Cafe Sci Orlando announcements for 2009-10, "Building the Amazon" and a free lecture series
Chad MILLER
* Topic, "Building the Amazon"
* "In The Dirt", free archaeology lecture series
Topic, "Building the Amazon"
At 7PM on Wednesday 7 October, at Taste, in College Park, we'll have a
fascinating discussion for you.
Dr. John Walker is an archaeologist working in the Amazon Basin and he
studies how pre-Columbian farmers engineered that environment, showing
that our supposition of a pristine Amazon is wrong and that instead the
Amazon has been managed and cultivated for thousands of years. At UCF,
he teaches Archaeology of Complex Societies, History of Anthropological
Thought, GIS Applications in Archaeology, and other courses. His most
recent book is _Agricultural Change in the Bolivian Amazon_ (2004). He
received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania
and joined the UCF faculty in 2006.
Directions
Taste
717 W. Smith Street
Orlando, United States
32804
Taste is near the corner of Princeton Street (really Smith Street after
the fork) and Edgewater Drive, so about 2 minutes from I-4 to parking.
One can park on the street or in the parking lot behind Taste.
* From Downtown and south, drive north ("east") on I-4 through
downtown. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and turn
left/west.
* From Altamonte Springs and north, drive south ("west") on I-4
toward downtown Orlando. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and
turn right/west.
From I-4, drive a few blocks to Edgewater Drive. At the intersection,
you should see a orange building ahead of you, labeled "Taste". Park on
the street or behind Taste.
"In The Dirt", free archaeology lecture series
An archaeology lecture series is hosted by the Florida Public
Archaeology Network and Brevard Community College, Titusville. All
Lectures held at 7pm in the Auditorium in Bldg. 1, Titusville Campus,
ph. 321-433-5042. All lectures are free, and no registration is
necessary. The Fall 2009 "In the Dirt" Lecture Series will focus on how
Native Americans utilized the rich resources within Florida's varied
habitats. Come learn about these amazing habitats and see how they
fulfilled the daily needs of Florida's early residents.
October 29th, Halloween Special, The History of the Human Skeleton. The
skeleton provides a framework for muscles and skin, nutrients necessary
for survival, and is one of the most essential tissues of the human
body. But the skeleton also plays a fundamental role in our
iconography. Di Vinci's early drawings, Le Catacombs of Paris, and the
Sedlec ossuary of Prague have celebrated the skeleton in various forms.
The human skeleton has intrigued, haunted, and amazed us through time.
We'll explore the many uses of human remains and how the bones of our
bodies serve as symbolism within human culture.
November 19th, Over the River and Through the Woods: Archaeology of
Florida's Uplands. The upland areas of north central Florida provide a
habitat rich in resources. The Timucuan utilized these habitats on a
daily basis, whether hunting deer or bear, planting crops in the rich
soils, or performing cleansing rituals using upland plants. These
activities were captured in Jacques Le Moyne's detailed engravings,
produced while he traveled throughout early Florida. We'll explore
Timucuan daily life as seen through Le Moyne's work and see how
Florida's upland habitats provided a rich diversity of resources.
December 10th, Life's a Beach: Archaeology of Florida's Coasts. Florida
has over 1,300 miles of coastline and provides a rich array of plants
and animals. The estuaries, beaches and coastal uplands provided the
Calusa with enough natural resources to enable the development of a
complex society, consisting of nobles, commoners, and an elite
military. Such complexity is rare among hunting/gathering peoples. The
wealth of coastal resources enabled the Calusa to control vast regions
of south Florida and create one of Florida's most unusual aboriginal
societies.