Free XRF Hands On Workshop on Thursday March 6 to Friday March 7 (Manchester, NH)

The Saint Anselm College Departments of Classics and Chemistry are pleased to announce a FREE two-day hands on workshop on portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF).  The workshop will occur Thursday March 6 to Friday March 7 on the Saint Anselm College campus in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The versatility of pXRF for nondestructive field data collection crosses many disciplines: art conservation, cultural heritage, archaeology, chemistry, environmental science, geology, and others.  This workshop will address applications in all fields.  Please pass on this announcement to others at your institution that may also be interested in learning about pXRF and gaining some hands on exposure to the technique.

Contact Dr. David George ([email protected]) or Dr. Mary Kate Donais ([email protected]) for additional information about the workshop, directions, and registration.

www.bruker.com/workshop

CFP: AIA/APA 2015 – Burial and Commemoration in the Roman Province — Deadline March 14, 2014

Burial and Commemoration in the Roman Province
A proposal for an AIA/APA Colloquium: New Orleans, January 8-11, 2015

Organizers: Tamara Dijkstra and Lidewijde de Jong (University of Groningen)

The last decades have witnessed a growing scholarly interest in the Roman provinces. Significant theoretical and methodological attention has been paid to the study of the expansion of the Roman Empire and the cultural integration of the provinces into the Empire. In these debates, provincial communities rise as active agents of change, and as highly diverse groups that seem to resist blanket models of culture change such as Romanization. The archaeological and epigraphic record illustrates different responses to Roman imperialism, varying from province to province as well as within local groups and sometimes between individuals. How, then, can one approach the cross-provincial/global nature of culture change, while appreciating local/non-global contexts?

We propose to address this debate by zooming in on perhaps the most local, personal, and contextually specific set of ritual practices: the care for the dead. How were mortuary customs in the provinces maintained, defined, and reinvented in the face of Roman expansion? The purpose of the colloquium is twofold. First, we intend to explore the changes that occurred in the mortuary practices of the Roman provinces resulting from the incorporation into or direct contact with the Roman Empire. Second, the colloquium aims to open the discussion about the challenges and significance of studying mortuary practices when addressing cultural negotiations. We invite papers using different theoretical and methodological perspectives, as well as topics emphasizing material and/or textual evidence. Bioarchaeological approaches are also very welcome.

Suggested topics:

-What happened to the mortuary customs of agents of the Roman state, such as soldiers and colonists, or those of other migrant communities?

-How were pre-Roman elements of funerary practices preserved, reinvented, or accentuated?

-Which distinctions were highlighted within the provincial communities, for instance based on sex, gender, age, kinship, or social status?

-How did people in the provinces use commemorative practices involving memory and the past to negotiate change?

-How was the cemetery used in processes of integration, resistance or adaptation to the Roman Empire?

-What was the role of inscriptions and monumentality in commemoration?

Please submit your abstract, including contact information, professional affiliation, title, and length of time requested (15 or 20 minutes) by MARCH 14 2014 to Tamara Dijkstra ([email protected]). The abstract in English must not exceed 400 words and should conform to the AIA Style Guidelines (http://aia.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10462).  More information on the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America can be found here: http://aia.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10096.

Fieldwork Opportunity: Archaeoccidens International Archaeology Program (Pamplona, Spain)

Gabinete TRAMA, in association with the UNED (The National Distance Education University) and de Archbishopric of Pamplona and Tudela is delighted to present an International archaeological field program.

The program combines oral tradition with information from archeological and archival investigations. It provides an opportunity for students to extend their knowledge in archaeology and is based at an excavation site in the Cathedral complex of Pamplona (Spain).

The Cathedral complex of Pamplona, constructed between the IX’th and XIX’th century, is of particularly importance in Europe due its pristine condition. The main excavation site is situated inside the former Archbishop’s Palace (built in the XII century) and the attached cloisters (dated from the XIV century). The stratigraphic sequence of the site covers periods from the VII century B.C until present day.

Work will be directed by Mercedes Unzu who has 30 years of archaelogical and other heritage experience. In addition, Mercedes has also been awarded with a Spanish National Archaeology prize; Ph D. María Pérex who  is the director of the Ancient History department of the UNED since 2004 and Dean of the Faculty of Geography and History in the UNED from January 2011; and Ph.D Carmen Jusué Associate Professor of the UNED specialist in medieval archaeology. Currently she is General Secretary of the Associate Center of UNED in Pamplona and also is Professor of Archaeology and Prehistory in this Associate Center.

Support by the UNED, allow students (in conjunction with their Universities) to earn official academic ECTS credits by participating in this program. The program is based upon work in the “Occidens: Exhibition chronicles history of Western society”, which has recently been awarded with several international prizes (The exhibition is now nominated for Best European Museum 2014 that will be the third award that aims Occidens, after recently winning the FX International Design Award in London, and have been recognized as the Best in the World Museum in the Core77 Award in New York.  Also Occidens was finalist in the European Prize AADIPA in the category of Heritage Intervention.). It has been designed to expose students to a broad range of research topics making it ideal for someone who is beginning their career in archeology.

Should this be of interest to you, then please refer to the following websites

www.archaeoccidens.com
www.expo-occidens.es
www.uned.es
www.tramarqueologia.com
www.catedraldepamplona.com

For inquiries please do not hesitate to contact us through any of the following contact [email protected].

New eJournal: Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 1.1 (2014)

We are very pleased to announce the publication of the first issue of the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History.

The first issue is available for free and articles can be downloaded at the following link:

<http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/janeh.2014.1.issue-1/issue-files/janeh.2014.1.issue-1.xml>

Contents of JANEH Volume 1 Issue 1:

Editorial Introduction to JANEH

Daniel Fleming, Chasing Down the Mundane: the Near East with Social Historical Interest

Niek Veldhuis, Intellectual History and Assyriology

Francesca Rochberg, The History of Science and Ancient Mesopotamia

Seth Richardson, Mesopotamian Political History: The Perversities

JANEH is published twice per year online and in print. The next issue will appear in October. We are committed to best practices for the consideration, review, and publication of contributions. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically through the JANEH website (http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/janeh) and can be written in in English, French, or German. The style guide for the journal is also available on the website. The international Editorial Board oversees a double-blind peer review process. Under normal circumstances, authors can expect to wait no more than 10 weeks from initial submission to final decision. Moreover, for all subsequent issues of JANEH, articles that have received final approval will be published immediately online and will enter the queue for the next available print issue.

Please address any questions to: [email protected].

Marc Van De Mieroop and Steven Garfinkle
Editors of JANEH

Study and Dig on the Slopes of Mt Vesuvius: The Apolline Project

Study and Dig on the Slopes of Mt Vesuvius

Call for participants – Winter, spring and summer intensive one- and two-week courses offered in specialized areas of archaeological research, in addition to summer fieldwork opportunities.

The Apolline Project is an open research network, which sheds light on the hitherto neglected past of the area to the north of Mt. Vesuvius, in the Bay of Naples. The project has run actively since 2004 and has several components, with current major work focusing on a Medieval church and a Roman villa with baths buried by the volcanoclastic debris of Vesuvius.

The Apolline Project is now accepting applications for its winter, spring, and summer lab courses as well as its summer 2014 field season. Offered lab courses include: human osteology, pottery, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, Roman architecture and Roman marble. Selected participants will have the opportunity to spend additional time before and after their chosen program(s) at the project’s accommodations at no additional charge in order to better explore the region.

For further information, including course descriptions and fieldwork opportunities, visit: http://www.apollineproject.org/dig.html.

If your institution is interested in joining the research network (we have permission to work and study other sites), please send us a message at [email protected].