Noteworthy
KATRINA KUXHAUSEN-DEROSE awarded graduate student poster award
At the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco (January 7-10, 2026), Katrina Kuxhausen-DeRose, a third year PhD candidate in Archaeology, received the Best Graduate Student Poster Award for her project entitled, “Stone by Stone: The Post-Herulian Wall and the Building Blocks of Lifecycles.” The project formulated a cultural biography of the post-Herulian wall, a monument constructed of reused architectural materials and standing ruins after the Herulian invasion of Athens in 267 CE. To analyze how Athenians reshaped their city in the wake of this crisis, the project foregrounds a processual life-cycle model that traces the roles of the building blocks over time. Through an interactive 3D model of a wall section printed at the Cotsen Institute's Digital Archaeology Lab, Katrina invited visitors to think through the reuse decisions regarding color, material, texture, shape, size, orientation, and visibility. Ultimately, the urban reconfiguration surrounding the wall emerges as a tale of resilience and adaptation, in which Athenians strategically negotiated their heritage to preserve certain aspects of their cultural past.
Stop by the Cotsen Institute to see if you can rebuild a wall section yourself - the poster and 3D printed models are outside A322.
MONICA L. SMITH publishes How Urbanism Changes Foodways
Monica L. Smith, professor of Anthropology and core faculty at the Cotsen, published How Urbanism Changes Foodways in the "Archaeology of Food" Elements series at Cambridge University Press. This title is free to read online until December 15th 2025.
STEPHEN ACABADO authors online article on the Filipino sailors and the invention of tequila
Stephen Acabado, professor of anthropology at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, authored an article on The Conversation on “Filipino sailors dock in Mexico … and help invent tequila?” Acabado is director of the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies; chair of the interdepartmental archaeology program of the Cotsen Institute; and director of the Program for Early Modern Southeast Asia at UCLA.
Southeast Asian Archaeology Lab collaborates on exhibit of Philippine Earthenware
The Southeast Asian Archaeology Lab at the Cotsen Institute worked on an ongoing exhibition titled "Longacre’s Legacy: Ethnoarchaeology and Studies on Philippine Earthenware," at Museo de Isarog (MDI) of the Partido State University (ParSU) in Goa, Camarines Sur. This exhibit is a collaboration among the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Southeast Asian Archaeology Lab, and the MDI-ParSU. Read more about the exhibit here.
SOLANGE ASHBY discusses religious change in northern Nubia
Solange Ashby, assistant professor in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, discusses religious change in northern Nubia at the Bowers Museum on March 8, 2025. Additional details about the event can be viewed here.
NICHOLAS BARTOS gives hybrid lecture on diaspora networks
Nicholas Bartos, adjunct assistant professor in Classics and Cotsen Institute affiliate, presents the hybrid lecture "Far From Home: Diaspora Networks, Religion, And Identity Abroad On The Ancient Indian Ocean" as part of the AIA George F. Bass Lectures series on March 10, 2025. View the full event details and register here.
RACHEL SCHLOSS presents on Earthen Architecture
Rachel Schloss, doctoral candidate in the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, presents an online lecture titled "Earth and Exchange: Tapia and the Construction of Early Modern Iberia" for the Early Modern Research Group on May 28, 2025. Learn more and register for the event here.
STEPHEN ACABADO, PIPHAL HENG, and EARL HERNANDEZ discuss the use of the term "prehistory" in Sapiens
Stephen Acabado, professor of Anthropology and chair of the Archaeology Interdepartmental Program, along with postdoctoral scholar Piphal Heng and graduate student Earl John C. Hernandez discuss the use of the term "prehistory" in a post on Sapiens. Read the full piece here.
MATEI TICHINDELEAN co-authored article in Nature
Cotsen Institute doctoral candidate, Matei Tichindelean is second author with Dr. Rennan Lemos of Cambridge University on an article in Nature called Bronze age supply chains between ancient Egypt and Nubia revealed by lead isotope analysis of kohl samples.
SARAH BECKMANN and DEIDRE BRIN discuss building a digital escape room
Sarah Beckmann, assistant professor of Classics and core faculty member of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and Deidre Brin, director of the Digital Archaeology Lab, discuss building a digital escape room application based on Homer's Odyssey as part of the Friends of ASOR webinar titled "Beyond the Museum Walls: Engaging with Archaeology and New Media."
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