Pizza Talk

Pizza Talk: "Construction, Use and Repair: Late Neolithic Pottery from Southeastern Albania"

Submitted by mswanson on April 3, 2018 - 4:11pm

Speaker: Gazmend Elezi, Ph.D. Candidate, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA

The large amount of ceramic sherds in archaeological contexts and the variety of ceramic wares, shapes and dimensions during the Late Neolithic period in the Balkans is an indication that pottery was involved in many social activities. As such, it is among the best proxies to understand the daily life of Neolithic communities.

Pizza Talk: "Community Archaeology from Below: Major New Developments from Tell Mozan in Syria"

Submitted by mswanson on February 26, 2018 - 4:05pm

Speakers: Dr. Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati & Dr. Giorgio Buccellati, UCLA

During 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?

Pizza Talk: "Moving Agriculture onto the Roof of the World"

Submitted by mswanson on January 9, 2018 - 11:18am

Speaker: Dr. Jade d'Alpoim Guedes, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, UC San Diego

Research on agriculture's spread in East Asia has followed an underlying assumption: that farming produced equally reliable returns across the vast expanse of territories into which it spread and always placed farmers at a demographic advantage. Significant ecological barriers to growing crops on the Tibetan Plateau meant that the opposite was true.

Pizza Talk: "Burning Rings of Fire: Prehispanic Maya Lime Production and Environmental Resource Management"

Submitted by mswanson on January 9, 2018 - 11:17am

Speaker: Dr. Kenneth Seligson, Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, USC

Burnt lime was one of the most significant materials in the daily lives of the Prehispanic Maya, and yet archaeologists have uncovered relatively little evidence of production methods or locales prior to the Spanish Conquest. This talk presents the investigation of a series of pit-kilns in and around the Prehispanic site of Kiuic in the Puuc Region of the northern Maya Lowlands and highlights the multiple lines of evidence that identify these structures as lime production features.

Pizza Talk: "Interpreting the Idiom of Urban Display in Architectural Relief Sculpture at the late Roman Villa of Chiragan (Haute-Garonne, France)"

Submitted by mswanson on January 9, 2018 - 11:15am

Speaker: Dr. Sarah Beckmann, Visiting Lecturer, Department of Classics, UCLA

Over the last generation, scholarly attention towards the production of sculpture in the late antique period (ca. 250 – 550 CE) has rekindled interest in the villa of Chiragan (Haute-Garonne, Aquitaine). Since its excavation in the 19th century, Chiragan has been heralded for its statuary collection, which remains the largest extant assemblage of marble sculptures securely associated with a private context.

Pizza Talk: "Worked Animal Objects in Iron Age Greece"

Submitted by mswanson on October 19, 2017 - 12:50pm

Speaker: Adam DiBattista, PhD Candidate, The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA

The early Iron Age was a time of profound social change in Greece in which new ideas about materials like bone and ivory develop. At the same time, textual and iconographic evidence speaks to the importance of animals and animal sacrifice in the Greek world. As the remnants of living animals, objects made from tooth or bone carry special potential for the creation and negotiation of meaning.

Pizza Talk: "The Ancient Methone Archaeological Project: 2014-2017"

Submitted by mswanson on October 19, 2017 - 12:50pm

Speaker: Dr. John Papadopoulos, Professor, Department of Classics, UCLA

The final season of fieldwork on the Ancient Methone Archaeological Project—a collaboration of Greek Ministry of Culture and UCLA under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens—was concluded in the summer of 2017. This presentation is an overview of our fieldwork at the site during the 2014-2017 seasons, and incorporates earlier fieldwork by our Greek colleagues beginning in 2003.

Pizza Talk: "Performance and Politics in Hittite Anatolia"

Submitted by mswanson on October 19, 2017 - 12:49pm

Speaker: Michael Moore, PhD Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA

Virtually all studies of Hittite festivals have focused on philological issues and the cultural and religious background of the festivals (Hattic, Hittite, Luwian, Hurrian, or Mesopotamian). Studies of the roles of the participants, the political ramifications of festivals, the sensorial experience of participants, and other aspects of Hittite festivals remain unexamined.

Pizza Talk: "The Manufacture and Use of Metallurgical Ceramics at Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico"

Submitted by mswanson on October 19, 2017 - 12:48pm

Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Meanwell, Lecturer, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT

Copper and copper alloy artifacts were valued commodities at the Postclassic period (AD 1150-1500) Maya capital of Mayapán, and are found as a variety of luxury items, most commonly small ornamental bells. Due to the lack of ore deposits near Mayapán, metal must have been imported from elsewhere in Mesoamerica, entering as a raw material for shaping into desired objects or as already finished goods.

Pizza Talk: "Achaemenid Stone Towers and Recent Excavations at Pasargadae, Iran"

Submitted by mswanson on October 19, 2017 - 12:47pm

Speaker: Dr. Ali Mousavi, Lecturer, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA

The World Heritage site of Pasargadae, in southern Iran, is the first dynastic center of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century B.C. Pasargadae’s palaces, gardens and the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great are outstanding examples of the first phase of royal Achaemenid art and architecture. The ruins of a solitary stone tower, known by the local name of Zendan-e Suleiman (prison of Solomon), dominates the Palace area at Pasargadae.