Dr. Melinda Hartwig, Emory University

​All the King’s Men: Officials’ Tombs in New Kingdom Thebes

For over 30 years, Dr. Hartwig has documented the rock-cut tombs of New Kingdom officials in the Noble’s Necropolis of western Thebes in modern day Luxor. Officials’ tombs served as a house for eternity – a ritual complex that ensured his and his family’s transfiguration and continued well-being. This lecture will explore the superbly painted scenes that offer a window into nobles’ careers, families, and Egypt’s cultural history.

Melinda Hartwig is an Egyptologist and art historian. She is the curator of ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Previously, she taught art history at Georgia State University at the rank of professor.

Prof. Robert H. Tykot, University of South Florida

​Obsidian Use and Maritime Transport in the Prehistoric Mediterranean

In the Central Mediterranean, obsidian was widely used for stone tools and traded distances up to 1000 km during the Neolithic period, 6000-3000 BCE. Formed from volcanic activity, it exists only on several Italian islands: Lipari, Palmarola, Pantelleria, and Sardinia. Its presence elsewhere infers maritime travel to mainland Italy, southern France, Croatia, Albania, Tunisia, and Spain. Non-destructive chemical analysis of obsidian artifacts has been conducted on more than 10,000 artifacts to identify their specific sources. This process allows us to reconstruct the trade routes taken, along with other materials in the same and opposite directions.

Professor Tykot says, "My research focuses on the application of scientific methods of analysis of archaeological materials to better understand ancient cultures in many parts of the world. More specifically, we do trace element analysis of obsidian and ceramics to determine where they came from; major element composition of metals to study their technology; and element and isotope analysis of marble in sculpture and architecture to determine their origins, and of human remains to assess their dietary practices and their origins. I have done such research in more than 50 countries around the world, working with many colleagues. My personal focus is on the central Mediterranean."

Dr. John Kantner, Associate Provost of Faculty and Research and Interim Dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Florida

​Division of Labor in the Ancient US Southwest: ​Who Was Making All Those Pots?

The ability to reconstruct how labor was organized in ancient societies is fundamental to most analyses of social, political, and economic systems. This can be quite difficult, however, without direct evidence of who was involved in production. In this lecture, Dr. John Kantner describes an innovative approach for determining the sex of potters in the 1,000-year-old Chaco World and discusses implications from the unexpected division of labor that he and his colleagues identified.

John Kantner, Ph.D., joined the University of North Florida in August 2013 as the Assistant Vice President for Research, and was appointed Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School in June 2014. Previously, he was Vice President for Academic & Institutional Advancement at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, NM, an independent center for research in the social sciences and humanities. From 1999 to 2006, Dr. Kantner was a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology & Geography at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where he achieved the rank of associate professor with tenure prior to his departure.

Dr. J. Marla Toyne, Associate Professor, Anthropology, UCF

Where Condors Reign: Vertical Archaeology and Conservation in the Mountains of Peru

Traditional archaeological practice involves mapping and excavating ancient settlements and cemeteries, but bioarchaeological research of the cliff tombs in the Chachapoyas region of northeastern Peru is stymied by natural and technological challenges. Exploring these cemeteries requires the innovation of “vertical archaeology” using rappelling and rope technology, and also the incorporation of 3-D photogrammetry and aerial drone photography.

This presentation discusses our exploration of these cliff tombs and how and why the ancient Chachapoya people created and placed their ancestors in these spectacular landscapes between A.D. 900 and 1535. Yet, while these sites suffer from the ravages of both looting and natural destruction, it becomes vital to use archaeological knowledge in meaningful and accessible ways for both local and scientific communities to advance conservation.

Dr. Toyne is a biological anthropologist who specializes in human skeletal biology, paleopathology, bioarchaeology, and stable isotope science. Her primary area of investigation is Andean South America, where she engages in contextually-based research focusing on the analysis of ancient skeletal and mummified remains, in order to explore broader anthropological interests including: the biocultural evidence of violence and warfare, ritual activities, ethnic identity, mortuary complexity in ancient civilizations, and Andean prehistoric and Contact period social interactions.

Dr. Jeffrey Glover, Georgia State University

The Maritime Maya and the Proyecto Costa Escondida

Coastal communities in the Maya Lowlands played various roles in the political, economic, and social formations over the past 3000 years, yet these roles have remained along the periphery of Maya studies. Dr. Glover discusses what we know about the watercraft used by the maritime Maya and who the maritime Maya were. Using ethnohistoric accounts and iconographic data from the Classic period, he discusses the tensions present between coastal and inland populations on the Yucatan Peninsula and how this influenced the historical trajectories of coastal sites. After giving an overview of the archaeological evidence of the Maritime Maya, he will explain how the Proyecto Costa Escondida research team is beginning to reveal the challenges faced, and opportunities pursued, by these coastal peoples.

Dr. Glover was born and raised in Atlanta where he attended The Lovett School. He did his undergraduate work at Vanderbilt University where he majored in Anthropology. He pursued his doctoral degree at the University of California, Riverside, which he completed in 2006 and is happy to be back in Atlanta. Dr. Glover’s dissertation research focused on interpreting the spatial patterning of ancient Maya communities in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico and the dynamic role the built environment played in lives of past people. Currently, he is co-director of the Proyecto Costa Escondida with Dr. Dominique Rissolo (UC San Diego).