McDONALD INSTITUTE for Archaeological Research

26th January: Higher Education Field Academy Seminar 2008
The Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) seminar 2008 will review the progress of the HEFA programme in 2007 and is aimed at invited specialists and members of the public actively involved in coordinating HEFA excavations 2005-7. The(HEFA) programme in 2007 delivered 13 archaeological field academies to more than 350 schoolchildren across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. For this project, which combines schools outreach with research into historic settlement development, the seminar will present feedback on the educational and aspiration-raising impact of HEFA in 2007 and the archaeological evidence from the excavated sites and consider the implications of this for the future. The event also provides a chance for members of the public supporting HEFA in different parts of the region to meet project staff again in less busy circumstances and to share their HEFA experiences with others who carried out the same role in different places.
(McDonald Institute Seminar Room)

29th January: Art and Archaeology Seminar
Dr Laura Preston (Cambridge University): Reintroducing migration in the Bronze Age Cyclades
(4.30pm Room 1.04, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue)

30th January: Biological Anthropology Research Seminar
Professor Julia Lee-Thorp (Dept of Archaeological Science, Bradford): High-resolution isotope analyses of hominin teeth: how do we interpret these new sources of data?
(5pm Seminar Room, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge)

5th February: Art and Archaeology Seminar
Dr Roman Roth (Cambridge University): Capena in the setting of the Tiber valley
(4.30pm Room 1.04, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue)

11th February: St. John's College
Professor David Lewis-Williams (Professor emeritus of cognitive archaeology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg): "The Bishop and the Bushmen: St John's College's contribution to our understanding of the San and their art."
( 5-6 pm Boys-Smith Room, St. John's, followed by a glass of wine in the Foyer of the Fisher Building)

11th February: Ancient Near Eastern Evenings 2007-8
Dr Dominique Collon: "The tombs of the Assyrian queens at Nimrud"
(7.45 for 8.00 pm The Old Guest Room D3 Nevile's Court Trinity College)
All interested welcome
After the Assyrian capital city of Kalhu was sacked at the end of the 7th century BC the tombs of some of the queens lay beneath the floors of the North-West Palace undisturbed by grave robbers or the British archaeologists - Layard and Mallowan - but were located by Iraqi archaeologists in the 1980's. Because of ever-worsening political conditions, the staggeringly rich contents have never been properly exhibited. Dr Collon's illustrated lecture will describe the discoveries and give an idea of the quality and quantity of materials recovered from the tombs.

12th February: Art and Archaeology Seminar
Dr Simon Stoddart (Cambridge University): Conceptualising mountain landscapes in continental islands: experiences of upland Sicily
(4.30pm Room 1.04, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue)

13th February: Biological Anthropology Research Seminar
Dr Barry Bogin (Dept of Human Sciences, Loughborough): Language and life history: a new perspective on the development and evolution of human language
(5pm Seminar Room, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge)

15th February: Ancient India and Iran Trust
Dr John MacGinnis (McDonald Institute): ‘Ziyaret Tepe in south eastern Turkey: excavating on the Assyrian frontier’
(5.00pm: Ancient India and Iran Trust, 23 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge CB2 2BG)
www.indiran.org

19th February: Art and Archaeology Seminar
Prof Nancy Ramage (Ithaca College, NewYork) Sculptors, dealers and patrons: an inside view of the 18th century trade in Roman sculpture
(4.30pm Room 1.04, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue)

19th February: Gates Distinguished Lecture Series
Professor Martin Jones (George Pitt-Rivers Professor of Archaeological Science): Why do humans share food?
(Old Combination Room, Trinity College.)
Wine reception from 5:30 to 6 pm before the lecture at 6 pm. This talk is open to the general public. More info…

21st February: Society of Antiquaries - Tercentenary Festival Public Lectures
Lecture No. 4, The Origins of Europe
Speaker Professor Eric Fernie, CBE, FBA, Hon VPSA, FSAScot, FRSE, with an introduction by Neil MacGregor, FSA.
(6pm Lady Mitchell Hall, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge followed by a reception in the Museum of Classical Archaeology)
Tickets should be booked from the Society of Antiquaries website.

25th February: February Ancient Near Eastern evening
Dr Aline Teru: From Kingdom to Empire: the new frontiers of Assyria (14th-11th centuries)
(7.45 for 8.00 pm D2, Bishops Hostel Trinity College)

27th February: MPhil B Open Lectures
Dr. Mohammed Bounhiss: Community participation and heritage. A comparative analysis of two case studies( Fez Medina World Ban Rehabilitation Programme and, the Ait Iktel village museum, both Morocco)
(11-1.00pm West Building Seminar Room)

27th February:
Professor David Lewis-Williams (Professor emeritus of cognitive archaeology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg): 'Activity areas and social relations in the Volp caves'
(4.30pm McDonald Institute Seminar Room)
This event is followed by a wine reception, to which all are welcome

29th February: MPhil B Open Lectures
Prof. David Uzzell (Dept. of Psychology, University of Surrey): The emotive role of the past?
(11-1.00pm West Building Seminar Room)

2nd March: MPhil B Open Lectures
Dr. Cate Garden: Living history sites and open-air museumes: Management and public presentation
(11-1.00pm West Building Seminar Room)

4th March: Art and Archaeology Seminar
Dr Nick Vella (Dept of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta): Views from the countryside: the Maltese Islands in history
(4.30pm Room 1.04, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue)

5th March:
Dr. Keith Dobney (Durham University): “Pigs and pests: new genetic and morphometric research into the origins and dispersal of prehistoric farmers around the world”
(4.30pm McDonald Institute Seminar Room)

5th March: Theory Group: a forum for discussion of current trends and topics in archaeological theory
Discussion: "Is archaeology a science?"
(5.30pm West Building Seminar Room, McDonald Institute)
Everyone welcome
Monique Boddington (mib25) and Craig Alexander (ca304)

5th March: D Caucus seminar
Philipp Stockhammer: 'Recent work at Tiryns: further light on status and performance in Late Bronze Age Greece'
(time and location tba, Faculty of Classics)

11th March: Art and Archaeology Seminar
Dr Maria Iacovou (Dept of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus): From gateway community to island polity: Ancient Paphos and the Urban Landscape Project
(4.30pm Room 1.04, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue)

12th March: Book Celebration!
Join us for a celebration of the latest volumes in the McDonald Institute monograph series and books published in 2007 by the archaeological community in Cambridge
Wine reception 4.30pm McDonald Institute All Welcome!

12th March: Biological Anthropology Research Seminar
Prof. Hélene Roche (Laboratoire d'Ecologie et de Zoologie de l'Université Paris-Sud): Technological evolution of early hominids
(5pm Seminar Room, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge)

14th March: Art Reading Group Seminar
Theoretical and Practical Approaches to Art and Archaeology
(9.30-1.00pm McDonald Institute Seminar Room)
Event poster (.jpg)

19th April: The 9th Annual Cambridge Heritage Seminar
Packaging the Past: The Commodification of Heritage
(McDonald Institute Seminar Room)
More info…

25th April: Biology, Evolution, and the Social Science Curriculum
A one-day symposium at the University of Cambridge exploring the impact of biological/evolutionary approaches to the study of human behaviour on the UK undergraduate social science curriculum

9th May: The Gray Lectures
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (Director, British School of Rome): Piecing together Herculaneum: an imperial town beneath the microscope
(5:00 p.m. in room G.19, Faculty of Classics)

12th May: The Gray Lectures
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (Director, British School of Rome): Piecing together Herculaneum: an imperial town beneath the microscope
(5:00 p.m. in room G.19, Faculty of Classics)

13th May: The Gray Lectures
Seminar by Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (Director, British School of Rome): Piecing together Herculaneum: an imperial town beneath the microscope
(2:30 p.m. in room 1.11, Faculty of Classics)

11th - 13th September: Archaeology and Linguistics in the Andes
An initial symposium (11th-13th September 2008), supported by the Institute, will assemble a roll-call of leading world authorities in the archaeology, linguistics and indeed ethno-history of the region: Urton, Salomon, Burger, Cerrón-Palomino and Adelaar, among many others.
More info…

October 2008: Exhibition ‘Hidden Worlds, A Journey in Geo-Archaeology’
‘Look around you - all you can see is really there. Yet, behind each thing lies a mystery, hidden from view. If you try hard, you may get a glimpse of that world, but never will you be able to see it all’.
‘Life as a Geological Force - Dynamics of the Earth’, by Peter Westbroek, W.W. Norton & Company, 1991.

You are invited to view ‘Hidden Worlds, A Journey in Geo-Archaeology’, at the McDonald Institute of Archaeology, Downing St, Cambridge. Please join the celebration of more than a decade of Geo-Archaeological research work at the Department of Archaeology in Cambridge. The exhibition will be on show at the McDonald Institute for the whole of the month of October, 2008.
For more info contact Julie Boreham

10th October: Archaeology start of term party
Start of term party for all undergraduate and graduate students/staff/visiting scholars/dept researchers, etc.
(8-11pm McDonald coffee room/foyer, seminar room)
The Department will provide nibbles and some wine, but please 'bring a bottle'!

14th October: D Caucus Seminar, Faculty of Classics
Tom de Freston (talk to accompany his Museum Exhibition): Between Somewhere and Nowhere: a discussion of processes, themes and ideas
(4.30pm in the Cast Gallery, Faculty of Classics, followed by a wine reception)

14th October: Cambridge Late Antiquity Network Seminar
Late Antique, Byzantine and Early Medieval Studies
INAUGURAL LECTURE
Prof Dame Averil Cameron (Keble, Oxford): ‘Late antiquity: grand narrative or dissolving the centre?’ Wine reception afterwards - all welcome!
(5.00pm, CRASSH, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX)

18th October: Symposium at LCHES
Palaeoanthropology meets Primatology 2: The Origins of Percussive Technology A one-day symposium at the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies 8.30-15.15 Entry Free
More info…

18th October: D Caucus Seminar, Faculty of Classics
The Gortyn Law-Code: History, Archaeology and Language: An Interdisciplinary Symposium to mark the display of Faculty’s cast of the Code
(3.00–6.00 pm, Rm 1.02, Faculty of Classics)

20th October: Templeton Consortium
"The Emergence of Biological Complexity"
Inter-Disciplinary One-Day Symposium
(10.00am - 5.15pm Corpus Christi College, McCrum Lecture Theatre)
More info…

Saturday 25th October 10.30am - 4.00pm Prehistory Day at Cambridge Archaeological Unit as part of Cambridge University Festival of Ideas 22nd Oct- 2nd Nov

Archaeology’s contribution is a ‘Prehistory Day’ at CAU on Saturday 25 October from 10.30-4.00 when the public can come and see some of the activities our ancestors performed in the Stone Age and just after. We have a whole bunch of fantastic activities and demonstrations lined up: pit ovens, metal smelting, pottery firing, spear throwing, rock art, butchery, hide tanning, ancient music and flint knapping. We are hoping to attract people of all ages with an interest in archaeology - and have great fun ourselves, of course.

28th October: Cambridge Late Antiquity Network Seminar
Late Antique, Byzantine and Early Medieval Studies
Prof Martin Carver (York): ‘What were they thinking? Some reflections on the archaeology of Christianization’
(2.30pm CRASSH, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX)

28th October: Mulvey Lecture Series
Joanne Rowland: The Minufiyeh Archaeological Survey - recent investigations in the central Nile Delta
(5pm - McDonald Institute seminar room) Followed by wine reception

30th October: THE BOOK PEOPLE
Come along to the Book People sale at the McDonald Institute! Save up to 75% off high street prices on great cookery books, fiction, autobiography, childrens books, etc.
(10am-3pm McDonald Institute Seminar Room)

30th October: Archaeology Graduate Seminar Series
Michael Campana: Archaeogenetics of breed improvement
(4:30-5:30pm McDonald Institute seminar room) Followed by drinks and discussion. All are welcome.
Email dey21@cam.ac.uk for more information.

3rd November: Personal/oral histories of human origins research
Oral-history discussion with the Palaeoanthropologists, Meave Leakey (Kenya), Leslie Aiello (Wenner-Gren Foundation of NYC), Chris Stringer (Natural History Museum), Rob Foley (LCHES), David Pilbeam (Harvard) and Adam Kuper as Chair.
Senior scientists share their memories as researchers; through their life histories we see aspects of the development of twentieth-century method and theory.
Because prehistoric archaeology and anthropology were first taught in the Museum tea room, tea is at 3pm in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The menu from 1913 is almost historically correct.
(TEA AT 3PM IN THE MUSEUM TEA ROOM; PANEL AT 4PM IN THE BABBAGE LECTURE THEATRE, NEW MUSEUMS SITE, (off Downing St) AT 4PM FOLLOWED BY A WINE RECEPTION AT LCHES, FITZWILLIAM ST.

NOTE! CHANGE OF VENUE: now at Babbage Theatre on the New Museums Site, Downing St. (See map).
Poster  Tea menu

4th November: Special Seminar
Meave Leakey: “Causes and courses of humanity’s elusive past”
(12:00 - 13:00 Seminar Room, LCHES, Fitzwilliam St.)
All Welcome

4th November: D Caucus Seminar, Faculty of Classics
Alessandro Launaro: Landscape archaeology and the historical demography of Roman Italy 200 BC – AD 100
(4.30pm, Rm 1.04, Faculty of Classics)

5th November: The Cambridge Association of the British Federation of Women Graduates [CABFWG]
Come meet the members of CABFWG and learn more about the group and our activities. Membership applications will be avaliable. Cheese and wine will be on offer!
(4pm-6pm McDonald Institute seminar room)
For more info please contact Olena Fim'yar ohf21@cam.ac.uk

7th November: LCHES Special Seminars in Human Evolution
Dr Tom Gilbert (Ancient DNA and Evolution Group, University of Copenhagen): The state of the art, and future, of ancient DNA
(1.00 pm Friday 7th November, LCHES Seminar Room, Fitzwilliam Street)

11th November: Cambridge Late Antiquity Network Seminar
Late Antique, Byzantine and Early Medieval Studies
Prof Hugh Kennedy (SOAS): ‘Middle Eastern elites from late antiquity to early Islam: continuity or change?’
2.30pm CRASSH, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX)

11th November: Post-Conflict and Post-Crisis Research Group
Dr Chad Briggs (Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations and Environmental Initiative, Lehigh University): ‘Redefining environmental security: post-conflict vulnerability forecasting’
(3.30pm McDonald Institute Seminar Room)
More info

11th November: Post-Conflict and Post-Crisis Research Group
Dr Katherine Norman (City University): ‘Listening in Place’
(5.00pm CRASSH Main Seminar Room). Discussion and Wine Reception to follow
More info

12th November: Mulvey Lecture Series
Kenneth Griffin: An Analysis of the Representations of the Rekhyt in the Temples of the Ancient Egpytians
(5pm - McDonald Institute seminar room)

12th November: Magdalene Festival of Landscape
‘conversations’ - on ‘Fens and Bogs’
The programme will include: Professor Valerie Hall (Queens’ University Belfast) on ‘Irish landscapes: Palaeoecology, archaeology and bog people in Ireland’ and a reading by the nobel laureate Seamus Heaney. The audience is also invited to refreshments after the talks and to view newly commissioned poetry, prose and artworks responding to the theme of landscape.
More info…
(5 pm, Sir Humphrey Cripps Lecture Theatre, Cripps Court, Magdalene College)

13th November: Archaeology Graduate Seminar Series
Tera Pruitt: There’s method in this madness: engaging with the Alternative
(4:30-5:30pm McDonald Institute seminar room) Followed by drinks and discussion. All are welcome.
Email dey21@cam.ac.uk for more information.

15th November: Celebrity fundraising Gala Evening: Flag Fen
Renowned Bronze Age Centre celebrates 25th Anniversary in style, with fundraising Gala Evening. The celebrity event is being hosted by Flag Fen’s esteemed Patron Mr Peter Boizot, on the 15th November at the Great Northern Hotel, Peterborough.
More info …

18th November: D Caucus Seminar, Faculty of Classics
Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou: Towards a household archaeology of the Early Iron Age: household space, morphology and internal arrangement in island Greece.
(4.30pm, Rm 1.04, Faculty of Classics)

18th November: LCHES Special Seminars in Human Evolution
Peter C. Kjaergaard (University of Aarhus): Adam and the Apes?: European creationism and public understanding of human evolution
(5pm, LCHES seminar room)

21st November: Ancient India and Iran Trust
Dr Iain Gardner (University of Sydney): The Apostle Mani at the Court of King Shapur I: Towards an edition of the Coptic ‘Kephalaia’ Codex Housed in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
(5.00pm, Ancient India and Iran Trust, 23 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge)
Contact: Munizha Ahmad-Cooke (0)1223 356841
www.indiran.org

24th November: Ancient Near Eastern Evening
Dr Harriet Crawford: The 3rd Millennium in Mesopotamia - a golden age for women?
(7.45 for 8.00pm, Room D2 Bishop's Hostel, Trinity College)
All welcome!

25th November: D Caucus Seminar, Faculty of Classics
Dr Naoise MacSweeney: Community identity at Clazomenae
(4.30pm, Rm 1.04, Faculty of Classics)

26th November: Mulvey Lecture Series
Thilo Rehren: Glass-making in NK Egypt: Qantir/Pi-Ramesse and Amarna
(5pm - McDonald Institute seminar room)

26th November: LCHES Special Seminars in Human Evolution
Dr. M. Harrower (University of California, Los Angeles): Saba and Aksum: Irrigation in the Histories of Adjacent Arabian and African Empires
(5.00pm, LCHES seminar room, The Leverhulme Centre, The Henry Wellcome Building, Fitzwilliam Street)
Enquiries to Danni: dc431@cam.ac.uk Tel: (01223 764700)

27th November: Quaternary Discussion Group
Professor David Hodell (Woodwardian Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge)‘: Human – climate – environment interactions in the Maya Lowlands (Yucatan Peninsula)”
5.15pm VENUE for this lecture: PLUMB AUDITORIUM, Christ’s College, top floor Z-staircase
Please see the QDG website for forthcoming lectures and updates

4th December: Quaternary Discussion Group
Professor Graeme Barker (Disney Professor of Archaeology, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Cambridge): ‘Climate, environment, and the emergence of Modern Humans: Interdisciplinary studies in the Niah caves, Borneo, and the Haua Fteah cave, Libya.’
5.15pm VENUE for this lecture: PLUMB AUDITORIUM, Christ’s College, top floor Z-staircase
Please see the QDG website for forthcoming lectures and updates.

5th December: Ancient India and Iran Trust
Sir Harold Bailey Memorial Lecture
Prof. Robert Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh): Why write on pots? Reflections on Medieval Persian Ceramics
(5.00pm, 23 Brooklands Avenue)
All welcome, admission free, light refreshments will be served)

10th December: Archaeological Review from Cambridge
Launch of new issue on ‘The Movement of Peoples’
A new issue is always a cause for celebration, and the ARC Committee would like to invite you to join them for the launch party!
There will be wine and nibbles and academic banter, and what more could anyone want? The journal is run by students on an entirely voluntary basis, and has been published for several decades. It's continued success is something we should all celebrate, as it contributes to making our department such a great place to work/study/skive/steal free food. (4:30pm McDonald Institute)
Danika Parikh ARC Publicity Officer

12th – 13th December:
An interdisciplinary conference bringing together epigraphists and archaeologists working on Bronze Age and Iron Age Cyprus.
The event is open to all, but due to limitations of space please contact the Conference Organiser (Philippa Steele,) to register your intention to attend. A small conference fee will be charged to cover refreshments, conference packs and a wine reception.
Contact: Phillipa Steele, email: pms45@cam.ac.uk
www.kings.cam.ac.uk/research/2008/cyprus_conference.html

17th December: McDonald Christmas Party
Please join us for an 'Archaeology at Cambridge' Christmas party. We will be brewing mulled wine and dispensing mince pies and good cheer in the McDonald coffee room from noon!
(12.00-14.00pm McDonald Institute coffee room)