Boshell Family Lecture Series on Archaeology

The Boshell series features internationally recognized archaeologists, historians, and authors working at the forefront of archaeological research. 

Women of the Ancient World

DMA curators Dr. Anne Bromberg, Dr. Kimberly L. Jones, and Dr. Roslyn A. Walker highlight objects from their respective collections that tell the story of trailblazing women throughout history. Presented by the Boshell Family Lecture Series on Archaeology.

March 23, 2017
Horchow Auditorium

Cleopatra's Needles: The Lost Obelisks of Egypt

In the 19th century, three massive obelisks left Egypt bound for Paris, London, and New York. The engineers entrusted with transporting "Cleopatra's Needles" had to invent new methods for lowering, transporting, and raising these granite monoliths, and it was far from certain that they would succeed. In his new book Cleopatra's Needles: The Lost Obelisks of Egypt, renowned Egyptologist Dr.

The Dallas Herakles in Context

Dr. Nancy Ramage, Charles A. Dana Professor of the Humanities and Arts Emerita at Ithaca College, speaks about the multilayered history of one of the DMA's newest acquisitions, a marble bust of Herakles that reveals the talents of three artistic hands. As a pastiche of two antiquities rendered by Rococo sculptor Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, this work joins a small group of Roman sculptures at the DMA and offers lessons about Greek religion, Roman military commemoration, and the 18th-century restoration of ancient statues for the benefit of wealthy patrons.

The Magnificent Seven: The Great Fatimid Rock Crystal Ewers from Egypt

Jeremy Johns, Professor of the Art and Archaeology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East at the University of Oxford, and Dr. Elise Morero, Researcher with the Centre, will discuss the processes and provenance behind the seven known Fatimid rock crystal ewers from Egypt.

Inca Haute Cuisine: Dining Splendidly in 15th-Century Peru

What did it mean to dine splendidly in the late pre-Columbian Andes? What distinguished an elite repast from an ordinary one? What does the archaeological record tell us about cooking, cuisine, and power relations during the time of the Inca? Dr. Tamara L. Bray, Professor of Anthropology at Wayne State University, looks at the different foodstuffs, methods of preparation, and forms of consumption found within the Inca Empire, and the important role of food and feasting in the negotiation of power and state politics during the late pre-Columbian era.

The Art of Ancient Hairdressing

See ancient sculptures in a whole new way through the eyes of hairdressing archaeologist Janet Stephens. A hairstylist by trade, she began researching ancient hairstyles after a chance visit to the Walters Art Museum in her native Baltimore inspired her to re-create the ancient hairstyles of several Greek and Roman busts. Join her for a look at how ancient Greeks and Romans created elaborate and beautiful hairstyles without hairspray, bobby pins, or even shampoo!

March 5, 2015
Horchow Auditorium

Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World

Renowned journalist and author Roger Atwood has traveled the world writing on the loss of cultural heritage to looters and the black market. Join him to explore the issues surrounding the global traffic in stolen archaeological objects, including how archaeology is coping with these losses and the state of these issues today. Atwood is a contributing editor at Archaeology and a London correspondent for ARTnews. Atwood is also the author of Stealing History.

This lecture is sponsored by the Boshell Family Lecture Series on Archaeology.

Ghostly Visions in Classical Antiquity

Ghosts have always captured our attention as primarily visual phenomena. For the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, ghosts were not only described with a visually inflected vocabulary, as apparitions and specters, but were also, and more specifically, regarded as images, whether artistic, optical, or perceptual. Join Dr. Patrick R. Crowley, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago, for a look at pictures of ghosts from a range of media and historical periods, including Greek vase painting, Etruscan tomb murals, and Roman sarcophagi.

Heavenly Patterns: The Nature of Islamic Art and Architecture

Dr. Anne Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art, takes a closer look at the intricacies of Islamic architecture throughout the world in conjunction with the special exhibition Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World. Presented in partnership with the Boshell Family Lecture Series on Archaeology.

April 18, 2014
Horchow Auditorium

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