Excavate!

North Alabama Society of the Archaeological Institute of America Volume 15, August 2007

In This Issue Maia Langley

 Roman Iberia Director of PortAnta Roman Studies, Univ. de Lisboa, Portugal
 Greek Astronomy “Placing Roman Women: Life, Luxury, and
 Etruscans Longevity at an Iberian Villa”
 References for Upcoming Events
September 26, 2007 (Wednesday)
 Membership Specials 7:30 PM
 Thank You Chan Auditorium, UAH
 Blog The Roman villa at Torre de Palma in modern Portugal is the largest exca-
 Calendar of Coming Events vated villa complex on the Iberian Peninsula. Maia Langley began her work
Continued on page 2

Dr. Jean Turfa

Univ. of Penn. Museum of Muse Mosaic, Torre de Palma, Portugal
Archaeology & Anthropology

“Desperate Etruscan
Housewives”
Nov 5, 2007 (Monday)
7:30 PM
Chan Auditorium, UAH

“Love and Death in Dr. James Evans

Etruscan Urns” Physics Dept. University of Puget Sound
Nov 6, 2007 (Tuesday)
11:10 AM (Honors Forum) “The Material Culture of Ancient Greek
Frank Franz Hall, Astronomy”
Multi-Purpose Room October 22, 2007 (Mon)
Jean MacIntosh 7:30 PM
Turfa received a Gold brooch, UAH venue TBA: see blog at
Ph.D. in Classical Cerveteri http://excavate-aia.blogspot.com/
Archaeology and
James Evans completed his Ph.D. in
Latin from Bryn
Physics at the University of Wash-
Mawr College.
ington and is currently the Director
Continued on page 2 Continued on page 3
Antikythera mechanism

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Langley: continued from page 1 Turfa: continued from page 1
at the site in 2000 with a study of burials at the site. Complementing her work She has participated in excavations in the
with the material remains, she engaged in an intensive re-reading and transla- U.S., United Kingdom, Italy and Greece,
tion of notes by earlier excavators in order to recover lost and overlooked including the Bryn Mawr College excava-
information about the burials, many of women. tions at Poggio Civitate (Murlo, province
While the activities of noble metropolitan females are somewhat documented, of Siena), and the Corinth Excavations of
the American School of Classical Studies.
She has traveled to the sites of Phoenician
and Punic colonies in the Mediterranean to
research Etruscan-Punic Relations, a project
that contrasted Aristotle’s description of the
treaties between Carthage and the Etruscan
cities with the realities of trade goods found
in Etruria and the Punic world. She was Cu-
ratorial Consultant for the newly reinstalled
(2003) Kyle M. Phillips Etruscan Gallery of
the University of Pennsylvania Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology.
Burial, Torre de Palma
She has taught at the University of Liver-
pool, University of
Illinois, Chicago, and
Loyola University of
much less is known about the life of women of the rural and working classes, Chicago, Drexel Univer-
particularly in the fringes of the empire. Torre de Palma, which was in use for sity, Dickinson College,
several centuries, provides the ideal setting for the study of this category of Bryn Mawr College,
women. In addition to assessing the sprawling architectural complex, Langley and the University of
gathers information about the everyday life of its female inhabitants through Pennsylvania. She was
the examination of the interior decorations of the various buildings and the a keynote speaker for
voluminous ceramic and metal collections. Most importantly, the large osteo- the British Museum’s
logical collection provides evidence for the type of diet, diseases, pregnancies “Etruscans Now!”
and longevity of these women — women with names like Furniae, Faustina, symposium (2002) and
or the nameless “rural wife of Urbici” who inhabited this rural Lusitanian recently appeared in “The Etruscan Heri-
villa. tage” for Discovery Channel. An interview
with her aired in 2006 in a program on
Marriage sarcophagus, Archimedes and the Syracusia as part of a
Cerveteri 13-hour series by the History Channel on
the ancient origins of modern technology.
Dr. Turfa has also advised on the History
Channel Production, “Carthage – Engineer-
ing and Empire” (interview aired in 2006).
Her other public appearances include inter-
views on Etruscan archaeology and also on
animal rights. She has just completed a book
on Ancient Marvels in Modern Analysis (with
engineer A.G. Steinmayer and artist N. Hol-
mes Kantzios), and is working on a mono-
graph on The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar,
Diver at Red Bay, Labrador
and (with A. G. Steinmayer) Etruscan Design:
An Outline and Selected Case Studies in Etruscan
Technology.

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Evans: continued from page 1
of the Program in Science and Technology and Society as well as Special New-Member Rates
Professor of Physics at the University of Puget Sound. He has New members guarantee an infusion of new
received numerous grants and awards, including a Carnegie Founda- ideas and enthusiasm. You can become a
tion Fellowship and a Fulbright that allowed him to study in France. member of the AIA and share your passion
Since 2000 he has been the Associate Editor of the Journal for the for archaeology with like-minded people. Join
History of Astronomy and his own pub- and reap great savings.
lications demonstrate a long fascina- Special rates until June 30th, 2008:
tion with the archaeology and history
of physics and astronomy. In his talk Membership Regular Special
for our group he will examine objects Category Rate Rate
with astronomical meaning (both real AIA Basic $50 $40
instruments and objects with sym- AIA Basic & $66 $55
bolical value) for ancient astronomers. Archaeology
His study will demonstrate that the AIA Student $50 $19
remains of the material culture of an- AIA Student & $66 $25
cient science often provide important Archaeology
additions or corrections to the ac- Discount applies to first year only. Regular
count of ancient science that we get fees apply for renewal. Student members can
from texts alone. The objects ana- be young or young-at-heart, with proof of
lyzed include sundials, globes, armil- current enrollment in a university, two-year
lary spheres, and planetary calculators. college or high school.
Ivory astrologer’s board
Membership applications are available from
Dr. Lillian Joyce, JoyceL@uah.edu, or Cathie
Thank You Dunar, c_dunar@bellsouth.net.
Rusty Troth Ben Lee Damsky Robert Rebman
UAH Humanities Center UAH Women’s Studies
UAH Honors Forum Anonymous cash donations
We’re Blogging!
With the help of Dr. Stephen Waring in the
References for Upcoming Events History Department, our new blog is up and
running. In addition to information about
Women in Roman Iberia (Maia Langley) our speakers and events, you’ll want to check
http://www.portanta.com/html/portanta.html Archaeology in Portugal the blog regularly for interesting and infor-
http://www.portanta.com/html/torre_de_palma.html Torre de Palma mative articles on archaeology from Vikings
http://www.portanta.com/html/maia_cv.html Biographical to chewing gum to secret tomb chambers in
Ancient Greek Astronomy (Dr. James Evans) China. New articles are posted weekly and you
can also dig into our archive. Feel free to post
Journal for the History of Astronomy (Evans is an Associate Editor)
comments. We’re at:
The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy, James Evans, Oxford, 1998. http://excavate-aia.blogspot.com/
http://www2.ups.edu/physics/faculty/evans/
http://www.archaeology.org/0703/abstracts/antikythera.html The Antikythera
Mechanism, from Archaeology, March/April 2007.
Etruscans (Dr. Jean Turfa)
Catalogue of the Etruscan Gallery in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Ar-
chaeology and Anthropology, J.M. Turfa, Philadelphia, 2005. See also http://
www.museum.upenn.edu/new/worlds_intertwined/etruscan/main.shtml
Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History, Sybille Haynes, J. Paul Getty Mu-
seum, Los Angeles, 2000.
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1997/97.9.26.html Review by Dr. Turfa of
Etruscan Art by Otto J. Brendel.
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 Excavate! is published seasonally by the
North Alabama Society of the
Calendar of Coming Events
Archaeological Institute of America Maia Langley (Roman Iberia) Chan September 26, 2007
President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lillian B. Joyce
E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JoyceL@uah.edu
Pompeii Exhibition Birmingham October 20, 2007
Vice President. . . . . . . . Timothy L. Stephens Dr. James Evans (Greek Astronomy) TBD October 22, 2007
E-mail . . . . . . . TLStephens@comcast.net
Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cathie Dunar Dr. Jean Turfa (Etruscan Women) Chan November 5, 2007
E-mail . . . . . . . . . .c_dunar@bellsouth.net
Dr. Jean Turfa (Etruscan Urns) Franz November 6, 2007
Local Sponsor. UAH Department of Art and
Art History Dr. David Anderson (Ancient America) Chan February 4, 2008
Phone Contact . . . . . . . . . (256) 824-6114
Dr. Lanny Bell (Egypt) Chan March 3, 2008
Dr. Robert Brown (Angkor Wat) Chan March 27, 2008
Excavate! is sent to AIA members Dr. Robert Brown (Buddhism) Chan March 28, 2008
and those who have attended or
expressed interest in our activities. “ Sharing wives is an established Etruscan custom. Etruscan women take particular care
If you would like to add a friend to of their bodies and exercise often, sometimes along with the men, and sometimes by them-
our list of members and friends, so selves. It is not a disgrace for them to be seen naked. Further, they dine, not with their own
that they will receive Excavate! and husbands, but with any men who happen to be present... They are also expert drinkers and
e-mail notice of events, let us know
via snail mail (see return address on are very good looking.” —Theopompus of Chios, Histories, 43.
the newsletter) or send e-mail to
JoyceL@uah.edu. Tales from an Eruption: Pompeii
Join us at the Birmingham Museum of Art on Saturday, October 20, at 2 PM
to tour the exhibition. Advanced tickets required. Please purchase tickets ASAP
at: http://www.artsbma.org/

Nonprofit Org.
North Alabama Society, AIA U.S. Postage
Department of Art and Art History PAID
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Huntsville, Alabama, 35899

Velia, Tarquinia

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