2026 PRESENTATIONS
Dr. Katherine Grillo, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida
Archaeology of Cattle Cultures in Eastern Africa: New Discoveries from Luxmanda, Tanzania
Archaeological research on the “Pastoral Neolithic” of eastern Africa, c. 5000-1200 years ago, has demonstrated long-term positive impacts of ancient herding societies on some of the world’s most famous grassland environments. Genetic and molecular data are likewise illuminating histories of pastoralist connection, migration, and milk consumption that have profoundly shaped African – and global – communities as we know them today. This presentation details new research at Luxmanda, Tanzania, where a herding community over three thousand years ago created the largest Pastoral Neolithic settlement ever found. Surprising results challenge assumptions about the ostensible ephemerality of mobile peoples in the archaeological record, and illuminate pastoralists’ successful strategies for coping with climate stress and other challenges that continue, with amplified consequences, for herding communities in eastern Africa today.
Kate says: "My research interests center on the materiality of cattle-based pastoralism in eastern Africa, and the ways that ceramic technologies, for example, have been a critical part of mobile pastoralist repertoires through time and space. My doctoral research was an ethnoarchaeological study of material culture in Samburu herding communities in northern Kenya, and I am now focusing attention on expanding our archaeological understanding of the Pastoral Neolithic period in eastern Africa.".
Dr. John Kantner Senior Associate Provost at the University of North Florida
Boundedness and Borders in the Chaco World
How are borders and boundaries identified in the ancient world? We recognize the importance of these phenomena today, but in the absence of residual features such as the Great Wall of China or Hadrian’s Wall, the “edges” of sociopolitical entities are difficult to find archaeologically. In this illustrated talk, Dr. John Kantner shares recent research he has conducted to identify the borders of the Chaco World, a mysterious tradition that was centered on Chaco Canyon 2,000 years ago in what is now northwestern New Mexico. Using data from pottery, obsidian, and architecture, Dr. Kantner presents the history of a Chaco World borderlands area and what it suggests about how this sociocultural tradition evolved over time.
Dr. Kantner's research focuses on the archaeology of ancient societies, particularly the processes by which complex social and political regional institutions emerged from communities of comparatively simple horticulturists. His research is explicitly comparative, and he has collaborated on projects throughout the United States, Costa Rica, and Peru. In addition to several books, that research appears in journals such as PNAS, Human Nature, Antiquity, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of Anthropological Research, Journal of Archaeological Research, Journal of Archaeological Science, and Historical Archaeology.
Dr. Zachery Dunseth,
Associate Professor of Anthropology and the Kershaw Chair of the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at the University of California San Diego
Dung and Desert Copper: Environmental Archaeology at the Macro and Micro Scale
Settlement patterns in the Negev desert (modern Israel) have experienced significant fluctuations over the past 6000 years. At certain times, the arid landscape was dotted with thousands of sites, including cities, villages, and farmsteads. In other periods, the desert periods were nearly devoid of evidence for human activity. This presentation will specifically focus on one of the earliest waves of large-scale settlement during the Early (c. 3300-2500 BCE) and Intermediate Bronze Ages (c. 2500-1950 BCE). Notably, the former period spans the rise and fall of urban cities to the north, and the latter spans the regional 4.2 kya ‘Megadrought’ aridification event. However, the motivation behind why these desert communities continue to grow and expand in an increasingly hostile environment during this time is still debated. I begin by explaining the foundation of my approach to studying desert lifeways. This framework is constructed based on experimental and geo-ethnoarchaeological insights gained from premodern Bedouin sites. I delve into both macro- and microarchaeological methods employed to investigate subsistence, animal rearing, and the copper industry across Negev sites. The discussion includes an examination of the results within the context of broader systems, including the desert, Egypt and the Levant during the 3rd millennium BCE. LEARN MORE ABOUT ZACHARYJen Green, MA, RPA, Curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History
History of South Florida Archaeology Through Curation-Based Stories at the Florida Museum of Natural History
The lecture presents a history of the archaeology of South Florida enriched through the records of the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The South Florida collections at the FLMNH are expansive and represent over 300 discrete archaeological sites across the thirteen southernmost counties. Using curation-based stories, Green will discuss the breadth of the collections housed at the museum from Lake Okeechobee to the Keys and Gulf to the Atlantic coasts. Dozens of archaeologists and their teams have contributed to the rich history of the collections over the last 130 years, and their fascinating contributions have shaped our understanding of the field.
Jennifer Green grew up surrounded by the sub-tropical diversity of Southern Florida, where she spent most of her time exploring outside. Interested in archaeology from an early age, she found a natural progression to studying the Indigenous cultures that once inhabited the landscape around her. Green received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology from Florida Atlantic University, where she studied the pre-Columbian history of southern Florida. After a short stint at the University of Tennessee to obtain a doctoral degree, she’s glad to be back in the Sunshine State, where she recently joined the Florida Museum of Natural History as its new collections manager for South Florida archaeology and ethnography.
Dr. Jesse Obert, Professor at the University of South Florida
Social Networks & Cyborgs: Cretan Warriorhood in the Archaic Period
Dr. Obert presents a new narrative for Cretan warriorhood, focusing in particular on the archaeological evidence for violence on Crete between 700 and 300 BCE. He argues that the incongruity of Cretan warriorhood reflects two distinct ideologies of violence that were concentrated in specific types of ritual space: collaborative camaraderie on the one hand and antagonistic individuality on the other. Despite this opposition, Cretans had to balance both narratives simultaneously, which ultimately developed warriorhood into a full-time vocation. This unique and complex system guaranteed the wealthiest Cretans coveted positions at the top of the socio-political hierarchy, regardless of their appearance, background, or personal identity. These accessible yet gatekept identities set the tenor for military power on Crete in the centuries that followed--the systems that Plato praised in the fourth century were the product of a long-standing and deeply entrenched ideological conflict that had raged across Crete since the seventh century.
Jesse Obert is an interdisciplinary scholar working primarily in the fields of ancient history, archaeology, classics, and digital humanities. He completed his doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology and also holds an MA from University College London in Ancient History. He studies violence, warfare, enslavement, exploitation, and inequality in the ancient Greek world.
Dr. David Gilman Romano, Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Arizona
The Sanctuary of Zeus and Sanctuary of Pan at Mt. Lykaion
Recent research at Mt. Lykaion, both at the southern summit of the mountain at the Sanctuary of Zeus and in the lower mountain meadow at the Sanctuary of Pan, is leading to new understandings about cult practices at this ancient site in Greece. Answering questions about the origins of Greek cult and Greek athletics are at the heart of the agenda of the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project. Since 2004 the project has been working at the site of the Sanctuary of Zeus. The project is co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Arizona and the Greek Archaeological Service under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
I am a Classical Archaeologist interested in both the Greek and Roman worlds. My specific interests include the study of ancient cities and sanctuaries, architecture, athletics and computerized applications in archaeology. The Archaeological Mapping Lab, which I direct, works in the fields of digital cartography, GIS, remote sensing, spatial analytical studies as well as databases. Since 2003 I have been the co-Director (with M.E. Voyatzis) of the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project, working at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia. Since 1987 I have been the Director of the Corinth Computer Project, undertaking a long term study of the planning of Roman Corinth. Since 2004 I have been the Director of Digital Augustan Rome.
RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS
New Dates Obtained at Canada’s St. Victor Petroglyph Site
SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA—CBC News reports that two bone samples found in separate pits under a sandstone cliff carved with petroglyphs in southern Saskatchewan have been radiocarbon dated. The first bone sample was dated to A.D. 900, while the second was dated to 120 B.C. “It doesn’t date the carvings directly, but it’s very suggestive that people were using this particular site, maybe making carvings, as far back as 2,100 years ago,” said archaeologist Tim Jones. The findings suggest that First Nations people who traveled through the area seasonally made the carvings. “There’s over 360 carvings here, so it’s a very, very important site for Saskatchewan, in terms of our heritage,” Jones explained. Researchers plan to date another bone recovered from a deeper layer of the pit. “It comes down to understanding that Saskatchewan has been occupied since time immemorial,” commented Karin Steuber of the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society. To read about the earliest inhabitants of British Columbia, go to "The Edible Seascape."
Dwellings Detected Near Monuments at Göbekli Tepe
ISTANBUL, TURKEY—IFL Science reports that possible dwellings have been found at Göbekli Tepe, an 11,000-year-old site in southeastern Turkey. It had been previously suggested that the site may have been built and used by hunter-gatherers solely for ceremonial gatherings, since little evidence of farming or pottery have been uncovered in the area. Necmi Karul of Istanbul University and the Stone Hills Project said that geophysical surveys conducted near the temple-like monumental pillars have detected traces of several large buildings. Internal layouts of these buildings suggest that they may have been used as residences, he added, at least during periods of the site’s long history. For more on Göbekli Tepe, go to "Last Stand of the Hunter-Gatherers?"
Ceremonial Poles Returned to Canadian Village Site
HAIDA GWAII, CANADA—Monumental poles carved from cedar have been returned to the village of SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay, a historic community of the Haida people of Canada’s Pacific Northwest. According to Haida Laas, the newsmagazine of the Haida Nation, the poles had been taken from the village in the 1930s and displayed in the city of Prince Rupert, then the Royal BC Museum and the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Carved in the eighteenth or nineteenth century with figures such as bears and orcas, the poles represented families and memorialized the dead. The village in the Haida Gwaii archipelago has been uninhabited since the 1880s, but more than 30 ceremonial poles still stand there. These five poles were repatriated to the Haida in 1976 and 2019; this spring, they were transported by boat and then individually by a sling-equipped helicopter to SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay. Haida elders, descendants of SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay villagers, and others involved in the repatriation effort arrived at the site a few weeks later for a procession, ceremonial food burning, songs, and stories to welcome the poles home. Since a hurricane-force storm damaged SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay in 2018, archaeologists have been excavating ornamental and domestic objects of everyday life from the remnants of longhouses there, including bird-bone drinking straws, a carved block of argillite stone, and perforated thimbles. To read more about the history of the place and the recent archaeological project, go to “Off the Grid: SG̱ang Gwaay, British Columbia, Canada.”
CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE
Click the cover image for more details
IN THIS ISSUE
The Music of Time
Tuning in to the sounds of the ancient world
A Change in Fashion
Hoards of lavish gold and silver neck rings buried on an English hill reflect dramatic social change
Cultivating Fields of Stone
Peru’s ancient farmers used intricate rock maps to plan for the future
Where Was Ancient Egypt Born?
Archaeologists are reimagining a time before the first pharaohs
2,000 Years Under the Sea
The story of Greece’s famed Antikythera wreck is finally being revealed