Pizza Talk:Household Archaeology at Middle Preclassic La Blanca, Guatemala

Speaker:Dr. Michael W. LoveProfessorDepartment of AnthropologyCSU NorthridgeAbstract:The Preclassic Period on the Pacific coast of Guatemala and Chiapas was a dynamic time, beginning with the establishment of the first sedentary villages and ending with the large city-states of the Late Preclassic.  Although royal tombs and stelae with portraits of rulers capture the headlines, household archaeology offers […]

Cotsen Speaker Series w/ Guest Lecturer, Professor Alison Wylie

The inaugural event in the Cotsen Speaker Series, this is a two-day program consisting of a talk and panel discussion, that will allow scholars from both UCLA and the wider world to showcase a range of intellectual, theoretical, and research perspectives. Click Here to RSVP  December 5th, 4pm -6pmWitnessing and Translating: The Indigenous/Science ProjectSpeaker: Alison WylieProfessor, University of […]

PIZZA TALK: The Impact of Lidar on Archaeological Research at the Ancient Maya City of Caracol, Belize

SPEAKER:Dr. Arlen F. ChaseVisiting ProfessorDept. of AnthropologyPomona CollegeABSTRACT:Perceptions about the ancient Maya have changed significantly in the last decade with the advent of new technologies and as a result of continuous dedicated research that seeks to define their social and political organization. With its ability to penetrate dense tropical canopies, LiDAR has revolutionized the field […]

The Promise of “Virtual Unwrapping” – Reading the Invisible Library

The UCLA/Getty Conservation Program presents “The man who can read the unreadable,” computer scientist and professor W. Brent Seales, the first speaker in the 50th Anniversary Lecture Series. Currently a Getty Conservation Institute Scholar, Seales and his team have been key to revealing texts on papyri that are too fragile to unroll, such as Homers […]

PIZZA TALK: Historical Preservation & Caltrans Archaeology

SPEAKER:George D. EversonAdjunct ProfessorDept. of AnthropologyMt. San Jacinto CollegeABSTRACT:Cultural Resource Management (CRM) has become a mainstay in our society for professional archaeologists and architectural historians. The California Department of Transportation (more commonly known as Caltrans) has their own staff of professionals to ensure that highway projects comply with applicable environmental laws. Specifically, Caltrans has professionals […]

Indigenous Los Angeles—The Power of Online Exhibitions

Fowler Curator of Archaeology Wendy Giddens Teeter will discuss the importance of the collaborative web-based project Mapping Indigenous Los Angeles and her experiences working with the Tongva and indigenous communities to forefront the multiple historical layers of Los Angeles. She will also speak about national and international repatriation efforts as UCLA’s Native American Graves Protection […]

PIZZA TALK: Contextualizing Roman Republican Sacrifice

SPEAKER:Dr. Claudia MoserAssociate ProfessorDept. of History of Art & ArchitectureUC Santa BarbaraABSTRACT:This talk explores what we can learn about Roman Republican sacrifice through the study of the material remains of sacrifice and the architectural settings in which the ritual occurs. I will argue that by examining the material record of sacrifice --the aniconic altars of […]

PIZZA TALK: Initial Conditions for Biocultural Evolution in China: Understanding the Relationship Between Genetic Selection and Archaeological Remains

SPEAKER:Dr. Ryan NicholsAssociate Professor Dept. of PhilosophyCal State FullertonABSTRACT:The purpose of this paper is to preliminarily explain the initial conditions and key forces from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and pre-Imperial periods that contributed to distinctive features of subsequent Chinese culture, and to do so in accordance with an explicit model of cultural transmission. The paper opens with […]

Screening of “The Old Kiyyangan Story”

The Old Kiyyangan Story, an anthropological film based on oral histories and archaeological excavations at the Old Kiyyangan Village, Ifugao, Philippines, will be presented January 31 at 5pm in the Anthropology Reading Room. In addition to the film screening, there will be a research presentation and Q & A with co-screenwriter and Associate Professor of […]