In 2003, the Havasupai Indians of Arizona issued a banishment order against Arizona State University, forbidding researchers from setting foot on their reservation in response to prior unauthorized DNA research done on tribal members’ blood samples. In 2002, the Navajo Nation banned DNA studies out of fear of how their samples might be used by scientists. But many genome scientists believe that health care can be improved with the use of genetic information and are concerned that if indigenous communities do not participate, they will be left behind. This has led to a major effort, particularly among younger researchers of indigenous descent, to work collaboratively with communities, consulting with their leaders and holding preliminary meetings where members help design research projects. By Sindya N. [...]

Ciudad Perdida or "The Lost City" is high up in Colombia’s most isolated mountain range, the Sierra Nevada. Archaeologists have spent decades exploring this dense jungle to find out about the people who lived here over 500 years ago. Oct 30, 2019

In a gallery at the back of UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum, four folding worktables face a large map dotted with location markers and hung with clusters of yellow and orange tags. More tags sit in stacks on each of the tables, along with manila envelopes and pages of printouts from a database. Opposite the map, on the two walls that flank the entrance to the room, dozens of stained and tattered T-shirts form a haphazard collage. On one side of the space, there’s a shelf displaying similarly distressed items, things like torn canvas shoes and a waterlogged diary; on the other, there’s a video monitor displaying drone footage of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The exhibition is called Hostile [...]

Millions were forced to flee during the Great Famine—some of those left behind were condemned to Ireland’s most notorious prison. By Jason Urbanus January/February 2020

CARBONDALE — In the spiritual tradition of the Hopi Tribe, which, along with its Puebloan ancestors, has populated the American Southwest for centuries, death is the beginning of two journeys, “distinct but inseparable,” according to former Hopi Tribal Archaeologist Kurt Dongoske. by Gabriel Neely-Streit Jan 2, 2020

This summer saw a new program at the Carrick site. The IAFS partnered with Dr. Brendan O’Neill from University College Dublin to run an experimental archaeology program at the Carrick Centre. It was a two-week long program that allowed us to learn about experimental archaeology, and relate what we learned back to the Carrick excavation itself. by Gwyneth Evans August 23, 2019

CARBONDALE — Like many prolific people, Irvin Peithmann’s documents, writings, photographs and artifacts became dispersed over his career and after his death in 1981. But the amateur archaeologist’s work has found its way home to Southern Illinois at the perfect time. Peithmann discovered a passion for archaeology in boyhood, unearthing arrowheads while working the plow on his family’s Washington County farm. By Byron Hetzler Dec 19, 2019

The British explorer George Dennis once wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name … was scarcely remembered, but which now, for the enormous treasures of antiquity it has yielded, is exalted above every other city of the ancient world." He's correct in assuming that most people do not know where or what Vulci is, but for explorers and historians—including Duke's Bass Connections team Smart Archaeology—Vulci is a site of enormous potential. by Meghna Datta, Duke Research Blog, Duke University  December 10, 2019

Invisible Archeology (Archeologia Invisibile), is the current temporary exhibit at the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum), in Turin, Italy, which runs from March 13, 2019 to January 16, 2020. The exhibit aims to connect visitors to the biography of objects through archaeometry – scientific analyses and digital tools used in archaeological investigations. Each summer, I run a field school on Museology and Egyptian Material Culture at the museum, through IFR (the Institute for Field Research), and was able to take advantage of the exhibit to explore the potential of digital technologies in a museum setting with two groups of our students. By Dr. Caroline Arbuckle MacLeod  August 8, 2019

For Maurizio Forte, professor in Duke’s Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies, there is plenty to teach his students in the classroom. But some lessons are best taught in the windblown countryside of central Italy. For the past six summers, Forte has brought Duke students to the Vulci archeological excavation site to use traditional techniques and cutting-edge technology to examine what was once an Etruscan and Roman city.  By: Stephen Schramm July 15, 2019