Worcester Society

AIA - Worcester Society

Bringing the best of the world's

archaeological discoveries

to central New England

COMING UP: Meanings in Early Celtic Art Sunday, 7 March 2010 at 3pm at Worcester Art Museum

The AIA - Worcester Society is the local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America: our members are both enthusiasts and professionals. We welcome everyone with an interest in archaeology and its related fields, and depend upon member support to fund archaeological research, publications, and lecture programs. Please join us at the next lecture and sign up! Enjoy member-only events and meeting other people with similar interests. Read more about the AIA...

An informal reception immediately follows all the lectures to meet with our speaker and other members. We usually meet at the Worcester Art Museum (if you use the Lancaster Street entrance, museum admission is not required for the lectures). This museum has an impressive collection of art and artifacts from ancient civilizations worldwide -- plan on spending some time in the galleries before or after a lecture! Directions

Members Only: Please join us after our lectures in taking the speaker out to dinner. These informal dinners, usually at a local restaurant, are a great way to get to know your fellow members and enjoy meeting our fascinating speakers in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. Hear behind-the-scenes stories and ask questions about your own interests in archaeology. If you're not yet a member, sign up today! Go to the Membership Page to download an application; our Local Society code is #202. Or you can simply sign up right at our lectures, look for our welcome table with brochures. For less than $5 a month, you can lend your support to preserving the world's archaeological and cultural treasures, and participate in all our Lectures, members-only benefits and special events. Please see the Archaeological Institute of America home page for more details on becoming an AIA Local Society Member.

The AIA and the Worcester Art Museum are delighted to offer members of either group a reciprocal membership offer: any AIA member is now entitled, as a perk of AIA membership, to receive a $10 discount off a WAM membership. WAM members enjoy free admission throughout the year, discounts at the cafe, gift store, educational classes and special events. WAM members can also receive $10 off an AIA membership! Two great organizations at a great price. Simply reference your AIA or WAM membership when you join or renew your membership by using the MUSWAM code online or noting it on your membership brochure. For any questions, please contact the AIA office for assistance.

Check out the article "Maya Doomsday? The Truth Behind 2012" in the latest issue of Archaeology magazine!

For six years, archaeologist Ben Thomas and members of the Xibun Archaeological Research Project (XARP) conducted a comprehensive archaeological survey of the Sibun River and its environs in Belize, Central America. XARP is focused on political, ritual, and economic transformations of Terminal Classic Maya society. The project’s main objective was to document and evaluate the myriad factors that affected the settlement choices made by the ancient Maya settlers who lived along the banks of the Sibun River. While searching for Maya settlements, ancient cacao groves and the remains of a lost church, the team uncovered 22 ancient Maya sites and evidence for ritual use of caves in the shadow of the Sleeping Giant mountain ridge. One of the most interesting finds were unexpected round temples or structures associated with stone monuments, such as stelae and altars.

These finds increased our understanding of Maya adaptive strategies and how they were affected both by geography and ideology: while the fertile alluvial plains of the Sibun River attracted settlers it was the proximity of the sacred caves in the limestone karst bordering the settlements which imbued the landscape with symbolic significance. Examples of geographic adaptation include the location of settlements to control access to waterways and resources: at the confluence of river and streams, at the place where the river emerges from its mountain sources on to the plain, and at the mouth of the river to control the movement of goods and information from the Caribbean. Ideological adaptation is shown in the extensive evidence of considerable movement between caves and settlements: the removal of cave formations like stalactites and stalagmites from the nearby caves, as well as the placing pottery and stone tools in the caves.

Dr. Ben Thomas is the Director of Programs for the Archaeological Institute of America and Assistant professor of Art and Archaeology at Berklee College of Music. An informal reception to meet the speaker immediately follows the talk. This event is free and open to the public, courtesy of the Archaeological Institute of America-Worcester Society and the Worcester Art Museum.

In 1986 a 2,000-year-old boat was discovered in Israel on the banks of the Sea of Galilee (Yam Kinneret) near the ancient site of Migdal. In a daring and hair-raising non-stop
adventure, directed by the speaker, the boat was excavated, packaged in its entirety, and moved to a specially-prepared conservation pool. The boat lived its life during the first centuries B.C.-A.D. This vessel is apparently representative of the large-type all-purpose fishing boats common on the lake during that time. Research reveals , beyond reasonable doubt, that this is the type of boat mentioned in the Gospels, used by the disciples of Jesus. It is also the type of boat used by the Jews in the brutal nautical Battle of Migdal in A.D. 67, against a makeshift Roman fleet. The lecture describes the adventure of the boat’s discovery and excavation, and then delves into what research has revealed about the boat and its milieu.

Dr. Shelley Wachsmann is with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, and the Meadows Professor of Biblical Archaeology with the Nautical Archaeology Program atTexas A& M University. He received his degrees from the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University (M.A. and Ph.D.); his areas of specialization are Biblical archaeology, nautical archaeology, the Near East, trade, and archery. He has done extensive fieldwork, and his publications include “The Sea of Galilee Boat” (3^rd edition 2009) and “Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant” (1998, 2^nd printing 2009). In 1997 his book "Sea of Galilee Boat: An Extraordinary 2000 Year Old Discovery" (Plenum: New York) received the Biblical Archaeology Society’s Biennial award for best popular book on archaeology.

Websites of interest: the Homepage for Dr. Wachsmann, The Danaos Project, and the Persian War Shipwreck Survey
Short bibliography on lecture topic (for lay reader):
Wachsmann, S., 1988. The Galilee Boat: 2,000-Year-Old Hull Recovered Intact. Biblical Archaeology Review 14/5: 18-33.
Wachsmann, S., 2009. The Sea of Galilee Boat. College Station, Texas A&M University Press.

The AIA - Worcester Society is pleased to recommend a talk from a sister organization, the Central Massachusetts Chapter of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society. The talk will take place at the Zion Lutheran Church at 41 Whitmarsh Avenue in Worcester, MA. The event is free and open to the public. In May of 2009, Dr. Curtiss Hoffman (Department of Anthropology, Bridgewater State College) led a study tour of twenty Bridgewater State College students to the Kingdom of Jordan to explore its rich heritage, going back close to one million years. They visited many sites, as guests of Yarmouk University, al-Hussein bin Talal University, and the Petra College of Archaeology, Tourism, and Hotel Management. This talk will follow the tour, as well as focusing on some of the high points of the site visits. For more information, please visit the Central Mass Chapter of MAS website.

The style known as Early Celtic Art appeared around 500 BC in central and western Europe, replacing the geometrical ornament of the Early Iron Age. This new style, with its dynamic patterns of floral forms and abundant use of human and animal faces and figures, became the basis not only for the Celtic art of the Late Iron Age, but also for the art styles of the Late Roman and early medieval periods, Anglo-Saxon and Viking ornament, and later decorative fashions. Recent archaeological discoveries enable us to examine

the first uses of this new style and to address the question of its meaning to the people who created and used it.

Professor Peter S. Wells is with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He received his degrees from the University of Tübingen and Harvard (Ph.D.), and specializes in European archaeology, especially of the Bronze & Iron Ages, the Roman Period, and the early medieval period. Dr. Wells has done extensive fieldwork in Germany and his recent main publications include “Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsidered” (W.W. Norton, 2008) and “Image and Response in Early Europe” (2008, Duckworth).

Short bibliography on lecture topic (for lay reader): Megaw, R. and V. Celtic Art. Thames and Hudson, 1989.

Wells, P.S. Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythians: Archaeology and Identity in Iron Age Europe. Duckworth, 2001.

In comparative terms, there has been less archaeology done in Africa than on any other continent, and the prehistory of large areas remains more or less unknown. Progress in historical genetics in Africa, particularly over the last decade, offers an extremely powerful way of looking at population movements and contacts in the past, and the comparison of archaeological and genetic data offers the prospects of a vast improvement in our understanding of African prehistory. At the

same time, there are dangers attendant in such interdisciplinary undertakings: archaeological and genetic data offer insights into different aspects of human history, and each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. This lecture will offer a discussion of these issues, with examples drawn from the Lake Chad Basin and other parts of the continent.

This talk is presented as a special Lobban Lecturehip. The Lobban Lectureship is offered to support public presentations on archaeological subjects based upon research on the African continent. It was established in 1999 by Dr. Richard A. Lobban, Jr. in gratitude to, and in memory of, his parents Dorothy and Richard Lobban and his grandparents Sarah and James Lobban from whom he gained his own intellectual curiosity about ancient civilizations and the African continent.

Scott MacEachern is Professor of Anthropology with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bowdoin College. He holds his degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island and the University of Calgary (M.A. and Ph.D. in Archaeology), and his areas of specialization are African archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, state formation processes, and archaeology and genetics. He has conducted fieldwork in Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, as well as a number of sites in Canada. He has published extensively, and has been the recipient of many grants and fellowships.

2007 Where in Africa does Africa start? Identity, genetics and African Studies from the Sahara to Darfur. Journal of Social Archaeology 7(3):393-412.

Our Travels In Archaeology Series ventures further afield this year with a virtual trip to exotic Mongolia, the Land of Blue Sky. With its blend of Shamanist and Tibetan Buddhist art and culture against a breathtaking backdrop of golden steppes, Mongolia has become an exciting travel destination. We explore four beautiful sites as we examine threats to Mongolia's archaeological and cultural heritage: unmanaged tourism, looting, the illicit trade in antiquities and rapid development. Encountering painted rock carvings, the legacy of Ghengis Khaan, buried Tibetan manuscripts and the ruins of a once flourishing intellectual center of learning, this lecture looks at the devastating consequences of an authoritarian regime's policy of cultural heritage decimation in the 1930s and the determination of 21C Mongolia to protect its past for the future. Travel advice includes getting around, living in a ger (yurt) and how to drink airag (fermented mare's milk), as well as tips for travel photography.

Alexandra Cleworth serves on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America and chairs the AIA committee on Conservation and Heritage Management.

What kinds of topics does the AIA - Worcester Society feature in its programs? Check out some of our past events to see our diversity:

Accidentally unearthed by a farmer in 1995, the exquisite 3^rd century AD Vichten Mosaic is a large mosaic of great importance from Northern Gaul. It originally covered the floor of the central reception room in one of the most remarkable Roman villas ever discovered in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Exceptionally well preserved, it shows in very detailed iconography the nine Muses, the goddesses protecting the arts, in the company of Homer, the prince of poets. Taking this spectacular discovery as a starting point, Professor Michel Polfer, Director of the Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art in Luxembourg and Associated Professor at the University of Luxembourg, will present the major results of ongoing archaeological excavation and research. The focus of the illustrated talk will be on Romanization: the process of gradual and progressive integration of local populations into all the aspects of the Roman Empire. Professor Polfer will take the audience on an illustrated tour back into the three centuries following the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar (c. 50 BCE) and its administrative reorganization under Augustus.

Prof. Dr. Polfer (pictured at right) has a PhD in Roman Archaeology from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg-im-Breisgau. His research interests include the archaeology of Northern Gaul in the Roman and Merovingian period as well as the archaeology of crafts in the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire, as well as the history and archaeology of early Christianization in northwestern Gaul. Since 2007 he has been a member of the National commission for monuments and sites of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg . He is this year's guest speaker of the Henry J. Leir Luxembourg Program-Clark University. This program invites prominent Luxembourg citizens and scholars to give lectures on themes related to Luxembourg and/or European affairs. Born in Germany, Mr. Leir (1900 - 1998, pictured below left) was an extremely successful businessman who eventually emigrated to the USA fleeing Nazi persecution. His love of languages, literature and the arts laid the groundwork for the numerous awards and honors he received in his life, and continues today in the provisions and gifts he made to countless programs benefitting the public.

In 1998, President Clinton declassified 800,000 photographs from CORONA, the United States’ first spy satellite program, in order to make them available for environmental and historical research. Archaeologists working in the Near East have been quick to embrace this newly available resource, which capture images of sites and landscapes in the 1960’s. Many of these landscapes have been damaged or destroyed in the intervening 40 years. This presentation will discuss how CORONA imagery has been used to study ancient landscapes in the Near East, with case studies from Bronze Age Syria, Iron Age northern Iraq, and late Antique north-western Iran.

CORONA was the first operational space photo reconnaissance satellite, approved by President Dwight David Eisenhower in February 1958. The project was conceived to take pictures in space of the Soviet Bloc countries and de-orbit the photographic film for processing and exploitation. Early imagery collections were driven, in part, by the need to confirm purported developments in Soviet strategic missile capabilities.

Worldwide photographic coverage was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other U.S. Government mapping programs.

Dr. Jason Ur is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, specializing in Near Eastern Archaeology, especially urbanism and landscape studies. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago. His areas of specialization are landscape archaeology, ancient urbanism, Mesopotamian and Near Eastern archaeology, and GIS and remote sensing applications in archaeology. His current field work includes surveys in NE Syria (Tell Brak), SE Turkey (Upper Tigris Vally), and NW Iran (Mughan Steppe); he has also done field work in Jordan, Egypt and Israel. He is also a Project Member of Modeling Ancient Settlement Systems (MASS) Project (University of Chicago-Argonne National Laboratory), a NSF Biocomplexity in the Environment Program-funded project to develop a dynamic social model of Ancient Near Eastern civilization.

Our Travels In Archaeology Series continues as we follow a driving loop starting in Limerick (just outside Shannon Airport), up along the western coast of Ireland to include the Dingle Peninsula before sailing across the water to Inis Mor, the main island off the west coast (the Aran Islands grouping). On our return drive we'll follow the coastal route along the beautiful Cliffs of Mohr. In addition to medieval stone 'bee-hive' huts and sunken churches, we will focus on the four extraordinary prehistoric stone ring-forts of Inis Mor. Dún Aengus is the most famous of these mysterious sites, cited by the 19th-century archaeologist George Petrie as ‘the most magnificent barbaric monument extant in Europe’ and still one of the most visited sites in all of western Ireland. Dún Eoghanachta (Fort of the Eóganachta), Dún Eochla, and the spectacular Dún Dúchatair (the Black Fort) represent stunning examples of these cashels, which range in timeframe from roughly 1500 BCE to 800 AD. We will explore their common features which include terracing of the walls, chevaux de frise construction, stone steps leading to upper levels, and passages and chambers within the walls. Neolithic tombs and medieval sacred wells complete this journey around the Gaeltacht part of Ireland.

We will also discuss driving tips, great B&B's and other lodging options, recommended reading for archaeology fans, and ideas for excursions. One of the most interesting daytrips is a visit to the Great Blasket (Na Blascaodaí), an island off the coast of Dingle, which is famous for its wealth of literature (many have likened the stories and poems to the Homeric style), much of it born of sadness: the island was officially abandoned in 1953 as its isolated life no longer proved viable for the islanders, many of whom emigrated to Springfield, MA. We finish with an exploration of the challenges and concerns of archaeological tourism in a wider context.

Alexandra Cleworth serves on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America as the Vice-President for Societies; she also chairs the AIA Conservation and Heritage Management committee. Her most recent trip to Ireland was to present at the World Archaeological Congress, held in Dublin June/July 2008. Interested in protecting Ireland's cultural heritage and archaeological areas? Please visit the AIA's webpage Archaeology Watch to learn more about current threats to the beautiful Hill of Tara, the most well-known place in Ireland for its historic and cultural importance.

Based on a new book by Dr Lothar von Falkenhausen, entitled Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius, this lecture explores the most up-to-date archaeological discoveries from the second and first millennia BCE that can illuminate the social structure during the formative period of Chinese civilization. This illustrated presentation will also discuss the cataclysmic social changes that preceded the founding of a centralized autocratic state by the First Emperor of Qin in 221 BC. The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1000-250 BC) was a crucial period during which the Chinese Classics came into being and famous thinkers such as Confucius (ca. 551-479 BC) laid the intellectual foundations of traditional Chinese civilization. In his work, Falkenhausen analyzes clan and lineage organization, social stratification, gender and ethnic differences, as well as social change over time. He not only presents new data, but also thinks about these data in new ways, emphasizing the nexus between the social order and ritual practices and introducing anthropological approaches as-yet rarely tested in China.

Lothar von Falkenhausen is Professor of Chinese Archaeology and Art History and Associate Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. He received his PhD in anthropology(1988) from Harvard University; he also attended (for two years each) the University of Bonn (1977-79), Peking University (1979-81), and Kyôto University (1984-86). His specialty is East Asian archaeology, with an emphasis on the great Bronze Age of China (ca. 2000-200 BC).

He has published approximately one hundred articles, books, and edited volumes on a number of different topics; the two most important being his book Suspended Music: Chime Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China (1993), and his chapter on the archaeology of the late Bronze Age in The Cambridge History of Ancient China (1999).

The Forensic Science Behind the Recovery & Identification of U.S. War Casualties

The United States is virtually alone among countries in its commitment to search for, recover, and identify the remains of its soldiers lost in military conflicts. Beginning with the work of the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratories (CILs) that operated following World War II, and continuing through the Korean and Vietnam wars, the United States has maintained a proactive program to account for its war dead. Today, the Department of Defense Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) has 18 search-and-recovery teams deployed almost continuously-from the ice-covered peaks of the Himalayas to the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, from the triple-canopy jungles of Papua New Guinea to the rock-strewn deserts of the Middle East-in search of the almost 90,000 American servicemen still unaccounted for since the end of the Second World War. The current CIL, the largest skeletal identification laboratory in the world, is identifying approximately two men a week.

Excavation areas can look like typical archaeological squares, laid out with pegs and strings in geometrical precision. Where they take place can be anything but typical: remote sites difficult for maneuvering people and equipment, such as a grid of four meter squares climbing down the mountainside, or knee-deep in cold water and mud. Added to this can be the danger of excavating explosives which must be disarmed and reburied to prevent accidental detonation. DNA samples along with recovered personal artifacts are examined by a variety of specialists to piece together the story. Here archaeology is used not to tell us about how people in ancient cultures lived, but how army service personnel in living memory died.

Holland routinely briefs high-ranking military and government officials including the secretaries of State and Defense, and has served in scientific advisory roles to the National Institute of Justice and the International Commission on Missing Persons. Holland and his laboratory are frequently featured on such programs as Discovery, Nightline, 60 Minutes, NPR, and Nova. He is also a writer: please see Dr. Hollland's website for information about his thrillers One Drop of Blood and the upcoming (January 2008) K.I.A.

In October 11, 1492, the soon-to-be-styled Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Cristoforo Colon, landed on San Salvador and almost immediately encountered its aboriginal inhabitants, the soon-to-be-extirpated Taino. He, either directly or more likely through the medium of his crew, posed a series of questions which in one way or another have been asked ever since: Who are these people; Where did they come from; How did they get here; and perhaps most vexatiously, When did they arrive? Discoveries at Folsom, New Mexico in 1926 indicated that the First Americans were contemporaries with now extinct Ice Age fauna and subsequent discoveries at Black Water Draw demonstrated a human presence at least 11,500 radiocarbon years ago. Since that time, more than 500 archaeological sites have been claimed to be older than the widespread Clovis horizon, though very few of them have stood up to scientific scrutiny. A review of the handful of sites which have withstood the criticism, including Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania and Monte Verde in Chile, indicates that not only have humans been in the New World considerably earlier than the 11,500 year-old Clovis horizon but that they were leading lifeways radically different than those posited for the so-called Clovis hunters.

Current answers to Columbus’ questions are assessed and evaluated, and a very different picture is presented about the initial occupation of the New World than that favored in the Clovis-first scenario. Meadowcroft, southwest of Pittsburgh, has been recognized as the earliest well-dated archaeological site in the Western Hemisphere, with evidence of human habitation dating to 16,000 years ago. Dr. James M. Adovasio, Director of the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute, Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pennsylvania (1990 - present), achieved world acclaim as an archaeologist in the 1970's with his excavation of Meadowcroft Rockshelter. Dr. Adovasio was featured on the acclaimed NOVA special “America's Stone Age Explorers.” This production explores the exciting controversy surrounding recent archaeological finds which challenge long-standing theories about human migration into the New World.

“There is not an archaeological site in the world that is safe. This is the problem — it’s not just the loss of Iraq’s treasuries, but the loss of treasures even [in the United States].” --- McGuire Gibson, archaeologist from the University of Chicago, in the Stanford Daily, January 29, 2008.

April 10-12th marks the anniversary of a crime that shocked the world, a crime which continues to resonate

with citizens around the world concerned about the threats to our cultural heritage. Please join us as we remember the devastating

loss to our shared global cultural heritage which took place five years ago in Baghdad with the looting of the Iraq Museum. We will gather at 7:30pm to stand on the steps at the Lancaster Street entrance to Worcester Art Museum, to hear brief statements from museum personnel, academics, students and members of the public about the aftermath of the robbing of the cradle of civilization. This anniversary presents us with an opportunity to think about threats to museums and cultural heritage sites worldwide, to give thanks for our own institutions which house our common heritage, and focus our energies on ways to insure their continued protection, against not just looting and thefts, but perhaps most importantly of all, against apathy. As dusk descends we will light candles and observe a moment of silence in recognition of what was lost, what has been found, and what we must do in the future. Light a candle to lighten the world: this vigil is one of many taking place all over the globe.

Please see the wonderful, moving video on YouTube, featuring Donny George, which has images from last year's vigil. To read a Newsweek article click here. UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who attended the Vigil, please click here to see a few images

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, the Iraq Museum’s former Director-General, will speak about cultural losses in the Iraq Museum as well as the archaeological sites. He has authored two books on the architecture and stone industries of Tell Es-Sawaan, and has given presentations on the current archeological and museum conditions in Iraq at conferences in numerous countries. "The cultural losses in the Iraq museum after the invasion of Iraq, and the looting of the archaeological sites, were so immense that this will be a lesson for everyone, all over the world, to pay attention in the future so that such things should not happen again. The losses of antiquities, and the losses of information that will not be recovered anymore, make it a subject that should be addressed to the whole world, so that people will take good care of their mutual cultural heritage in the future."

Born in the Al-Anbar province in Iraq, Dr. George (as he is known here) received his degrees in archaeology from the University of Baghdad, working at such famous sites as Ninevah and Babylon. He is an expert in Mesopotamian archaeology. He served as the Director General of the National Museum

in Baghdad Oct 2003- Aug 2006. When Dr. George was initially refused approval to seal off the museum, he defied authorities and put concrete walls in place as the only means to protect the museum. He resigned due to frustrations of no funding, political clashes, lack of authority, and threats to his family, including a bullet sent in a letter threatening his 17 year old son. Dr. George resigned as president of SBAH (State Board of Antiquities and Heritage) as of 7 August 2006, two months after 50 people were kidnapped near a museum building. Dr George, who is a Christian, says that in the past year an increasingly Islamist and anti-western agenda over which he had little control had permeated the activities of the SBAH; international ties, critical for most museums, were discontinued, and even communication with Coalition forces was reduced, making it extremely difficult to respond to reports of archaeological site being threatened. Previously, over 1400 specially trained police officers were organized to protect sites; as of September 2006 there was no funding for their salaries. He and his family fled to Damascus, and from there to the US at the invitation of Stony Brook University in New York, where his colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Stone, teaches. Dr. George is now Visiting Professor in the Anthropology Department at

Stony Brook.

'He was instrumental in recovering almost half of the 15,000 Mesopotamian artworks and artifacts that date back to as much as 6,000 years, which were looted from the museum and Iraq's 12,500 archaeological sites during the invasion in 2003. Following death threats, the cessation of financial support and poor security, Dr. George left Iraq and fled with his family to Syria. While living in Iraq, Dr. George was in constant fear for his life. He was a potential target of violence not only due to being a relatively high-profile as a Christian government official, but also for his frequent appearances in the western media. “Having a position in Iraq is a dangerous thing,” he said. “I changed my car everyday, I changed my route. I changed the times I drove. It was a hard situation because I would never know if I’d make it to the museum or not.” ' [Stony Brook, The Graduate Review: Vol. iii No.4 – Fall 2006]

Through the generous support of the Worcester Art Museum and Unum, a special reception for Dr. George will be held immediately after the lecture, across the street from Trinity Lutheran Church at the Worcester Art Museum. We are deeply grateful to Unum and WAM for hosting this hors d'oeuvres and cash bar reception amidst the beautiful Antioch mosaics in the stunning Renaissance Court. The first floor of the museum, which houses the antiquities collections, will be open during this reception for Dr. George and our audience, held roughly from 7:30 - 8:30pm. Don't miss this unique opportunity to hear Dr. George speak personally about his experiences in Iraq!

“Let’s gather together and see what we can do, so people will not forget what happened.”
Donny George, former Director of the Iraq Museum (picture courtesy of SAFE)

Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt, lies approximately 650km south of Cairo and 113 km north of Aswan between the modern towns of Esna and Edfu. The classical name Hierakonpolis, or "City of the Hawk", is derived from the ancient association of the town with the hawk-headed god Horus, the god of Egyptian kingship. Please join us to hear the latest information on this fascinating site, as Dr. Thomas Hikade (co-director of the excavation) shares with us finds from his most recent season, just this past January 2008. During the 4th millennium BC Egypt saw the rise of regional powers in Upper Egypt with centers at sites such as Hierakonpolis, Naqada, and Abydos with emerging elites and craft specialization. Their fight for supremacy resulted in the political unification of Egypt. Hierakonpolis, the ancient Nekhen, was once the legendary capital of Upper Egypt. (The picture is of one of the site workers, Salah, in a post hole, courtesy of Dr. Hikade)

Excavations here have been conducted for more than one hundred years, discovering famous finds such as the Narmer Palette, the Burnt House, the earliest temple of Egypt, and cemeteries of the common people as well as the ruling elite, and more recently the remains of monumental architecture: monumental structures have been unearthed showing the determination of the ruling elite to express their power. The lecture will present an overview of previous excavation work at Hierakonpolis and the recent results of the University of British Columbia expedition from 2005-08. For more information, please see the Hierakonpolis website. Dr Thomas Hikade studied Egyptology, Near Eastern Archaeology, and Prehistory at the University of Trier, Germany and the Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg, Germany. Since 1988 Dr Hikade has been working on excavations throughout Egypt, working primarily for the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, but also for the American Research Centre in Egypt, Macquarie University of Sydney, Yale University, University Museum Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Trust Altes Ägypten (Switzerland), and the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo. In July 2004 Dr Hikade was appointed Assistant Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia. Dr Hikade is also co-director of the excavation at Hierakonpolis/Upper Egypt which is conducted in cooperation with the Hierakonpolis Expedition directed by Dr Renee Friedman (British Museum).

For more local events relating to archaeology, be sure to visit these links:

Old Sturbridge Village occasionally offers archaeology-related events, please ask the Visitor Center for information.