Public Lecture Series 2024-2025

Come join us for some fascinating lectures on topics from all over the world! We will return to in-person lectures this fall with options for remote viewing (please contact megan.daniels@ubc.ca with any questions). Masks and social distancing are strongly recommended. These lectures are open to the public and those who are not AIA members but are interested in attending can contact Megan Daniels (megan.daniels@ubc.ca) for information.

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TUESDAY, January 28, 2025

“Insights into Indigenous Marine Stewardship from archaeology and ancient biomolecules”

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Dr. Camilla Speller

​Associate Professor of Anthropological Archaeology, Department of Anthropology, UBC

Time: 7:30 PM Location: UBC-Vancouver Room TBA

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Pacific salmon have been a cornerstone of Indigenous cultures and economies in the Pacific Northwest for millennia. This talk will present research that combines archaeological salmon bone analysis with Indigenous knowledge to uncover pre-colonial fisheries' biodiversity and resilience. In partnership with First Nations communities, we document how traditional stewardship practices supported sustainable salmon populations, even under changing environmental conditions. Using cutting-edge biomolecular techniques, we analyze ancient salmon bones to reveal historical species diversity, population trends, and harvesting practices, including strategies like sex-specific fishing strategies. These findings provide critical insights for modern conservation efforts, demonstrating how archaeological data can inform ecologically sound and socially just management of salmon fisheries today. This research emphasizes how respectful collaboration with Indigenous communities is key to fostering sustainable pathways for Pacific salmon conservation and governance.

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TUESDAY, November 19, 2024

“Lifeways on the Margins of the Sahara: Woodland Ecology and Wood Use in the Neolithic to Roman Fayum, Egypt”

Dr. John "Mac" Marston

Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology, Boston University

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Time: 7:30pm Location: UBC-Vancouver Buchanan A 203

Co-sponsored by the American Research Center in Egypt Vancouver Chapter

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This presentation considers the human ecology of wood use in what is today one of the driest regions of the world: the Western Desert of Egypt. Archaeological study of one area within this region, the Fayum Basin, reveals intensive human settlement during both the Early Holocene, prior to the aridification of the Sahara, and the Roman period, when irrigation agriculture converted the desert to the breadbasket of Rome. Recent archaeological investigation of Early Neolithic and Roman sites in the Fayum has yielded considerable wood charcoal, which provides evidence for both natural and human-modified woodland ecology in this region and for selective wood use by early farmers and Roman craft specialists alike.

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THURSDAY**, October 24, 2024

“Far from Home: Diaspora Networks, Religion, and Identity Abroad on the Ancient Indian Ocean”

**Note this lecture is on Thursday, not our usual Tuesday

Dr. Nicholas Bartos, University of California Los Angeles

Archaeological Institute of America National Lecturer - George F. Bass Lecture

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Time: 7:30pm Location: UBC-Vancouver Buchanan A 102

Following the Roman annexation of Egypt in 30 BCE, maritime connections accelerated across the western Indian Ocean, enmeshing people and goods from the Mediterranean, Africa, Arabia, and Asia into new webs of production, exchange, and consumption. Archaeological and textual evidence attests to the cosmopolitan communities of the ports dotting the shores of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea through late antiquity.  Diaspora groups accompanied and facilitated the transportation of a range of products including agricultural staples, ceramics, spices, aromatics, and gemstones, bringing with them their own forms of religious worship and cultural practice.  Drawing from recently excavated material from around the rim of the Indian Ocean, this talk highlights the cultural confrontations and hybridizations which emerged during this unprecedented era of maritime connectivity.

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TUESDAY, February 11, 2025

“Jerusalem in the Time of Herod”​

Dr. Jodi Magness

Kenan Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Co-Sponsored by the UBC Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies, the UBC Diamond Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics, and the UBC Minor in Jewish Studies

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Time: 7:30 PM Location: UBC-Vancouver Room TBA

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In this slide-illustrated lecture, we survey the history and archaeology of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus (late first century BCE – first century CE), ending with the city’s destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.  We focus especially on the reign of Herod the Great, and his reconstruction of the Second Temple and Temple Mount, as well as sites associated with Jesus’s final hours in Jerusalem.  Jerusalem’s history and archaeology are the subject of Magness’ most recent book, Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (Oxford University Press, 2024).

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TUESDAY, February 25, 2025

“‘Speaking Objects’ and (In)tangible Movements Along the Silk Road Network”

Dr. Sara Ann Knutson

Assistant Professor, Department of History, UBC

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Time: 7:30 pm Location: UBC-Vancouver Room TBA​

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TUESDAY, March 25, 2025

"From Trowels to Drones and Back Again: The Past, Present, and Future of the Humayma Excavation Project"

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Dr. Craig Harvey

Assistant Professor of Roman Archaeology, Department of History, Classics, and Religion, University of Alberta

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Time: 7:30 PM Location: UBC-Vancouver Room TBA

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