Lectures
The Cleveland Archaeological Society (CAS) is a local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). Each year, CAS sponsors a series of lectures. Lectures will be held in person at the Cleveland Museum of Art and on Zoom, with the exception of our February 2025 lecture, which will be held exclusively on Zoom. All lectures are free and open to the public, except for our May Fundraiser.
Echoes of the Ancestors: Uncovering Medieval Burials in Kenya’s Central Highlands
Nasser Malit, Associate Professor of Biological Anthropoloty, SUNY Potsdam
Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 7:00p.m.
Location: Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall
Preregister for Zoom
What can ancient graves tell us about the lives, beliefs, and bodies of people who lived centuries ago? In the Central Highlands of Kenya, archaeologists have uncovered a rare and intriguing find: three double burials dating back to the Medieval period. This talk explores the unfolding story behind these burials and what they reveal about a little-known chapter of East African history. Through the lens of bioarchaeology, this talk examines how the physical remains—bones, teeth, and burial arrangements—offer clues about the biology and cultural practices of these early communities. For example, the proportions of the skeletons suggest how these individuals adapted to their environment, while the deliberate removal of front teeth points to a striking form of cultural expression. The presence of paired burials raises compelling questions about social relationships, ritual, and identity before the arrival of modern Bantu-speaking groups. Join us as we piece together the lives of these long-gone individuals and reflect on how burial practices can illuminate the values and worldviews of past societies.
Community Engagement and Conflict Archaeology: St. Clair’s Defeat Viewed through Creative Co-Interpretation
Kevin Nolan, Director and Senior Archaeologist, Ball Statu University
Wednesday, October15, 2025, 7:00p.m.
Location: Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall
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In 1791, a multi-national alliance of American Indian Tribal Nations orchestrated the largest defeat that the US Army has ever experienced. For over two centuries after this strategic and tactical victory, which occurred along the banks of the Wabash River in what is today Fort Recovery, Ohio, the story was told nearly exclusively from a US perspective. The merits and demerits that determined the outcome were ascribed to logistical difficulties for the US, or poor performance by US commanders, or poor organization of US troops. Missing from the narrative was any agency by the several Nations who were defending their territories from a foreign invasion. The reality is that the Native Nations were anything but props in a story of US struggles toward an ultimate Manifest Destiny. Through nearly a decade of historical and archaeological research and in partnership with representatives from ten Tribal Nations descended from the 1791 victors, we have created a more realistic and nuanced account of the unfolding of events, focusing on Native agency. Perhaps more importantly, we have also forged a connection between this and related historical events and the present situations of various Tribal Nation governments and their Citizens. History matters. Comprehensive and honest accounts of history reverberate into the present. By engaging with multiple Native and non-native communities, we have been able to build a more powerful and meaningful reflection of our shared histories. The culmination of this effort is the new traveling exhibit “St. Clair’s Defeat Revisited: A New View of the Conflict” which can be visited in multiple Ohio venues, and explored through the exhibit website: https://bit.ly/StClairsDefeatRevisited.
The Mysterious Appearance of Dionysos in Paestum
Thomas Carpenter, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Classics and Religious Studies, Ohio University
Wednesday, November 11, 2025, 7:00p.m.
Location: Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall
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Suddenly and mysteriously c 380 BCE, not long after the Lucanians took control of the Greek colony Poseidonia/Paestum, the god Dionysos appears on vases made there and throughout the rest of the 4th Century is the dominant image on them. Though Dionysiac scenes play a more prominent role on Paestan vases than in any other South Italian fabrics, there were no sanctuaries or known cults of Dionysos in ancient Poseidonia/Paestum, there is no surviving sculpture that refers to him, nor does he appear in any of the eighty 4th century Lucanian tomb paintings found in Paestan cemeteries. This lecture explores the source and implications of the mysterious explosion of Dionysian imagery and the role an enterprising painter named Asteas played in promoting it. In fact, it seems likely that Dionysos was already there waiting to be revealed.
Embodied Stone: Indigenous Knowledge, Gender, and the Archaeology of Rock Art
Emily Van Alst, Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University
Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 7:00p.m.
Location: Zoom only
Preregister for Zoom
Combining archaeological gender scholarship and Indigenous archaeology, this talk will advocate for rethinking how we interpret Indigenous-made rock art motifs from the Northwest Plains (current-day Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota). Traditional studies often rely on art historical or archaeological frameworks that view rock art as static imagery or emblematic artifacts, separate from their broader cultural and social contexts. In contrast, this research calls for a shift toward Indigenous-centered methods that regard rock art as expressions of living knowledge systems. By emphasizing Indigenous women’s ecological, cultural, and spiritual knowledge, we gain a deeper understanding of the iconography—seeing it not just as artistic or material expression, but as ancestral knowledge inscribed onto the landscape. These motifs serve as archives of memory, relational beings, and more. Recognizing the role of Indigenous women and other community members in shaping and maintaining these records opens the way for more nuanced and inclusive archaeological interpretations.
Ancient Egyptian Tombs and Modern People: Luxor's Valley of the Nobles and the Qurnawi
Andrew Bednarski, Affiliated Scholar, American University in Cairo
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 7:00p.m.
Location: Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall
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Luxor's famed Valley of the Nobles, part of a larger UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been in near continual use by people for thousands of years. This dramatic, sprawling, desert landscape is home to some of ancient Egypt's most famous and beautiful non-royal tombs. After nearly 200 years of continuous exploration, the area forms one of the most intensively archaeologically examined sites in the world. Despite this fact, we still know very little about the area from an archaeological and anthropological point of view after the ancient period. This lecture will introduce you to the Valley of the Nobles, its ancient monuments, its history of exploration, and its most recent archaeological strata -- created by the people who lived there until recently.
…but for us, oceans unite: traditional tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage in the Mariana Islands
Jennifer McKinnon, Professor, Department of History, Eastern Carolina University
Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 7:00p.m.
Location: Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall
Preregister for Zoom
The Mariana Islands chain has been home to the Chamorro people for over 3500 years. There is an incredibly rich connection to land and sea that is represented in both tangible and intangible practices and sites of maritime cultural heritage. From canoe landing and launching sites, to navigational sea lanes and associated features, to traditional fishing and collection areas, the islands and their waters are mapped with ancient practices that persist to this day. This talk will provide an overview of the history and archaeology of the Mariana Islands, connecting past to present through their maritime cultural heritage.
May Fundraiser:
TBD