Professor Colin Renfrew, Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge

The image of mounted nomad warriors from the steppe lands of Russia bringing the Proto-Indo-European language to Europe has been displaced in recent years by new models;  the early spread of farming from Anatolia became a preferred explanation for language replacement. Recent work on ancient DNA has, however, brought the steppe theory back into prominence. The Indo-European question remains controversial and will be reviewed - but perhaps not resolved!

The lecture is free to the public. Parking at Lot #4 (Sunset and Westwood) is $12 for 24 hours, hourly parking available.

Cotsen Institute of Archaeolgy at UCLA  and Archaeological Institute of America

Present:

Dr. Andrea Ricci

German Archaeological Institute – Eurasia Dept.

2015 AIA-DAI Fellow at the Cotsen Institute (UCLA)

“Early settlement of the Southern Caucasus: recent discoveries of the German-Azerbaijani investigations in the Mil Plain (Southern Azerbaijan)”

The talk will address the latest results of the interdisciplinary project “Kura in Motion”, which has been investigating early sedentism along the Kura Valley since 2010. Focus will be on the landscape of survival of the Mil Plain of Southern Azerbaijan, where a series of late Neolithic (6th Mill. BCE) sites have been investigated with intensive survey and excavation.