Hofstra University, Department of Anthropology
When: Monday, March 31, 2008 ~ 8 p.m.
Where: McCook Hall Auditorium on the Trinity College Campus
Other possible lecture dates:
April 7, 2008
April 14, 2008