Harvard President Drew Faust (center) visits the Yard dig outside her Massachusetts Hall office. Professor William Fash, Charles P. Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology (left), Faust, and Executive Vice President Katherine Lapp examine an 18th century slate pencil found at the site.
Treasures Unearthed
Harvard students who have spent the semester digging through the dark earth of Harvard Yard showed off their treasures today (Oct. 29), including a slate pencil that confirms that, amid the eating, drinking, and smoking that their counterparts from yesteryear did, learning was going on too.
The pencil, a slim 2-inch gray piece of what may be compressed clay, was used to write on a personal slate that students held as they worked. That pencil and slate may have been used as a scratch pad to figure or compose on before committing pen to paper, according to Lecturer on Anthropology Christina Hodge, a class instructor.
Harvard Library's Anthropological Literature E-Resources
Connect to the iSite "Using the Anthropological Literature E-Resource". This site is a guide to the many features of the Anthropological Literature e-resource. It also includes tools to assist users in understanding and utilizing the resource to its fullest extent. In addition, it highlights the rich interdisciplinary content of the database, as well as links to current research in the field of anthropology at Harvard. We are happy to accommodate requests for training, either for individuals, small groups or classes.
• Access Anthropological Literature E-Resource
• Anthropological Literature E-Resource Spotlights
Great Books Chosen by Harvard Anthropologists
Anthropological Influences: Great Books Chosen by Harvard Anthropologists
For over 140 years the collections of Tozzer Library have played an important role in shaping generations of anthropologists. In this virtual exhibition, which grew out of a 2006 celebration marking the addition of the quarter millionth volume to Tozzer Library, Harvard anthropologists (including faculty and graduates of the Anthropology Department and Peabody Museum curators) describe, in their own words, books that have inspired or guided or enlightened their scholarship and teaching.
An interview, in Greek, with Professor Michael Herzfeld
On 13 September the distinguished Greek newspaperTo Vima published in its weekly magazine VIMAgazino an extensive interview, in Greek, with Professor Michael Herzfeld, of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. Titled "Harvard's Kapetan-Michalis [Captain Michael]," in an evocation of a famous novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, the interview-conducted by the journalist Eleni Xenaki-ranged over many topics: the role of the anthropologist in studying nationhood and identity, Greece's position in Europe, social activism, the extreme right and racism in Greece, the role of private universities, and the activities of the nascent "University of the Mountains of Crete" (of which Herzfeld was appointed a member of the Executive Committee earlier this year, participating in a press conference in Athens on 29 June). Download the interview (PDF)
Cambridge, Mass. - September 10, 2009 - A team of archaeologists and paleobiologists has discovered flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old, making them the oldest fibers known to have been used by humans. The fibers, discovered during systematic excavations in a cave in the Republic of Georgia, are described in this week’s issue of Science. Full Press Release
Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color
Christina Warinner, a current graduate student in the Archaeology Program, and Alex Tokovinine, a Ph.D. recipient in Archaeology, have recently co-authored the book: Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color (University of Texas Press, 2009).
For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
By Steve Lohr, Published on August 5, 2009
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — At Harvard, Carrie Grimes majored in anthropology and archaeology and ventured to places like Honduras, where she studied Mayan settlement patterns by mapping where artifacts were found. But she was drawn to what she calls “all the computer and math stuff” that was part of the job.
Read the article in the New York Times
Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team
The Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense (or Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team – EPAF) applies forensic anthropology to the search for forcibly disappeared persons during the period of internal political conflict from 1982- 2000. It is their final goal to restore the identity of the thousands of missing Peruvians that rest in hidden burial sites across the country. Associate Professor, Kimberly Theidon has written a short piece for their recent photo-catalog highlighting their work.
On July 1, 2009, the program of Biological Anthropology in the Department
of Anthropology of Harvard University was reconstituted as the new
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. The Department of Anthropology
will continue as the home of vibrant programs in Archaeology and Social
Anthropology. Both Anthropology and Human Evolutionary Biology will
continue their close collegial relationships in research, graduate student
training, and undergraduate education.
For information on the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, please see www.heb.fas.harvard.edu