Anthropology Department to Host New Series of Archaeology Lectures

By Julie Primrose

RELATED CONTACTS AND LINKS:

Tosha Dupras, Anthropology

407-823-6725

The University of Central Florida’s Anthropology Department and the Central Florida chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America will host a series of lectures beginning Friday, Oct. 23. The series will feature scholars with different specializations within archaeology.

The first of three lectures, “Four Thousand Years of Andean Gold,” will be delivered by Mark Aldenderfer of the University of Arizona. Aldenderfer specializes in the cultural and biological adaptations of societies in high-altitude regions, primarily in the Peruvian Andes. He will be speaking at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in room 108 of the Psychology Building.

Anyone who plans to attend Aldenderfer’s lecture should contact Tosha Dupras, associate chair of Anthropology, at 407-823-6725 or tdupras@mail.ucf.edu for parking information and a parking pass.

Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, will focus on “The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” on Friday, Jan. 29. The specific location of her presentation at UCF has not been set. Magness’ research has focused on the archaeology of ancient Palestine and the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. She is currently co-director of an excavation site of the Roman fort in Yotvata, Israel.

The last lecture will take place at the Orlando Museum of Art on Wednesday, April 14. Steven Tuck, from Miami University in Ohio, will be presenting a lecture titled “Death, Mythology and Ideology in the Arena: Sculpture from the Amphitheater at Capua.” Tuck, who studies classical art and archaeology, focuses primarily on Roman entertainment and imperial art.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Receptions will follow each of the lectures to encourage discussion with the speakers.

The Archaeological Institute of America is a nonprofit cultural and educational organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. It is the oldest and largest archaeological organization in North America, with more than 11,000 members worldwide.

For more information on the lecture series, contact Tosha Dupras in the UCF Anthropology Department at 407-823-6725 or tdupras@mail.ucf.edu