The Iron Age of Europe (800-50 BC) in a Eurasian context
2018-04-19 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Speaker: Dr. Peter Wells, Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota

Persian and Greek Participation in the making of China's First Empire
2018-04-22 14:00 - 15:30
Speaker: Professor Duan Qingbo, Northwest University School of Cultural Heritage, Xi’an.Followed by a concert of Chinese and Persian music by UCLA faculty, Li Qi and Amir Pourjavady.Terra-cotta warriors, bronze chariots and horses are among the iconic artifacts associated with China’s first imperial dynasty, the Qin (221-206 BCE). Chinese archaeologist Duan Qinbo shares new evidence that suggests the material culture and social governance of the Qin may not be solely indigenous Chinese, but may also have come to China along Central Asian trade routes. *Presented by the UCLA Fowler Museum, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Department of Ethnomusicology, Boethius Initiative, Center for Chinese Studies, Confucius Institute, and Pourdavoud Center for Study of the Iranian World.

Friday Seminar: "A Critique of Archaeological Reason"
2018-04-27 15:00 - 16:00
Speaker: Dr. Giorgio Buccellati, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLAThe recent publication of a book on theory (same title as this talk, Cambridge 2017), has its roots in a long and intense confrontation with the experience of field work, which began for me in Iraq and Turkey in the ’60s: it was a very practical experience which elicited, by contrast, a strong interest in theory. It was also the beginning of the digital era, which we marked with the introduction of a bulky pre-PC computer to Terqa in 1978, the first of its kind in Syro-Mesopotamia: such an early start, too, conditioned my subsequent work in this area, with an emphasis on modes of thinking beyond technology per se. Starting from these conditioning factors, I will outline the basic points of the book, as defined in the subtitle: structural, digital and philosophical aspects of the excavated record. I will then describe the structure and goals of the accompanying website, with an invitation to collaborate in its continued operation.

Pizza Talk: "Community Archaeology from Below: Major New Developments from Tell Mozan in Syria"
2018-05-02 12:00 - 13:00
Speakers: Dr. Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati & Dr. Giorgio Buccellati, UCLADuring the last seven years when war has raged in Syria, foreign archaeological projects have come to an almost total standstill. But then, the question arises: what were the presuppositions that, instead of allowing archaeology to disappear or, worse, to be kidnapped by a violent iconoclastic fundamentalism, could have given archaeology an impetus in fostering stronger group identity precisely at a moment of crisis? Our talk will answer this question with reference to the site of ancient Urkesh, where we have had been excavating since 1984. We talked about it already on other occasions, but innovative projects have been burgeoning at a steady rhythm around this site. We will talk about these various new activities, and draw some conclusions about the nature of community archaeology as we have experienced it in ways that were unimaginable only a few years back: it is truly community archaeology “from below,” where the “below” includes all of us, the community of archaeologists alongside the many other communities that find themselves nurtured by the distant past embedded in their territory.

Excavations of Amphora Workshops in Kerkethoueris
2018-05-02 17:00 - 19:00
Speaker: Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Fayoum Inspectorate

Friday Seminar: "Tools, processes and systems for cultural heritage documentation in archaeology"
2018-05-04 15:00 - 17:00
Speaker: Dr. Stratos Stylianidis, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiCultural heritage is our deep soul. It is the unique legacy for all societies worldwide, but at the same time our common responsibility. A value rewards humanity by providing the classical and universal principles. It provides the panhuman context of mutual understanding, respect, liberty and expression. The protection of cultural heritage is a matter for all and its recording and documentation a vital step towards preservation. The first part of this talk addresses the cultural heritage documentation context, the international framework on documentation by international charters and conventions, and the real needs that push organizations and people to operate in this process. Various sensors and platforms, both from image-based and range-based technology illuminate how scientific research and practice, transpose the real object to a 3D model. Commercial and open source tools for data processing, management and representation are presented likewise. The presentation of innovative mobile mapping systems enabling data capture and management for cultural heritage information of various scales, is closing this talk.

Pizza Talk: "Elizabeth Deuel's Letter: Sexual Politics in the Archives of Archaeology"
2018-05-09 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Dr. James Snead, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Cal State University, NorthridgeIn 1913 Elizabeth Deuel, a student of archaeology and resident of Los Angeles, wrote a letter to a friend describing a situation that modern readers can only interpret as sexual harassment. Coded with the discretion of the age, her brief account nonetheless resonates to modern readers conscious of the complex history of this topic in the field of archaeology.The Deuel letter is an example of scattered material in archaeological archives that documents power relationships within communities of interest in American archaeology at the turn of the last century. Her participation and subsequent activities also brought her into contact with several of the principal archaeological figures in the United States, providing considerable insight into the sexual politics of the era. This presentation examines the Deuel case, with reference to the “relevance” of the history of archaeology to issues of considerable relevance in archaeological practice.

Friday Seminar: "Sociopolitical structure and the regeneration of the Meroitic state between the 5th cataract and Khartoum"
2018-05-11 15:00 - 17:00
Speaker: Dr. Mohamed Ali, American Sudanese Archaeological Research CenterThe Meroitic kingdom is an ancient kingdom in Nubia, located and flourished at the confluences of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara, in Sudan. Researchers, with no convincing evidence, have argued that tribal movements within the Meroitic territory and the Axumite invasion from the east (Ethiopia) caused the collapse of the Meroitic state. Here I consider the nature of the political economy in order to provide a better understanding of the collapse and the regeneration of the Meroitic state. I employ theoretical frameworks to the collapse of the Meroitic state, c. 350 B.C.-A.D.350, and regeneration during the Post Meroitic period (4th century to 7th century AD). I investigate how the nature and the manifestation of Meroitic sociopolitical power changes during and after the collapse of the Meroitic state.Mortuary practices and settlement patterns studies are used here to determine changes in local identity and social roles that reflect the integration and/or lack of integration of the hinterlands in the Meroitic and Post Meroitic sociopolitical systems. I demonstrate that local elites on the east bank and east hinterland re-established a polity based in the old Meroitic settlements and redeployed Meroitic symbols to legitimize and reinforce their authority and power.The locals on the west bank were not well integrated into the Meroitic sociopolitical system. They eventually became a real threat that impacted the Meroitic central power together with the Axumite threat from the east and the economic recession in the Mediterranean market. Elites on the west bank would have taken advantage of the weakness of the Meroitic central power and manipulated trade networks and formed local alliances that led to political and economic independence.

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Open House
2018-05-12 13:00 - 16:00
The Annual Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Open House will take place onMay 12, 2018 from 12:00 to 4:00pm with the theme Celebrations.Join us at 12:00 pm in the Fowler Museum for two gallery talks followed by a feasting forum in the Lenart Auditorium (A-Level) at 1:00 pm. Decoding textiles: the transmission of traditional knowledge with Dr. Sonali Gupta-agarwalandArchaeology and representation: empowering descendant communities through museum-based education with Dr. Stephen AcabadoCelebrations across the world and throughout time usually involve feasting: consuming elaborate and plentiful food (and drink) in the company of others. The important social, religious and political roles of feasting will be presented and discussed by three core members of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Drs. Elizabeth Carter, Alan Farahani, and Monica Smith. After their brief introductions the panel will discuss this subject with the audience, an exchange of thought moderated by Dr. Willeke Wendrich, Director of the Institute.After the forum, come explore our labs and interact with archaeologists from 2:00 – 4:00 pm.

Pizza Talk: "The metalworkers of prehistoric Thailand: A bioarchaeological approach"
2018-05-16 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Dr. Chin-hsin Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Cal State University, NorthridgeA specialized craft industry in prehistory is often studied from perspectives such as social organization, labor and product distribution, and exchange network. While these angles indeed provide significant insight to the past, the biological impact of craft production on community members is a critical component offering a nuanced view on people’s lifeways. Pre-industrial metalworking is a biologically and environmentally demanding process that frequently involved arduous labor, landscape alteration, and waste management. In this talk, I use a cluster of metalworking sites in prehistoric central Thailand to illustrate how each stage of the metallurgical process can manifest into skeletally detectable markers (morphological and chemical), and how these markers can lead us to understand people’s actions as they faced the consequences of a long and intensive metallurgical tradition.

Pizza Talk: "The Iron Age and Late Antique Southern Levant: New Insights from the UCLA Ancient Agriculture and Paleoethnobotany Laboratory"
2018-05-23 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Dr. Alan Farahani, Postdoctoral Scholar, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLAThis talk is a summary of the research conducted by the research participants of the Ancient Agriculture and Paleoethnobotany Laboratory at the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology under the supervision of Postdoctoral Scholar Alan Farahani. Each research participant will present the results of their individual analyses on material deriving from the archaeological site of Dhiban, Jordan, inhabited ca. 1000 BCE to the present. The site of Dhiban (ancient Dibon) was the center of an Iron Age (ca. 800 – 600 BCE) polity known as Moab, and participants will present the results of archaeobotanical and artifactual analyses of a unique midden context from the most recent 2017 excavations. Moreover, laboratory members will also discuss the results of ceramic, faunal, and metallurgical analyses of material recovered from a Late Byzantine (ca. 550 CE) storeroom uncovered at Dhiban in 2013 and 2017. The cultural and historical implications of these data will be discussed with respect to the wider region of the southern Levant.

Pizza Talk: "Where Did All the Goths Go?"
2018-05-30 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Dr. Jana Skrgulja, Visiting Scholar, UCLAThe aim of the lecture is twofold: on the one hand, to survey main archaeological sites in the area between the eastern Adriatic and the river Drava, where the remnants of the material culture ascribed to the Goths have come to light in the past hundred years or so, with particular emphasis on southern Pannonian region, as well as to present and analyze the types of artifacts found; on the other hand, to address the still ongoing debate about the relationship between material culture and ethnic identity based on the selected examples of artifacts attributed to the Goths (in opposition to the so-called ethnic ascription method). Building upon the post-processualist approach, lecture also intend to contextualize the material evidence in terms of possibilites offered by the artifacts to provide information about burial customs, social identity and gender status.

Friday Seminar: "Watery landscapes in ancient Egypt, their depiction and why they mattered"
2018-06-01 15:00 - 17:00
Speaker: Dr. John Baines, University of OxfordStudies of ancient Egyptian landscapes tend to focus on Upper Egypt, where the Nile valley is generally narrow and the low desert and the escarpment form a pervasive background. This focus is due in part to patterns of preservation of ancient sites, which disproportionately favor the Nile valley and desert regions. Yet from prehistoric times representations of landscapes that are integral to architectural forms and ritual settings show watery environments, which from the third millennium onward are often those of the delta. The delta landscape was much more enveloping for those who lived within it, while for travelers on land and particularly water its perspective lacked the relief and visibility of Upper Egypt. Its characteristics spoke even more strongly than those of the Nile valley to the importance of the river, to the liminality and impermanence that human society seeks to overcome, and to the perpetual renewal vouchsafed by abundant growth. The focus on such environments, which is ideologically crucial, is evident also in elite pastimes with their partly ritual associations.

Landscapes of Boko Haram: History and Border Violence in Central Africa
2018-06-04 17:00 - 19:00
In conjunction with the opening of the Fowler Museum exhibit Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths, Dr. Scott MacEachern of Bowdoin College will present a lecture at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology on Monday, June 4.Please RSVP here.

Pizza Talk: "Samoan Hybridity: Fa'a Samoa and Lotu"
2018-06-06 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Dr. Brian Alofaituli, Visiting Scholar, Asian American Studies Department, UCLAThe syncretism of Sāmoa’s past and new religion blended different ideas that defined the way these Polynesians understood Christianity. The new belief system unsuccessfully suppressed the pre-Christian past of myths and legends, and faʻa-sāmoa (Sāmoan way of life and culture) navigated through the new terminologies and beliefs through Sāmoan practices. The matai (Sāmoan chief) played a significant role in the spread of Christianity. The hybrid of aspects of both the old tradition and the new lotu (church) impacted Sāmoa so immensely that within twenty years since the arrival of the Gospel there “were practically no self-confessed heathen left.” The following Sāmoan saying provides an apt description of the hybrid nature of the church and faʻa-sāmoa: ua vaʻavaʻalua le talalelei ma le aganuʻu (the Gospel and faʻa-sāmoa travel in the same canoe). Other relevant sayings inclued e puipui ele aganuʻu le talalelei (faʻa-sāmoa protects the Gospel), e mamalu le talalelei ona ole aganuʻu (the Gospel is prestigious and honored in Sāmoa because of faʻa-sāmoa). Both institutions were desirous of benefits, in need of support to achieve their goals, and more importantly they demanded as much control over the other as possible. This hybridity of culture and religion plays a significant role in Sāmoan communities in the diaspora today.

PIZZA TALK: PROCESSIONS AND COMMUNITY BOUNDARIES AMONG THE NORTHERN LOWLAND MAYA
2018-10-03 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Dr. Travis Stanton, Professor, Department of Anthropology, UC Riverside

Annual AIA Los Angeles County Society Fall Garden Party
2018-10-07 14:00 - 16:00
The Annual AIA Los Angeles County Society Fall Garden Party will be in the amphiteaterat the Fowler Museum on the UCLA campus on Sunday, October 7th from 2-4pm. Afterrefreshments and conversation we will move into Fowler A222 to hear reports from our two 2018Field School Scholarship awardees: Alexander Lin and Samantha Stott both of USC. Aaron Burkeand I will both present updates on our excavations as well. Please RSVP to Kristina Reed(kristina.s.reed@gmail.com) to reserve your place.

PIZZA TALK: Architectural Models from 6th century BC Selinunte as Votives: Reconstruction, Dating, Function
2018-10-10 12:00 - 13:00
Dr. Henner von Hesberg, Visiting Scholar, Getty VillaFragments of the imitations of smaller buildings are known from different sites in archaic Selinunte: the agora, the sanctuary of Demeter and from the acropolis. They can be reconstructed in three different types, or as a sort of open or closed box, or as a small temple with columns. The dating is possible in one part from the context, f.i. in the agora, where there are mainly strata from the archaic period until the end of the 5th century (destruction by the Carthagians). The main problem is the function. There is no doubt they are votives, but what kind do we have to consider? Interesting in the configuration of the models is the use of elements of the Doric order to express a special sort of monumentality.

An Enduring Legacy of Discard: The Archaeology of Garbage
2018-10-11 18:00 - 20:30
Since our humble beginnings, human’s have created and discarded unwanted objects: garbage is a human universal, and the archaeological record is brimming with it. Indeed, the everyday human experience – the routine domestic tasks we perform, the foods we process and eat, the goods we consume – is arguably best documented with our discards. Rarely glorified and difficult to romanticize, trash can challenge the dominant historical narrative, give voice to those without, and complicate our understandings of quotidian behavior. But an archaeology of trash is also situated to foster unique and often impactful perspectives on the ways that consumption and discard practices – both normative and fringe – implicate a myriad of phenomena not always easily gleaned from curated possessions, including ideologies of dissent, socially performed identities, dispossession, and ecological toxicity. Secretly aspiring to deepen your appreciation and awareness of garbage, this talk explores the curiously unpopular but promising fusion of archaeology and discard studies.Harry and Yvonne Lenart Auditorium at the Fowler Museum, UCLA6:00 pm, Thursday, October 11, 2018With a reception in the Fowler Museum Courtyard to follow RSVP by Friday, October 5, to Kelli O’Leary at koleary@support.ucla.eduAnthony GraeschAssociate Professor of Anthropology Chair of the Anthropology DepartmentConnecticut CollegeThis event is co-sponsored by:Director Willeke Wendrich, UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and The Institute for Field Research

FRIDAY SEMINAR: Material History: New Insights from the Study of Ancient Binding Media, Tutankhamun’s Dagger, and Red Lake Pigments
2018-10-12 16:00 - 18:00
Dr. Austin Nevin CNR Researcher, Politecnico MilanoBinding media, metals and pigments in works of art are material history – and are evidence of technology, artist practice, exchange and trade. Through the study and identification of materials, crucial data can be collected regarding physical and chemical stability thus informing conservation decisions. Three case studies of works of art and archaeological materials will draw on current research using portable instrumentation and cutting-edge analytical methods. Investigations on wall painting fragments from the ancient Canannite capital Tel Kabri allowed the identification of degraded binding media from the Aegean style wall paintings that date to the 18th C. B.C.E. The discovery of traces of organic media in the characteristic blue paint is significant for the conservation and treatment of the paintings, for understanding of the sophistication of painting practise and the use of egg-based binding media in the Eastern Mediterranean, and more broadly also questions the presence of domestic animals in the region. The second case study focuses on Tutenkhamun’s dagger that was analyzed using portable instrumentation at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. New data established conclusively that the well-conserved ornamental blade was fashioned from finely worked meteoritic iron. The identification was possible though the comparison of data acquired from the dagger with known meteor samples, and the calculation of ratios of Nickel and Cobalt. Organic red lake pigments are the focus of the third case study. Analysis demonstrates how deep crimson pigments from European insects were adopted by Leonardo in the Last Supper, and how, by contrast, Veronese adopted newly introduced Mexican pigments from cochineal insects. The molecular characterization of cross-sections demonstrate the use of similar kermes-based lakes in paintings by Leonardo and Masolino, and carmine-based reds in paintings by Tintoretto and Veronese, while also revealing soluble uncomplexed dyes in samples that has direct implications for conservation, cleaning and lighting. Research will ultimately demonstrate the benefits of synergistic collaborative studies across disciplines.

PIZZA TALK:The Bubasteion and its New Kingdom Tombs at Saqqara. Results and Challenges.
2018-10-17 12:00 - 13:00
The Bubasteion and its New Kingdom Tombs at Saqqara. Results and Challenges.Dr. Alain Zivie, Director, French Archaeological Mission of the Bubasteionat Saqqara

FRIDAY SEMINAR:The Origins and Spread of Agriculture in SW Asia: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Anatolia
2018-10-19 16:00 - 18:00
Dr. Levent Atici, Associate Professor, University of Nevada, Las Vegas The revolutionary socioeconomic transformation of societies from foraging to farming in Southwest Asia shortly after 10,000 calibrated years BC and the subsequent spread of emergent agropastoral lifeways across Anatolia and into Southeast Europe (a.k.a., Neolithization) have been one of the most ruminated topics in archaeology. Recent archaeological research in Anatolia have greatly contributed to a better understanding of the origins and dispersal of agricultural economies. Körtik Tepe is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA; 10th millennium B.C.) complex forager site in the Upper Tigris Valley with a well-dated stratigraphy, hundreds of human burials, hundreds of round architectural structures, and a highly sophisticated symbolism. Uğurlu Höyük is a Neolithic settlement on Gökçeada, the largest Turkish island situated between Anatolia and the European continent in the Aegean Sea, and currently the only site with an early Neolithic component (ca. 7000 cal BC) in the eastern Aegean. This talk combines the results of zooarchaeological research at two Anatolian sites, representing two distinct points on the animal exploitation continuum, and offers new insights into the origins and dispersal of domesticated animals in SW Asia and adjacent areas.

Graduate Student Workshop and Public Lectures: Urban Animals Past and Present
2018-10-20 09:00 - 17:00
Urban Animals Past and PresentGraduate Student Workshop and Public LecturesSaturday October 20, 2018UCLA La Kretz GardenPavilionCities are full of animals: wild and domestic, tame and feral. In this workshop, we will focus on all of the ways that animals exist within human urban ecosystems as sources of food, companionship, and aesthetic pleasure, and how animals also act as scavengers, nutrient recyclers, and vectors for the transmission of diseases such as plague, rabies, and monkeypox. Given the global and rapid pace of urbanization, these phenomena constitute a critical component of urban studies as well as animal management strategies.Schedule9:00-12:00 Graduate student presentations (if you would like to participate, please submit a five-page,double-spaced summary of your dissertation research no later than October 1, 2018)Lunch break2:00-5:00 Public presentations by Judy Stamps (University of California, Davis) Levent Atici (University of Nevada-Las Vegas) Ian MacGregor-Fors (INECOL Institute of Ecology, Veracruz, Mexico)Reception to followFor further details please contact co-organizersMonica L. Smith (smith@anthro.ucla.edu) and Pamela Yeh (pamelayeh@ucla.edu)Sponsored by:UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA Department of Anthropology,UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair in Indian StudiesUCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, UCLA Department of Urban Planning

Ahmanson Lecture: “Pictures of the Past: Introduction to the Rock Art of Western North America”
2018-10-20 14:00
An Ahmanson lecture, co-sponsored by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and in recognition of International Archaeology Day, will be on Saturday, October 20th at 2PM at the Fowler Museum Room A222 at UCLA. David Lee, an independent scholar, will present “Pictures of the Past: Introduction to the Rock Art of Western North America”

PIZZA TALK: Meroitic Kush and Rome: The Politics of Temple Piety and Religious Identities
2018-10-24 12:00 - 13:00
Dr. Salim Faraji, Professor, Department of Africana Studies, CSU Dominguez Hills

FRIDAY SEMINAR: Ethics in Archaeology Panel Discussion
2018-10-26 12:00 - 13:00
Ethics in Archaeology Panel DiscussionWith Drs. Willeke Wendrich, John Papadopoulos, Lothar Von Falkenhausen, and Steven Acabado This workshop will focus on the importance of what is coming out of the ground and what happens to it afterwards. The following questions will be among the topics discussed:Who is responsible for ancient artifacts and what are they responsible for?What are the grey areas?What is the difference between personal responsibility of individuals and professionals working at universities vs. individuals working with private or public collections?What relationship should there be between public and private stake holders?How do other countries handle issues regarding cultural heritage? Attendance is highly recommended for 1st and 2nd year Cotsen Students

PIZZA TALK: Decoding Andean Formative Iconography: Didactic Images, Esoteric Knowledge, and the Emergence of Complexity on the North Coast of Peru
2018-10-31 12:00 - 13:00
Dr. Cathy Lynne Costin, Professor, Department of Anthropology, CSU NorthridgeRevisiting North Coast Formative Period Ceramic Iconography: the Case for Foundational Ritual PowerIn my current research, I am building an argument that a larger proportion of North Coast Formative ceramic iconography reflects the consumption of therapeutic and psychoactive substances than is generally acknowledged in recent scholarship and that both the content and mode of these images inform us about the processes through which emerging elites began to consolidate their power. First, I propose that far more of the three dimensional forms reference psychoactive substances than current interpretations enumerate and that many images allude to mental and bodily experiences associated with altered states of consciousness. Then, I suggest that two dimensional motifs rendered in faint, postfire incisions discernable only to those in close proximity to the vessels record tightly-controlled esoteric knowledge concerning the preparation and ingestion of psychoactive substances and/or the interpretation of visionary experiences. All told, I demonstrate how ritual specialists controlled and deployed sacred imagery and ritual knowledge during the time in which social complexity first developed in the Andean region.

FRIDAY SEMINAR: Conservation Actions and Reactions: Matter of Fact or Perception?
2018-11-02 16:00 - 18:00
AbstractEvolution in conservation practice generally reflects wider contextual developments. These, whether scientific or societal, can however overshadow other developments within conservation which could inform scholarly studies of the objects and improve effective management of heritage assets. Awareness of these influences is nevertheless critical since any conservation action, regardless how small and seemingly unimportant can potentially affect how objects are perceived and interpreted. This talk will focus on research aimed at understanding object perceptions and professional cognitive dissonances and biases. Starting from the alteration and deterioration of surfaces as a natural process and cleaning as a professional reaction to this, I will discuss how small, often unaccounted for activities result in changes at both micro and macro levels which can dramatically alter an object.Damien Hirst’s The Miraculous Journey made of fourteen silicon bronze statues projecting the development of a foetus from conception to birth located in Doha, Qatar will be used as an example of how to monitor change in a highly polluted coastal environment. This involves monitoring of corrosion, particulates and pollutants as well as humidity and temperature to understand how these processes affect perception and appreciation of the artwork. The second part of the talk will focus on professional decisions in conservation with particular a focus on cleaning. Cleaning can influence both professional and public perception of objects. The results of the research project Coming Clean which investigated factors affecting decision making in relation to cleaning will be presented. This includes research on public perception of dirt and cleanliness at two National Trust properties and two exhibition galleries at the British Museum, analysis of literature surveys and review of treatment records. The research findings are revealing in relation to professional justification of cleaning and the way public values the museum experience. Statistical analysis of the data and innovative methods including machine learning data mining methods will be presented. Recognising and raising awareness of our biases within conservation is important to change attitudes, and can have a direct impact on other scholarly fields.Short bioStavroula Golfomitsou (BA, PhD, FIIC) is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to this she was a lecturer in conservation studies at UCL Qatar where she set up and coordinated the MSc in Conservation Studies, an innovative, student-led, inquiry- and research-based degree. She has over twenty years of international working experience in Europe, Middle East and Latin America. Her research interests focus on corrosion and conservation of metals and the broader implications of conservation on the perception and valorisation of heritage. She is coordinator of the Coming Clean research project which investigates decision-making processes in cleaning of cultural heritage and the factors affecting them. She was also PI in the Materiality and Preservation in Islamic Contexts project (2015-2017). Stavroula holds a PhD in Conservation of Metals from University College London (UCL) and is a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) and a Trustee and member of the IIC Council.

PIZZA TALK: Digging Ancient Egyptian Jewelry Mines
2018-11-07 12:00 - 13:00
Bio:Dr. Kate Liszka is Assistant Professor with the Department of History at California State University, San Bernardino, and holds her degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.), and from 2012 to 2015 was a Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer with Princeton University. Her areas of specialization are Nubians in Egypt, the Medjay, ethnicity and identity in Antiquity, multicultural Interactions in frontier regions, the Pangrave Archaeological Culture, and large-scale mining expeditions in Antiquity. Dr. Liszka is the Director of the Wadi el-Hudi Expedition in the Egyptian Eastern Desert.

Archaeology of Ancient Israel Lecture Series: “Israel and the Samaria Highlands: A Nomad Settlement Wave or Urban Expansion during the Early Iron Age?”
2018-11-13 14:00 - 15:00
“Israel and the Samaria Highlands: A Nomad Settlement Wave or Urban Expansion during the Early Iron Age?”Dr. Yuval Gadot, Director of the Institute of ArchaeologyTel Aviv University Tuesday, November 13 at 2 PMKaplan (formerly Humanities) A51 Archaeology of Ancient Israel Lecture SeriesCo-sponsored by the UCLA NELC Department, Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology The Iron I period witnessed a wave of settlements in the highlands of Israel, mostly in Samaria and to some extent in the Upper Galilee and Judah. This wave is usually associated with the genesis of Ancient Israel and is interpreted in light of the collapse of Canaanite urban centers at the end of the 12th century BCE. This lecture reconsiders the reasons behind this wave of settlement throughout the Samaria Highlands during the Iron I (1200-1000 BCE) in light of new understanding of the social and economic reality on the coastal plain, the Jezreel, Jordan, and Hula Valleys, and the regions surrounding the Samaria Highlands.Please email Aaron Burke (aaburke@ucla.edu) to RSVP.
