November 2007 Lectures and Conferences
John Machado
topics of the Ancient Americas. You'll find that a couple of these
events are taking place in Southern California.
November 1, 6:00-7:00 PM
Art Institute Of Chicago Lecture Kent Reilly, Texas State University,
"Sacred Objects, Cosmic Vision in the Amerindian World"
http://www.artic.edu/aic/calendar/event?EventID=3554&EventType=5
November 2, 2007
6th annual Sackler Art & Archaeology Symposium at the University of
Connecticut, "The Aztec Empire: Iconographies and Ideologies of
Power"
Investigates the nature of Aztec imperial organization. The symposium
addresses issues such as the Aztec promotion of hegemonic (vs.
strictly military) control over a diverse group of quasi-independent
city-states, and imperial integration of economics, religion and
politics in state rituals. Speakers will also examine the complex
interactions between ruling metropole and subject peoples. Through
these interactions, the central Aztec state negotiated economic and
social stability with its peripheral neighbors so as to counteract
political instability. Admission is free and a reception follows.
Speakers include:
Dr. Michael E. Smith, Arizona State University "Material culture of
the Aztec Empire in central Mexico: local, regional, and global
patterns."
Dr. Cecelia Klein, University of California, Los Angeles "From Clay to
Stone: The Role of Ceramic Figurines in the Formation of the Official
Aztec Pantheon."
Dr. Elizabeth Brumfiel, Northwestern University "Cosmology at home"
Dr. Eulogio Guzmán, Boston Museum of Fine Arts School/Tufts University
"Iconographic Variability: Shifting Meanings in Aztec Sculpture and
the Political Expansion of the Mexica State"
http://www.art.uconn.edu/events/sackler/sackler_2007.htm
Friday, November 2, 7:00 PM
Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC Lecture "Title-Houses of the
Living, Houses of the Dead: Excavation, Heritage Preservation, and
Community Development at Cerro Leon, Peru"
Brian Billman, Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
http://www.pcswdc.org/
Saturday, November 3
32nd Annual Rock Art Symposium
San Diego Museum of Man; this year's Symposium will be held at the
Otto Center at the San Diego Zoo on Park Blvd. in San Diego's Balboa
Park. Seating is limited, so register early.
Registration is $35 for students and Museum members, $45 for general
admission, including a commemorative ceramic mug.
http://www.museumofman.org/html/events_rock_art_2007.html
Tuesday, November 6, 1:15 PM
Gallery Talk "Materialising Myth in MesoAmerica"
Room 27, British Museum, London, England
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar/materialising_m...
Tuesday, November 6, 6:45 to 9:15 p.m.
"Along the Royal Inca Highway"
The 3,200-mile Inca Road was built more than 500 years ago to link the
outposts of the Inca Empire. Join adventurer Karin Muller as she
provides a chronicle of the Inca and how they lived, worshipped, and
warred. She searches for remnants of the ancient road, offering a
rare
glimpse into the descendants of the Inca that includes one of South
America's largest festivals in Oruru, Bolivia; the shearing of the
vicuna, whose fleece was once reserved for the Inca god-king; and
mysteries of the spirits at a shaman's rite. She also discusses the
role of coca leaves in Andean culture and the route along which coca's
modern counterpart, cocaine, is carried into Brazil. Muller is an
author, filmmaker, and photographer. She produced a PBS documentary
and book, Along the Inca Road (National Geographic), which is
available for signing at the program. Member $30.00 Gen. Admission
$40.00 Senior Member $27
http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performa...
November 6, 7:30 PM
National Geographic Society Lecture "Palenque and the Ancient Maya
World"
George and David Stuart, National Geographic Society. Grosvenor
Auditorium,
Washington, D.C.
In the 3,000 years between 1500 B.C. and A.D. 1500, the Maya created
one of the most distinctive and accomplished civilizations in the
Americas. Among the best known of the ancient Maya capitals was
Lakamhá -better known by its Spanish name, Palenque-which foremost
Maya experts George and David Stuart describe as being perhaps "the
greatest archaeological discovery in the Americas." This dynamic
father-son team, having completed two decades of work at the site and
currently distilling their findings into an upcoming illustrated book,
will tell the compelling story of Palenque-its rulers, unique social
structure, worldviews, and enduring architecture-and offer their keen
insights into the Classic Maya culture. Part of the National
Geographic Live! Lecture Series - Advance registration is required.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com
November 8, 7:30 PM
Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Lecture
Dr. Eleanora (Norrie) Robbins, "Middle Paleolithic Transport of
Medicinal Plants to North America". Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600
Sand Canyon Avenue (between the I-5 and I-405, next to the Post
Office) in Irvine, http://www.pcas.org/meetings.html
Friday, November 9, 7:30 PM
Maya Society of Minnesota Lecture, "Warrior Queens Among the Ancient
Maya" by Kathryn Reese-Taylor.
Few women are associated with warfare in Maya art, and when depicted,
are shown most frequently in supporting roles. However, stelae from
Calakmul, Coba, Naachtun, and Naranjo portray queens as Warriors in
their own right. In these carved monuments, warrior queens stand atop
captive assuming positions of power in compositions accentuating
conquest. Moreover, each of the Calakmul and Naachtun stelae is
paired with another depicting the king in the same pose in order to
emphasize the corresponding roles played by both queen and king. This
paper discusses these examples of warrior queens among the Classic
Maya and the context in which they arose. Drew Science Building, Room
118, Hamline University. St. Paul, Minn. http://www.hamline.edu/mayasociety
Friday, November 9, 3:00 PM
"Polity and Placemaking at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz Mexico", Chris Pool,
University of Kentucky speaking at the State University of New York at
Albany. Humanities 354.
http://www.albany.edu/anthro/speakerseries.htm
November 9, 12:00 PM
"Ten-Thousand Years in the Upper Potomac River Valley: The
Archaeology
of the Barton Site", Dr. Robert Wall, Towson University.
Excavations at the Barton Site near Cumberland, Maryland, have
revealed a long sequence of human occupation that dates from
Paleoindian times to the early 1600s when the Susquehannocks
established a small settlement on the site. Ongoing investigation are
revealing significant details about life near the headwaters of the
Potomac over the last 10,000 years.
National Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium, Washington,
D.C.
http://www.americanarchaeology.com/washingtonDC.html
Friday, November 9, 4:00pm-6:00pm
UCLA Friday Seminar Series
"New Data on Olmec Households in Veracruz, Mexico"
Fowler Museum Seminar Room (A222), UCLA
http://www.ioa.ucla.edu/WebCalendar/view_entry.php?id=140&date=20071109
November 10, 1:30 PM
University of Pennsylvania Museum Pre-Columbian Society Lecture
"The Murals of El Zapotal, Veracruz, Mexico", Cherra Wyllie, PhD:
Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Hartford
University of Pennsylvania Museum
http://www.precolumbian.org/othermeetings.HTM
Saturday, November 10, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
Maya Society of Minnesota Workshop
"Results of the First Three Years of Investigations by the Proyecto
Arqueológico Naachtun."
Giddens Learning Center 6s (the Anthropology Lab), Hamline
University.
This presentation summarizes the results of three seasons of
investigations at the Classic Maya centre of Naachtun. The first
season of study involved an extensive survey of the monuments at
Naachtun, while the second season focused on establishing a
chronology
for the site and recording and excavating the central reservoir, the
Late Classic palace complex, and defensive fortifications found
throughout the site. Finally, the third season concentrated on
documenting the earliest period of exponential growth at the site, the
Preclassic to Early Classic transition. In sum, our investigations
point to Naachtun as the dominant centre in the region as early as 150
CE.
http://www.hamline.edu/mayasociety/
Saturday, November 10, 8:30 AM-4:30pm
Teacher Workshop at the Field Museum of Chicago.
Explore the Rise and Fall of the Classic Maya, with archaeologists
George and David Stuart. A father-and-son team of prominent
archaeologists shows how recent discoveries have shed new light on the
rise and mysterious collapse of this great Mesoamerican civilization.
Journey through The Field Museum's new permanent exhibition, The
Ancient Americas, and follow the story 13,000 years of cultural
complexities, connections to geography and understanding the rich
traditions of the Mayan peoples. Learn about the many resources and
materials for the classroom. http://www.fieldmuseum.org/CalendarSystem/Search_Type.asp?Type=LEC
Saturday, November 10, 10:00 AM
The 2007 Lewis K. Land Memorial Lecture: "Windows to Another World:
Murals and Flower Symbolism in Mesoamerica and the American
Southwest"
Karl A. Taube, University of California, Riverside
Koret Auditorium, de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
November 10, 10:00am-1:00pm
Northwest Mesoamerican Epigraphy Group
John Justeson will speak on epi-Olmec decipherment and the text on a
Teotihuacan-style mask. State University of New York at Albany.
Humanities 354.
November 10-12
40th Annual Chacmool Conference, "Eat, Drink and Be Merry; The
Archaeology of Foodways"
The 2007 Chacmool conference will be focusing on the archaeology of
foodways to examine the many approaches that can be taken to look at
eating, feasting, sustenance and food preparation. University of
Calgary, Canada.
http://www.arky.ucalgary.ca/Chacmool2007/index.htm
Sunday, November 11, 12:30 PM -1:30 PM
Chicago Humanities Festival
"Transformations in the Maya World During the 9th Century "Collapse"
by Elizabeth Pope.
By examining shifts visible in the archaeological and artistic
records, the Art Institute's Pope will offer several theories that
explain the Classic period Maya "collapse." She links the abandonment
of the Classic Lowland cities and apparent changes in Maya cultural
systems observable in the Post-Classic period to the underlying Maya
beliefs about cycles of creation and destruction. Far from
experiencing a Classic period "extinction," Maya culture was a dynamic
system that changed in response to stresses in the cultural, economic,
and
environmental realms. The Art Institute of Chicago, Fullerton
Auditorium.
Tuesday, November 13, 7:30 PM
"Rise and Fall of the Classic Maya", George and David Stuart.
Field Museum of Chicago, James Simpson Theater
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/CalendarSystem/Search_Type.asp?Type=LEC
November 13, 5:15 PM
"Pomp and Circumstance: Cities in a Maya Landscape"
Professor K Anne Pyburn will consider commercialism as a stimulus to
the development of ancient Maya cities. She shifts focus from
production and prestige economy, which have been the subject of much
archaeological reasearch and theorizing, to consumption by
ordinary households, which is less often discussed. Professor Pyburn
does not propose consumerism as a prime mover for the rise of cities,
nor does she visualize ancient Maya traders as canoe - born
capitalists. She proposes that consumer culture is not exclusively a
product of modern capitalism (contra Campbell 1987, McCracken 1988 and
others), and that certain archaeological patterns suggest that a
healthy trade in commodities contributed to Maya urbanism.
Stanford University, Archaeology Center, Building 500
http://archaeology.stanford.edu/lectures.html
November 14, 12:00 PM
Brown Bag Lecture
"Transport in the Prehispanic Andes: Archaeological and ethnographic
investigations" Nico Tripcevich, PhD (Archaeological Research
Facility) Room 101 in the ARF
(2251 College Building) University of California, Berkeley
http://sscl.berkeley.edu/arf/lectures/lectures.html
Monday, November 19, 12:00 PM
"Shamanism and Rock Art", Ken Hedges
The interpretation of rock art is one of the most vexing problems in
archaeology. American Indian shamanism has provided one of the most
popular contexts for rock art interpretation, but also some of the
most heated controversy. In this lecture, Ken Hedges will present an
overview of shamanism and rock art, outlining the ways we can use
shamanism to give insight into rock art images while avoiding the
pitfalls of an oversimplified shamanistic model.
Gill Auditorium, San Diego Museum of Man
http://www.museumofman.org/html/education_publicprograms.html#Nov19
Saturday November 24
Andean Seminar
The Institute for the Study of the Americas & The Institute of
Archaeology, UCL
11.00 am William Gosling (The Open University) Holocene fire and
occupation in the Amazonia
11.30 am Michael Frogley (University of Sussex) Mites, mud and the
rise and fall of the Inca: oribatid mite abundances as indicators of
domestic animal densities
12.00 noon Trish Biers (Cambridge University) The Puruchuco-
Huaquerones Bioarchaeology Project: recent research at an Inka
cemetery in Lima, Peru
2.00 pm Charles Stanish, Ran Boytner (Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology, UCLA) and Aimee Plourde (Institute of Archaeology, UCL)
Revising the Later Prehistory of the South Central Andes: New Data
from the Atacama and Northern Titicaca Basin.
3.45 pm Cesar Astuhuaman (Institute of Archaeology, UCL) Mining and
Archaeology: the Rio Blanco Project within the Highlands of Piura,
Peru
4.15 pm Frank Meddens (Preconstruct Archaeology) Sacred space and
continuity in Ayacucho; results of recent work.
6th floor seminar room, The Institute of Archaeology, UCL; University
College London, 34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY (near Euston Train
Station)
Friday, November 30, 4:00pm-6:00pm
UCLA Friday Seminar Series
"Household Archaeology, Volcanoes, Remote Sensing, and Social Memory
in Ancient Costa Rica"
Fowler Museum Seminar Room (A222), UCLA
http://www.ioa.ucla.edu/WebCalendar/view_entry.php?id=145&date=20071130