An Enduring Legacy of Discard: The Archaeology of Garbage

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 […]

FRIDAY SEMINAR: Material History: New Insights from the Study of Ancient Binding Media, Tutankhamun’s Dagger, and Red Lake Pigments

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 […]

FRIDAY SEMINAR:The Origins and Spread of Agriculture in SW Asia: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Anatolia

 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 […]

Graduate Student Workshop and Public Lectures: Urban Animals Past and Present

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, […]

FRIDAY SEMINAR: Ethics in Archaeology Panel Discussion

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 […]

PIZZA TALK: Decoding Andean Formative Iconography: Didactic Images, Esoteric Knowledge, and the Emergence of Complexity on the North Coast of Peru

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 […]