Speaker: Dr. Philippe Walter, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie

The precious character of the Cultural Heritage artifacts and their uniqueness imply particular cautions and require instruments, which may give the maximum of information directly on the objects, in-situ in the museums or in the archaeological sites. The implementation of new analytical tools, including mobile instruments, allows a deep insight on the archaeological and artistic materials. 

We will show the performances of different new mobile instruments (X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction) we built recently in the laboratory to allow in situ characterization of materials, for instance on prehistoric rock art paintings in France or marble sculptures from Greece (Delphi) and Tunisia (Bardo National Museum), alteration products and modes of preparation of different pigments. XRF imaging – in which the surface of an object is scanned with a focussed X-ray beam to obtain elemental distribution images – and hyperspectral imaging can reveal significant new information on the antique polychromy.

Speaker: Dr. Stephen Acabado, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

Recent trends in the practice of archaeology have seen the emergence of the active involvement of descendant communities in the research process. This is an important development since the relationship of archaeologists and communities that they work with has been tenuous, particularly, when archaeological findings have the potential to contest ethnic identities. As a case in point, the findings of the Ifugao Archaeological Project (IAP) (Ifugao, Philippines) force the rethinking of history and question the bases of Ifugao identity, particularly on how they have been presented in Philippine historical narratives. Ifugao identity is based on wet-rice production and the historical narrative that the Spanish never conquered them. Previously, the dating of the inception of the Ifugao rice terraces was placed at 2,000-3,000 years ago. The findings of the IAP however, suggest a later inception of the terraces, which coincided with the arrival of the Spanish in the northern Philippines. Initially, this finding did not sit well the larger Ifugao descendant communities, but as experience exemplifies, the pursuit to actively involve the communities and stakeholders in the research process resolved this issue. We further argue that the inclusion of the voices of different stakeholders in the interpretation of the past is inadequate since it denotes that indigenous stakeholders are simply contributors to, and not codevelopers or co-investigators of, research projects. Doing so empowers indigenous stakeholders to take control of their heritage.

Speaker: Dr. Jorrit Kelder, University of Oxford

This presentation aims to provide an overview of the earliest contacts between the Greek (Mycenaean) world and Egypt, between ca. 1600 BC and 1100 BC. By highlighting a number of objects that have been found in Egypt and the Aegean, this paper proposes that the earliest contacts between these two regions may have started in the context of long-distance trade in precious metals (with silver coming from the Aegean, and gold exported from Egypt). From the 14th century BC onwards, these early trading encounters developed into a much closer, 'special relationship', which involved the exchange of goods, plants, and possibly mercenaries.

Speaker: Dr. Thomas Schneider, University of British Columbia

The First Intermediate Period has presented archaeology and historiography with significant epistemological problems. Gaps in the evidence available to us and the uncertainty about how to interpret a variety of material and textual sources, have as much led to widely different views as modern paradigmatic shifts, depicting the
FIP either as a time of crisis or to the contrary, a time of regional innovation. This paper will look at the methodological problems with which archaeologists and historians of the FIP are faced today. What can we know today and what are possible avenues of future research?