Founded in 1968, the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) hosts monthly illustrated lectures on diverse topics related to the study and practice of archaeology and art history, including the preservation of cultural heritage, Classical and Near Eastern archaeology, and underwater archaeology.

The Department of Classics and Archaeology is pleased to be affiliated with the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and to help facilitate its programming. AIA lectures are free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend!

Our events this year will include a mixture of online and in-person events.

AIA Niagara online lectures will be held using MS Teams. Over the course of the year, a link will be added to each of the events listed below. If you would like to join us for an online event, please visit this page and click on the link associated with that event (about two weeks before the event). This link will take you to a registration form that will give you the MS Teams link needed in order to join the event. Please save the link in order to use on the day to join us. You will need to register for each online AIA event that you want to attend.

During the lectures, we ask that audience members mute their microphones and turn off their cameras. The moderator and speaker will hold Q&A time after each lecture. If you would like to ask a question, this can best be done by typing a question in the chat area.

In-person lectures and events are usually held in Academic South (STH) 215, the Rankin Family Pavilion (RFP) 214/215, or the International Centre (GLB) on the Brock University campus. Parking on weekends is free on campus. Note that campus paid parking is enforced on weekdays until 9 PM. Weekday parking passes can be purchased through HONK (Lot D is closest to RFP and STH; Lot Glenridge is closest to GLB).

The AIA Archaeology Hour is a monthly virtual lecture series hosted by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). It offers free virtual lectures over Zoom on Wednesday evenings each month.
To see more about this year’s schedule and register, please visit https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/archaeologyhour/

Please visit this page REGULARLY to see UPDATED DETAILS ON SOCIETY EVENTS.

Wednesday, September 23 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Eric Cline (George Washington University)
“Homer, Hollywood, and Historical Context”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/september-aia-archaeology-hour-with-eric-cline-homer-hollywood-and-historical-context/ 

Sunday, September 27 @ 3:00 pm [STH 215]
Elliott Fuller (University of Toronto, Brock alumnus)
“The Power of the Liminal: The Archaeology of Harbours in the Bronze Age Aegean”

Sunday, October 4 @ 3:00 pm [STH 215]
Christopher Ellis (Western University)
“A Ca. 12,900 Year Old Indigenous Site in the Niagara Peninsula”

Wednesday, October 21 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Briana Pobiner (Smithsonian)
“What was the REAL Paleodiet?”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/october-aia-archaeology-hour-with-briana-pobiner-what-was-the-real-paleodiet/

Saturday, October 24 @ 3 pm [Brown Homestead, St. Catharines]
INTERNATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY DAY
Alexandra Macdonald (Brock University)
“ ‘To Make a Fine Linen’: Re-Creating Historic Flax Crops”
This event encourages a $5 donation and has limited capacity.
To register click here.

Saturday, October 24 @ TBA pm [Brown Homestead, St. Catharines]
Jessica Linzel (Brown Homestead)
“The Dirt on Public Archaeology at the Oldest Home in St. Catharines”
To register, please see the link under the International Archaeology Day event above.

Wednesday, November 4 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Joe Bagley (City of Boston)
“An Archaeology of the Battle of Bunker Hill”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/november-aia-archaeology-hour-with-joe-bagley-an-archaeology-of-the-battle-of-bunker-hill/ 

Sunday, November 22 @ 3:00 pm [STH 215]
Jane Francis (Concordia University)
“Beekeeping in the Ancient Mediterranean: Archaeological Evidence and Modern Interpretation”
To register, [link coming soon].

Friday, January 22 @ 3:00 pm [Online: Teams]
Vincent Tomasso (Trinity College)
“Old and New Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, Eugammon’s Telegony, and Christopher Nolan’s
The Odyssey”
*Co-Sponsored by the Brock University Department of Classics and Archaeology Research Seminar Series
To register [link coming soon]. 

Wednesday, January 27 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Stephen Houston and Felipe Rojas (Brown University)
“The Archaeology of Alphabets and Abecedaries”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/archaeologyhour/

Sunday, February 7 @ 3:00 pm [Online: Teams]
Zofia Guertin (University at Edinburgh)
“Egyptian waters of Dion: from Hellenistic to Late Antiquity”
To register, [link coming soon].

Wednesday, February 24 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
TBA – Save the Date
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/archaeologyhour/

Friday, March 7 @ 6:30 pm [RFP 214/215]
AIA NATIONAL SPEAKER
Derek Kennet (University of Chicago)
“The Strait of Hormuz through time: tracing the archaeology of a key global trading connection
from the Bronze Age to the Portuguese”
To register [link coming soon].

Wednesday, March 31 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
TBA – Save the Date
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/archaeologyhour/

Wednesday, April 22 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
TBA – Save the Date
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/archaeologyhour/

For further information email the Department of Classics and Archaeology at [email protected]; or find us on Facebook @AIANiagara.

Celebrating International Archaeology Day

The Niagara Peninsula Society has been involved in celebrating International Archaeology Day for the past few years with a variety of activities. This year, several undergraduate students from BUAS and graduate students enrolled in Archaeological Ethics (pictured above left) were at the downtown branch of the St Catharines Public Library to share their love of archaeology with the general public and discuss recent threats to cultural heritage from groups such as ISIL. Previous Archaeology Day celebrations have involved making (and tasting wine) in ceramic storage jars, displays at the St Catharines Farmers’ Market and hands-on discussions of artifacts in Brock’s Cypriote Museum. Brock has a long tradition of Cypriote archaeology; several lectures have been held to recognize the university’s association and in memory of Brock Classics professor and Cypriote archaeologist Danielle Parks who passed away tragically in 2007.

Fred Truckenbrodt Travel Grant for Students

The Niagara Peninsula Society established a travel grant for students to be awarded each year for three consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2014) in memory of Fred Truckenbrodt, a long-time member of our society who was passionate about archaeology and travel in the Mediterranean and deeply committed to the AIA and its activities. The 2014 recipient of the award was Brian Abfal, an undergraduate major in Classics, who participated in Brock’s Archaeological Practicum (CLAS 3F75) in Gournia; he is pictured (above right) receiving his award from Dr. Angus Smith who led the practicum there in the summer of 2014.