Past Events
Interested in Cotsen events? Sign up for our mailing list.Abstract: For at least 2,000 years before Spanish arrival in 1502, the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama, sustained numerous vibrant cultures. However, little archaeological research has been done in this area. For decades, this area has been considered a ‘cultural backwater’ with only simple, small-scale settlements. Dr. Tom Wake’s excavations at Sitio Abuelitas and Sitio Drago on Isla Colon, the largest island in Bocas del Toro, have altered this picture as burials, house mounds, and artifacts from across Central America have been found. Carly Pope’s research focuses on the ceramics from
these sites, including locally-made wares as well as foreign imports, and the potential they hold to elucidate both interregional systems of cultural interaction and community-level organization. From July to December 2022, examinations focused on collecting frequency data, selecting samples, and preparing for future research.
Bio: Carly Pope was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. She earned her BA in art and archaeology from Princeton University in 2016 and her senior thesis focused on the emergence of early pottery in different parts of Latin America. She continued her education at the University College London, where she obtained a MA in archaeology. For her master’s thesis she analyzed pottery used in salt processing by the Maya of coastal Belize. While her research focuses on Central America, Carly has also excavated at a Roman port in Thrace, Greece; a Basketmaker II site in Cortez, Colorado; a Medieval pilgrims’ cemetery in the Basque area of Spain; a Middle Kingdom amethyst mine near Aswan, Egypt; and a Maya town site in Yucatan, Mexico. She has presented at a variety of academic and professional conferences, including the International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt and the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Abstract: During August of 2022 a collaborative archaeological team led by Stephen Acabado (UCLA) and Kevin DiModica (University of Namur) conducted forensic archaeological investigations at a US WW2 aircraft crash site in eastern Belgium. The purpose of the project was to recover material evidence pertaining to a still missing member of the US aircrew. We discuss the organization of the project, collaboration with our Belgian counterparts and the DPAA, the field methods employed and the results of our field work.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Abstract and Bio: Dr. Sarah A Lacy is a paleoanthropologist and associate professor at California State University Dominguez Hills. Her work on Neanderthals and early modern humans has explored differential oral and respiratory health to understand why we're the only living taxonomic group of humans on the planet today. She is now working with a team in North Macedonia to excavate the site of Uzun Mera, a newly discovered Middle Paleolithic stone tool manufacturing workshop, as well as look for additional sites across the country. This project is also a field school, so that archaeologists in training of all types can participate in a wide variety of excavation and survey methods in a country whose Paleolithic history has only recently begun to be explored.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Speaker:
Amr Shahat
Postdoctoral Scholar
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Abstract: Preservation of organic food remains from Ancient Egypt is an exceptional aspect of the archaeology in this region. The level of preservation of these materials has contributed to the early development of archaeobotany and radiocarbon dating. has contributed his talk will present unpublished food remains from Nag ed Deir, a necropolis situated on the eastern bank of the Nile, and Deir el Ballas, a royal palace complex in Upper Egypt, cross- research that continues this link between the humanities and life sciences. The materials were excavated in the early 1900s by George A. Reisner and Albert Lythgoe and are currently housed at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. I will discuss the results of interdisciplinary analyses applying archaeobotanical and isotopic methods to plant foods from these two sites to understand the anthropogenic impact of climate changes on the foodways and social structures of predynastic Egypt.
A new non-destructive Nano-archaeology method was developed to analyze beer mash to reconstruct early beer composition from Nag ed-Deir, revealing beer recipe specific to the region. I employed a long stable isotope experiment to identify the source region of specific foods to differentiate between local versus imported species, the latter group being represented by the earliest evidence of pomegranate and domesticated watermelon.. These interdisciplinary approaches enable us to reconstruct the social history of none-elite Egyptian foodways as related to regional identities and cross-cultural interactionsThe The methods I will present expand our theoretical perspectives from the humanities side, while serving the field of life sciences through the isotopic data which highlights the anthropogenic impact of climate changes on foodways and social structure.
Bio: Amr Khalaf Shahat, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cotsen Institute. He earned his PhD in Egyptian Archaeology and Paleoethnobotany from the Cotsen, and his masters in Egyptology from the University of Memphis. He is interested in the study of Egyptian foodways from tombs and settlements to answer questions related to cultural identities and cross-cultural interaction.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Speaker: 
Amr Shahat
Postdoctoral Scholar
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Abstract: Preservation of organic food remains from Ancient Egypt is an exceptional aspect of the archaeology in this region. The level of preservation of these materials has contributed to the early development of archaeobotany and radiocarbon dating. In this talk I will present unpublished food remains from Nag ed Deir, a necropolis situated on the eastern bank of the Nile, and Deir el Ballas, a royal palace complex in Upper Egypt, research that continues this link between the humanities and life sciences. The materials were excavated in the early 1900s by George A. Reisner and Albert Lythgoe and are currently housed at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. I will discuss the results of interdisciplinary analyses applying archaeobotanical and isotopic methods to plant foods from these two sites to understand the anthropogenic impact of climate changes on the foodways and social structures of predynastic Egypt.
A new non-destructive nano-archaeology method was developed to analyze beer mash to reconstruct early beer composition from Nag ed-Deir, revealing a beer recipe specific to the region. I employed a long stable isotope experiment to identify the source region of specific foods to differentiate between local versus imported species, the latter group being represented by the earliest evidence of pomegranate and domesticated watermelon. These interdisciplinary approaches enable us to reconstruct the social history of none-elite Egyptian foodways as related to regional identities and cross-cultural interactions. The methods I will present expand our theoretical perspectives from the humanities side, while serving the field of life sciences through the isotopic data which highlights the anthropogenic impact of climate changes on foodways and social structure.
Bio: Amr Khalaf Shahat, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cotsen Institute. He earned his PhD in Egyptian Archaeology and Paleoethnobotany from the Cotsen, and his masters in Egyptology from the University of Memphis. He is interested in the study of Egyptian foodways from tombs and settlements to answer questions related to cultural identities and cross-cultural interaction.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Speaker: 
Celine Wachsmuth
M.A. Student
UCLA/Getty Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials MA
Abstract: One of the requirements for the MA Conservation degree is a nine month (minimum) internship in one or more conservation labs. By the end of my internship year, I will have worked in three different places; the Institute for Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete (INSTAP), the AfricaMuseum, and the Denver Art Museum (and a very exciting one month at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). In this talk I will give a brief description of the different things I've been up to since starting my third year. This summer I spent six weeks in Crete working on archaeological ceramic, metal, and glass objects from various sites around East Crete. After a break in August to travel and see family, I started my second internship in Belgium. Here I've shifted gears and been heavily involved in the installation process for a contemporary exhibition and treating a wood object going out on a loan.
Bio: Céline is a third year student in the UCLA/Getty MA program in conservation. She has had the chance to work in many great conservation labs including at the Penn Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, a private objects lab in Seattle, a private automaton and horological lab in Seattle, the Anchorage Museum, Fowler Museum, INSTAP, and now the AfricaMuseum.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Speaker: 
Moupi Mukhopadhyay
Ph.D. Student
UCLA Conservation of Material Culture IDP
Abstract: The wall paintings in the Indian state of Kerala belonging to the Kerala mural tradition (7th - 17th century CE) provide important cross-cultural links that contextualize local historical religious practices, trade, and social interactions. The complex color scheme of the paintings is traditionally attributed to the skillful use of only five colors (panchavarna) – black, red, yellow, green and white. However, the available literature on the technical study of the murals does not consistently assign the same material (coloring agent or pigment) to the composition of a single color. For example, while black is generally accepted as lamp black across different publications, the green has been ascribed to green earth, powdered leaves, or combinations of yellow ochre, gamboge, indigo, and even lapis lazuli. Understanding the materials used in specific temple murals, and their possible sources, can help better understand the nature and movements of the agents involved in the creation of these paintings. Advances in material characterization methods have significantly increased the scope of identifying the composition of the colors in murals non-invasively, ideal for the preliminary research required to build a case for a more intensive technical study. Non-invasive fieldwork was conducted on selected temples in Kerala, using a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) for photography as well as Infrared (IR) imaging, and a SPECIM IQ hyperspectral camera for hyperspectral imaging (HSI). Permissions to access the temples allowed for the use of only sunlight as the illumination source, adding to the complexity of the interpretation of the data obtained. The use of Infrared False Color Imaging (IRFC) in conjunction with the analysis of HSI data reveals photophysical characteristics of the pigments which are useful for their identification, and for determining optimal characterization methods for further scientific investigation.
Bio: Moupi Mukhopadhyay is a PhD Candidate in the Conservation of Material Culture Program IDP at UCLA. She is interested in investigating the photophysical and chemical properties of pigments in cultural heritage materials using scientific techniques, to better inform their conservation. Through her research, she aims to develop a better understanding of the materials and technology of the creation of temple wall paintings in Kerala, India.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Ayesha Fuentes
Stride Lecturer in Arts Conservation
Northumbria University
Ayesha Fuentes will discuss Tibetan and Himalayan religious use of ritual objects made with human skulls and femurs. Fuentes incorporates conservation methods, documentation, and interpretation of the material knowledge and techniques used to select, prepare, activate, maintain and exchange these objects. This project combines the technical examination of objects in museum collections with interviews and observations made across the Himalayan region and investigations of historical sources and cultural narratives. Her research highlights the longevity, function and value of these ritual instruments within diverse communities.
Ayesha Fuentes, Stride Lecturer in Arts Conservation at Northumbria University, is an objects conservator and technical art historian specializing in Asian material heritage. She is a graduate of the UCLA/Getty MA program in Conservation of Ethnographic Materials (2014) and a former employee at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. She recently submitted her doctoral dissertation on the use of human remains in Tibetan ritual objects at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where she was a Neil Kreitman and Overseas Research Scholar.
Contact Michelle Jacobson
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Jerry Moore
Department of Anthropology
California State University Dominguez Hills
Moore's principal expertise is on the prehistoric architecture and cultural landscapes in the Andes. Archaeologists typically view architectural features of dwellings and other domestic architecture as built projects in which materials are modified according to a preconceived design in the builders’ minds. Although archaeologists usually acknowledge the different processes that transform buildings into archaeological features and sites, they tend not to understand how different buildings and construction methods inherently shape the archaeological record. This has direct implications for archaeological inferences about ancient households. Dr. Moore will discuss these issues referencing select case studies from Mesoamerica and the Andes.
Contact Michelle Jacobson
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Helina Woldekiros
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Washington University
Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus L. 1758) are one of the most valued farm animals in the world today. Chickens are economically and socially significant in Africa. They are often associated with cuisine and identity as well as their ability to generate income for poor rural communities. Despite their importance, little is known about the nature of their introduction and subsequent integration into African economies. In this paper I present archaeological and biometric perspective on the introduction and development of chicken landraces in the Horn of Africa.
Dr. Helina Woldekiros is an assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. Woldekiros completed her Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis and her MA at the University of Florida. After completing a postdoctoral research at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, Woldekiros joined the Department of Anthropology at WU in 2015.Woldekiros's research interest includes state formation, the origin of food production, agriculture, pastoralism, salt trade, caravan archaeology, and livestock biodiversity in the Horn of Africa. Her upcoming book entitled "The Boundaries of Ancient Trade" re-conceptualizes state formation in the Horn Africa by looking at not only hierarchical political models but also heterarchical political models. She is also an expert in the domestication and spread of chickens globally.
Contact Michelle Jacobson
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
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