Interdisciplinary Archaeology Program
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Summer 2022 course listings are HERE
Fall 2022 courses listings are HERE

Congratulations class of 2022 Archaeology majors and minors!!!!!

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Welcome to the Interdisciplinary Archaeology Program

The discipline of Archaeology is concerned with the recovery, analysis, and interpretation of the material remains of past cultures and societies. It is a unique field of study that comprises Arts and Humanities, the Social Sciences, and Sciences. At UVA, the Interdisciplinary Archaeology Program combines the faculty and resources of several departments. Our undergraduate majors and minors undertake a program of study that combines prehistoric, historic, and Mediterranean archaeology, as well as field methods and hands-on training. Graduate students in Archaeology pursue more focused research through the departments of Anthropology or Art History. The topics of study at UVA can vary widely, ranging from issues of human origins and zooarchaeology to the study of the Classical, Roman, and Medieval Mediterranean; from the structure of ancestral Pueblo societies to colonialism in Virginia; and from the study of the ancient Near East and Pre-Columbian societies to the development of Swahili culture on the East African coast. 

The Archaeology faculty is composed of a group of core faculty, all archaeologists from the Anthropology and Art History departments. Our classes and seminars address many themes of relevance, including households, the landscape, mortuary practices, material culture, and religious ritual. In addition, faculty from Architectural History, History, Religious Studies, Classics, and Environmental Sciences offer many courses of direct relevance. Our On-Grounds and Fieldwork internships enable students to work closely with UVA faculty on research projects and many receive digital archaeology experience. Faculty sponsored field research is conducted in many parts of the world, including in Virginia, the Southwestern United States, the Caribbean, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, East Africa, the Southeastern Inka frontier.

If you would like to declare a major or minor in Archaeology, please contact Tyler Jo Smith, Program Director. 
 
If you are interested in graduate studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies in Art and Architectural History and the Program Coordinator. For graduate studies in Anthropological Archaeology, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies.
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Looking for a field school this summer? Monticello and Poplar Forest are both accepting applications. 

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You may also Check out our Fieldwork Resources Page

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Coronavirus Information


UVA Travel Information for Students


Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Alumnus Poised to Help Save Ukraine's Cultural Heritage, Currently Under Fire

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University of Virginia alumnus Hayden Bassett is leading a team of specialists who are monitoring and mapping Ukraine’s cultural heritage and seeking ways to encourage its preservation.

Dr. Rogers takes his USEM "Around Grounds: Art, Architecture, & History at UVa" to visit Carr's Hill and to meet President Ryan ​

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Dr. Dylan Rogers’ USEM (Around Grounds: Art, Architecture, & History at UVa) had the great fortune to explore Carr’s Hill—and meet with President Ryan. In addition to discussing the history of the house and what it means for the University, President Ryan took the students on a surprise trip up to the attic to visit the room above the porch. It was a memorable trip for everyone. Wahoowa!

Congratulations Prof. Kondyli!

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Fotini Kondyli has been named a NEH Horace W. Goldsmith Distinguished Teaching Professor for a three-year term beginning this month. The Professorships "support and recognize faculty who know their disciplines well, motivate and inspire students, and actively engage students in learning” and represent a most impressive recognition of teaching at the University of Virginia.

Virtual Platforms for Archaeology Internships

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Congratulations Archaeology Graduate Students!!


Alumni Spotlight

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Lizzie Baughan (Archaeology major 1995) is Associate Professor of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Richmond. As a specialist in the archaeology of Anatolia (modern Turkey), she has excavated at several sites, including Sardis and Hacimusalar. She is the author of Couched in Death: Klinai and Identity in Anatolia and Beyond (2013) and has an edited volume forthcoming on the topic of material connections and artistic exchange in Etruria and Anatolia. She is also the 2020 recipient of the  Engage for Change! Award, given by the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, University of Richmond. 

Archaeology Brown Bag |

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Archaeology Brown-Bag Workshops sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Archaeology Program provide an informal, interdisciplinary venue for presentations of work in progress by students, faculty, and visiting scholars, and for discussion of developments in the recent archaeological literature. Workshops convene in the conference room on the second floor of Brooks Hall, unless otherwise noted. 

Want to volunteer a talk or discussion topic? Contact Adria LaViolette or Fraser Neiman.


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The Pre-Modern World at the University of Virginia
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Started in 2014, the Pre-Modern Group at UVA is a gathering of faculty and students who come together to explore salient issues of antiquity and the Middle Ages (variously construed) within a global context. We seek to advance understanding of the world before the advent of the modern era through cross-cultural conversation about society, modes of expression, philosophical systems, and belief.


Faculty Publications


Ya Dig?

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IT Wizard Jeff Wimer showing off his Archaeology T-shirt. Have you got yours?

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Support Archaeology


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DAACS Conversation
Double Header this Friday, May 20!

Uncovering an Unusual Feature: Contextualizing Coan Hall’s Site 3  
Elizabeth Tarulis, Keri Burge, and Barbara Heath, University of Tennessee Knoxville
and
Living Things as an Archaeological Resource  
Graham Callaway, College of William and Mary

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May 20, 2022
12-1 pm ET
 

Register Now

These talks are part of a series titled, Current Research on Historic Landscapes in Virginia. Organized and guest moderated by Kyle Edwards, these conference-paper length talks were scheduled to appear at the Society for Historical Archaeology's Annual Conference in January 2022. COVID prevented this session from happening live in Philadelphia. We are delighted to bring it to you now via DAACS Conversations.

Please note the format for these talks is slightly different from past DAACS Conversations. We will host two or three short talks during each Conversation. There will be time after the talks for questions and discussion with the audience. When you register for one talk, you will be registered for all talks given during that Conversation.

Professor, Student Harness Space Particles to Scan Ancient Pyramids

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Physics student Sydney Roberts and physics professor Craig Dukes traveled to the Maya temple of El Castillo in Mexico over spring break, part of a project that will use cosmic ray particles to scan the long-shrouded interior of this and other famed pyramids. Find out more about the research and the technology behind it, in this month’s feature story.

Annual Margaret Lowe Undergraduate Lecture

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Ancient Writing and Reading: Culture and Communication among the Graffiti of Pompeii

Rebecca Benefiel, Washington & Lee

April 27, 2022
5:00PM, Rouss 410
Reception to follow in the Department of Classics

Archaeological Institute of America
George M.A. Hanfmann Memorial Lecture

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Rituals of the Everyday: Neighborhood Diversity in the Urbanization of Cahokia
 
Melissa Baltus, University of Toledo

The neighborhoods of ancient Cahokia tell its stories. Their similarities and differences provide invaluable insight into the processes of urbanization, as well as the ways in which lived lives shaped the urban landscape.  Much of what we know about Cahokia’s neighborhoods derives from salvage excavations in or near the core of “downtown”. These excavations demonstrate planned site organization, dynamic neighborhood uses, and varying relationships between politico-religious practices, landscape features, and domestic spaces. Describing the development and depopulation of Cahokia through its neighborhoods, I will contextualize the findings of a recent multi-year project at one area of Cahokia and what we have learned about the city from this newly explored neighborhood.

April 28, 2022
5:30 pm ET
 

Join Here

Gandharan Sculpture from the Alan D. and Ann K. Wolfe Collection

​Fralin Museum

02/06/2022 TO 07/24/2022

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Boomalli Prints & Paper: Curating and Writing About Indigenous Prints

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Q&A: Conservator Describes Salvaging Historic Remnants Found Under Lee Statue

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Sue Donovan, a UVA conservator, opens the time capsule box from the Lee monument in Richmond. (Photo by Leslie Straub, Virginia Department of Historic Resources).

Explore. Analyze. Discover.

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DAACS Open Academy 
Now Open for Registration
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DAACS Open Academy offers free virtual workshops and classes on a wide range of archaeological topics. In 2021, DAACS Open Academy focuses on teaching participants how to create and work with digital archaeological data.  

Learn More

YA DIG? Updates from the Interdisciplinary Archaeology Program

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Kat Napora ('11) uses dendrochronology to explore the ancient environment

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Napora is an environmental archaeologist, and the primary tool she’s employing for her dissertation work is dendrochronology, the study of tree rings.

What is Archaeology?

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To learn more about what archaeology is what archaeologist do check out the Society for American Archaeology.

Affiliated Departments

Department of Anthropology
100 Brooks Hall
P.O. Box 400120
Charlottesville, VA 22904
(434) 924-7044
Fax: (434) 924-1350

Department of Art
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400130
Charlottesville, VA 22904 
(434) 924-6123
Fax: (434) 924-3647

Contact Us

Tyler Jo Smith 
Program Director
Fayerweather Hall 318
Email >

Alexandra Shaul
Social Media Manager 
Email >



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© 2012 Archaeology, University of Virginia