Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Open House

Fowler OutSpoken TalkTua Pittman on Traditional Sea Voyaging and NavigationSaturday, April 30, 1:30 pm Internationally recognized as a traditional voyaging seafarer, Tua Pitman has navigated canoes for over thirty years without the use of modern instruments. He uses a traditional navigation system based on observations of the stars, sun, moon, the ocean swells, the flight […]

Pizza Talk: “Currents and Commodities: How Oceanographic Effects Influenced the Prehistoric Colonization of Islands”

Speaker: Scott Fitzpatrick, University of OregonFor many island societies worldwide, the acquisition and exchange of prized resources was fundamental to developing and maintaining social, political, and economic relationships. The patchiness of resources like stone, clay, tempering agents, shell, and animals often led to differential access which then helped to fuel the rise of social complexity. This […]

Friday Seminar: “Pottery as Information Technology on the North Coast of Andean South America”

Speaker: Dr. Cathy Costin, California State University, NorthridgeAlthough some have suggested that North Coast ceramics are characterized by a stable technological style over thousands of  years, evidence indicates that several aesthetic and technological styles "coexisted" with one another; they waxed and waned in popularity depending in large measure on the social and political environments in […]

Wep Wa-ut in Westwood: Ancient Technology

The ancient world is characterized by technological innovations and the creation of beautiful objects of art and daily life. On this public lecture day UCLA graduate and undergraduate students will explore who the people were that made these, what techniques they used, and how we can learn about their social circumstances.This event is free and […]

Pizza Talk: “Pars pro toto: Prehistoric Pottery Fragments and Archaeological Narratives at Ancient Methone, Northern Greece”

Speaker: Dr. Marriana Nikolaidou, UCLAMarianna Nikolaidou holds a Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Thessaloniki in Greece, and is a research associate at the Cotsen Institute since 1994. Her research and fieldwork focus on the Neolithic and Bronze Ages of the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. She has published extensively on gender issues, symbolism […]

Friday Seminar: ” ‘What is the Past But a Once Material Existence Now Silenced?’ Understanding the Archaeology and History of Egypt’s First Intermediate Period”

Speaker: Dr. Thomas Schneider, University of British ColumbiaThe First Intermediate Period has presented archaeology and historiography with significant epistemological problems. Gaps in the evidence available to us and the uncertainty about how to interpret a variety of material and textual sources, have as much led to widely different views as modern paradigmatic shifts, depicting theFIP either as a […]

Pizza Talk: “Ceramics from Mai Adrasha, Ethiopia: A First Look at the Western Highlands”

Speaker: Rachel Moy, PhD Candidate, UCLAThis talk will summarize the preliminary results of the first season of excavation and research of the UCLA Shire Project at the site of Mai Adrasha in the northwestern Ethiopian highlands. I will discuss how Mai Adrasha fits into what we know of a larger pre-Aksumite to Early Aksumite cultural […]

Friday Seminar: ” ‘Mycenae, Rich in Silver’: Silver, Gold, and Maritime Trade in the Early Mycenaean World”

Speaker: Dr. Jorrit Kelder, University of OxfordThis presentation aims to provide an overview of the earliest contacts between the Greek (Mycenaean) world and Egypt, between ca. 1600 BC and 1100 BC. By highlighting a number of objects that have been found in Egypt and the Aegean, this paper proposes that the earliest contacts between these two regions may […]