News
Past IEMA News
The IEMA Post-doctoral Scholar Position 2020-2021 at SUNY Buffalo has been posted. Please see the Jobs section for more information.
The IEMA conference set to begin April 4 2020 in Buffalo, New York, has been cancelled due to the ongoing and growing threat posed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak around the world and in the United States, including the recent travel restrictions within the US and the travel ban to the US from Europe.
Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our staff, students, faculty and attendees. New York State has declared a state of emergency, as have other states. Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in more than half the states in this country. It seems inevitable that the news will get worse in this regard.
In light of all these developments and out of concern for the health and safety of conference attendees, the decision was made to cancel IEMA 2020.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Biehl
IEMA Director
We would like to welcome our 13th IEMA Postdoctoral Fellow:
Dr. Megan Daniels
Organizer of the Eleventh IEMA Visiting Scholar Conference in 2018 entitled “Homo Migrans: Modelling Mobility and Migration in Human History”
Department of Classics Graduate Student Conference
Rising Up: Resurgence and Revivals in the Ancient World
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Information about the 2015-2016 IEMA Travel and Research Scholarship is available here.
The deadline for applications is Friday at 4:30 p.m. March 27, 2015.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2014-15 IEMA Travel and Research
Scholarship!
The Genucilia Ware from Vulci and Cerveteri
Alexander Mazurek (Classics)
Studying Late Etruscan Domestic Architecture in the Mediterranean Tradition
Cassidy Phelps (Classics)
Mortuary Practices in Prehistoric Anatolia
Jacquelyn Kyle (Anthropology)
The IEMA Post-doctoral Scholar Position 2015-2016 at SUNY Buffalo has been posted. Please see the Jobs section for more information.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2013-14 IEMA Travel and Research Scholarship
Erin Warford (Classics)
The Multipolar Polis: Pilgrimage in the Attic Countryside
Patrick Willett (Anthropology)
Gökhöyük Bağları Excavation Project in Turkey
Erin McDonald (Anthropology)
Pollen studies in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Ryan Hughes (Classics)
The Bir Madhkur Project
Darren Poltorak (Anthropology and Classics)
The Cumidava Archaeological Research Project
Massimo Betello (Classics) 2008
Sidewalks and stepping stones: negotiation and meaning of pedestrian traffic flow in Pompeii
Dan Griswold (Anthropology)
Egypt and the Late Bronze AgeI at Tel el Ifshar, Israel
Post-doctoral Scholar Position 2013-2014, SUNY
Buffalo
SUNY Buffalo seeks a Post-doctoral Scholar (PS) for
its interdisciplinary Institute for
European and Mediterranean Archaeology
(IEMA). During a 10 month tenure, the PS
teaches one graduate seminar
(preferably on the topic of the symposium), organizes a
symposium, and edits
a subsequent volume reflecting IEMA’s focus on post-Pleistocene
European and
Mediterranean anthropological and classical archaeology. Application
letter,
vitae, list of references, and 3-page description of proposed symposium
topic,
including intended invitees, must be received by March 1, 2013 for an
August 2013 start,
pending final budgetary approval. Email application or
inquiries to: pbiehl@buffalo.edu
The University at Buffalo is an affirmative
action/equal opportunity employer.
Closing date for consideration of
applicants:
March 1, 2013 for an August 2013 start, pending final
budgetary approval. Email
application or inquiries to IEMA Director Dr. Peter
F. Biehl
Contact:
Dr. Peter F. Biehl
Director of the Institute for European and
Mediterranean Archaeology
State University of New York at Buffalo
380 Academic Center
Ellicott Complex
Buffalo, NY 14261
Phone: 716-645-0402
Email: pbiehl@buffalo.edu
Post-doctoral
Scholar Position 2013-2014
IEMA at the Global Fair during President Satish K. Tripathi’s Inauguration September 22, 2011
Front Row (L to R): Aaron Chapnick, James Osborne; Back Row: Patrick Willett, Peter Biehl, Darren Poltorak
Douglas Levere | © 2011 University at Buffalo
2011 IEMA Research Grant Winners
James Artz (Department of Classics)
Water Supply Systems in Roman Greece: A Comparative Study
Greek cities typically used terracotta pipes for water supply, and the use of lead is most strongly associated with Roman hydrological building practices. Little comparative work has been done, however, to measure the extent of technological assimilation during the period of Roman control of Greece. A comparative study of classical Greek cities and colonies founded during the Roman period will help to determine whether Greek engineers adapted their techniques to account for new technologies, or preferred to maintain their traditional building practices.
Caitlin Curtis (Department of Anthropology)
Preserving Cultural Heritage with Sustainable Tourism in Anatolia: A GIS Approach
In Central Lydia, western Turkey, the burial mounds of Bin Tepe are under constant threat from looting, development, and agricultural expansion. By instituting sustainable tourism, the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS) hopes to instill long-term economic value and thus promote preservation. Visibility analysis in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be used to pinpoint ideal locations for tourist viewing platforms, as well as to delineate buffer zones around mounds where orchard expansion should be banned. By presenting the results to local leaders, we hope convince them that the destruction of heritage is an urgent problem and that preservation promises significant benefits.
Laura Harrison (Department of Anthropology)
The North Trench at Gournia: New Light on Processes of State Formation in Bronze Age Crete
This issue of social complexity and state formation has been energetically debated on Crete since the publication of Colin Renfrew’s book The Emergence of Civilization in 1972. Much of the debate centers on whether state formation was a gradual, evolutionary process, or a rapid, revolutionary process (Cherry 1981). Only one ceramic deposit is known that falls into the critical final period of state formation, and can shed light on this question: the North Trench deposit at Gournia. This project aims to recover the remaining portion of the North Trench deposit through excavation, and to conduct a detailed study of the ceramics, in preparation for publication.
Eugene Ruzzi (Department of Anthropology)
Analyzing the Compositional Variability of the Early Neolithic Red-Monochrome Ceramics from Southeast Albania
Archaeometric techniques will be used to analyze the internal compositional variability of the Red Monochrome pottery from Early Neolithic sites in Southeast Albania. The goal of this project is to extract data from the physical properties of the pottery in order to answer questions about the social world of the early farmers, their technology-related behavior, and the culture-historical context for the formation of Early Neolithic communities in the Balkans. Laser Ablation ICP-MS, X-ray Diffraction, and Scanning Electron Microscopy will provide information on the elemental and mineralogical composition of the ceramics, the non-plastic materials added to the clay, the location of raw material sources, and the firing temperature of pottery production.
A Memorial Concert in Honor of Professor Samuel M. Paley
Sponsored by Barbara Koz Paley
Friday, April 15, 2011
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, UB North Campus
——————————————————————–
PROGRAM
David Felder – Another Face
Moshe Shulman – Parallels
Yuki Numata, violin
Iannis Xenakis – Kottos
Jonothan Golove, cello
Augusta Read Thomas – Euterpe’s Caprice
Edgard Varese – Density 21.5
Barry Crawford, flute
Additional work to be announced.
——————————————————————–
Music provided by music department faculty members affiliated with the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music, David Felder, Director
Reception to follow.
Professor Samuel Paley passed away on March 31, 2010 in his New York City home, surrounded by his loving wife, Bobbi, friends and family. He earned his Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from Columbia University in 1974 and began teaching at the University at Buffalo in 1977. He was an internationally renowned archaeologist who excavated important sites over the course of 40 years in Cyprus, Israel and Turkey. Proficient in 16 languages and a truly interdisciplinary scholar, his vision of intersecting and interacting worlds of archaeology helped lay the foundations for the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA). Locally, Sam was a vibrant presence in the Jewish community of Western New York. He founded UB’s Judaic Studies program in 1992, and was religious director of Temple Emanu-El in Batavia. His dedicated cultivation of the study of Judaism in all its facets, including his teaching of Hebrew, culminated in the recent establishment of UB’s Institute for Jewish Thought, Heritage, and Culture
Please RSVP by April 8, 2011 to Sandy Gross at (716) 645-0837 or
In memory of Samuel Paley, donations can be made here.
Post-doctoral Scholar Position 2011-2012
The University at Buffalo seeks a Post-doctoral Scholar (PS) for its interdisciplinary Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA). During a 10 month tenure, the PS teaches one graduate seminar (preferably on the topic of the symposium), organizes a symposium, and edits a subsequent volume reflecting IEMA’s focus on post-Pleistocene European and Mediterranean anthropological and classical archaeology. Symposium focus is open, but should stress contemporary theory, topics of broad current interest, and be inclusive of the Institute’s broader geographic/temporal foci. The PS receives stipend and benefits. US and international archaeologists with Ph.D. by August, 2011 in Anthropology, Classics, Archaeology or related disciplines are encouraged to apply.
The fifth IEMA Post-doctoral conference will be held in conjunction with Annual Meeting of the Theoretical Archaeology Group USA (http://www.tag-usa.org/) in Buffalo.
Application letter, vitae, list of references, and 3-page description of proposed symposium topic, including intended invitees, must be received by March 1, 2011 for an August 2011 start, pending final budgetary approval.
Email application or inquiries to the director, Dr. Peter F. Biehl: pbiehl@buffalo.edu
The University at Buffalo is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.
2011 IEMA Research Scholarship
IEMA will award up to four IEMA Research Scholarships to IEMA Graduate Student Members
in the amount up to $2,200 for pre-dissertation or dissertation research for the period from June 1, 2011-June 1, 2012.
Eligibility: All currently enrolled doctoral students who are IEMA members.
Application Materials Required:
A brief proposal of no more than 2 pages (typed, single-spaced) in which you describe your
research and its significance; and 1 page with the budget.
In addition, submit the following supportive materials:
1) a curriculum vitae
2) any funding you have received or applied for dissertation research
Submit proposals by email to the director of IEMA Peter F. Biehl with Attn to: IEMA Research
Scholarship in the subject line
Deadline: 4:30 p.m. Monday, February 14, 2011.
The IEMA Board will review the applications and notify the recipient by March 1, 2011.
The recipient of this award will file a 3-5-page report with the IEMA Director of Graduate; this
report will be printed in Chronika. In addition, the recipient will give a Brownbag
Post-doctoral Scholar Position 2010-2011
University at Buffalo, State University of New York, seeks a 2010-2011 Post-doctoral Scholar (PS) for its interdisciplinary Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA). During a 10 month tenure, the PS teaches one graduate seminar (preferably on the topic of the symposium), organizes a symposium, and edits a subsequent volume reflecting IEMA’s focus on post-Pleistocene European and Mediterranean anthropological and classical archaeology. Symposium focus is open, but should stress contemporary theory, topics of broad current interest, and be inclusive of the Institute’s broader geographic/temporal foci. The PS receives stipend, benefits, plus individual research funds. US and international archaeologists with Ph.D. by August, 2010 in Anthropology, Classics, Archaeology or related disciplines are encouraged to apply; inquiries before submission are encouraged. Application letter, vitae, list of references, and 3-page description of proposed symposium topic, including intended invitees, must be received by January 31, 2010 for an August 2010 start, pending final budgetary approval. Email application or inquiries to:
Dr. Peter F. Biehl, Director of the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology
pbiehl@buffalo.edu
Department of Anthropology
State University of New York at Buffalo
380 Academic Center Ellicott Complex
Buffalo, NY 14261
Phone: 716-645-0407
IEMA Lecture: Dr. Güner Coskunsu (IEMA Post-doctoral Scholar 2009)
Reflection of Cultural Transitions on Stone Tools: A Neolithic Case Study from Turkey
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 in Academic Center 355, 6-7 pm
This lecture will explore the nature of the transitional period from Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) to the Pottery Neolithic (PN) period in the Near East and question if there was a cultural continuation or discontinuation during the transition through a detailed analysis of the flint and obsidian assemblages of Mezraa Teleilat, a Neolithic mound in southeastern Turkey. Archaeologists have observed a relatively rapid decline of PPNB (latest sub-phase of the PPN, known also as PPNC) entities and a stratigraphic gap in many Neolithic sites before the occurrence of Pottery Neolithic. Hence, the chronological and the cultural record of the ‘transition’ remains poorly known and is generally interpreted in existing literature as either recording a cultural continuity or a cultural disruption, recently called “the PPNB collapse” or “Neolithic collapse”. Despite the lack of consensus among scholars the impact of a possible climatic worsening in 8th millennium BP has been found more favorable to explain the decline. Only at a few sites among many Neolithic excavations provide evidence for occupation during these two periods and can potentially elucidate the nature of the cultural transition. Mezraa Teleilat is a large mound where major exposures were excavated producing rich Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic deposits. Thus the site has the potentials to resolve the riddle of the “cultural transition”.
What are the archaeological indications for a cultural “transition”, “continuity,” and “discontinuity”? Doubtless a comprehensive study of lithic artifacts would be an invaluable tool to answer this question. As known from the literature cultures are comprised of myriad components, such as technology, socio-economic organization, ideology/religion and they interact with each other. Analysis of each of these is required for reconstructing the entire system. Subsystems are sensitive to changes in each other through a feedback process. Any change in one subsystem or cultural component will affect the others. Accordingly, if any change occurred during the Neolithic period at Mezraa Teleilat it could be discovered through the study of technology and typology as well as use-wear of the lithic assemblages by examining each stratigraphic phase. According to the results of the analysis of lithic assemblages, inhabitants of Mezraa Teleilat did not abandon their village until end of the Pottery Neolithic. Indeed, the current study demonstrates the cultural continuity of seemingly the same population lasting for several centuries.
IEMA Lecture: Dr. Russell Adams (Department of Anthropology, McMaster University)
The End of Eden: The long-term impact of metallurgical pollution at Faynan in Jordan
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in Academic Center 355, 6-7 pm
In the 1990s studies of ice-core chemistry showed that industrial-scale production of metals began as early as 5300 BP, and that by 3000 BP metal input into the ice core was as high as it would later be in the eighteenth century AD. Understanding this early evidence for atmospheric pollution, which suggests an earlier and as yet undocumented industrial revolution, is critical to our knowledge of human development.
Recent research undertaken at one of the earliest industrial landscapes in world, in the Faynan district of southern Jordan suggests that during the fourth and third millennium BC, the Faynan region underwent significant environmental change as a result of widespread and increasingly intensive mining, smelting and processing of the local copper ores. This transformation, which represents one of the earliest examples of industrialization, forever changed the environment and landscape of the region, which continued to degrade during subsequent episodes of metallurgical activity during the Iron Age (1200-600 BC), Classical and Late Antique (200 BC-600 AD) and early Medieval (9th-13th centuries AD) periods.
The resulting legacy of this metallurgical exploitation is the persistence of heavy metals in the local environment and the impacts of ancient mining and smelting persisting into modern times. The long time span has not diluted or dissipated the metals in this arid environment; modern populations, animals, insects and plants are all exposed to significant metal pollution. These studies have implications for the management and interpretation of the pollution legacies of ancient empires and are a pointed reminder of the legacies which we may be leaving to future generations.
AIA & IEMA Lecture: Dr. Kathleen Lynch (University of Cincinnati)
At Home in Archaic Athens: The Archaeology of a House near the Athenian Agora
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 in Goetz Library/Fillmore 320, 5-6 pm
Video from the April 4th-5th 2008 Conference
The inaugural event with opening remarks by John B. Simpson, Charles L. Stinger, Donald Pollock, J. Theodore
Peña and Ezra B. Zubrow and the keynote lecture by Graeme Barker (Disney Professor of Archaeology, Head of the Department of Archaeology, and Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research) ‘Archaeology as History: Revolutions, Transformations, Events’
Post-doctoral Scholar
Position
University at Buffalo, State University of New York, seeks a 2009-2010
Post-doctoral Scholar (PS) for its interdisciplinary Institute for European
and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA). During a 10 month tenure, the PS
teaches one graduate seminar, organizes a symposium, and edits a subsequent
volume reflecting IEMA’s focus on post-Pleistocene European and
Mediterranean anthropological and classical archaeology. Symposium focus is
open, but should stress contemporary theory, topics of broad current
interest, and be inclusive of the Institute’s broader geographic/temporal
foci. The PS receives stipend, benefits, plus individual research funds. US
and international archaeologists with Ph.D. by August, 2009 in Anthropology,
Classics, Archaeology or related disciplines are encouraged to apply;
inquiries before submission are encouraged. Application letter, vitae, list
of references, and 3-page description of proposed symposium topic, including
intended invitees, must be received by February 1, 2009 for an August 2009
start, pending final budgetary approval. Send application or inquiries to:
Dr. Tina Thurston
Department of Anthropology
SUNY-Buffalo
380 Academic Center
Buffalo, NY 14261
Email: tt27@buffalo.edu; Phone: 716-645-0408. The
University at Buffalo is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.
IEMA Lecture: Dr. Elisabeth Jerem (Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary)
Iron Age in the Carpathian Basin
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 in Academic Center 355, 5-6 pm
In this lecture, I will discuss the-state-of-the art of Iron Age studies in the Central Europe. What is really new? What has happened over the last decades? With appropriate examples, I will demonstrate how new methodologies such as aerial photography, prospection, extended field surveys and large scale excavations have led to the discovery of new sites and allowed a more precise view about the topographical setting of the settlements or about the number of barrows in a landscape. At the same time, new surveys carried out with modern equipment, especially aerial photography from the 1990s onwards, greatly enhanced our understanding of the environment and structural idiosyncrasies of hillforts. The new sampling strategy and increasing application of environmental investigations helped to reconstruct landscapes and ecosystems of the past. Recent major rescue excavations – especially the construction of motorways – have yielded important finds and findings and their analysis has considerably changed the fine chronology as well as our understanding of the Central European Iron Age in general. I will discuss the developement and context of grave architecture, burial practices and grave goods during the Hallstatt period as they occur in the large tumulus cemeteries in Humagray and will then compare the results of this study with the evidence for the neighboring regions. After the so-called classical Hallstatt period regional begin to appear leading to the complete change of the burial rites during the Late Hallstatt and Early Latene periods (ca. 6th-4th centuries BC). I will also discuss the newly founded Celtic sites and focus here on the characteristic burial rites and exotic and rare finds. Important production centres are evidence for a well-organized and flourishing short and long distance trade. Also metal finds, other small finds and especially high quality (stamped) pottery demonstrate the wide-ranging communication and settlement network. At the end of the late Latene period we can observe the reuse of the hillforts with significant territorial divisions by Celtic tribes. But we will argue that the composition of the population was rather mixed and that the Pannonian component was far more significant than previously thought.
IEMA Lecture: Professor Vítor Oliveira Jorge (Faculty of Arts, University of Porto, Portugal
Monday, March 23, 2009 in Academic Center 355, 12-1 pm
That Hill belongs to us: On the role of ‘prehistoric architectures’ in the making of territorial identities in the Iberian Peninsula (3rd-2nd Millennium BC)
This talk provides a general account of the archaeological research programs developed by the University of Porto in northern Portugal over the past 30 years. As well, it highlights some of the questions that underpin, to a certain extent, common research problems in other regions of Europe and elsewhere. At its core, this research emphasizes the way people may have dealt with the environment, and stresses the act of ‘building’ as a mode of constituting socialities and of distributing power, roles and status in stateless societies.
IEMA Lecture: Dr. Konstantin P. Boshnakov (George Brown College, Toronto, Canada)
New-discovered Inscriptions from the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak
Wednesday, February 25, Academic Center 355, 5-6 pm
Sixty-four years have passed since the accidental discovery of the Thracian vaulted tomb in the town park of today’s Kazanlak. The place is in the heart of Bulgaria, immediately south of the Balkan range. The tomb is part of a large tumular necropolis of a Thracian dynasty, a contemporary of Alexander the Great’s successors.
On April 19, 1944 soldiers who were building a bomb shelter ran into a walled-up entrance, broke in, and then found themselves in the central vaulted chamber. To the light of burning newspapers the discoverers beheld unique 2300-year-old frescoes.
The tomb became world famous and since 1979 is under UNESCO protection as “a masterpiece of human creative genius” that “illustrates an important stage in the history of mankind”.
For decades the tomb in Kazanlak has been in the focus of attention of archaeologists, historians, art historians as well as art critics, conservation specialists and architecture historians. However, it was never tested for inscriptions, and was respectively never studied by epigraphists, even though the oldest photographs clearly show a string of letters in the so called „Charioteer Frieze“.
With the support of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation Dr. Boshnakov was able to research between 2007 and 2008 the inscriptions in one of the most emblematic monuments of Thracian history and Hellenistic art. The comparative analysis of the photographic material and the on-site visits confirmed the presence of two inscriptions:
A two-line inscription: „Kozimases painted this“;
A three-line inscription: „Rhoigos, (son) of Seuthes“;
All inscriptions are in Greek. Two factors support the results’ objectivity: (1) the macro-images indicate clearly the presence even of a “draft” in both inscriptions, and (2) the inscriptions are visible also in UV light. The fact that Kozimases is nowhere to be found in the history of ancient art is not surprising. As Pliny the Elder said, for static walls were prone to decay while great artists’ portable works belonged to the world. Now we have not only the name of the mighty ruler buried in the Kazanlak tomb who was known to scholars only from his coins but as well as the oldest painter’s epigraph to be preserved in the European monumental painting.
IEMA Lecture: Dr. Elif Genç (Dumlupınar University, Kütahya, Turkey)
The Seyitomer Mound Salvage Excavation Project
Wednesday, January 28, Academic Center 355, 5-6 pm
Seyitömer Höyük is located in the Seyitömer Lignite Company’s reserve zone in Kütahya. It is an ancient habitation site measuring 150×150 meters. Its summit is situated 23.5 meters above the surroundings. The site must be excavated completely by 2010 because the Seyitömer Lignite Company intends to mine 12 million tons of an exploitable coal reserve underneath it. This is the third time this site has been the subject of a research project. The Eskişehir Museum in 1989 for one season and the Afyon Museum, from 1990 to 1995, worked at Seyitömer Höyük. Both excavations together managed to clear only about 1/10th of the mound. As a result of those archeological projects, the archaeologists learned that the mound was inhabited from the Chalcolithic period to the Roman Age, beginning about 5000 years ago. The previous excavators used traditional excavation and documentation methods. Our task is to incorporate the old data into more current recordind snd excavation techniques to understand the site and its remains. The challenge to the archaeologist is unique, presenting problems and solutions both in completing the task using the best archaeological methods available and to do it as a salvage excavation. This presentation will explain the site and what we have done to bring Seyitomer into the 21st century.
IEMA co-sponsored Lecture: Frederick Whitling (Doctoral Candidate, European University Institute)
Restoring a World. The Academies of Rome AIAC at the UNIONE, 1944-1948
Thursday, December 4, 5:00 p.m., Goetz Library
(Other sponsors: Department of Classics, Park Professorship & AIA)
IEMA Annual Business Meeting:
Tuesday, December 2, Academic Center 355, 4-5 pm
IEMA Lecture: Dr. David Orton (Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton).
Beyond ‘hunting versus herding’: linking animal use and social change in the central Balkan Neolithic
Tuesday, December 2, Academic Center 355, 5-6 pm followed by a reception in the Totem Pole Room)
The social importance of animals within human societies is now widely recognized by archaeologists. Zooarchaeological research on the topic has proliferated accordingly, but has mostly concentrated on issues of consumption and deposition, requiring detailed taphonomic research on sites excavated to high standards. In this talk I seek to demonstrate that even the coarse-grained quantitative data produced by traditional zooarchaeology can provide meaningful insights into past social change if interpreted critically. Using published and unpublished zooarchaeological data, along with the latest absolute dating, I chart the changing contributions and roles of animal species across the Neolithic of the central Balkans. Age and sex data are brought to bear on hunting strategies and herd management, but with the recognition that decisions are likely to have been structured primarily by social imperatives. In particular, I argue that the concept of ‘secondary products’ only becomes analytically useful if expanded beyond tangible benefits to include the potential social value of live animals.
The trends revealed by this study can be related to a general model of social change during the period, developed by a series of authors, which links increasing sedentism with a shift from community- to household-focused social organization and increasingly competitive/accumulative property relations. Arguing from the faunal and architectural data, I propose a new variant of this model in which intensified competition at some sites is mediated through the increasing social importance of owning cattle, with both phenomena linked to a change in the form and social scale of mobility. Rather than a region-wide ‘settling-down’ phenomenon, these developments should be seen in terms of individual settlement histories, with sedentism resting on the establishment of commitment to specific places and particular agglomerations of smaller communities. I finish by suggesting how more detailed, particulate research might test this general hypothesis.
For further information, please contact Dr. Peter F. Biehl
IEMA Lecture: Elizabeth Greene, Brock University.
Emerging Mediterranean Economies: Reading Archaic Trade through the Shipwrecks at Kekova Adası and Pabuç Burnu, Turkey
November 12 (Wednesday, 5:00 PM; Goetz Library/Filmore 320)
Two Archaic shipwrecks off the Turkish coast, one at Kekova Adası (near modern Kas), and another at Pabuç Burnu (near Halikarnassos or modern Bodrum), reveal two concurrent faces of a system of exchange that may be understood through the lens of desire for goods that evoke status: from vast quantities of exotic wines and foodstuffs transported by distant kings, to smaller increments of commodities preferred over a local product. In each case, the institutions that facilitate these networks of interaction are visible through the literary tradition and the archaeological record of a period marked by short and long distance trade. Two shipwrecks – the only well-preserved seventh- or sixth- century BCE wrecks to be explored in the eastern Mediterranean – give evidence on the one hand, for a local merchantman whose sailing was likely confined to the region around Halikarnassos; on the other hand, for an international cargo from the coast of Cyprus or the Levant, the southeast Aegean, and Corinth on the Greek mainland. Separately and together they speak for a multifaceted web of exchange in which processed agricultural goods play a critical role in developing systems of production, distribution, and consumption.
Post-doctoral Scholar
Position
University at Buffalo, State University of New York, seeks a 2008-2009 Post-doctoral Scholar (PS) for its interdisciplinary Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA). During a 10 month tenure, the PS teaches one graduate seminar, organizes a symposium, and edits a subsequent volume reflecting IEMA’s focus on post-Pleistocene European and Mediterranean anthropological and classical archaeology. Symposium focus is open, but should stress contemporary theory, topics of broad current interest, and be inclusive of the Institute’s broader geographic/temporal foci. The PS receives stipend, benefits, plus individual research funds. US and international archaeologists with Ph.D. by August, 2008 in Anthropology, Classics, Archaeology or related disciplines are encouraged to apply; inquiries before submission are encouraged. Application letter, vitae, list of references, and 3-page description of proposed symposium topic, including intended invitees, must be received by February 1, 2008 for an August 2008 start, pending final budgetary approval.
Send application or inquiries to:
Dr. Tina Thurston
Department of Anthropology
SUNY-Buffalo
380 Academic Center
Buffalo, NY 14261
Email: tt27@buffalo.edu
Phone:
716-645-2414 ext. 143
The University at Buffalo is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer