Take the Plunge on March 27

In Poseidon’s Realm: Underwater Archaeology in the Mediterranean

Dr. John Hale, University of Louisville

More than two thousand years ago, Greek and Roman professional divers, including both men and women, were diving to depths of more than 100 feet to recover art objects and other treasures from shipwreck sites. Their modern successors have continued to explore the floor of the Mediterranean Sea for sunken ships, cargoes, harbors and other submerged structures. Helmeted sponge divers made the most extraordinary discovery of all in 1900 at Antikythera, where they recovered the remains of an astronomical computer of bronze gears dating to the first century BC. The world’s first scientific underwater excavation was conducted on the Mediterranean site of Cape Gelidonya in 1960, where George Bass led an archaeological expedition to a Bronze Age wreck. Marine archaeologists now use scuba-gear, robotic devices such as ROVs (remote operated vehicles), bathyscaphs, sidescan sonar, magnetometers and other equipment, but many classical underwater sites still remain to be located, mapped, and excavated. This lecture provides an overview of this important field, illustrates many of the most important art works recovered from the sea (including the famous bronze god from Artemision), and shows current technology in use during the Persian Wars Shipwreck Survey, in which the speaker participated as an archaeologist.

11:00 am, Saturday, March 27, 2010

Pillsbury Auditorium,

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Lunch to follow at Christo's

Upcoming Lecture on December 10

Aztec Calendrical Thought: Visual Form, Imperial Significance

At 6:00 PM on December 10^th, Dr. William L. Barnes of the University of St. Thomas will will speak at the John B. Davis Lecture Hall in the Dayton Campus Center at Macalester College on the topic of the Aztec calendar and its relation to the Aztec empire with its imperial center at Tenochtitlan. There will be an informal dinner afterward at Pad Thai Grand Café.

Dr. Barnes's primary area of research is the art of ancient Mexico, with a focus on Central Mexican sculpture and Mesoamerican manuscript painting. His current research focuses on discursive strategies used in Aztec (Tenochca Mexica) imperial art and the extend to which the Mesoamerican calendar was used in royal monuments. William's other areas of interest include Early Colonial Latin American and Pre-Columbian Andean art and architecture.

Upcoming Lecture on November 19

Rendezvous at Red Wing: Community and Aggregation at the Red Wing Locality, AD 1100 – 1400

Dr. Edward Fleming, Curator of Archaeology of the Science Museum of Minnesota, will speak at the John B. Davis Lecture Hall in the Dayton Campus Center at Macalester College on Thursday, November 19^th, about the importance of the Red Wing Locality as a regional gathering place during the period of about AD 1100 to 1400. The lecture will begin at 6:00 PM and there will be an informal dinner afterward at Pad Thai Grand Café.

As Curator of Archaeology at the Science Museum of Minnesota, Dr. Fleming is responsible for building, caring for, researching, and interpreting the museum’s archaeological collection, as well as collaborating on exhibitions and educational programming. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota. Most of his research is focused on material culture of the Late Prehistoric period in the Upper Mississippi River. For the last five years, he has been involved in field work at Red Wing Locality village sites while also working to acquire and document relevant existing archaeological collections from the Upper Midwest.

Lecture on Chinese Bronzes

New Light on the First Archaeological Discovery of Chinese Bronzes

On Saturday, October 31^st, Dr. Lothar von Falkenhausen comes to the Minneapolis Art Museum from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA to speak about his work on an assemblage of bronzes excavated at Xinzheng, China, in 1923. This lecture is co-sponsored by Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas. The lecture will take place in the Pillsbury Auditorium at 11:00 AM and will be followed an informal lunch with the speaker at Christos Restaurant.

Dr. von Falkenhausen is Professor of Chinese Archaeology and Art History and Associate Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, where he has taught since 1993. His specialty is East Asian archaeology, with an emphasis on the great Bronze Age of China (ca. 2000-200 BC). He obtained an MA in East Asian Studies (1982) and a PhD in anthropology (1988) from Harvard University; he also attended the University of Bonn (1977-79), Peking University (1979-81), and Kyôto University (1984-86). Before joining the faculty at UCLA, Professor von Falkenhausen taught at Stanford University and the University of California, Riverside. He has, moreover, held visiting professorships at numerous institutions in Europe and Asia. He has published more than one hundred articles, books, reviews, and edited volumes; the two most important being two books, Suspended Music: Chime Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China (1993) and Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence (2006). Since 1999, he has served as the American co-Principal Investigator of UCLA's joint field project with Peking University, entitled “Landscape Archaeology and Ancient Salt Production in the Upper Yangzi River Basin” and as co-editor of the bilingual series Salt Archaeology in China (2006-). He is also the founding co-editor of the Journal of East Asian Archaeology (1999-).

2009 Candlelight Vigil and Lecture

Friday April 10, 2009
6:00 pm
John B. Davis Lecture Hall
Macalester College
(map)

April 10-12, 2009 marks the sixth anniversary of the tragic ransacking of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. From April 10-12, 2003, countless invaluable works of art and artifacts were systematically stolen from the Museum and many remain missing today. Recently, the Iraq Museum reopened seven of its galleries. While this has been seen by some as a success story, serious concerns remain about the security of the objects and the destruction of archaeological sites in Iraq and all over the world continues. So it is on April 10-12 that we will come together as a worldwide community to acknowledge our stewardship and responsibility in protecting those artifacts and sites that are part of our global cultural heritage.

Cori Wegener, President of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, will provide a slide presentation about her experiences working with the staff at the Iraq National Museum in 2003-2004 and provide an update on the current situation. We will then light candles as part of the Global Candlelight Vigil for the Iraq Museum, co-sponsored by Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE).
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On April 10- 12, 2007, SAFE organized its first global candlelight vigil to commemorate the tragic events of April 2003 and help raise awareness of the need for action to protect the cultural heritage. Individuals, schools, universities, museums, and groups around the world participated. In April 2008 the vigil became an annual event.

For more information please visit SAFE's website at http://savingantiquities.org/candlelightvigils.php.

Also, be sure to light a virtual candle and add your name to the list of supporters here http://savingantiquities.org/virtualcandle.php.

Please help AIA-MN and SAFE spread the news about this important event by sharing these links and posting flyers (email Vanessa Rousseau or Kate Larson).

We have not forgotten. Light a candle with us.

Tsakirgis Lecture, March 5

AIA Joukowsky Lecturer Barbara Tsakirgis will speak on Thursday March 5th, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Her topic will be To Honor the Gods: Greek Domestic Religion. This lecture explores the surviving evidence for reconstructing religious practice in the Greek house, with a special focus on the houses and observances in Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E.

Tsakirgis is Professor of Classics and Art History at Vanderbilt University. She is a specialist in Greek architecture and archaeology, and has excavated in Italy, Sicily, and Greece. She has written a number of articles for the American Journal of Archaeology, Hesperia, and Acta Hyperborea and is the author of The Domestic Architecture of Morgantina in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods.

Please plan to join us after the lecture at Christos Restaurant, for dinner and discussion with Professer Tsakirgis.

Schuler lecture at Concordia

AIA-MN is pleased to announce a lecture by local archaeologist Dr. Mark Schuler, Professor of Theology and Greek at Concordia University. Schuler will discuss his excavations at Sussita, the ancient site of Hippos, one of the cities of the Decapolis, located 2 kilometers east of the Sea of Galilee. Founded by the Seleucids, the city continued as a major urban center throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods until being destroyed by an earthquake in 749 CE. Highlights of the city uncovered in excavations include the Decumanus Maximus, public and domestic quarters, and a temple complex.

The lecture will be held at the E.M. Pearson Theater at Concordia University in St. Paul at 6:00 on Thursday, February 5th. Thanks to Concordia for hosting this event!

AIA members are invited to join the speaker and local society officers for dinner after the talk. Please RSVP to Kate Larson if you are interested.

Unearthing the Emperor

Thursday, November 20th, Winston Kyan will offer a lecture titled Unearthing the Emperor: Person, Personality and the Terracotta Army of China's First Sovereign Ruler. The accidental discovery in 1974 of the terracotta army of Qin Shihuangdi, the First Emperor of China, astonished the archaeological world. In the decades since, the international celebrity of these 7000 life-sized warriors, horses, and chariots has only grown while the actual mausoleum of the First Emperor remains untouched. Based on the material from the latest excavations at the site - including bronzes, jades, and figural sculpture - this lecture reconstructs the social, political, and religious context that illuminate the person and personality of this remarkable individual.

Dr Kyan is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Macalester College. He received a PhD in Art History from the University of Chicago. The lecture will begin at 6:00 in the John B. Davis Auditorium, in the basement of the Dayton Campus Center, located on the southwest corner of the Snelling and Grand intersection in St Paul.

Former Director of the Iraq Museum to speak in Minnesota

Donny George Youkhanna, former director of the Iraq Museum, will deliver two public lectures next Wednesday, November 12th. AIA-MN members and friends are welcome to attend either or both of these free talks.

"Mesopotamia: The Beginning of Civilization" will focus on the archaeology and cultural history of Iraq. This lunchtime lecture at Hamline University begins at 11:30. Please visit the Hamline University website for more information.

Later in the evening, at the Weisman Art Museum at 6:00, Dr Youkhanna will provide the latest news about the Iraq Museum and the restitution of antiquities from other countries, along with information about the ongoing looting of Iraq’s archaeological sites in a lecture titled "Looting of the Iraq Museum: Loss of a Nation's Memory." The talk will be followed by a panel discussion on cultural property and armed conflict, featuring Dr. Youkhanna, Dr. Patty Gerstenblith of DePaul University Law School, and Cori Wegener, Associate Curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and President of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield.

The Weisman is not offering advance reservation tickets for the evening lecture, so please arrive early as seating is limited.

Dr Youkhanna's visit to Minnesota is co-sponsored by the Weisman Art Museum; Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP; the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield; and the Maya Society.

Steven Harvey to speak at MIA

At 6:00 on Thursday, October 23rd, AIA National Lecturer Stephen Harvey will speak about his work at the site of Abydos, Egypt. Professor Harvey attended Yale University for his undergraduate degree and the University of Pennsylvania for his PhD in Egyptian Archaeology. He currently works in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook University. Professor Harvey specializes in Egyptian archaeology, narrative in ancient art, ancient warfare, pyramid construction, ancient religious institutions, and sacred landscapes. He is currently the director of the Ahmose and Tetisheri Project in Abydos, Egypt.

In "Before the Valley of the Kings: Egypt's Last Royal Pyramids," Professor Harvey addresses how the pyramids at Giza and hidden royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings (ancient Thebes) are among the best-known features of ancient Egyptian civilization. Despite their basic familiarity, however, little is understood about the process by which the pharaohs chose to abandon the earlier pyramidal form in favor of rock-cut burials, a transition that took place at the outset of Egypt’s New Kingdom. Surprisingly, the best evidence for this change in royal tomb concepts may be found not at Thebes but at the sacred site of Abydos in southern Egypt, where the last Egyptian royal pyramids were constructed by King Ahmose (ca 1550-1525 BCE). Near the pyramids that the pharaoh constructed for himself and in honor of his grandmother Tetisheri, Ahmose also carved out a rock-cut tomb of a type best known from later king’s tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Excavations at Abydos since 1993 are beginning to provide a fascinating look into the artistic and architectural innovations of Ahmose’s reign, including unique depictions of King Ahmose’s defeat of the Hyksos, rulers of Syro-Palestinian origin who had dominated northern Egypt for a century. Given that not tomb or temple for King Ahmose has ever been discovered at Thebes (modern Luxor), the Abydos monuments are of great importance, and this lecture will explore the intriguing possibility that the pharaoh was intended to be buried in one of the mortuary structures built by him at that site.

A nice article from the University of Chicago Chronicle discusses Harvey and his work at Abydos.

Lectures are free and open to the public. Please join us for dinner at Christos Restaurant after the lecture. RSVP to Vanessa Rousseau.

Donny George Youkhanna Lecture at Hamline

Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, former director of the Iraq Museum and current professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, will give a second public lecture during his time in Minnesota.

Mesopotamia: The Beginning of Civilization
Wednesday, November 12
11:30am - 12:30pm
Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University
Admission: Free
Limited parking is available in Visitor Lot C, or on the street. Visit the Hamline University website for additional directions and parking information.

Later in the evening, Dr. Youkhanna will be at the Weisman Art Museum to speak about the "Looting of the Iraq Museum," lecture followed by a panel discussion. Both events are sponsored by Weisman Art Museum; Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP; the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield; and the Maya Society.

Mark your calendars!

Full Schedule for the 2008-09 Archaeology Lecture Series

Fall 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Stephen Harvey, Stony Brook University (AIA National)
Before the Valley of the Kings: Egypt’s Last Royal Pyramids
6:00 PM, Pillsbury Auditorium, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Donny George, Stony Brook University
Looting of the Iraq Museum: The Loss of a Nation’s Memory
6:00 PM, Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota
Co-sponsored by Weisman Art Museum; Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP; the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield; and the Maya Society

Thursday, November 20, 2008
Winston Kyan, Macalester College
Unearthing the Emperor: Person, Personality and the Terracotta Army of China’s First Sovereign Ruler
6:00 PM, John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Macalester College

Spring 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Mark Schuler, Concordia University
Glory and Decline of a Roman/Byzantine Urban Center:
The 10-year International Excavation at Hippos of the Decapolis, Jordan Valley, Israel
6:00 PM, E.M. Pearson Theatre, Concordia University

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Barbara Tsakirgis, Vanderbilt University (AIA National)
To Honor the Gods: Greek Domestic Religion
6:00 PM, Pillsbury Auditorium, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Wednesday, April 8, 2009
David Mattingly, University of Leicester (AIA National)
Mystery to History: The Garamantes of the Libyan Sahara
6:00 PM, John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Macalester College

Friday, April 10, 2009
Cori Wegener, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield
Cultural Property at War: Lessons from the Iraq Museum Looting
Followed by Candlelight Vigil
6:00 PM, John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Macalester College