Past Events
Interested in Cotsen events? Sign up for our mailing list.Archaeology and anthropology were once closely related fields of research. Today, they have drifted apart. David Wengrow reflects on his book, co-authored with David Graeber: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, which is an attempt to see what happens when you put them back together again, after a period of mutual estrangement. The results are surprising, and have significant implications across the social sciences, presenting an overall picture of human history and development that is starkly at odds with received theories and conventional wisdom.
June 8, 2023
In-person at the Lenart Auditorium, Fowler Museum
6pm Lecture
7pm Reception
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu to RSVP for the in-person lecture and reception (required).
David Wengrow is Professor of Comparative Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL) and has been a visiting professor at New York University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Freiburg. David has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Africa and the Middle East. He is the author of three books including What Makes Civilization?, and co-author with David Graeber of The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity.
Contact Michelle Jacobson
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
The newest publication from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, Archaeology Outside the Box, intends to make contemporary archaeology germane to the general public as well as researchers in other disciplines. In thirty-one richly illustrated chapters, a variety of projects is presented by an international group of archaeologists, anthropologists, architects, and artists. These aim to broaden the applicability of archaeology by reflecting on archaeological remains in novel ways or addressing contemporary concerns with archaeological theory and research methods. Demonstrating the fascinating and pertinent nature of archaeology, the authors go far beyond its definition as a discipline that unearths obiects of ancient material culture.
June 1, 2023
In-person at the Luskin Conference Center
6pm Lecture
7pm Reception
Online (Zoom)
6pm Lecture
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu to RSVP for the in-person lecture and reception by May 25 (required) or register for Zoom here.
Hans Barnard has both an MD, and a PhD in archaeology from Leiden University in the Netherlands. Since 1990 he has participated in archaeological field projects throughout the world. He has published more than a hundred articles and book chapters, as well as several books, among which are the edited volumes The Archaeology of Mobility: Old World and New World Nomadism, with Willeke Wendrich; The History of the Peoples of the Eastern Desert, with Kim Duistermaat; and most recently, Archaeology Outside the Box, all published by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press.
Contact Michelle Jacobson
Email mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Abstract: In Egyptological scholarship, the term “model tools” has been used to characterize miniature representations of implements that have been stripped of their practical function, emphasizing their relatively “cheap” method of production. Their categorization as “model tools” was established primarily on size by Flinders Petrie in his 1917 monograph Tools and Weapons. Due to this characterization, “model tools” are either implied or exclusively said to be produced and used as a ritual object and, therefore, have no functional ability outside the ideological realm. While continued discourse on their role and function in the mortuary context has continued to reinforce their ritual purpose, metallurgical analysis allows us to problematize their confinement to the ritual sphere and further reveals the object’s life history.
My paper will present a compositional analysis of Bronze Age metal tools from the collections of the Brooklyn Museum and Museo Egizio in order to re-examine the utilitarian function of “model tools” and further nuance their designation as “models”. As the majority of my corpus has an unknown provenance, my discussion will be limited to the objects’ alloy composition and how this might reflect their efficacy as utilitarian tools in the hands of craftspeople. Comparative analysis, both temporarily and contextually, allows us to explore whether an object’s function influenced alloy choice. The idea is to not only build a corpus for comparanda, but to also challenge our etic classification of objects and provide a space for debate and reconfiguration of modern categorizations.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
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 the predynastic site cemetery of Nag ed Deir, and the New kingdom site of Deir el Ballas, in Upper Egypt. 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 social history of food in ancient Egypt and anthropogenic impact of climate changes on the foodways and social structures.
Bio: Amr Khalaf Shahat, is a postdoctoral researcher at Ancient Agriculture and paleoethnobotany lab, the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. He earned his PhD in Egyptian Archaeology and Paleoethnobotany from UCLA, and his Masters in Egyptology from the University of Memphis. He is interested in the study of Egyptian foodways through the analysis of plant remains from tombs and settlements and museum collections to answer questions related to cultural identities, and cross-cultural interaction.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Event Program
Opening remarks by Lothar von Falkenhausen (UCLA)
Presentations (1:00-4:30, 20 min each):
- Li Xinwei (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) Insect Metamorphosis in Prehistoric China
- Karl Taube (University of California Riverside) People of Corn: Maize Imagery and Symbolism among the Classic Maya
- Mayfair Yang (University of California Santa Barbara) Mauss or Bataille? Gift, Sacrifice, and Feasting Across China and the Northwest Coast
- Ge Yun (University of California Riverside) Relational Ontology of Public Buildings and Human in the Rise of Political Power--A Comparison between Aguada Fenix and Hongshan Culture
- Yifan Wang (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) Reinterpreting Collapse: The Entangled Nature-culture Dimensions in Ancestral Maya and China Sacred Watery Landscapes
- Long Xiao (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) Jade Offerings in Early China and Mayan Mountain Pilgrimage
- Coffee Break at 3 pm
- Kellie Roddy (UCLA) Continuing Implications of Furst, Shamanism, and Ethnography in West Mexico
- Wang Zichan (UCLA) Shamans and the Invisible Metal Workers in Early China: An Ethnohistorical Perspective
- Kirie Stromberg (UCLA) Music and Political Authority in East Asian Prehistory: A Comparative Perspective
Round Table Discussion with Panelists (4:30-6:00 pm):
- Lothar von Falkenhausen (UCLA)
- Jason De Leon (UCLA)
- Stella Nair (UCLA)
- Li Min (UCLA)
This event was cosponsored by the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, the Institute for Global Antiquity, the Center for Chinese Studies, and the East Asian Library.
Contact
Phone
Abstract: In the North American Southwest, the long-term centrality of birds to Pueblo and Ancestral Pueblo life has been demonstrated both ethnographically and archaeologically. This talk explores the relationship between people and birds in Chaco Canyon during its major occupation between 800 and 1150 CE. Located in northwestern New Mexico, Chaco has been the subject of extensive study and debate, especially regarding the nature of social organization and inequality. Six museum collections were examined in order to produce a dataset that presents all avifaunal remains excavated over the last 130 years. Results not only shed light on the value of birds to the prehispanic occupants of Chaco Canyon, but contribute to ongoing debates regarding the nature of social organization in the canyon. This project also demonstrates the importance of (re)examining collections from historic excavations and the value of using legacy and archival data to enhance provenience and contextual information.
Bio: Dr. Kate Bishop is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She received her PhD in Anthropology from UCLA in 2019. Her research has focused on developing an understanding of human-animal relationships throughout the Americas, spanning the last 4,000 years of the human past and ranging geographically from New Mexico, Guatemala, Mexico, and California. Her current research focuses specifically on the importance of birds in the Ancestral Pueblo region of the Southwest United States. Through her research she seeks to highlight the importance of legacy data, collections-based research, and contextual reconstruction of historic collections.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
The Andean Working Group presents "Materiality of Wak'as: Between History and Archaeology at Sacsayhuaman, Cuzco" by Peter Kaulicke, Professor in the Humanities Department at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Registration is required. Register here.
This event was co-sponsored by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and the UCLA Latin American Institute
Contact Alba Menéndez Pereda
Email albamenendez@ucla.edu
Phone
The Architecture Lab Working Group presents "Digital Reconstruction of the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria" by Anthony Caldwell. Please see the flyer below for details.
Contact AJ Meyer
Email ajmeyermaya@ucla.edu
Phone
Abstract: Mass spectrometry applications for molecular characterization of organic compounds in archaeology constitute a fundamental set of tools to address research questions related to the use, origin, and distribution of raw materials and artifacts. This talk will illustrate research at the UCLA Pasarow Mass Spectrometry Laboratory on developing and applying analytical methods for identifying organic molecules associated with wine and bitumen preserved on archaeological pottery. A novel technique for identifying ancient wine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) is being developed and optimized. This targeted analysis uses, for the first time, new biomarkers formed during the fermentation process, and it is being applied to archaeological ceramics from different regions and periods. The study of archaeological bitumen from Neolithic Albania uses an established method that focuses on the identification of hydrocarbons using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The outcome of such analysis indicates the exploitation of the Selenicë bitumen sources in southeast Albania during the Neolithic period and the circulation of the raw material in the region.
Bio: Gazmend was awarded his PhD in Archaeology from UCLA in 2020. He graduated at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in Archaeology and Art History, from where he also received his Master’s in the prehistory of Aegean and the Balkans. He began working at the Pasarow Laboratory as a Post-Doc in 2021. His research primarily focuses on prehistoric communities, ceramic analysis, and mass spectrometry applications towards archaeological material.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
Abstract: The project Ancient and Modern Communities at Industria is a research effort of the Cotsen
Institute, Kent University (UK), Newcastle University (UK), and the Politecnico di Torino (Italy).
The main focus of the project is a diachronological study of communities and their environment. Starting with present day Monteu da Po, ancient Industria, in northern Italy, we aim to learn about tra
ditional farming, industry, and daily life of the inhabitants of the region through time, going back to the Roman Period (first century CE). Through a dialogue with the community, literature study, and archaeology, we aim to expand our understanding of ancient Industria, modern Monteu da Po, and neighboring communities. The project hopes to contribute to the economic development of the region. In our first field season we employed various non-destructive techniques near the ruins of the church of San Giovanni di Dustria, just north of the ancient city center.
Bios: Willeke Wendrich is a Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Digital Humanities in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, as well as the Joan Silsbee Chair of African Cultural Archaeology. She is the Director of the Cotsen Institute and Editor-in-Chief of the online UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.
Hans Barnard MD, PhD is an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures as well as Associate Researcher at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. As an archaeological surveyor, photographer and ceramic analyst he has worked on sites in Armenia, Chile, Egypt, Iceland, Italy, Panama, Peru, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.
Contact Sumiji Takahashi
Email sutakahashi@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone 310-825-4169
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