AIA & IEMA Lecture: Carl Knappett

The Western New York Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), UB’s Institute of European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA), and the Houghton Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association (NYSAA), are pleased to co-sponsor a lecture by Professor Carl Knappett, J. Walter Graham and Homer Thompson Chair in Aegean Prehistory at the University of Toronto. Entitled “An Anthropology of Aegean Bronze Age Art”, Professor Knappett’s lecture will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, at 3:30 pm. Professor Knappett currently serves as one of the Archaeological Institute of America’s Joukowsky Lecturer. 

Meeting Link
For meeting details (Meeting ID & Passcode), please contact Mélanie Lacan, Department of Anthropology at University at Buffalo (SUNY) via email.

Lecture Abstract: The Aegean Bronze Age is famous for its striking artefacts, such as the gold death masks of Mycenae, the faience snake goddesses of Knossos, or the wall paintings from Thera. However, while such riches elicit awe among museum-goers, archaeologists have been largely turning their attention instead to more mundane artefacts: cooking pots, storage jars, and middens. Although this archaeological focus does make perfect sense in many ways, it studiously omits some of the most important finds for our understanding of Aegean Bronze Age societies. I will argue that this can in part be attributed to a nervousness about discussing seemingly outmoded categories such as ‘art’ and ‘religion’; and that with fresh theoretical eyes we can rehabilitate these areas and generate new interpretations of ‘artworks’ and their role in Minoan and Mycenaean religion.