Backdirt

Backdirt: Annual Review, which began as a newsletter in 1973, is the magazine of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology that highlights the recent news, research and activities of the Institute. The CIoA Press publishes the annual magazine at the end of the year.

Our current and older issues can be downloaded from the links below.

Backdirt 2022

  • Read about The Sacred Landscape around Lake Gilli, Armenia
  • Excavations in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  • Fire on the Island of Rapa Nui, an UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • An Interview with Helle Girey, The Cotsen Institute’s Director of Public Programs
  • And much more! dowload the PDF here or read on our Issuu page!

Backdirt 2021

  • Read about Lloyd Cotsen’s Chinese Bronze Mirrors
  • Historic Community Mural Preservation in Denver
  • The Changing Landscape of Archaeology in the Digital Age
  • Construction and Renovation at the Cotsen Institute
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2020

  • Read about a Historic Perspective on Social Distancing
  • Conducting Fieldwork in the Himalayas
  • Research Before and During the Pandemic
  • Child Enslavement in a Roman Fresco
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2019

  • Read about Late Antique Portraits in Roman Gaul
  • Saharan Rock Art
  • Harvesting Scent in Beni Suef, Egypt
  • Ancient Cities as a Blueprint for the Future
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2018

  • Read about celebrations and Lloyd Cotsen’s legacy
  • Moche Festivals
  • Block-Printed Textiles Production in India
  • Cotsen student and alumni adventures outside of the Institute
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2017

  • Read about The Dragon Stones of Armenia
  • Museology and Egyptian Material Culture
  • Day in the Life of a Rural Indian Cowherd
  • Community Archaeology, Volunteerism and Collaboration
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2016

  • Read about the work conducted in the CIoA Labs
  • Cave Temples of Dunhuang
  • Egyptian Coffin Reuse
  • Using Stable Isotopes to Explore Ancient Wildebeest Biogeographies
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2015

  • Institute achievements in 2015
  • Extracting insights from the Southwest through computer modelings and large datasets
  • Reports from the field discuss coffin reuse in Egypt, community involvement in the Philippines and a mysterious line of holes in Peru
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Backdirt 2014

  • The Tin Problem Reconsidered: Recent Archaeometallurgical Research on the Anatolian Plateau
  • Exploring Ancient Pastoral Mobility through Stable Isotope Analysis: A Case Study from Kenya
  • And much more! download the PDF here

Additional Backdirts are available on Scribd and Academia.edu. For questions regarding subscriptions and submissions, e-mail the CIoA Press at cioapress@ioa.ucla.edu.